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Originally Posted by GranteedEV
Poor zone entry strategy
I'm mostly talking 5 on 5 here, but I'm sure there could be a breakdown of powerplay entries that doesn't do the coach too well. But 5 on 5 our entries are too often performed by wingers who are outnumbered and they dump the puck in. Mangiapane, Gaudreau, Bennett, Tkachuk.. these guys enter and then just throw the puck away. There is no speed to attack the opponent because they are usually pinched in along the boards.Our forecheck is too often our only option to take control of the puck in the offensive zone, and usually it's late because the team was performing a line change. This team isn't the worst at forechecking, but they're not the best either. The team doesn't carry the puck in enough. They've shown to be an elite possession team when they carry the puck, and their puck possession has fallen to average-at-best since they became a dump and chase team. It is insanity.
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So I don't understand in the year 2020, with how fast and skilled hockey is now, why dump-and-chase is still a thing. Dump and chase is no longer effect, and is just the hockey version of punting the puck. It should only be utilized when you have a healthy lead, and focused on clogging up the neutral zone, and don't want to risk turnovers there. But even still, puck possession is your best defense, and you would be better trying to enter the zone, and get the puck down low or on net if you can.
Why the Flames do this so often, makes no sense to me whatsoever. They give the puck away, and by the time a forechecker is close to the player that retrieve the puck, the opposing team is already making their rush out of their own zone, and now caught the Flames flat footed, and have a chance at their own odd man rush; or at least simple zone entry.
It's things like this that makes me wonder are professional coaches really that much better than a passionate hockey fan that pays attention to strategies at times.
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In my opinion, unless the goal is to tank, Geoff Ward must be replaced by a strong head coach ASAP.
His record is a mirage.
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I'm actually surprised his record is that good. I guess though at the time Peter's had to be let go, the team was pretty low in the standings, so it makes sense that they had to pull off a relatively good rate to climb back up. But it goes to show that the team record should honestly be even better.
I do feel that the core of the roster does have its fault that most likely needs to be tinkered in the off season. Gaudreau not being a star impact player this season has hurt the team a lot, and perhaps a symptom of that is the system in place, but his performances in the playoffs; especially the Colorado series, shows that due to his size, he's not the player you can rely on to carry the team when the heat in the kitchen gets turned up.
The team lacks a player that can carry the team like Gaudreau can when he's on, but can also handle the rough physical play, and not be shutdown easily under that environment. Without that, I'm not sure the team is built well enough as it stands currently to be able to go on a playoff run. You need your top line to be productive come April, and if Gaudreau is relied on to be the one to carry it, he's not gonna be able to deliver unless he gets a OS update, and he becomes a lot more physically engaged, courageous, and most importantly, resilient.
But with that said, I do feel that with a good coach brought it, he would be able to get more out of this roster than the past few coaches have been able to. He would utilize players, put them in positions, and have a structure that will yield the best results out of them that's possible. He might even be able to make playoff Gaudreau have impact, and make this core work good enough to at least be a respectable playoff team.
I do feel it's worth it to give a legitimate coach a shot with this roster, before making drastic changes. But if that's not going to happen until the off season, then I feel both trades involving the core, and a new coach should both happen at the same time.
In the meantime, I'm just really hoping that Treliving does not trade any of the early round draft picks or prospects with potential for a older veteran that's just a short term solution attempt.