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Nik the Trik said:Although with all that said I think it's worth mentioning that the team allowed 33 shots and only 2 goals and we're talking about tonight as a failure of the defence.
RedLeaf said:bustaheims said:RedLeaf said:Completely agree with the bolded part. But, team defence comes mostly from the players who can play that way, not what the coach shows them. Team Canada could have had a monkey coaching at the Olympics and they still would have won the gold, based almost entirely on their defensive play. That was the players, not the coaching.
Edit: show me a team full of good two way players and I'll show you a good coach. That seldom works the other way around.
Yes. The Leafs aren't Team Canada. We all know that. But, at the same time, if you don't believe that coaching had influence on the outcome of the Olympics, then I don't know what to say to you.
A good coach can make a team look much better defensively than the talent on the roster would imply that they would be. While the Leafs may not be brimming with defensive superstars, they are, as a group, talented enough as players to be a reasonable defensive group if they're deployed probably and taught a system that maximizes their strength. Right now, neither of those things are happening.
Unless you're talking about playing a trap game, I don't agree. This team has too many offense-first players. We've been through this, you and me, many times. You know where I stand on this. I'd trade 3-4 offense-first players on this team for two-way guys (add a few defensive D-men), and we get that much closer to the team you think we should be seeing now. That's the only way it happens.
Bonsixx said:This game could've been a two or three goal lead in the first period. They didn't play great, but they weren't bad. That was, I believe, what they refer to as "puck luck."
Still, insanely sloppy play defensively. Turnovers are ridiculous and I'm not sure how they're going to fix it.
RedLeaf said:bustaheims said:RedLeaf said:You've just isolated their number one problem here. The core of this teams defense is either too inexperienced, or too offensive minded.
Defence is, and always has been, a team thing, not a defenceman thing. The biggest defensive issue with the team is the system they play, not the guys on the blue line who are part of it. Adding a defensive defenceman or a more experienced player or two isn't going to have a material impact on that. They're not going to suddenly start playing a different system than the one their coach has been deploying them in all season.
Completely agree with the bolded part. But, team defence comes mostly from the players who can play that way, not what the coach shows them. Team Canada could have had a monkey coaching at the Olympics and they still would have won the gold, based almost entirely on their defensive play. That was the players, not the coaching.
Edit: show me a team full of good two way players and I'll show you a good coach. That seldom works the other way around.
Rebel_1812 said:they have been trying all year to play better defensively and it isn't working. Maybe they should try the opposite and play all offensive run and gun style. Try to score so many goals that they will win despite poor defense.