Quote:
Originally Posted by Red Slinger
He is a good coach who squeezes everything out of his players but I think the Oilers figured out how to play against his system in last years playoffs and many teams did the same this year. So, while a lot of underlying stats looked good the results weren't there. Even so, with league average goaltending the team would comfortably be in the playoffs.
|
I'd challenge some of those statements.
- The Oilers figured out how to play against a Flames team that was missing Tanev and whose goaltender was playing atrociously, while getting every favourable call imaginable.
- Again this year, the Flames were without Kylington. A huge part of last year's success was the Kylington - Tanev pair's dynamic. Kylington's transition game, speed on the backcheck, and offense worked perfectly with Tanev's steady all-around defensive game. We haven't had that pair since last year's Dallas series.
- Despite that, it was more than just underlying stats that looked good. The 2022-23 Flames were 9th in 5v5 goals and 18th in 5v5 goals against. This is actual goals, and these numbers really are indicative of a team that should be in ~100 point range. Those numbers certainly could have been better (player usage, better goaltending, better individual play, and playing with leads more often all would have contributed positively) but it's disingenous to say the systems were figured out. The Jets, Kings, and Wild all made the playoffs in our conference with worse 5v5 play, purely in terms of goals for and against.
- The greatest failing came down to the powerplay, which is absolutely on Sutter, but not on Sutter's
system
Quote:
Originally Posted by GullFoss
Huby and Kadri are so soft, they couldn't even handle one season with Sutter.
|
Huby and Kadri have played for Bednar, Babcock, Quennville, Gallant. I doubt that's an accurate depiction of what happened.
More likely, it was frustration over ice time and line construction. That doesn't absolve the players, but I think it's fair to say you're totally removing the nuance from the situation with that assessment.