Quote:
Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe
What?? What game did you watch yesterday? Not the Flames game, that's for sure.
Part of why this team was so effective last night was their VERY aggressive forecheck taking the time and space away from Montreal every time the puck was dumped in. That's HOW they were able to turn over so many pucks in the offensive zone.
Some people see what they want to see I guess. Tell me, did you see a fast team or did you see a slow team yesterday? Before the game, you were adamant that the Flames played slow because they are a slow team. Do you still hold this opinion?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe
What?? What game did you watch yesterday? Not the Flames game, that's for sure.
Part of why this team was so effective last night was their VERY aggressive forecheck taking the time and space away from Montreal every time the puck was dumped in. That's HOW they were able to turn over so many pucks in the offensive zone.
Some people see what they want to see I guess. Tell me, did you see a fast team or did you see a slow team yesterday? Before the game, you were adamant that the Flames played slow because they are a slow team. Do you still hold this opinion?
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The sheer irony of your statement.
First of all, I will say that their forecheck was more effective, but it was NOT aggressive compared to their previous forecheck. This is what I meant when I said in the past that you can still force turnovers in other ways. If you didn’t notice, they didn’t chase nearly as much, you could see F2 and F3 often drop back and looked to cut off the puck carrier rather then press forward towards the puck carrier. If you want proof, just look at how many Flames bodies were in the neutral zone at any given time. Look at back pressure, look at how much easier it was for them to track back because they didn’t have to cover as much distance. Look at how few odd man rushes they gave up, did you notice how often the defensemen were able to hold down their own blue line because they had the support to do so and didn’t have the opposition flying through the middle of the ice. The structure was more conservative and lead to less much less shots and chances for the opposition.
Lastly, I never said the Flames play slow because they are slow. I’ve already said it several times that the Flames generally have to play slower based on how the opposition plays them. You’ve got it wrong with the previous coaching staff. Geoff Ward and Bill Peters didn’t want to play slow; quite the contrary, they both wanted to play with pace and as he said in the past, to “check for your chances.” They both believed in a very aggressive forecheck and he wanted to play with speed. But it’s very similar to how the Flames slowed down Montréal. Did a small, speedy team like the Canadiens team want to play slow or were they forced to play slow? No, they were forced to though.