Quote:
Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe
At Classic Sniper (still can't quote):
Q: Why doesn't the opponent get any credit in all of this?
A: Flames played a lousy Vancouver team that was reeling with a terrible start to the year, rumours about a GM getting fired, etc. Vancouver were not good, yet seemed to neutralize the team fairly effectively. Oilers - a terrible defensive team both on paper and on the ice (just look at their shots against and underlying metrics), and yet they were still able to basically neuter Calgary's offence. You are seeing different teams doing this to Calgary now. I would agree to give the opposing teams more credit than I am, but at the end of the day, this is a pattern that the Flames are going through, and this pattern stretches back for a while now. It is just getting worse.
As for Ward not wanting to break out slowly? No, I disagree here too. You can see it when the Flames take control of the puck in their own zone. SOMETIMES you will see a stretch pass attempt, but rarely do you see a fast break-out. Flames corral the puck, pass D to D, then to F, then to D again... It isn't the other team doing a great job hustling back, it is the Flames not attacking with speed the instant they get control of the puck.
Every team has bad games and bad stretches. Maybe you are right and this isn't the way Ward wants to play. I guess we will see this play out for a while longer and get a larger sample size. I, however, am convinced that what we see in terms of the breakout IS what Ward wants to happen. I hope I am proven wrong, or that Ward changes things up considerably - I will be happy with either as long as the Flames start attacking with more speed again and actually look interesting to watch again.
They enter too slowly to break the trap. Flames need to just mix it up more. Yes, not every time they take control of the puck can they just go out and attack - they could be tired and in need of a line change, or most of the opposing team is already playing it safe and are getting into position by then. There are different ways to break the trap - heck, lots of set plays, like firing the puck unexpectedly behind the red line and having a forward already racing to beat the icing. Try short passes, try stretch passes, dump and chase - but the problem is that the Flames are too often allowing the other team to get into position. That's not exactly my point.
My point is if the Flames are intent on coming out as a 5 man unit every time they take possession of the puck, then the opposing team has the relative luxury of getting set on defence, including trap hockey. The most effective way to beat the trap, is to attack before they are set. Confusion is what causes defensive breakdowns the most regularly, which leads to better scoring chances. Don't want to confuse your opponent? Then you better out-skill them - and that's whey you see players trying to dangle through too many players. Outwork them is fine too - but it is a tough deal to work that hard all season, especially when you are playing every other night with some back-to-backs interspersed throughout.
They don't always need to beat the trap. They just need to turn around and head the other way before the other team sets up the trap. That's most of my point.
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Any team in any given night can beat any team in the NHL and trap helps bad teams beat more skilled teams. We’ve seen this throughout the NHL’s history, this is not new. The Flames are a skilled team now and they’re seeing this story playing out. The Canucks also beat the Flames in part because their identity is hard work and they outworked the Flames. The Oilers beat the Flames because they’re more skilled, McDavid took over the last game between the two despite his team being outshot nearly a 2:1 ratio. The Flames don’t have a McDavid type player. Similarly, Auston Matthews had a game earlier in the season where his team was being considerably outplayed by the Flames and he just took over with his skill and willed his team to victory, we don’t have an Auston Matthews.
As for the trap conversation, the Flames do try anything and everything. The players generally have full autonomy here, they play the game, they’re on the ice and they try different things. They try fast outlets, they make the long passes, but it often gets intercepted. All those turnovers we see, a lot of them are from the long passes. Sometimes Johnny Gaudreau can get behind defenses like I said, but he’s no expert on the breakaways as we’ve seen. The breakouts are what they are ultimately; with the trap, sometimes you get by them, sometimes you don’t. When they do though, that’s where the Flames are having the most trouble in my opinion. Their dump and chase game is completely ineffective at times. Too many one and dones. I’ve been adamant that this is personnel more than anything else. They’re not built for dump and chase and they’re not really good enough on the skill game either. They’re sort of stuck in the middle and that’s why they’re a middling team.
That’s the disconnect here ultimately in all of this. People watch and see the breakouts and assume it’s all on the coach. This game has so much read and react and I don’t know how it could ever be on the coach. This game is more about how you deal with pressure and puck pursuits and this team has a hard time with this aspect a lot of nights. They did a better job last night and played the style of game Ward WANTS. They looked faster and more cohesive. But that’s because Toronto plays like the Flames, they commit to a harder forecheck and are totally fine with opening up the middle of the ice which suits the Flames.