GDT: Game 2: Sharks vs. Ducks 7:00pm NBCSSharks

[TheBeard]

I assume he’s playing in the WJC?

 

[coooldude]

I know you do but you're not presenting any sort of plausible alternative explanations for this play. You're just disagreeing for the sake of it. I never said I was factually correct. Don't start playing the martyr because of a disagreement. What Smith did was far from out of the norm for defensive play in that situation and you just disagree with that for some reason. I don't think playing the trailer in that spot is at all Smith's play or the correct play. You've yet to give a compelling reason why it would be.

Dude, every single one of my posts has said the same thing that gives a compelling alternative to your interpretation.
- 3 on 3
- 2 defensemen back
- 2 forwards and a trailer with speed
- one defenseman (Thrun) is giving too much gap to the forward with the puck but at least the guy is in front of him
- second forward is in center ice, coming to support, and Smith is on him and Benning is shadowing him
- trailer coming to middle ice with speed
- center should see a typical 3v3 rush that should be slowing down since defensemen have both advanced F's in front of them; main responsibility is to pick up trailer, aka basic counting, and only IF there is backchecking support, C should support puck and go for turnover
- alternately, Benning should see Smith on second forward and look for the trailer, but then Smith needs to stick with his man
- Benning reads board zone entry and sticks with second forward; he could have read to leave the man and keep middle ice, but he probably didn't want to give a board chip and easy zone entry to his man
- Smith overcommits - his read is that he has back checking support and the trailer isn't a threat, so he goes for the turnover
- Benning fails to see this and back off to cover the crashing trailer, instead pivots to boards to stick with his man to prevent the free zone entry - now three players are sucked to the puck
- trailer has free middle ice and a good pass gets him the puck
- Zetterlund, who was the F1 on the forecheck, is now two steps behind so he's getting flack. F1 is apparently supposed to also be covering the third man on a 3v3 zone entry now???
- Benning makes a desperation dive that fails
- no save from goalie

Alternative universes where the goal is not scored:
1. Kostin isn't caught in no-man's- land as F2 on the breakout. Should have been higher, or harder to the puck, not in the middle
2. Thrun gaps up the winger in the NZ or at the DZ blue line
3. Smith doesn't cross the ice, even leaving his ostensible "man" who Benning is double covering, if we assume the system is to man up, to go for the turnover
4. Benning reads Smith's over commit (or let's even call it "decision") and sees the trailer and doesn't turn to the boards with F2 but instead preps for an in-zone odd man rush, zoning up in middle ice and giving his man the cut to the boards for a free-ish zone entry
- F1 Zetterlund magically skates 175 feet incredibly fast to pick up the trailer that Smith abandoned and Benning ignored
- great save by goalie

Smith failed to read the threat coming behind him from the third man, Benning made the last bad read, great pass, good finish, only goal of the game. I really can't understand how your POV sees that Smith's read was absolutely, positively correct. it's not 100% on him at all but his mistake was a key contributor - the second to last mistake. I would not want you coaching my beer league team let alone professional hockey if that's what you continue to believe with absolutely NO ROOM for discussion.

Regardless of this one play, what actually matters is that Smith needs to work on his strength with the puck and quickness in movement and reads off the puck. Where he has looked good is in transition and on the forecheck, so he should build on that as well. He could have had an assist or two and even had a few pouncey chances at his first goal. It'll probably come soon, but last night he looked overmatched and because of that, the line was ineffective.

I continue to believe we should keep him at 2C and give him a chance to keep learning. He also probably needs 1-3 more years of strength and conditioning. It's not time to panic or send him down.

 

[Star Platinum]

Dude, every single one of my posts has said the same thing that gives a compelling alternative to your interpretation.
- 3 on 3
- 2 defensemen back
- 2 forwards and a trailer with speed
- one defenseman (Thrun) is giving too much gap to the forward with the puck but at least the guy is in front of him
- second forward is in center ice, coming to support, and Smith is on him and Benning is shadowing him
- trailer coming to middle ice with speed
- center should see a typical 3v3 rush that should be slowing down since defensemen have both advanced F's in front of them; main responsibility is to pick up trailer, aka basic counting, and only IF there is backchecking support, C should support puck and go for turnover
- alternately, Benning should see Smith on second forward and look for the trailer, but then Smith needs to stick with his man
- Benning reads board zone entry and sticks with second forward; he could have read to leave the man and keep middle ice, but he probably didn't want to give a board chip and easy zone entry to his man
- Smith overcommits - his read is that he has back checking support and the trailer isn't a threat, so he goes for the turnover
- Benning fails to see this and back off to cover the crashing trailer, instead pivots to boards to stick with his man to prevent the free zone entry - now three players are sucked to the puck
- trailer has free middle ice and a good pass gets him the puck
- Zetterlund, who was the F1 on the forecheck, is now two steps behind so he's getting flack. F1 is apparently supposed to also be covering the third man on a 3v3 zone entry now???
- Benning makes a desperation dive that fails
- no save from goalie

Alternative universes where the goal is not scored:
1. Kostin isn't caught in no-man's- land as F2 on the breakout. Should have been higher, or harder to the puck, not in the middle
2. Thrun gaps up the winger in the NZ or at the DZ blue line
3. Smith doesn't cross the ice, even leaving his ostensible "man" who Benning is double covering, if we assume the system is to man up, to go for the turnover
4. Benning reads Smith's over commit (or let's even call it "decision") and sees the trailer and doesn't turn to the boards with F2 but instead preps for an in-zone odd man rush, zoning up in middle ice and giving his man the cut to the boards for a free-ish zone entry
- F1 Zetterlund magically skates 175 feet incredibly fast to pick up the trailer that Smith abandoned and Benning ignored
- great save by goalie

Smith failed to read the threat coming behind him from the third man, Benning made the last bad read, great pass, good finish, only goal of the game. I really can't understand how your POV sees that Smith's read was absolutely, positively correct. it's not 100% on him at all but his mistake was a key contributor - the second to last mistake. I would not want you coaching my beer league team let alone professional hockey if that's what you continue to believe with absolutely NO ROOM for discussion.

Regardless of this one play, what actually matters is that Smith needs to work on his strength with the puck and quickness in movement and reads off the puck. Where he has looked good is in transition and on the forecheck, so he should build on that as well. He could have had an assist or two and even had a few pouncey chances at his first goal. It'll probably come soon, but last night he looked overmatched and because of that, the line was ineffective.

I continue to believe we should keep him at 2C and give him a chance to keep learning. He also probably needs 1-3 more years of strength and conditioning. It's not time to panic or send him down.

I just wanted to compliment you on how well you let him have the last word.

On a more serious note though, since I never played the sport, I enjoyed reading your breakdown.

 

[coooldude]

I just wanted to compliment you on how well you let him have the last word.

On a more serious note though, since I never played the sport, I enjoyed reading your breakdown.

I can't help myself, these boards are a hell of a drug