In part one of Charlie Brown’s Teacher, I described why the Edmonton Oilers and their management are having a hard time convincing me that they are going to turn their season around. Why I want to be optimistic, there are fundamental aspects of the team that have to change in order to get what I will from now on call “Detroit Red Wings Results.”
Now in order to get Detroit Red Wings results, one must have many aspects including an elite level of management, an elite coach, exceptional scouting, a very deep farm system, and high skill within the pro team; just to name a few. They also need to have, and this what I am going to concentrate on today, a great team system (game). The Oilers, as of today, have a system that is not working for them hence their record. (The have no game.)
Detroit plays a team system called Puck Possession. Very quickly, Puck Possession can be defined as this:
In hockey, the team that demonstrates the greatest control and movement of the
puck, typically is the most successful. This facet of the game is termed puck
possession and can be defined as having control of the puck for as long as
possible.
Now my wife got me the NHL Center Ice Package so I have been able to watch other teams from their cable feeds and it has proved to be quite interesting. Out of all the teams I have watched, Detroit follows their system to a “T” and does not go away from it. When they do, you see a loss like the other night in Montreal. Sometimes things like fatigue and bad goaltending can hurt this system, but when you have a large amount of skill like the Wings, you are able to play this system. Minnesota plays a defensive version of this system, also very well, commonly known as the trap. I will get into this more but it is boring and the Oilers do not try this system that much so forget it.
Now the Oilers actually right now play the opposite of this system.
It seems to me like their game plan is to have the puck the least amount of time. The biggest flaw in their game seems to be that they try to play 2 systems. The first version is the Puck Possession system done incorrectly or not executed properly. The second system is the "bang and crash" system that they execute very poorly right now because only about half the forwards actually want to get in the tough areas and get hit or actually hit an opposing player, this results in giving the puck over and therefore not possessing the puck at all. This can also be known as aggressive fore-checking. The issue with this system, and Detroit does not use this unless they have control first, is that the way the Oilers do it they have to actually lose possession of the puck first and then hope to gain it later by "hard work" or "jam" as MacTavish has been calling it lately.
Really MacT? Is that the word they used back in the old days? Is that what you tell your players? That they need to show more "jam?" I am hoping that he just used that term for the media's sake.
Now I checked a few websites and found this excellent article on Puck Possession. I am not going to get into the whole theory because we want people to read this site and most of you are probably already bored. What I will do is post a link to it and then you can check it out if you want. That said, I will tell you the 3 baiscs of the Puck Possession system and what the Wings do the best and why the Oilers are losing a lot right now because they do it the worst.
Teams that do not fore-check most of the time when they gain the zone and that do not exclusively trap in the neutral zone, play a version of the puck possession system and it works very effectively. About 1/2 the teams in the NHL use this system and then rely on skill, mistakes, and power plays for the rest of the game to get the edge over the other team. Detroit is so successful because they follow their system perfectly and then let their high skill take over after that. Now you might be saying "BS Peter, I have seen Detroit play a "crash and bang" style." Ah yes, but only when they have already gained control of the zone and the puck. If you have seen this from the Wings then they have the other team right where they want them and are just waiting for a mistake buy the other team. A mistake would be things like the goalie cheating to one side, a man not being covered, or a clutch and grab and therefore a penalty. Oh oh...a Wings power play = deadly.
In this system the 3 aspects that help execute it, and that are all connected to each other within the system, are Regroup, Support, and Flow. Really quickly, regroup is having the puck and basically keeping control of it until you can gain the Flow which is getting in the offensive zone and waiting for a weak "side" or mistake. Support is where the puck carrier is supported buy the other 4 players or basically the puck carrier has a lot of options. Now there are many sub-categories within this system but basically as I said a team like the Wings do this very well and a team like the Oilers are not doing this very well. If you watch the Wings you will see them practise the regroup with excellence. They will bring the puck back with the D-men always in possession until there is an option there for them. If there is no opinion, they support each other and "flow" the puck until there is one. The constantly regroup, making sure there are no turn-overs and that they always have possession of the puck. If they lose possession, they use their skill and hard work to get it back and then quickly get the puck back and use the regroup method again and start the cycle. Never getting off their game plan and hardly ever turning the puck over.
I think, among other things, this is the Oilers biggest problem. How can you get goals if you do not have the puck? How can you get power plays if you do not have the puck? How can you gain the offensive zone and get shots if you do not have the puck? You can defend all you want but it only goes so far. The other team's skill will take over or you will make a mistake and that it is it. How many times have you seen a pass from the defense and then the Oiler forward gets picked off from the other team in the neutral zone? Or how about the Oiler forward gets the puck and then tries a 2nd pass and that pass is picked off? It is because the defense did not regroup properly, the forward was not able to gain the zone, or there was no puck support. (All 4 men in a position to get the puck while also supporting the puck carrier.) The other scenario is a long dump-in and they Oil lose possession right away because they are out-worked or the goalie gets the puck and that is it - you are defending again. Why do you think the Oilers have such a poor record against Turco? (this was added to last night) Turco is a puck playing goalie. If the Oilers do dump it in, he will get it and they lose possession. The only other options are to trap and wait for Dallas to make a mistake, or try to play puck possession in the neutral zone hoping to gain Dallas' zone before getting hit off the puck. And it worked...if only the Oil would have had a better 1st period. Look at the 3 goals. Hemsky goal - puck possession, a mistake (penalty) and then a power play goal. Brodziak goals - gain the zone get it back to the point - shot - rebound - goal. 3rd goal (Brodziak again) - gain the zone - stoppage in play - face-off - gain possession - shot - goal.
Now I know there are a lot of exceptions like the Hemsky highlight reel goals or the "jam" goal with Stortini and some other guy grinding away and they gain possession and score. And that would be fine if that was the Oilers system. What I see lacking here is there is no system. What kind of a team are the Oilers right now? What is their system? If they are trying to be like Detroit then they are not executing. I know they are not trapping and if they are trying to aggressively fore-check they are not working hard enough and not hitting.
I would recommend they work on puck control, support, and limit the neutral zone turn-overs by more regrouping and better flow (gaining the zone better). Once they gain the zone they have to work harder. If they use their legs they will also draw penalties so need to work on their power play. All this can be done. Why it is not - well that is up to the coaching now and is up to the players to look in the mirror and ask why it is not being done consistently.
I have pointed it out, I believe I am correct on a number of points (there are others that need to get addressed some other day), and now we wait I guess.
That is why I said the whole Charlie Brown's Teacher thing. MacTavish can say he liked what he has seen all he wants but I do not see it. I see Robert Nisson trying to do it all himself and turning the puck over with no support. I see quick, not-thought-about passes from the defensive and then a turn-over, I see dump ins with no aggressive fore-check and the opposition goaltender getting it. MacTavish knows he is in trouble and I could see it on his face at the end of the Dallas game. He looked like he just got dumped in the interviews after. He was all white like he just saw a ghost. Maybe it was the ghost of the 2007-2008 season? Either way I think there needs to be a coaching change because either he is preaching what the team needs to do and they are not listening, or he is not teaching the right things and the team is "hoping" that what he is teaching will work out of hard work.
- I thought I would identify what I thought part of the issue was instead of just pointing out the obvoius like the Oilers suck right now and are getting outscored and need to play better. Oh really? Thanks. Great...observations like that (Pierre McGuire) really help.
Before Wednesday I will explain why the Oilers need to win 10 of the next 18 games or they will not make the playoffs.
Link:
ArtOfPuckPossession.pdf
