Jacques Lemaire....the architect of the dead puck era

[sawchuk1971]

If the Red Wings won the cup in 1995, maybe the neutral zone trap would not be adopted by other teams?

Click to read more...

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

Wouldn’t the unfavored Devils making it that far still inspire others?

Would the Panthers opt for a run-and-gun scheme and fail to make the finals the next year?

 

[Michael Farkas]

Teams were playing this way well before the 1995 Devils...it was happening regardless.

DPE isn't centered completely around a single NZ forecheck formation.

 

[Gorskyontario]

I think the 96 panthers had a much bigger impact on defensive systems.

 

[MadLuke]

According to Lemaire, it was in vogue quite a bit before 1995, including himself when he was playing hockey for Bowman in the 70s, they won a lot and allowed very few goals with it which popularized it in the nhl.

 

[carjackmalone]

The architect of the DPE was Roger Neilson

 

[Johnny Engine]

I've said it many times, it was caused by Bill Ranford having a bad game on April 24, 1996.

In all seriousness, like others said it was a combination of factors, from systems, to the short shift game, to salary disparity, to decisions by referees.

 

[Gorskyontario]

According to Lemaire, it was in vogue quite a bit before 1995, including himself when he was playing hockey for Bowman in the 70s, they won a lot and allowed very few goals with it which popularized it in the nhl.

Watch the 70s habs and the Lemaire devils, if you can't see a difference in tempo.

 

[buffalowing88]

I've said it many times, it was caused by Bill Ranford having a bad game on April 24, 1996.

In all seriousness, like others said it was a combination of factors, from systems, to the short shift game, to salary disparity, to decisions by referees.

Salary disparity is the elephant in the room here. Markets where great players weren't going to sign with in the early-90s led to a shift. Devils, Sabres, Panthers, etc.

These are teams that can suddenly utilize a strategy that mitigates skill from the guys who wouldn't go there to begin with.

 

[hacksaw7]

There were other factors that contributed to the awful drop in scoring post 1994. Goalies started to really get absurdly inflated with their pads. Garth Snow...heck look at Mike Vernon circa 1989 and then Vernon 1995.

Also the stupid and unnecessary crease rule, where good legitimate goals were disallowed because a player had his toe in the crease. That's all. Didnt have to touch the goalie. It was no goal if you had even a skate anywhere in the crease. This unfortunately discouraged players from going to the net aggressively as they used to...goalies could now see a lot more shots that in the past might get by them due to screens etc

clutching and grabbing in general became much more tolerated

 

[Gerulaitis]

JACK LeMAIRE:
The Man Who Killed the Puck

 

[Crosby2010]

I never have thought that goalies all of the sudden got better. I hated that lazy argument. It was "Well, the goalies are just better". Ah, no. They have more padding. They aren't better or faster. Look at how the goalies in the original 6 era moved. A lot less equipment, they were quick. Garth Snow's pads as someone mentioned were well known to be inflated. Look at the 1997 playoffs. He's like the Michelin Man there. Try and find me a nice save Snow made in his career rather than one that bounced off of him. Ironically it was Brodeur who seemed to move quick in this era and who had noticeably smaller pads. Just check out a picture of him and compare it. Brodeur seemed to like that better I guess.

But as the the style of play alone, the trap had been around probably going back to the 1940s Leafs teams coached by Hap Day. Punch Imlach to an extent with the Leafs in the 1960s as well. So lots of good teams had that sort of style, but no one ever thought hockey was boring until the mid 1990s. And I think it was just the clutching and grabbing that made it worse, meaning a team like the 1996 Panthers could beat much better teams. Lemaire is credited with it because of 1995, but I am thinking that style of play arrives regardless. The Panthers making the final is what I think contributed to one of the biggest changes from season to season. In 1996 there was still a lot of free flowing hockey. Mario had 161 points, Jagr 149, tons of players with over 100 and 50 goals. Three teams with over 300 goals, the Pens had 362. Plus the Devils missed the playoffs so it sort of looked like this "trap" was just a fad. Except for the case of the Panthers. When they beat the Pens it squandered the chance of the Pens and Avs playing each other in the Cup final. Probably the best Cup final we never had. Every one of the top 5 scorers in the NHL were on one of those teams. I am sure this happened a time or two in the original 6 days, but only in 1972 and 1974 did it ever happen post-expansion. And then we were a game away from it in 1996. I am thinking that this would have been an offensive showdown with a lot of exciting hockey. No matter who wins, the winners are the fans. And regardless the two highest scoring teams in the NHL are facing off. I have a hard time believing that teams start trapping the way they did the following season if the Cup final is two offensive powerhouses. But instead the Panthers gave hope to mediocre teams and that probably sped up the dead puck era.

 

[JianYang]

There were other factors that contributed to the awful drop in scoring post 1994. Goalies started to really get absurdly inflated with their pads. Garth Snow...heck look at Mike Vernon circa 1989 and then Vernon 1995.

Also the stupid and unnecessary crease rule, where good legitimate goals were disallowed because a player had his toe in the crease. That's all. Didnt have to touch the goalie. It was no goal if you had even a skate anywhere in the crease. This unfortunately discouraged players from going to the net aggressively as they used to...goalies could now see a lot more shots that in the past might get by them due to screens etc

clutching and grabbing in general became much more tolerated

Regarding the hooking and holding, I don't think the tolerance level changed much in the 90s compared to the high scoring 80s.... I just think way more coaches were emphasizing positional play in the 90s alot more and harnessed the full potential of what that tolerance level for infractions can do for a defensive structure.

I saw 90s as the start of more technical coaches in the league, rather than the guys who were almost all about trying to get an emotional response.

 

[MadLuke]

It is true that watching 80s playoff hockey, hard to believe that tolerance to hooking is what significantly happened to the 90s, maybe versus a specific season like 1996 versus those just before and after, the league made a special Mario Lemieux accept to play if we call things, a bit like 2006 vs a bit later one.

Maybe powerplay save percentage vs overall save percentage can give a bit of clue between goaltender size-equipment and defensive focus-trap-hooking. Lot of those factor can become negligible when a team is killing penalty, it is not like most team played strong 2 guy forecheck on the pk.

 

[Staniowski]

According to Lemaire, it was in vogue quite a bit before 1995, including himself when he was playing hockey for Bowman in the 70s, they won a lot and allowed very few goals with it which popularized it in the nhl.

Yes, there was lots of defense played before the '95 Devils, for many decades. Some similarities when comparing different teams and different eras, and many differences.

The '70s Habs, under Bowman, didn't play a set defensive system. Those teams could play good defense, but Bowman experimented a lot, changed a lot. It was very different from the '95 Devils, though. You can see it somewhat in Lemaire, himself, as a player, though.

 

[Staniowski]

The evolution of defensive hockey, and various defensive-conscious systems, is a very big topic, and goes back many decades, and certainly many NHL teams were playing types of "trap" systems by 1995. The Habs won the Cup in '93 by playing a strong team defense, for example.

But, if Detroit was going to beat New Jersey in the '95 Finals, they'd basically have had to play like New Jersey.

So, even though there's a lot to talk about regarding the history of defensive hockey (and other factors that contributed to the DPE), the importance of the '95 playoff Devils (and Jacques Lemaire, in particular) should not be understated. They were VERY important, a landmark team in NHL history.

I had never seen a team like the '95 Devils, and there hasn't been a team like them since. At the time, they played the most intense and effective defensive system no doubt that any NHL team had ever played. The important point is that they produced a big defensive gulf between them and every other NHL team. They shocked everybody they played. The teams they played were largely helpless.

Teams can adjust to such defensive systems, but it takes time. The teams they played in the '95 playoffs couldn't adjust in time.

The team was hugely influential. Of course there have been great defensive teams since then, but the defensive gulf between the '95 playoff Devils and their opponents has never been matched.

 

[Gorskyontario]

and certainly many NHL teams were playing types of "trap" systems by 1995.

Which.

Strong defense doesn't mean trap. I don't recall anyone ever thinking Demers teams were boring.

 

[Crosby2010]

Remember when Mario called the NHL a "garage league" in the early 1990s? 1992 I think. Just watch the hooking and holding. He wasn't kidding. People saying it was easier to score, well, can you imagine Mario being able to skate without someone jet skiing on his back? It is hard to imagine how good he'd be. Brett Hull in 1998 had that one big rant about hockey. I can't remember why he ranted after one particular game back then but he was sitting in the dressing room and just went on a tirade. It was the "the game sucks" rant that caught the league's attention. Of course, they didn't do anything about it, Bettman and co. just did the whole woe is me thing. I miss the physicality of the 1990s NHL. I really do. Teams hated each other and you saw it. But we got something right in the modern game, and that was the hooking and holding actually being called. It is a shame that the NHL can never properly combine the two, I guess the best would have been the early 1990s, maybe late 1980s, where the intensity was there but the game was still fun to watch offensively. Now the game is free flowing, but if you breathe on a player the ref calls a penalty quicker than during a Chiefs 4th down.

 

[Michael Farkas]

Which.

Strong defense doesn't mean trap. I don't recall anyone ever thinking Demers teams were boring.

It was so common that there were proposed rule changes to attempt to ban it at the GM meetings in 93-94.

 

[gretzkyoilers]

Remember when Mario called the NHL a "garage league" in the early 1990s? 1992 I think. Just watch the hooking and holding. He wasn't kidding. People saying it was easier to score, well, can you imagine Mario being able to skate without someone jet skiing on his back? It is hard to imagine how good he'd be. Brett Hull in 1998 had that one big rant about hockey. I can't remember why he ranted after one particular game back then but he was sitting in the dressing room and just went on a tirade. It was the "the game sucks" rant that caught the league's attention. Of course, they didn't do anything about it, Bettman and co. just did the whole woe is me thing. I miss the physicality of the 1990s NHL. I really do. Teams hated each other and you saw it. But we got something right in the modern game, and that was the hooking and holding actually being called. It is a shame that the NHL can never properly combine the two, I guess the best would have been the early 1990s, maybe late 1980s, where the intensity was there but the game was still fun to watch offensively. Now the game is free flowing, but if you breathe on a player the ref calls a penalty quicker than during a Chiefs 4th down.

Yeah re-watch the 1994 playoffs. Seems to be the best balance between speed, skill and physicality. Goaltending too was quite good, and the with Ranger winning that year I think the NHL lost a huge opportunity to market the game before it entered the DPE....

 

[Gorskyontario]

It was so common that there were proposed rule changes to attempt to ban it at the GM meetings in 93-94.

That doesn't answer which teams were playing the trap prior to the devils.

 

[Brodeur]

I never have thought that goalies all of the sudden got better. I hated that lazy argument. It was "Well, the goalies are just better". Ah, no. They have more padding. They aren't better or faster.

There were a few goalies who spanned the standup to butterfly era. Sean Burke looked completely different in the late 90's than he did in the late 80's. Leg pads definitely got lighter and more conducive to the butterfly.

And then we started to see more European goalies trickle into the NHL as the 90's went along. Somebody posted the 1997 Draft on YouTube and the announcers half-jokingly said that Mika Noronen had the chance to be the best Finnish goalie in NHL history; The joke was that there hadn't really been a Finnish NHL goalie with prolonged success up to that point.

----------------

One of the usual responses from the Devils braintrust about the trap was that nobody was complaining about it in 1993-94 when the Devils were 2nd in the league in goals scored. It wasn't until they beat Detroit that it became a go to argument in the media.

Couple factors that I point out:

1995 CBA: Unrestricted free agency is finally added and salaries skyrocketed. Mix in a weakened Canadian dollar and some teams couldn't afford to keep their stars. If you can't afford to run and gun, the other (more cost effective) option was to clamp down defensively.

Expansion: We went from 21 teams in 1990 to 30 by 2000. Unfortunately the 90s also had some of the worst draft classes of the Bettman era so there wasn't enough skill to go around. The expansion teams didn't get the most favorable rules so they generally started off as doormats. If you're an expansion club without a ton of scoring, you have to find other ways to compete.

 

[Stephen]

Yeah re-watch the 1994 playoffs. Seems to be the best balance between speed, skill and physicality. Goaltending too was quite good, and the with Ranger winning that year I think the NHL lost a huge opportunity to market the game before it entered the DPE....

In 1993 and 1994 the game was still free flowing with the right balance of skill and physicality and flow. Goaltending was improving every year. It was ripe to be gamed.

 

[Michael Farkas]

That doesn't answer which teams were playing the trap prior to the devils.

Plenty of teams...Anaheim, Florida, Hartford, San Jose, Montreal...the list goes on and on...

 

[Crosby2010]

Yeah re-watch the 1994 playoffs. Seems to be the best balance between speed, skill and physicality. Goaltending too was quite good, and the with Ranger winning that year I think the NHL lost a huge opportunity to market the game before it entered the DPE....

I count 1994 as the early 1990s technically. Yes it was still much more free wheeling than, say, a mere three years later. There were a lot of stars injured in 1994, I think that was part of why there were less goals than 1993. But the mindset was still more outgunning the other team.