Saturday, January 7, 2017

Lazy Forwards vs Vancouver

Version 2
This is part 2 of the flying V defense I posted a couple days ago.

This post explains why defense starts in the offensive zone and how the Tigers are leaking goals because their forwards are LAZY or in poor position.
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First Vancouver Goal (1-0 Vancouver Lead minutes into the game)
Forwards not cycling properly.














In Deep
Here we see all 3 Tiger forwards in deep and the puck going behind the net. Notice that all 3 forwards are touching the end redline, that should almost never happen.

Luckily they get away with it here, as a Tiger Dman pinches and saves the day, however their is a reset and Vancouver tries a second time to breakout.
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Uh-Oh ( A few seconds later)






















The Tigers maintain an aggressive attack that puts a lot of pressure on opposing defenceman as well as the first outlet pass out of the zone. Here we see a 2-1-2 attack pattern.

The reason Vancouver scored this goal was because of a simple mistake.

The red-circled player(Chad Butcher) Was lazy and half-assed skated back.
The black circled Player(Zach Fischer) is coming into the zone with speed and pressure, and the Vancouver player is looking to make a quick pass and almost bobbles the puck.

Offensive Switch
Remember last post when I talked about the "defensive switch"? Now the forwards also have a switch but it happens in the offensive zone.

Here the 3rd forward Fischer(black circle) now "switches" from 2-"1"-2  into the "2"-1-2 position
That means that the 1st forward Butcher(Red Circle) is now responsible for being the 2-"1"-2

However because he was "too tired" or "too lazy", the switch fails and if Vancouver breaks out they get an odd man rush.

Vancouver happens to get the odd man rush and they execute perfectly, grabbing a quick lead.

 This is why this pattern is sometimes more risky or offensive minded, than a 1-2-2 pattern.  If that switch doesn't happen or the giants transition is incredibly quick it leads to an odd man rush.
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Vancouver Goal #2
Lack of defensive Awareness

The Tigers turn the puck over in the offensive zone and 3 forwards are caught deep, However they do not recover properly. The Vancouver forward just shot the puck on net























John Dahlstrom
He made 2 costly errors on this play. First: He turned the puck over creating an odd man rush.
Two: He wasn't aware of the dangerous player.(red circle)

Vancouver had a 3 on 2 and Dahlstrom skated hard to get back into the play.
Hi mistake is that he isn't eyeing up the only dangerous player in the area.

I should note that it could be a mistake to simply skate to the Vancouver player because the middle of the ice is open. Instead he should be at the hashmarks and anticipating when the puck may come out front. once danger has passed, look for a switch back to his regular positioin when the centreman is back in the Tiger zone.

What Happens
The New Tiger defenceman Henderson is now trying to cover 2 giants and the Giants managed to score off the rebound.

So While you could make a case about the goalie and covering the rebound,  the Tiger's aren't in proper position anyways.

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New Guys
I love that the coaches went with the New goaltender.
1. It gets Bullion quickly integrated into the team
2. Bullion played well. Schneider will have to play better if he wants to reclaim ice-time.

Defenceman Hendersen
Very solid defensive instincts. I think he he will fit in very well to the Tigers group.

Notes:
17yr old defenceman Cameron MacPhee was sent down to account for the new Defencemen into the Tigers lineup.

Up Next
Tigers play Edmonton Saturday, Edmonton has traded 2 overagers and one of their bigger defenceman over the last 2 days, so they will be adapting to a younger lineup

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Forrest should have been the defenceman gone. I still do not like him on the ice. I do not see his upside.

longtimefan said...

Shaun Clouston has stated that the team isn't actively looking to add anything at the deadline. Wondering if that hasn't changed after what Lethbridge has done this morning adding Alfaro and Zabroski from Kootenay.

TigerTurf said...

What the opposing teams do shouldn't alter the thinking of what the Tigers should do
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I really hope I'm wrong, but I don't like the Tigers chances of getting to the memorial cup or whl final without another #1 dman.

I think past the second round they are the 40-60 underdogs as they have defensive leaks in their game. If this is all they do their forwards need to be much more accountable defensively.
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If you look at past WHL championship teams 90% of them have at least 4 pro player defenceman. The ones that don't have at least 1 NHl player(often2), and a few who play university hockey/ go to europe.

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The 06-07 season The Tigers had 3 Players that went to the NHL in russell, Sauer, Schlemko, 3 others played minor pro.
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The Tigers are good, but they don't have enough oomf back there right now.
Clouston hasn't gotten out of the 3rd round, this is his 7th year.

longtimefan said...

Disagree with your comment 100%. You better pay attention to what other team are doing or you'll get run over and passed. Lethbridge, Regina, Red Deer and Swift Current have all added pieces to make themselves better. Tigers have added an average defender out of necessity and a back up goaltender because they had no confidence in the 16 year old they had. These two guys aren't going to make a huge difference in the grand scheme of things, although Bullion will allow Schneider more rest in the second half. I'll agree they need another defenceman and I also think they need to add more physicality up front. This team is one of the oldest teams in the league, made up of 19 players that are 18 and older. They're in first in the division and second in the conference, if this isn't the year to go all in then I don't know when it is.

TigerTurf said...

I think Skill is a big factor in the whl, but once you get the top everyone is skilled, and it's more about overall team play, coaching, cohesiveness, the "X" factor, shoring up the weaknesses, and really hammering in the strengths.

We only need to look at the rebels, or Saskatoon. Lots of additions, cohesiveness and x factor not quite there.

I think you need to be aware what other teams are doing, but it shouldn't affect your overall evaluation of the hockey club and I think we would both agree on that.
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I agree with your train of thought longtimefan, I think it's a mistake not to add and jump in.
Even if you add their is always a risk it won't pay off.

I'm wondering if the Tigers have been scared off adding because of everybody else is adding, or if they think they are really that good and can win. Or they are scared they will have another season that misses the playoffs.

If we compare this year, to 2 years ago when the Tigers added, well I don't understand why they would add 2 years ago, and not this season even with the Hobbs situation.
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Anonymous said...

Because GM is afraid to get burned again like he did 2 years ago

longtimefan said...

Anon 5:14, which deal did he get burned on? The Hobbs trade? You have to remember Hobbs had gone home and wasn't coming back. Along with Hobbs the Pats got a third round pick in 2015 (that player is not in the league) and a second round pick last year. The Tigers got Dryden Hunt and Kyle Burroughs and made it to the conference final where they lost to the eventual league and memorial cup champs. Burroughs was gone and Hunt went to Moose Jaw and had a great year. Tigers received a second round pick from Moose Jaw that they used to take Henry Rybinski who I think is going to be a decent player in this league.

Anonymous said...

I agree with TT and LF, if we don't make a move this year there will never be a right time. We need another Burroughs/Hunt type trade for this team to have a chance. I would have no problem giving up a first rounder and more to get a deal done. As for Clouston, some people don't realize how good we have it. Is there better coaches out there....yup.....is there way worse out there.....yup! I for one think we have a pretty stable coach. I've had season tickets for twenty-two years and I think we could all agree before Willie we had some doozies coach this team. I personally would be very disappointed if they don't make a move, the only caveat is Josh Williams is untouchable!

Anonymous said...

Don't have to worry he won't any moves

Anonymous said...

NEWS FLASH: MH Tigers will finish in second place in the Central Division and won't get past the second round in the playoffs. YOU SNOOZE, YOU LOSE.

Anonymous said...

Only needed to add a forward and a solid dman to remain competitive. Once again stand pat medicine hat.

TigerTurf said...

I'm working a trade recap post, it may take me a few days to the weekend to finish though.
Interesting that regina played Zablocki on their top line last game, and he was traded after that.
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Right now the Tigers are playing like crap, and they have a .700 record. 8-2 in the last 10. The Tigers still posses a really damn good hockey team.

I don't see how in a 7 game series they would loose in round 1 or 2.
In round 2 it would start to be challenging, but with a healthy lineup I think the Tigers will still prevail.

I am still hoping by playoff time they will have gone through their defensive woes and will be on top of their game like they do every year. An injury to any one of rubins, kirichenko, and a team like lethbridge would challenge the Tigers in round 2.

Round 3&4 they still have outside chances, but Defensively they aren't quite self sustaining and a team like Regina, PG, Everett have too good of a hockey club.
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If the Tigers win the WHL I'll gladly eat my hat and crow.

Anonymous said...

Here come the Hurricanes AND LIKE IT OR NOT, THEY ARE FOR REAL! And also Moose Jaw and SWIFT are different teams than they were.

Anonymous said...

Medicine Hat has rotated a 4 line attack all season long, with the depth the Tigers have it was a no brainer to stay quiet on trade deadline day.

With thinking like that on a go for it year they can only hope for a playoff berth.

Anonymous said...

Attendance sure is down wonder if minor hockey could get some free tickets to fill the seats?

Anonymous said...

Interesting to note, in 2013 Tigers drafted Cale Makar in the 8th round. Small defenceman at the time of the draft. He elected to play for Brooks (not sure if he ever attended a Tigers camp). Either way, he is listed as a potential top 1 NHL draft pick. Too bad, we still need defence. Would have been nice if someone could have convinced him to join the Tigers.

TigerTurf said...

Yeah i was looking at that too.

Imagine the team the Tigers could have had if Hobbs was here, and Makar committed. Looks like he wants to go the NCAA route.

Anonymous said...

Ice is 200 feet and too many Forewards play only a 180 game. Tigers forecheck to score goals but could care less about the backcheck which wins games.

Anonymous said...

Having watched Makar at the RBC Cup last May in Llyod. He's an absolutely stud.

TigerTurf said...

Last game I saw big steps forward. The first PG goal the Tigers didn't rotate back quick enough and the coaches were harping on it from the bench. It looks like they are working on it.

Frazer mentioned they were trying to keep short shifts and in the 3rd that got away from them.

A butcher type player with strong individual skill is slipping because he doesn't have a complete game. Tigers have a goal differential of 54. Butcher has 60 points but only a +3.

A guy like Butcher is at a disadvantage because of his size. He has a lot of individual skill, but may not get a pro look if he doesn't show a better 2 way game while maintaining a torrid scoring pace.

Mary Jones said...

great blog