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Originally Posted by Enoch Root
Great article and analysis. For those of you who don't think it's too exceptionally long to read, I recommend that you do. It is really good, and I think she nails it. There are several good points, but the one that jumped out at me was the following:
This articulates so well, what has been bugging me for some time: the Flames, on odd man rushes, rarely make a good play because they rarely get open - they literally skate straight into the defenders (there are video clips in the article, demonstrating this).
There are multiple layers of problems, with respect to Huberdeau's game right now (including confidence, etc), but a couple of clearly evident problems are a hesitation before he passes, and passing into the defender. When you realize that the other Flame attackers are either skating into the defenders, skating into the same lanes, or exiting stage left, it explains the hesitation: his passing outlets simply don't exist.
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Long read and videos to study, but surprisingly well worth the effort to do so in understanding why he fails currently and what worked previously.
While Flames play the same "5-man unit up the ice", there are two notable differences: the first is that FLA's forwards started close to Huby and then moved out, separating themselves from the opposing d-men, often taking a curved route...this means they needed to be able to skate faster than Huberdeau (not hard) but more that they needed to be clear aboout WHEN to break. Flames tend to move up close to each other and stay there, so the D is always in the way of a pass. Great analysis on that.
The second piece is the trailing effort of the offensive D...and while Calgary does this, they tend to be further back and put themselves out of the immediate play...so Huby ends up standing still when he gets a pass...and loses it.
Faster feet, faster reactions and higher hockey IQ for his line / D would help. Seems like FLA had that formula nailed down.