Curufinwe
Registered User
- Feb 28, 2013
- 56,648
- 44,790
I thought we should have a general thread to discuss the current coach, and I'll start it off with what I think is Bill Meltzer's most direct criticism of him to date.
http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/Bill...y-Unit-Practice-Updates-Alumni--More/45/63621
http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/Bill...y-Unit-Practice-Updates-Alumni--More/45/63621
When Lecavalier returned, Schenn was moved back to the second power play unit and to Sean Couturier's line at 5-on-5.
The second unit remains an utter mess right now. Matt Read is playing with very little offensive confidence right now. Couturier needs to be more assertive when he has power play time. Schenn's success has been sporadic when he's been on the second unit. Michael Del Zotto has done better in his career as the off-point option rather than a power play quarterback. Nick Schultz has gotten power play time by default with Andrew MacDonald injured.
Something that puzzles me: When Flyers head coach Craig Berube has dressed Jason Akeson for games this season, he has avoided using the player on the power play. I don't get it. If there is one thing Akeson does truly well at the pro level, it's work the power pay. Putting aside the question of whether Akeson can adapt to a fourth-line role at even strength, it seems like a no-brainer to give him ice time on the secondary unit (stationed in the left half-boards role that Claude Giroux plays on the top unit).
If it were my choice to make, the second unit would consist of Lecavalier, Akeson, Umberger, Del Zotto and Read. Schenn would go back to the top unit, at least for the time being. Even though Lecavalier is the better pure sniper, Schenn is better suited to the former "Scott Hartnell spot" in the way the top unit rotates the puck.
A coach has to work with what the hand he's been dealt but also put his players in the best position to succeed. I don't think Berube has done that with Akeson or, to a lesser extent, with Umberger. In the bigger picture, revising the second-unit personnel for a few games seems worth a look because what the Flyers have there right now is simply not working.