Personally, I think "identity" is something a bit different: simply "tough to play against". In different games that may mean quite different things.
In the first Van-Cgy game the Flames came out gangbusters for the first few minutes...hard on the puck, flying around the ice, crisp passes, moving as a group...all the right things. Then they stopped. What made them successful (or at least semi-so in catching back up)? Doing those things all over again in the second period. Identity - tough to play against.
Now in the last game what they actually needed to do was hit. They didn't. Oh Benny gave a few bang and crashes and so did Looch, but the fact is as a team they didn't hit enough on a night when they were slow (so couldn't play like the first game) to compensate. Hit, hit, hit....tough to play against.
There are many ways to win. But as a team you have to come out and actually perform. Last season the Flames didn't really do that. So far this season, for me, the jury is out. Part of that is on the coach.
Tough to play against? Pick your method for the team you're playing tonight and stick with it. That is what they need to do and keep doing.
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