Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch
Most of the players on the Flames forward lines were fundamentally strong two way players. The Flames also tended to target players with strong character and determination and desire to win.
So yeah, even with a different coach they'd at least have some defensive drive.
You can blame Eakins for a lot, but Hall was a terrible two way player before Eakins arrived on the scene.
|
The thing is Hall has never been asked to play two way hockey, and that's fine. There also has been zero veteran leadership with any credibility to make him do it on that team. At this point he is 5 years into his NHL career being allowed to play the way he does. He's been pretty successful at scoring goals doing it too. I mean is he seriously going to listen to guys like Boyd Gordon, Mark Hendricks, and Andrew Ference about how he should play? "I'm Taylor fataing Hall top draft pick top line forward, and who the fata are you again? That attitude has been allowed to grow.
These are now brutal habits for any coach or GM to break. This is why getting Iginla, Tanguay and the like the hell out of Calgary before Monahan and Gaudreau hit the scene was so important. The veteran guys they kept are willing to play this way. So now we have Jiri Hudler, maybe not a big name guy, but he's played in Detroit. Giordano the captain working his arse off and willing to play this way and set an example. Even Wideman scratched in game 2 this year, and responds the way he did. The young guys fall in line and have the right habits from the get go. Something that never occurred in Edmonton.
Honestly the Oilers could build a decent team if they were to move out Hall and or Eberle for help on defence. They need to break the bad habits. But they also need good veteran players who buy what the coach is saying for when McDavid, Nurse, Drasaitl show up. Right now they only one of their core guys who remotely gets it is Nugent Hopkins.