Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperMatt18
Here's the thing - the system wasn't great last year down the stretch either. This passive, low event, collapse in front of the net system that Ward played wasn't that great down the stretch, and wasn't that great against Dallas.
We had success down the stretch last year because we got hot goaltending and our PP was good but our play at 5v5 was really poor. Then the only reason it worked against Winnipeg is that they were riddled by injury and had no d-men that could take advantage of the time and space they were being given in the offensive zone. That quickly changed against Dallas though with Heiskanen and Klingberg eating us alive.
It's no different this year. If our PP is good and we get goaltending we have a chance to win. However it's a slim margin for error and if either of those things are bad we will lose, and if both of them are bad then we're getting blown out.
Even if this coaching staff isn't fired - what I don't get is why the GM wouldn't make the phone call down and say "Lets go back to what worked as a system in 18-19, enough of this crap".
This team started playing a different system going into 19-20 season that was meant to be better defensively and more tailored for playoff hockey but it just hasn't worked. If anything we've been worse defensively and useless offensively.
Go Back to what worked as a system in 18-19 and forget about what happened against Colorado in the playoffs. That 18-19 system and playstyle, with Markstrom holding down the fort behind him would likely work really well. |
Last year down the stretch the Flames were on fire goal scoring wise. They were definitely not playing low event hockey as they were either the top team in scoring or second in GF down the stretch. Goaltending I don't remember being very good either as it was Rittich struggling once again in the second half and Talbot getting more starts because of Rittich's drop off.
Sure, Winnipeg being injury riddled was a factor. But then you'd have to go the other way by saying the Flames not having Tkachuk for most of the Dallas series was a factor. The Flames were already in for a tough series anyway, then you take out one of your best players on your top shutdown line and that's gonna hurt anyway you slice it. Also, Dallas went to the finals, so getting beat by the eventual Stanley Cup finalists doesn't sting as much.
Lastly, the GM doesn't need to make a call because they're playing the exact SAME system. Ward was hired to work in coherence with Bill Peters, so the two had to have shared the same or extremely similar philosophies and based on what I've seen, it is indeed identical. Both believe in a very aggressive, very heavy based checking system. They both also believe in a very passive defensive scheme so you give up the low percentage shot from the point which I assume is to protect the high danger chances from the middle.
I don't understand where you got this "started playing a different system" thing. I think I've seen you post it a couple times now and I have no idea where you heard it from. Like did this come out of Bill Peter's mouth because I for sure didn't hear it. The only remark I heard from Peters after the playoffs ended was that he thought they needed to be faster and that's likely because Colorado's speed ate them alive through the neutral zone. With that said, that's actually the biggest gripe I have with this system. It's a very taxing system that requires hard work and players constantly paying attention to the details in order to be "connected." But if your team is lacking confidence and don't seem to care about the details, it's your own worst enemy because you then leave yourself extremely vulnerable to counter attacks. I think that's where Geoff Ward is facing his biggest dilemma, how do you get these 23 players to reach deep down and actually give a damn about their tasks and assignments. Maybe a firing would work in the short term, but it'll be extremely short lived because Treliving will still end up hiring a coach based on his analytics friendly vision who will likely deploy the exact same system that has the exact same pitfalls for this roster.