Did anybody listen closely to the part of Trotz's press conference when he was talking about how one of the main problems on the PP recently was our "lack of net presence".........and how nice it was to have Hartnell back and his "net presence on the PP" and how he wants Arnott to be the same type of net presence and "make the commitment to the team" to fill that role when his PP line is out there.
It seems like Arnott's game on the PP is more like Shea Weber's than Scott Hartnell's.
It would seem, by trotz's choice of words, that Jason would also rather be shooting the one-timer from the face off dot, than doing the dirty work of paying the price and taking the goalie's eyes away and getting the "Tomas Holstrom type of dirty goals" that can make a PP more effective.
Arnott may not LIKE being in front of the net.....he has made the comment that Greg Zanon is absolutely crazy" throwing his body in front of pucks like he does [granted there is a big difference between purposefully blocking shots vs screening and tipping shots].
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My questions are:
What is the most effective way to use Arnott on the PP.....firing one-timer's from the point or screening the goalie?
Was Trotz's choice of words significant here?.....meaning that Arnott has been resistant to this role?
They have tried Radulov in this role.....is there another person on the team that could better fill this role than Arnott?
Does this all make Hartnell's chances of resigning here go up?........and if not, is there and UFA on the market this summer that we might want to go after to better fufill that role than Hartnell, or in addition to Hartnell?
We've known for a while that Hartnell's "net presence" is exactly what he brings to the table. If anything, this serves as confirmation that he is a guy that this team cannot replace, or at least not for the money he should get.
Although Arnott is big and can fill this role, as long as Hartnell is on the ice then I would be more in favor of seeing Arnott use his shot. He has proved that it is a great weapon, especially with Hartnell in front of the net to clean up rebounds. That being said, if Arnott isn't on the same line as Hartnell, he is the best candidate for the job.
Great thread. I've been thinking over the last couple of weeks about Holmstrom's comment when asked why/how he wound up being a guy that stands there and takes the abuse (answer, paraphrased: Scotty Bowman was my coach and he told me that he would only play me if I went directly to the front of the net and stayed there, no matter what).
It isn't a size thing, since Rads seems more than willing to do it. At the same time, it does take talent to tip pucks flying at you. It DOES NOT take talent to screen the goalie though and cause havoc in front of the net.
I don't think Arnott should resist the request but it may not be the best use of his talent. I've been pondering alternatives for the 2nd PP unit's answer to Hartnell. What about any of Tootoo, Hordy, or Zanon. All seem like strange PP personnel but wouldn't each be willing to camp out in front of the net? Tootoo might get demolished b/c of size (and everyone hates him) but likely would have the best hands (ala Scott Walker's old net presence). Zanon would seem to be most willing but it would be an odd place to park a D-man, particularly if we went with 2 d-men up high as well. Hordy is the biggest body but perhaps the worst hands. I think Zanon would be my (very unorthodox) choice, perhaps with a one D-man high setup like our Sully setup during much of the season.
It probably is too late to experiment with the PP to this extent but we clearly have too much perimeter play and not enough ability to create a scramble in front (from which Rads, Kariya, Dumont, etc. could slip in and bang home a puck).
All I know is that Trotz has got to find a way to get the right amount of powerplay puck movers (legwand, erat (when he gets back) timonen, suter) bombers (Weber), net presence is where we are severely lacking with the lone exception of hartnell, who else on this team has the smarts and skill to play in front of the net on the powerplay
If you look at the goals Arnott scored last season for Dallas, they were all goals with him parked out in front of the net or circling around in front of the net. Dallas used him this way and he was very successful. It seems the coaches have preferred to use him in a different role.
