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 Kr55
Messages: 9829
Registered: May 2002
Location: Edmonton
6 Cups
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Gregor got some good quotes from Hitch:
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The Oilers defenders struggle getting the puck out of their zone. I brought it up with Ken Hitchcock today.
“I don’t see us struggling to move it quickly, I see us struggling to use the middle of the ice,” said Hitchcock. “If you look at any teams who are quick in transition and moving the puck they find the middle of the ice. There is a risk and a dynamic to play that way. You can’t be a quick transition team when you are putting it on the boards. You end up chipping it out and chasing.”
This led me to my next question.
“Further to that, I think it’s safe to say you aren’t coaching them to ring it around the boards. So then do you see it as a lack of confidence to use the middle of the ice, or a lack of ability to use the middle of the ice?”
“I would say a combination of a lot of things. Sometimes the support isn’t there quick enough. Sometimes it is a little bit of impatience in the middle of the ice, and sometimes we aren’t looking for that option. Sometimes under pressure the first option is to get it the hell out. If you do that, it is fine, but then you have to win the next battle. And the next battle is your (winger on boards) has to get it out.
“You look at three of the scoring chances for the Blues that weren’t goals in the first period, all three got out to the winger on the boards and none of them got it out. It is a combination of things, but I think the first thing is getting back to position, what we call spots and spacing. You have to get back there with a sense of urgency, and when you don’t have it you are too far away and the D have no options and they put it on the boards,” said Hitchcock.
This is something I am going to monitor closely down the stretch: how often are the forwards in position to receive a pass in the middle or the ice, but the D choose to ring it? Or, how often do the defends have no option but to hammer it around the boards?
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https://oilersnation.com/2019/03/21/game-preview-74-0-edmont on-oilers-vs-columbus-blue-jackets-7pm-sn1/
Guess it's nice to hear that the ring around and off the boards is not the actual game plan. He wants guys transitioning faster using the middle of the ice...the players just can't do it. I'm sure we can all agree at this point it's more a personnel issue than it is a coaching issue. Most wingers and many of our D just aren't quick and smart enough to pull these plays off with any regularity. Not an easy life for D, need a quick step when you get the puck to get away for forecheckers, need to get your head up and find the pass option and you need to send the accurate pass. Most teams in the NHL have been looking for this skill for many years now and drafting and acquiring players that can do it to fill our their 3 pairs with varying levels of skill doing it successfully. We just caught on about this a little while ago.
Gotta question hitch a bit too. Not long ago he was thanking the heavens for the cycle stoppers Manning and Petrovic. Maybe he was just being nice to Chia though :) He seems to be completely done with both now.
[Updated on: Thu, 21 March 2019 16:04]
"We need to get better immediately. That starts today"
- Lowe, 2013
"Next year I would forecast as another developmental year"
- MacT, 2015
5 x $5,000,000
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