Quote:
Originally Posted by Point Blank
Totally for it. While Hartley's system can be pretty entertaining at times, I find myself either super entertained or super frustrated. It's painful to watch when the team can't seem to enter the offensive zone, making bad stretch passes leading to multiple icing calls, and getting hemmed in the defensive zone shot blocking for an entire game.
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I think with a bigger team with more truculence mixed in with the skilled players on this team, Hartley would've adjusted for that and it'll still be entertaining hockey. If you're dealt with players that are smaller than most of the NHL team, you have no choice but to not get your players getting run at every single game for 82-games a season. We all saw what happened in the first two games of the series against Anaheim, the Flames couldn't handle the size of the Ducks. Yet, nothing was done for a whole season including the off season to rectify that. In addition, you can't have your smaller skilled guys play a truculence game for more than half the season without getting them injured. Mid-sized guys like Bouma, Hathaway, Ferland, and even Gio often never completes a full 82-game season playing full truculence. I think Hartley is trying to protect the players from injury by adapting and playing a smarter game.