Quote:
Originally Posted by Bandwagon In Flames
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The trainer in the article you site was with the LA Kings during both of their cup wins.
Kings goals by period in that time period:
2012 P1-54 P2-73 P3-58
2013 P1-34 P2-52 P3-44
2014 P1-66 P2-55 P3-73
After Van Asten left:
2015 P1-65 P2-70 P3-82
The LA Kings actually had their best season in terms of third period goals after Van Asten left.
Look at some other teams that stayed very constant in terms of core, and coach over the last four seasons.
Boston
2012 P3- 108 goals (1st in league)
2013 P3- 39 (19th in league)
2014 P3- 104 (1st in league)
2015 P3- 56 (28th in league)
Detroit
2012 P3- 85 (5th)
2013 P3- 43 (16th)
2014 P3- 72 (18th)
2015 P3- 81 (14th)
Goal scoring in the third period doesn't really look like a repeatable skill.
It mostly jumps all over even when a lot of the other variables around a team remain the same.
So I'm not saying that the Flames weren't in great shape, and didn't have hard practices. It's just unlikely that they were in so much better shape than every other team that that would translate into a distinct advantage on the ice.