i got a quick question tho.. bc i feel the coach isnt the issue either, but how is it a overly defensive system when our d pinch in the offensive zone like no other, dz's bee joining the rush and basically playing a rover, the d closes the gap in the neutral zone... and our long stretch passes.. i've been around the game way to long and i dont think its an overly defensive system.. maybe at times it lacks creativity and torts wont tweak it.. but why should he.. hes won a cup coached 400 wins and 30 all time in coaches in NHL history with wins soo why should he have to change his system.. this is the pros they have to buy into it.. i just want to hear an explanation of how we play a defensive system..i am not saying this as a wise guy, wise ass but just want to hear someones analysis of our system throughly.. thanks!
Simple answer for you: The Torts haters on this board who specifically piss all over his system or claim that it stifles offense, don't actually ever provide legitimate points to back up this part of their argument. They just ***** and moan in a blind rage about it after losses. He preaches two-way play. But that is a far cry from "stifling" offense.
The people who complain about his system don't understand hockey. They don't understand that dumping and chasing is just a fact of life in hockey. It happens - and especially so on teams that don't have the offensive skill or creativity to carry the puck into the zone; or when you play against teams that play a neutral zone pressure/trap like system. They don't understand that this team doesn't have the puck skills outside of Nash, Richie when he's clicking, and maybe a few others like Step, Cally, and Hags to be able to consistently carry the puck into the zone, so they revert to the safe - and smart - hockey play of dumping it in (would you rather see more stupid JT Miller-style turnovers that lead to odd-man rushes? Lets get real). They don't understand that what they call "grinding" in the offensive zone is really just a form of cycling - which has been around for years, and which virtually every team does to try to maintain puck possession, force an error, and capitalize on it. They don't understand that Torts' focus on neutral zone play helps creates offense -- if you shut down a teams' transition or pressure them in ways that create turnovers, you get puck possession, get the puck deep in your offensive zone, and *gasp* can even get odd-man rushes. They don't understand that when Torts says that he "tries to stay out of the way of offense" he isn't saying that he doesn't
coach offense, but just making the point that his defensive minded system does not
get in the way of offensive creativity. They don't understand - or have understandably chosen to black out from their memory - that a huge part of why this team struggled for over a decade recently was a complete lack of dedication (up and down the organization - from GM to players) to a defensive-minded game; so they want to go "open it up" a bit more - essentially meaning switch to a run and gun system that we simply don't have the personnel for.
There are plenty of things to be upset with Torts about as a coach: constant line juggling, breaking up the Hag-Step-Nash line, his yo-yo game with Kreider earlier this year (he should have just been sent down to the AHL earlier and stayed there for a while), the complete lack of a power play, his apparent affinity for certain players which means he holds some people accountable but not others, his trust/inner circle issues which means it takes just one or two mistakes to make it into his dog house but it takes quite a while for players to get on his good side (for instance: I don't think Kreider deserved to be in the NHL in the beginning of the season with how he was playing, but if he was going to be slotted into the lineup some of his mid-game benchings didn't make a ton of sense; same goes for Torts taking forever to trust Stralman, or play Eminger/Gilroy over Bickel, etc), or his abrasive attitude with the media (though personally I like this, and think it isn't as raw and unscripted as some others do).
But the system complaint has just become a meme on these boards and is the go-to complaint for people who don't know what needs to change or what the real problems are, but feel like flailing about at something and the coach and his system are an easy target. This is because it means brighter days are ahead if we just change the coach - and it has nothing to do with the players not performing how they should or the GM putting together a flawed team (things that are arguably harder to fix, or more out of "our" control).
Understand - though I'm saying things that are down on the players, I'm not saying the team is a bad one. I actually have quite a lot of optimism for what they can achieve. Just that the things that need to be fixed are more like slight roster tweaks, one or two additions/subtractions, 60 minute efforts, and certain guys at least living up to expectations.
