Quote:
Originally Posted by blankall
It seemed to me like Sutter had given Gaudreau/Tkachuk somewhat free reign to play their game. After the playoff collapse, Sutter took a 180 and double downed on his defensive play first system.
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Sutter didn't change his system at all. He's always demanded effort and details in your own end, that never changed even with Gaudreau & Tkachuk. I think people forgot how quickly that top line defended in their own zone, Lindholm was a beast down low and was always diligent in his one on one responsibilities. Tkachuk was great at utilizing his off-side to make plays along the boards to Gaudreau or to relay back to Lindholm for the breakout. Johnny was just incredible at taking the defender with him and accepting breakout passes and quickly transitioning/gaining the opposition blue line. You can't coach this kind of chemistry, it's something that your line either has or doesn't have.
The other non-negotiables I noticed from Darryl was checking and pace of play. The effort has to be there on the checking side and you had to be able to keep up the pace of play both mentally and physically. That never changed and ultimately, some guys proved they could and some proved they couldn't.