I can't ever remember a time where the team put this much focus on playing defense from day one. The wingers aren't going to be collapsing in their own end. Dmen aren't going to be pinching at the blue line. They are being told to not expect a forward to cover for them. They are really stripping it down and playing a more conservative style of hockey. That over aggressive cheating has always killed this team, and led to odd man situations, easy zone enteries, and terrible zone exits. If this team can't play a simple, conservative game that would be pretty pathetic. If they can there is no way they get outshot and out possessed like they have the last couple of years. ...
Who knows if the changes will lead to different results. But they should lead to a different team.
Different team is true, but I'm sorry to burst anyone's bubble ... those changes to the defensive system sound pretty stupid to me.
Forwards not collapsing in our own zone like they did last year is a welcomed change, but the more important thing is the forwards have to try harder to cover the points and take away the point shots. They also have to compete much harder at the points to make sure after our dmen wins the puck battle, we can indeed get the puck out instead of allowing our opponents to regain the puck at the point. Last year it wasn't so much the forwards collapsing (though that did happen and was a problem too) but it was the forwards's inability / reluctance to cover the points and take away the point shots. It was a combination of playing too deep (collapsing) AND low compete level.
Asking defenseman to NOT to pinch and not expecting the F's to cover the points, OTOH, is stupid - especially when you have guys like Rielly, Phaneuf, Gardiner, Franson and Robidas on your blueline. 5 of you 6 dmen are basically offensive defenseman. Many successful NHL teams rely on their Dmen pinching in creating an odd-man situation, and Toronto (ESPECIALLY Toronto, in fact) should play that style.
The problem with our defense last year was NOT our dmen pinching and giving up oddman rush. We generated more offense than the defence we gave up by pinching. The problem with our defense was we freely and willingly conceded the neutral zone (never tried to slow down or turnover the puck in neutral zone) allowing easy entrance into our d-zone. And in our d-zone, we again willingly conceded the perimeter ... our opponents can cycle and pass around the puck around the perimeter all period long, without our D or F trying to stop either the man or the puck at the perimeter. That was the biggest problem. Every defensive transition was like a PK where we allowed easy passing around the outside, until they can find a seam and shoot / pass to the man in front. That is really the biggest culprit to our ridiculous SA.
The first thing we gotta change is how we play in the neutral zone. Instead of asking our dmen not to join the rush, they should be asked, together with the F's, that as a 5 man unit they should engage in slowing down and trying to break up opponent's entrance through the neutral zone.
Once in our zone, our dmen gotta compete harder in the corners and along the board, our F's gotta apply more pressure at the corners, the wingers gotta compete harder at the point to gain puck possession, the C gotta pressure and breakup the pass up the middle.
If Carlyle is trying to tighten up defense by limiting our offensive chances that we take, then he's got it completely wrong (which, wouldn't be a surprise to me ... if he can fix it, he would have fixed it at some point during last season). The Leafs are a great offensive team, and we're a strong counter-attack team. Trying to limit our dmen pinching will hold back our biggest strength, and it won't fix our defensive weakness.
