Quote:
Originally Posted by Joborule
It's been said in multiple threads the past week or so, but the Flames getting embarrassed by the Avs in the playoffs just has crippled this franchise. The coaching philosophy since then has been to play 'safe' hockey as a result. The ironic thing is, is that be playing safe, you're just preventing yourself from winning. This is why this team is guaranteed to have ####ty starts in ever game because they're over cautious and reactive. You have to play perfect in order to have a chance to win, whereas the opposing team that's being more assertive will be able to create a mistake they can capitalize on eventually.
It's like the saying in football: prevent defense prevents you from winning.
You gotta be willing to take initiative and be assertive to dictate the play in your favour. Flames were all about for the majority of the 18-19 season. The overreaction has caused them to become their own worst enemies.
They may have not been as good as 2nd in the NHL good, but they shouldn't have dropped off that much. It's not like luck was carrying the team. They just executed extremely well.
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I don’t disagree that they are too passive. But I also think that other teams have figured out the Flames’ offensive players like Gaudreau. It’s like how we always say “you should be able to defend McDavid - he does the same thing all the time”. It’s become pretty easy to defend Monahan and Gaudreau - stop Gaudreau near the blue line or funnel him, and make sure he doesn’t get the puck across the ice.
There’s a couple players that have taken a step back, too - Tkachuk and Rasmus.
And coaching is not great at all.