[PGT] Sens 6 Flames 1

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Bingo

I thought the Lucic turnovers were more about bad luck and a bad assumption than poor plays.

Both were pucks chipped right to Calgary players.

The first one hits a skate of a Calgary player and turns over.
The second one goes right to two Calgary players (Backlund and Dube) who both assume the pucks coming out and don't provide any support at all on the turnover.

I’ve got a high tolerance for mistakes. I’m not mad at Lucic. I’m just saying the team crumbled after it, when they were in position to take over the game after his goal. I’m critical of the team makeup, particularly the forwards, but it’s a better team than Ottawa and they had half a game left to get one goal at that point.

[taxbuster]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

I think you have to give Hartley credit for more than just "motivation"

- he was outstanding at line matching, line blending, shortening his bench, reading the hot hand and double shifting them
- he was strong with details. Even more recently, Giordano credits Hartley with teaching him details he never learned under previous coaches.
- he ran high intensity practices, which set the bar for how the team would approach games
- he didn't have overt vet/star favouritism. Even benched Gaudreau and Monahan, batted heads with Raymond and Sarich, pushed Backlund... he really got the most out of individuals, and when he didn't it was because they were cooked

Even if Gulutzan had better systems (and special teams), Hartley was the superior bench guy IMO. This is a guy who coached against Scotty Bowman and soaked in all the things he saw Scotty do.

My fave coach in the league is Joel Quennville... he has the systems of a Gulutzan, but runs his bench to perfection like Hartley. You need both, but given the dilemma of only choosing one... you gotta go with the guy who runs his bench well.

Also "always earned, never given"...and he stuck with it. Call it motivation if you like, but to me, that's part of a system.

Rewarding lazy veterans is, too. It's just a bad system.

[djsFlames]

If Hartley got the roster with the guys it has now, he would do great things with this team.

He got more than the last three guys out of a much worse line up.

The reason is because he didn't allow life to be comfortable for guys who underperformed.

He went ahead and exploded torts by starting his fourth line in Vancouver because they were playing the best of the bunch and deserved the opportunity.

He didn't care if it was out of the ordinary or how Torts might retaliate. That approach is in a similar vein to Darryl who also got great results out of middling rosters.

Sure some players probably hated him. But they probably also respected him because he didn't back down on his philosophy for any one.

Now players get asked what roles they want to play rather than earning them, and get patted on the back for efforts like the second Toronto game where they slacked at the end and were outshot nearly 2-1.

[timbit]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

Sure you do. It's an effective breakout play in most cases because a defenseman or center will typically receive the pass and skate the puck out of trouble.

The issue isn't that you "never" make this sort of breakout. And it's not as blind as you're making it sound.

The issue is that the Flames "only" make this sort of breakout, and opponents have scouted it ad nauseum to the point where they're reading this play before it happens.

They're playing like robots out there and it's predictable.

Someone needs to tell a guy like Noah Hanifin to just skate every puck he has possession of out for a game, even if he's behind the net when he gets possession, even if it leads to a turnover. Just add variety to your breakout, so it's not just passes being picked off predictably. Then suddenly that lucic play doesn't happen with the same frequency when you need to make that breakout play.

The fact that the one guy on this team who would actually do exactly what I described was a healthy scratch last night is what frustrates me the most.

If only Ward would call the right audibles from the bench.

Oh wait...

[Tsawwassen]

Post game links
https://scores.nbcsports.com/nhl/box...s=3&final=true
http://sportsstats.cbc.ca/hockey/nhl...cap133907.html