Quote:
Originally Posted by Classic_Sniper
Seriously, in this league today, who doesn’t dump and chase? How is any team supposed to cross through the neutral zone when it’s clogged full of bodies. The alternative would be to try to navigate through, then likely turn it over and get scored on. Then CP erupts trying to trade the guy because he’s a turnover machine.
Dump and chase has a lot to do with what the opposition gives you. It’s ultimately the safest route and what most teams attempt to do in this league. Puck gets dumped in, forecheck is activated, you try to turn pucks over and create offense from their chaos. The Flames also activate a hard forecheck when retrieving loose pucks from missed opportunities, their D-men are asked to pinch a lot which aids in the forecheck.
Watch the 1st lines highlights of this team under Ward or Peters. They have the same strategy. I’d say 60% to 70% of their even strength goals were scored on the forecheck. That was the same strategy that lead to Gaudreau and Monahan absolutely crushing their career highs.
Now if the question is whether the personnel of this team is the right mix right now, that’s a better question. But fact is, the Flames don’t have another puck hound like Elias Lindholm they can stick on a line with #13 & #23, so yes, at even strength, they’ve suffered. But Treliving has built the team this year to run Elias Lindholm down the middle, so this is the situation as it stands. Have the wingers Tre signed been successful? No they haven’t and that’s probably the better issue at hand right now.
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I agree with this. I don’t think there is a coach in the league that tells the players that as soon as they get in the offensive zone, they need to dump and chase at all costs. Obviously they would rather have players keep possession and make a play. But if the option is dump or a high probability of losing possession, you have to make the safe play.
I will say that this team has to dump and chase more often than some others, which is a personnel issue and not a coaching one