Oct 19 practice

[nik-]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Roger Millions @RogMillions
Officially Glen Gulutzan is still deliberating on whether it's Elliott or Johnson on Thursday vs

hmmmmm

[Geeoff]

Originally Posted by locsofblu

Interesting. Versteeg looked meh on the top line so I'm all for a change. I doubt Tkachuk plays the year on our 4th line. I'd imagine they send him back to Juniors if that were the case.

It's not really a typical 4th line though since Stajan and Versteeg are both skill players. Also, Tkachuk has gotten a lot of power play time.

[Komskies]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Roger Millions @RogMillions
Officially Glen Gulutzan is still deliberating on whether it's Elliott or Johnson on Thursday vs

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[Gaskal]

Originally Posted by flambers

Lines look fine, key element to work on is the Power Play.

Cameron has been doing jack all with our crap PP.... a whopping 6.3% on the PP. Players look lost and indecisive. Just pathetic.

[Samonadreau]

I would go back to Elliott.

[Torture]

Originally Posted by Samonadreau

I would go back to Elliott.

Ditto. Gotta give him a chance to get going.

[Par]

Originally Posted by Gaskal

Cameron has been doing jack all with our crap PP.... a whopping 6.3% on the PP. Players look lost and indecisive. Just pathetic.

Cameron was not the right guy for the PP.

[Buff]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Roger Millions @RogMillions
Officially Glen Gulutzan is still deliberating on whether it's Elliott or Johnson on Thursday vs

Unofficially Glen Gulutzan knows who is playing on Thursday but won't tell.

[Buff]

Originally Posted by Par

Cameron was not the right guy for the PP.

How do you know so soon? Just because the PP isn't doing well? If the PP unit guys were scoring at 5 on 5 right now then I'd agree that he isn't the right guy, but, the PP guys aren't scoring like they should at any time during the game.

[djsFlames]

I'd rather get Elliott going against Carolina than against the Blues.

And yes I believe playing ex teams is advantage->shooters. To clarify, I do think he will play against his old team, but it won't be pretty if that's the first game that you throw him back in.

[CroFlames]

I would also go withe Elliot to try to get him going.

[Buff]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

I'd rather get Elliott going against Carolina than against the Blues.

And yes I believe playing ex teams is advantage->shooters. To clarify, I do think he will play against his old team, but it won't be pretty if that's the first game that you throw him back in.

Remember when Scotty Bowman wouldn't let Vernon play against the Flames?

[FBI]

Yup I could see Tkachuk tried with Johnny and Mony this year too.

[Enoch Root]

Cameron is not the PP coach we need, but he is the PP coach we deserve

[Rollin22x]

I'd like to see Tkachuk on a line that has someone who will back him up when he plays the game like he did during the 3rd period last night.

[Enoch Root]

I like that he has Chiasson on Monahan's line - he has earned that opportunity

[sureLoss]

Kristen Odland @Kristen_Odland
Asked Gulutzan what specifically he was upset about during the outburst (what he accurately called, "teaching moment"): “Puck management.”

Kristen Odland @Kristen_Odland
Gulutzan: "That’s the biggest thing we haven’t got ahold of in the first four games that we’ve played. We need to manage the puck better.

[polak]

Isn't the entire game of hockey technically "puck management"?

[Bandwagon In Flames]

At first glance those lines looked really random, but these are really balanced lines and I think we might need that on the road. GG likes to roll 4 lines and this gives you exactly that.

Chiasson has looked better and better every game since preseason. For a guy like him it's all about building confidence and feeling comfortable. He's got size, speed, and a nice scoring touch so let's see what he can do with some precious Johnny minutes.

Versteeg really hasn't impressed me and he just looks lost out there, unaware of where his teammates are on the ice. Hopefully once he learns his linemate's tendencies and system we'll see him be more effective.

[Gaskal]

Originally Posted by Buff

How do you know so soon? Just because the PP isn't doing well? If the PP unit guys were scoring at 5 on 5 right now then I'd agree that he isn't the right guy, but, the PP guys aren't scoring like they should at any time during the game.

Mike FAIL covered this at length.

From when Cameron was first hired:

The Senators' CF60 at 5v4 last season was 80.54, good enough for 23rd in the league.

Their FF60 at 5v4? 57.33, which placed them 27th overall this past season. How about SF60? Well, unfortunately for the Senators under Cameron they were last in SF60 during 5v4 with a meagre 39.85.

After last night's game:

A few scenarios have crept up in the last two games:

They exit their zone -> puck carrier does this inane drop pass to the second puck carrier who tries to rush into the offensive zone. All of which brings up two predominate issues. The first being the opposition's PK is likely ready to suppress the zone entry against. The drop pass to the second puck carrier gives them about 0.5-1.5 seconds (rough count I did last night on one) to set up even further.

And then all of a sudden that entry the Flames wanted is broken up and it's a race to the puck OR it's pushed back down the ice for a retry.

The second scenario is when they actually get into the offensive zone or they maintain possession long enough after the faceoff. There isn't enough cycling of the puck and a high enough pass completion rate. Often than not, the PP feels immobilized because they're not moving enough. This is giving the PK time to suppress and apply pressure at the right moments to break up passes, exit the zone, or even get offensive zone time.

The dilemma with this and how there was concern when he was hired - subsequently there is now more coming up - is how Cameron failed to capitalize in Ottawa with some of the talent he had.

And that's to say that they struggled generating shots, goals (because you need shots to get goals), and scoring chances. Nearly every statistical category last season for the Senators' PP was among the worst or actually worst.

I know everyone isn't a huge fan here of expected goal models (xGF) but I'm certain the Senators had the league worst xGF60 at 5v4. Corsica is downish right now so I can't check that.

TL;DR - It might be early but folks who have concerns about how Cameron is handling this PP have some justifiable reasons behind it.