Quote:
Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe
Hartley has a very entertaining style of play as a system. I really had my doubts that they could pull it off in an entire season. Skaters have to skate much more. Forwards have the freedom to generate offence how they see fit - off the rush, dump-ins if you can't carry the puck over, different zone-entry stats, up the middle and away from the boards is fine - as long as there are guys covering, better skate like crazy on the backcheck!
I didn't think they could keep up this level of effort in all 3 zones. I wondered if he would lose the room, or if it was simply too much skating. He preached fitness, and he keeps the shifts very short. Flames are not looking like they are running out of gas late in the 3rd periods, or this late into the season. In fact, I think it is a much easier system to keep consistent for the season than a grinding game.
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Agreed. And the system is working because management put together a strong-skating team, there are lot of young legs in the lineup, and Hartley is rolling three, sometimes four lines.