Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperMatt18
One thing that’s bugging me is why does it seem like the team we saw in the first period last night looked exactly like the team we saw the first 50 games of the 18-19 season.
Crisp passes, strong fluid breakout, aggressive forecheck - like honestly I was watching that period and thought “Why does this team structure suddenly look like the structure we played prior to the week break last season?”
Two things immediately stood out to me though. We were deploying a different breakout and forecheck than we had at any point in this regular season or playoffs.
For the breakout they were no longer doing the chip it up the wall to the strong side winger who is standing still with his back to the pinching d-man breakout we had seen for over a season now.
They were sending the weak side forward out the zone to push back the defense and trying to make a short diagonal pass to the low forward (usually Center) around the circle who was facing up ice and moving his feet. He then had passing options of either the Strong side winger who was facing out the zone, a pass to the soft side dman who was facing up ice and skating, or a stretch pass to the soft side winger who had left the zone.
The different breakout neutralized the Stars forecheck in the first, prevented the Stars D from pinching as much, and allowed the Flames to attack with speed. I tried to look back at some videos of the start of the 18-19 season but to me it looked like the same breakout we were deploying at the start of that season. It’s a riskier breakout in terms of where a potential turnover would occur but if you can make crisp passes it can be very effective.
The other change was the defense were playing much more aggressive on our forecheck. With the team going with a more aggressive 2-1-2 or 1-2-2 forecheck instead of a passive 1-2-2. Countless times in the first period I noticed our dmen stepping in front of a long pass the Stars d-men were making to their forwards, instead of playing it safe to make sure they didn’t get beat with a forward behind them.
It allowed the Flames to create neutral zone turnovers and keep attacking in waves against the Stars team and created a couple of mini 3-2 scenarios.It also allowed the d-men to activate more since they could step in front of that pass, move their feet, and help carry the puck in off the rush.
Once again I tried to look back at some video of the teams first 50 games of 18-19 and it looked like the strategy we used to great success at the start of that season. Of course the defense being aggressive to step in front of that pass did lead to some forwards getting behind them if the pass slipped through, but overall it seems to be what allowed out dmen to activate more in the past.
Honestly I’ll never know what exact changes to the system the coaching staff (and let’s be honest it’s still the same coaching staff with or without Peters) made during that week break in January 2019 but it clearly wasn’t for the better with this group. I think they tried to move to a less aggressive, safer style of play that would suit the “heavy hockey” of the playoffs and it just doesn’t suit this group. Instead of just letting this group play aggressive and with speed they tried to slow them down to play a safer, “low event” hockey and it just doesn’t suit how this group is built.
Sadly I don’t think we will ever get to see this group actually play that more aggressive, attacking style in a full playoff series because this core likely (and justifiably) gets broken up this offseason.
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Exactly. When they move the puck like that, and have the D engage - what some have called their transition game, for lack of a proper term - they are not only effective, but dominant.
The baffling thing is: why can't they continue to play like that? Why do they revert to the completely ineffective strategy of standing still, passing it backwards, 'moving as a 5-man unit', and chipping it in?
It is baffling. and I don't think there is one simple reason for it.