Quote:
Originally Posted by Oling_Roachinen
He started Roy in net. Roy didn't let in more than 1 goal in any of the Avalanche's wins that series...
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He also had hart winner and leading playoff scorer Joe Sakic, prime Hejduk, Drury,
Ray Bourque, etc.
Even without taking into consideration Hartley's HOF roster, the game has changed a lot in the last 15 years.
Anyway, the dichotomy between generating offense from cycling/possession and from the rush is a false one. Anaheim and L.A. can score off the rush too, and Doughty, Lindholm, etc. still throw stretch passes up the middle when it's there. The problem with Hartley's system is that there is no other option other than the stretch pass-rush, and this inflexibility hurts us defensively too, because often we can't even get out of our own zone, and the more time we spend in our own zone, the more tired we get, the more chances there are for freak bounces against us, etc.
Under Hartley, there is seldom the lateral pass option, there is little movement up the ice as a 3-5 man unit (often it's two defensemen in our own zone and 3 forwards up high, creating a needless gap that teams have exploited to force turnovers), and there is seldom regrouping (except when Brodie is on the ice). Good coaches can adapt their strategies when something doesn't work. Hartley hasn't shown any adaptation this year.