Quote:
Originally Posted by btimbit
A coach can do a lot more than you're giving credit
It's not just the players deciding to transition the puck slowly and let the opposite team get set up and forcheck. It's not just the players that dump the puck in with nobody to retrieve it. That's the players playing the system they're told to by the coach. The one they work on every practice.
If they're playing like that, it doesn't matter who is on the team. You could have Crosby and Yzerman, but you get them playing like that, they're not going to do much for you. Granted the difference is Crosby and Yzerman would tell the coach to piss off
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No one tells players to dump in and not try to retrieve. I guarantee that’s not what Ward coaches. And if you actually watch them play, the transitions they’ve been trying are fast up ice passes. The D to D thing is a myth.
Where Ward has failed is getting them to do those things properly. Johnny still insists on carrying into traffic and getting funnelled. Bennett, who’s a decent dump and chase player, dangles into the middle of the ice. And when they do dump, they don’t support. So I think Ward’s problem is the opposite of players doing what he’s preaching. It’s players not doing what he says. Which is still a Ward problem.
But it’s also been a Hartley problem, a Gulutzen problem and a Peters problem.