Leighton. Its weird that the guy who was considered the worst goaltender in the league is the one who has saved our bacon and has carried us through this stretch. Sure the forwards are scoring again, but without the ability to rely on the goalie to take care of business in the defensive end, I'm not sure that they would be producing like they have.
I personally don't buy this because Boucher was playing very well until he got hurt. Goaltending was not why we were losing IMO. That said, Leighton has been solid. Solid goaltending + improvement basically....everywhere else = wins.
i think our 5 on 5 play has improved due largely to the change in system which is better suited to compensate for our lack of scoring depth. the special teams which if youve noticed didnt change (berube stil runs the same things) are benefiting from both the return of that depth and the limited ice time due to a decrease in penalties. so in short coaching though i wont go so far as to specifically point to laviolette.
i think our 5 on 5 play has improved due largely to the change in system which is better suited to compensate for our lack of scoring depth. the special teams which if youve noticed didnt change (berube stil runs the same things) are benefiting from both the return of that depth and the limited ice time due to a decrease in penalties. so in short coaching though i wont go so far as to specifically point to laviolette.
5 on 5 is definitely a more fluid game...point of note, Berube is only in charge of the PK...not the PP.
I think the apparent improved discipline as far as taking penalties is entirely due to Laviolette dropping the hammer on that stuff.
I don't know about anyone else, but one of the things I've noticed is a change in attitude on the ice. There seems to be a bit of snarl in everyone's game now and players know specifically what their role is. Not only that, but it seems that every line is contributing one way or another and they're making it incredibly tough to defend them. Kudos to Laviolette for instilling discipline while making everyone accountable for their play. You can see it on the ice. It's just a complete 180 from where they were just a month ago......
The thing I am concerned with is the defensive play. We're still giving up way too many turnovers in our own end. For example, tonight when the game was 1-0, toward the end of the first, the Stars were in our end for most of the last 7ish minutes of the period. This was mainly due to irresponsible play in our own end, i.e. not getting the puck out when needed. These turnovers have been leading to more and more goals. I know it's been nice with the offensive play and all, but we have still been giving up a ton of goals; you can say it's because of the goalie, but in reality, a lot of the goals are due to poor defensive support of the goalie and giving up more than one chance. Pretty soon we're going to face teams who will figure us out offensively. The question going forward will be if the defense can be the true anchor of this team when it needs to be.
Peter Laviolette. He actually demands accountability from his players and gets angry when they do something stupid. Now that the players know his system its more about reacting then thinking.
All the pieces were/are in place (except maybe goalie, I'm still not sold on the Emery-Leighton-Boucher three headed monster), it was just about making them work together which most people on this board agreed John Stevens was incapable of. Now that we have a competent coach you're seeing what this team is capable of. Hopefully we can sustain it.
Peter Laviolette. He actually demands accountability from his players and gets angry when they do something stupid. Now that the players know his system its more about reacting then thinking.
All the pieces were/are in place (except maybe goalie, I'm still not sold on the Emery-Leighton-Boucher three headed monster), it was just about making them work together which most people on this board agreed John Stevens was incapable of. Now that we have a competent coach you're seeing what this team is capable of. Hopefully we can sustain it.
Well, in fairness, I'll be shocked if we can sustain what we've seen recently. However, the thing under Stevens was always that if he could just get the team organized at even strength they would blow people out of the water due to the special teams play this team can put out there. With a cohesive even strength offense that can put up goals with consistency, and force opponents to take penalties...we can play with anyone due to our offensive punch.
I agree...goaltending remains an issue, and even on this run our defensive zone play gets sloppy with some consistency. But when you're scoring 4.5 goals a game in the NHL it tends to cover up a lot of that stuff.
Well, in fairness, I'll be shocked if we can sustain what we've seen recently. However, the thing under Stevens was always that if he could just get the team organized at even strength they would blow people out of the water due to the special teams play this team can put out there. With a cohesive even strength offense that can put up goals with consistency, and force opponents to take penalties...we can play with anyone due to our offensive punch.
I agree...goaltending remains an issue, and even on this run our defensive zone play gets sloppy with some consistency. But when you're scoring 4.5 goals a game in the NHL it tends to cover up a lot of that stuff.
During this stretch it seems like we actually have been drawing more penalties than we take which is a very welcome change. Don't have any numbers to support that mind you, that's just the impression I've gotten from watching the games.
During this stretch it seems like we actually have been drawing more penalties than we take which is a very welcome change. Don't have any numbers to support that mind you, that's just the impression I've gotten from watching the games.
31 PP / 37 PK assuming I tallied correctly. More important than the differential, though, is that we're taking a smaller overall amount. Before we were throwing up a lot of 6-8 PK nights. We've literally cut that amount in half over the last 10 games.
During this stretch it seems like we actually have been drawing more penalties than we take which is a very welcome change. Don't have any numbers to support that mind you, that's just the impression I've gotten from watching the games.
Hard work. Not giving up on plays. 110%.
You draw penalties playing hard.
Hell everything is better when playing harder.
The team is talented and if they can play with an intensity, it's dangerous.
If I'm a top 4 team, I'm praying I don't get the Flyers in the first round.
Hell that's if the Flyers don't make a serious push for the #4 spot.
We are in the east, what a healthy Detroit will be in the west.
Yeah, it's remarkable what happens given that coaches do nothing.
We hear conversations about systemic defensive schemes...left-wing lock.
We see consistent breakout schemes being implemented (and working!).
A notable improvement in team-wide discipline.
I mean, hopefully all these things continue, and I do think they're going to need to give some attention to defensive zone play. However, there are notable differences appearing in the team's play and that's with the prospect of the Olympic break a month away which will finally give Laviolette some consistent practices with the majority of the team.
Yeah, it's remarkable what happens given that coaches do nothing.
We hear conversations about systemic defensive schemes...left-wing lock.
We see consistent breakout schemes being implemented (and working!).
A notable improvement in team-wide discipline.
I mean, hopefully all these things continue, and I do think they're going to need to give some attention to defensive zone play. However, there are notable differences appearing in the team's play and that's with the prospect of the Olympic break a month away which will finally give Laviolette some consistent practices with the majority of the team.
As you all know, I am willing to give people the benefit of the doubt and have never said anything untoward about anyone.
However, that being said, are we now able to, in a cold and calculating and objective sense, call JXC a *********?
Step 1: Flyers rip and tear and slash and burn and look like Cup contenders
Step 2: Flyers flounder and slump and drag and look all yucky and stuff
Step 3: Flyers bounce back and play great hockey
I really think the intellectual value of this discussion would be maximized if none of us pretended that we haven't seen this before.
We have.
Two Springs ago. The Flyers and Senators were mired in ugly slumps. The Senators fired John Paddock. The haters here went wild.
"Come on Holmer! Pull the trigger!!" they chorused.
The Chorus of Hope turned to Howling Indignation when Stevens stayed.
Then Ottawa continued their collapse, the Flyers finished strongly, beat Washington in the first round in 7 games, took out Montreal in 5, went on to the Conference Finals, and coaching wasn't mentioned again until they got overrun by the Penguins.
Let's not pretend we haven't seen this before.
We have.
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That being said, they do look quite impressive right now. I guess I'll have to play The Jester here and say that this streak has come versus the Little Sisters of the Poor and the teams who Aren't Exactly World Beaters, but they do look much much more energtic and "cohesive". Very impressive.
Glenn Healey was just on the radio and he says the biggest difference was Lavi got them in shape. Can't say I disagree, and hopefully they crush the Laffs tomorrow night. They lost both games in Toronto last year so...
Yeah, it's remarkable what happens given that coaches do nothing.
We hear conversations about systemic defensive schemes...left-wing lock.
We see consistent breakout schemes being implemented (and working!).
A notable improvement in team-wide discipline.
I mean, hopefully all these things continue, and I do think they're going to need to give some attention to defensive zone play. However, there are notable differences appearing in the team's play and that's with the prospect of the Olympic break a month away which will finally give Laviolette some consistent practices with the majority of the team.
This to me is why I'm not 100% sold. Coburn has been horrendous in his own zone, and last night at the game, there were many shifts where we struggled to get the puck out. More of the run around stuff.
I'd like to add that I think some of that "lack of hockey intelligence" may stem from the lack of discipline over the last couple of years. A guy like Hartnell, for instance, is someone who I think is dumber than a box of rocks, but to his credit, he's made some very smart plays over the last week or two. Maybe he realizes that he's on a short leash and has to keep his head on and play smart if he wants to play at all. Hopefully, that's it.
In particular, though, I've noticed that Coburn and Bartulis play way, way too high in our own zone. At one point last night, they were out past the faceoff circles and there was a Star hanging out ALONE in front of the net. Can't happen. The same was true in the Penguins game, and I know that one of the Pens' goals came when Coburn and Bartulis were way out of position.
I'm happy with the improvements, but the hockey IQ of some of our key players has me worried about the future.
