Quote:
Originally Posted by Macindoc
I don't think they lack an identity. They just have the wrong identity.
They are coached to be a dump and chase, collapse to the net, passive team, which is exactly what they have been. But they are a bunch of small, skilled players, and that identity does not suit them, nor does it suit today's fast, skilled NHL.
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This. 100% This.
The style that the coach (and I think GM) want to play, does not match the roster that is built on the ice. It's the coach and GM that are driving the identity crisis.
I think there were two steps here. At the 10 day break / all-star break in 18-19 the coaching staff decided they wanted to play heavier playoff hockey.
They made line up changes (Kylington out, Fantanberg in), stopped having fun (Purple Gatorade Dissappeared), and tried to play a more structured, defensive game.
It didn't work. They faltered down the stretch that year, got creamed in the playoffs, and the top players looked downright bad doing it.
Then the big transition point was that offseason.
Where instead of going back to what worked with this core, they decided to lean into the "Heavy, playoff hockey" mindset and went even further down the style that Macindoc detailed above.
Instead of losing to Colorado and saying "Damn, that team was fast, skilled, and played with pace, how do we play more like them?"
We decided to say "How do we get this small, skilled roster, to play more like the big, physical 10-11 Boston Bruins?"
And it's becoming more obvious. There is a reason that guys like Lucic, Robinson, Ritchie, come into the lineup and look okay. The style suits their skill set. Dump it in, get on the forecheck, hit somebody, grind it out in the corners.
Grit and Grind is being prioritized over skill and creativity in this system, and we just don't have the roster to play that way.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CroFlames
This morning Rhett declared that the room must be a terrible room. Guys aren't playing for each other anymore, there is no identity and it due to not having a cohesive room.
This is a former NHLer.
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And this doesn't surprise me.
Feels a lot like the end of Rhett's tenure as a Flame to be honest.
Wouldn't be surprised if there is a divide in the room between those that support Ward and want to play this system. And those that completely hate this style of play and don't want to play this grit and grind style he had them playing.
Very similar parallels to end of Rhetts time where there was a group in the dressing room that wanted to play a more offensive system, and a group in the dressing room that wanted to play a more defensive structured system.