 RDOilerfan
Messages: 3908
Registered: January 2016
3 Cups
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It's 100% not about working harder, its as you said working smarter and playing proper hockey. I will sound like an old guy but doing all the boring, little things. It's getting pucks in deep on a line change rather than making an unnecessary move at the blueline while your team is changing. That happens a lot.
It's every forward backchecking hard. I get the Oilers defense isn't great and they could use a better guy back there but the teams that succeed play team defense. It's not up to just the 2 dmen to defend. The whole team does. Dogging it on the backcheck happens WAY too much on the Oilers and has been an issue for years.
Pick up your man. Way too many times over the years there is an Oilers forward watching the opposition just cruise into the high slot all alone. The Dmen can't go get the puck, battle in the corner, get the puck up, cover the guys in front AND cover the slot. There is only 2 guys. They need help. That's not an Oilers thing, that's every team.
Don't fly the zone too quickly. Make sure your teammate has the puck and has control of it before you take off. The Oilers fly the zone WAY too easy. The Foegele gaf against the Caps is a perfect example. Yes Foegele made the mistake but if you watch the play, ALL 4 Oilers took off, even Barrie. So they left Foegele 1 on 1 with very little options to pass.
Stop with the hope passes. I LOVE McD and Leon but I do think because they are sooooo good, they try things no one else dares too. They try the cross ice with defenders in the middle passes that if it gets connected, it's a highlight pass but look out when it gets picked off. Most players don't dare try it because they know they can't complete that play. McD and Leon are so good they can when it works out but it's such a low percentage play.
All these things are basic things that the good teams do every shift. There isn't 1 or 2 "defenders" that do it, all the good teams have every guy on their team doing it shift after shift.
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