Quote:
Originally Posted by Bingo
It's November 7th today. That month is pretty close to October. Hell Haynes even listed out the average turnaround for new coaches is at 18 games over the past several years.
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This is so true, and fan getting a taste of the system working I think gave the false impression that the learning period was over. The road games against St Louis and Chicago were this system played the way it should be. San Jose was also a good indication of what to expect.
But it isn't going to be overnight. What I've been seeing is good portions of games being played properly (not so much in LA) but then small breakdowns happens and the players are reverting to old habits. The Cogliano goal last night was the defense activating too much and relying on Gaudreau to backcheck, which he made a great attempt at, but a breakdown because they were not the 5 man puck control system GG wants.
When a goal goes bad or they are down and pushing you see Gaudreau trying everything alone, you see defensemen taking too many chances and you see guys trying to give breakout passes to players not expecting them.
After the Haynes article I decided to give them their 20 games, and yes I got some faint hope with a few great road games and thought the learning time was over, but it's not a magic wand and will take time. Brodie has picked up his game since being moved back with Giordano, Johnny and Monahan looked real good in the first period last night but they have to learn to play that way the entire game and get out of the habits of playing it alone. Once our top players can figure that out it should all come together, and yes that might be 10-15 more games.