Quote:
Originally Posted by John Wayne Gretzky
He wasn't successful enough here. Close but no cigar. rewatch every Rangers game from last season. notice how when we are outplaying the Rangers for half of the game, Torts comes out with an adjusted game plan and they make us look like ****. I liked Lavi as a coach, but his time is about up here, and you reiterated that.
|
It doesn't take much to figure out the Flyers this season. They have very little offensive capability from the backend. All you have to do his bum rush the forwards like the Rangers were doing and even if the Flyers get it out to the point quick enough we don't have anybody with a lethal shot. Timonen made them pay last night on that lone goal but they'll sacrifice a quality chance here and there knowing that percentage wise they'll limit the Flyers chances or the Flyers will limit their own for lack of an offensive threat back on D. When you have Lundqvist and you are one of the better shot blocking teams that will also help your chances. It's really similar to B-ball where if you have no outside threat (particularly the 3) they just collapse on you in the paint. In the Sixers case they have no inside presence to keep teams honest.
Again...it's really not so much a system problem with the Flyers as much as it is a lack of the right personnel particulalrly with respect to D men who are mobile. Getting the first pass helps if the forwards tighten it up and support the D men and don't look for the long pass but that also requires puck possession (winning faceoffs etc). The other team also knows that our D is not mobile in the D zone so they forecheck the crap out of them too and our D men are scramblin.
Let's face it...losing Pronger with his big shot, Carle with his mobillity and basically just getting Schenn who has been good but not a franchise D man like a Weber or Suter ..is just simply not enough to succeed in this league.