Quote:
Originally Posted by Classic_Sniper
I still don't understand this criticism of moving up as a 5 man unit though? We're not a fast team and only one player has the ability to beat defenders up the ice. It's generally a smart idea to move up the ice with an organized break out with short passes and additional support rather then to have a disorganized and chaotic break out and long bomb passes that just leads to turnovers.
I also don't understand why 1 line or 1 player like Johnny has the freedom to transcend Gulutzan's orders and then to deny everyone else. Makes zero sense and isn't true. It sounds very made up to frame your opinion.
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The criticism is relying on it too much.
It reliably allows us to exit our zone and enter their zone even against a good defensive team. It generates a fair bit of zone time and shot volume and cuts down on turnover.
BUT
It also means we struggle to counterattack quickly, allowing the other team time to set up defensively. So we're attacking against 5 defenders who are where they want to be, and as a result we struggle to generate open high-danger shots.
The way we play is a good baseline that's reasonably effective against most things other teams can throw at us. But we sacrifice opportunities at fast counterattacks that sometimes create a great scoring chance and instead choose to turn back, get set up, and move as a unit for a safer, guaranteed zone entry and some lower-danger shots.
I agree that we're not a fast team - that's why I think we need to do a better job giving ourselves a head start. Moving the puck quickly to a player that's already in stride can create the speed we lack, instead of waiting to get set up and accelerating from a standstill.