Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr. Doom
Please excuse me if this has been described somewhere on this thread...
But what exactly is GG's system? Is there an explanation of how it works - somewhere? I've been watching and all I see is what seems to be the outcome which is good all around hockey. 
But would love to understand the technical aspects he's asked of the players.
Thanks |
I'm no expert either, but some things I've noticed:
1) We're much more aggressive at defending our blue line than in the past. With Hartley, our D were asked to stay conservative and collapse to our net against e.g. a 3 on 2. With Gulutzan our D will aggressively attack the puck carrier and try to poke check the puck carrier at or just before the blue line. It forces the attackers to make a much better play to enter our zone and often creates a turnover for us to attack. The downside is we can sometimes give up a dangerous play if the poke check is late or if the attacker makes a great move.
2) When we have time our breakouts bring at least one forward back into our zone to gather speed and carry the puck. The puck starts with the LD in the middle of the ice, and a left-shooting forward (Usually the C, but Gaudreau plays this role on Monahan's line) will swing around in front of him to gather speed and be open for a quick pass to his left. The RD gives him a quick option to the right as well so the forechecker can't overplay either side. If the forward doesn't get the puck right away, he cuts back to the middle to get open. Meanwhile the wingers just both go to the corners of the blueline. This gives every player at least 2 options with the puck, and if nothing's open it's easy to dump the puck. With Hartley the C was usually up at the blueline with the wingers, so we could very quickly create an odd-man rush if the D wasn't set, but it was harder to generate speed against a prepared defense.
3) Under pressure, our breakout relies on firing the puck low around the boards and having our winger win a puck battle so he can bump it back to the center or the far D to start the breakout. Under Hartley we'd just chip it out high off the glass under pressure and try for a neutral zone turnover. In particular watch Tkachuk and Backlund; Tkachuk is excellent at controlling the puck along the boards and Backlund provides great puck support. Their ability to exit our zone is a huge reason their line has such terrific possession numbers.
4) Along the boards our team is much better at winning puck battles through good puck support. Watch when teams dump and chase against us. The first D in ties up the forechecker's stick and doesn't even attempt to play the puck, relying on the other D or backchecking C to pick up the puck and break it out.
Essentially, it's more structure offensively, and better puck support with more pressure defensively.
EDIT: The video above is a great example of why we use the boards to break out under pressure. Backlund's looking for Tkachuk but his pass is intercepted. However, even though he put it right on Toffoli's tape, we've still got 2 Flames between him and the net, with Giordano covering a man in front and Backlund's in good position against Toffoli trying to shoot. As a result, Toffoli tries a pass and Frolik intercepts, and we get an odd-man rush the other way.
EDIT2: Also, 1:50 is a great example of the way we defend the blue line. Stone and Brodie both shift to the right side of the ice to pressure the puck. Stone poke checks Toffoli right at the blueline, forcing a mediocre entry. If we'd given up the blue line easily like in years past, that third king suddenly becomes a dangerous passing option, but the puck pressure forced the kings into a 2-on-2 before the third player could join.