Athletic's Stinson Zone Exit Prevention Teams

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Do you believe the Flames were slow because individual players are slow skaters?

Yes. A slow player on every line basically. Monahan, tkachuk, jagr/Hathaway, Stajan/Brouwer. No real 'Burners' on the roster except on the back end.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

Yes. A slow player on every line basically. Monahan, tkachuk, jagr/Hathaway, Stajan/Brouwer. No real 'Burners' on the roster except on the back end.

Most teams have slow skaters. I tend to think that team speed is heavily dependent on coaching—the Flames with these same or similar players have in the past played a much faster game. So long as a team is not overloaded by poor skaters they should be able to play a fast game. I did not think the Flames had too many slow skaters last year, and they are easily much improved in terms of individual skaters heading into this season. This should not be an issue.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Most teams have slow skaters. I tend to think that team speed is heavily dependent on coaching—the Flames with these same or similar players have in the past played a much faster game. So long as a team is not overloaded by poor skaters they should be able to play a fast game. I did not think the Flames had too many slow skaters last year, and they are easily much improved in terms of individual skaters heading into this season. This should not be an issue.

The team was overloaded with poor skaters.

There are 12 forward spots, the following players are slow:

Monahan
Tkachuk
Jagr
Hathaway
Brouwer
Stajan
Freddie
Versteeg
Glass

Guys like frolik, janko and Bennett aren't exactly speedsters.

The roster was slow. Looks much faster this year.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

The team was overloaded with poor skaters.

There are 12 forward spots, the following players are slow:

Monahan
Tkachuk
Jagr
Hathaway
Brouwer
Stajan
Freddie
Versteeg
Glass

Guys like frolik, janko and Bennett aren't exactly speedsters.

The roster was slow. Looks much faster this year.

Combined Freddie, Versteeg, Glass and Jagr played in 60 games (or 70 - my math got confused). So to say that those guys were all part of the 12 man forward group is misleading.

I don't disagree that the roster is faster, but the presentation above is over-stating things by including those 4 guys as members of the 12 forward spots.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Combined Freddie, Versteeg, Glass and Jagr played in 60 games (or 70 - my math got confused). So to say that those guys were all part of the 12 man forward group is misleading.

I don't disagree that the roster is faster, but the presentation above is over-stating things by including those 4 guys as members of the 12 forward spots.

With janko and Bennett and frolik it's over half the roster.

Flames forwards last year who were quick:

Gaudreau
Backlund
Ferland

[Enoch Root]

Bennett
Lazar
Frolik is under-rated

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

With janko and Bennett and frolik it's over half the roster.

Flames forwards last year who were quick:

Gaudreau
Backlund
Ferland

What's your definition of quick/slow?
I don't think Sam Bennett is slow. I've never viewed that as being a factor in his underwhelming play.
Anyways we are getting into semantics. I don't disagree the team is faster this year and that's good.

[GullFoss]

How to play fast:

Fast skaters
Quantity and quality of passing
Transition speed
Positioning

We can debate number one. But anyone who watched the flames and thought they exemplified impressive passing and fast transitions are dellusional. The flames system - whether intentional or not - resulted in an extremely slow style of play.

Originally Posted by Bingo

Gullutzan was very open about wanting to play 50.50 hockey and then look for opportunities. It would certainly fit that narrative to not bust a nut on the forecheck in a 50/50 plan as it would leave you somewhat exposed up the ice if it failed.

Ok ...but follow the logic of how stupid this strategy is. If you're playing 50/50 hockey, the odds are only in your favor if you have a more talented group. The only teams that should have even considered playing 50/50 hockey last year we're the truly talented teams (relative to baseline) like Tampa. For a team like the flames, who had roughly average talent, playing 50/50 hcokey results in a coin toss.

And the flames weak forecheck and slow transitions resulted in a something far worse than 50/50.

[Enoch Root]

On the backend, I expect Brodie and Giordano to be more active than last year.

Hanifin is an elite skater that likes to step into the rush.

And even though he was an excellent skater, I always felt that Hamilton stood still a lot - especially in his own end.

I expect more skating from the D, more puck movement, and faster transition. All of those things should improve team speed as well.

[PugnaciousIntern]

Can’t speak for Carolina, but this certainly passes the eye test for the Flames. Such minimal pressure once they lost possession in the offensive zone. Plus very little neutral zone pressure. It was painful to watch

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

On the backend, I expect Brodie and Giordano to be more active than last year.

Hanifin is an elite skater that likes to step into the rush.

And even though he was an excellent skater, I always felt that Hamilton stood still a lot - especially in his own end.

I expect more skating from the D, more puck movement, and faster transition. All of those things should improve team speed as well.

Hamilton's controlled exits and entries were pretty middle of the pack offensively. Add in his tendency to let Giordano get back to get the puck and really I'm not so sure we saw a lot of skating.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Hamilton's controlled exits and entries were pretty middle of the pack offensively. Add in his tendency to let Giordano get back to get the puck and really I'm not so sure we saw a lot of skating.

Agreed. From Hamilton specifically. And from the team aggregately, due to their zone to zone style of play.