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This always irked me because I felt we had the personnel to afford stepping up at the blueline to take away time and space as opposed to giving the opposition extra time and having forwards pick up trailers and then being forced to try to transition.
We had players with size and reach in Trouba and Staal (hear me out, the only thing he was good at is defending with his stick in close range) and then mobile defensemen who could quickly transition up ice (Fox and Tony).
I'd like to see the team begin to be more aggressive between the top of the circle and the blueline to counter the rush rather than sitting back and trying to take away passing lanes. Carolina chewed us out and spit us out because it's easy to adjust to our system (or lack thereof)
Not so much anymore. It's the only part of his game that doesn't completely suck but it's gone from massive strength to just average, and it's easily combated by just chipping the puck by him and creating a foot race that he will usually lose and if he does get to the puck first, he's likely to turn it over.
OTOH, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Brendan Smith ends up looking like a stud. Entry break ups are his jam.
Speaking as a Pittsburgh fan he was really solid here for the first couple years then seemed to take a back seat. I always find it bizarre the Pens were consequently undone by a heavy lock or trap the last three years when Martin was one of the best in the business at running that type of system.
Him over Ruff will pay dividends for you guys.
Don’t see our defensemen’s progression as solely Martin’s effect though. Sergei Gonchar supposedly had a huge impact on that development.
1. Mention winning Jack Adams accolades when Bill Clinton was in office
2. Compared him to Barry Trotz
3. Put down Lindy Ruff
4. Testimonial from rival team that employed Martin
Only thing left is finding out he has beef with a player on our team from years ago
Not so much anymore. It's the only part of his game that doesn't completely suck but it's gone from massive strength to just average, and it's easily combated by just chipping the puck by him and creating a foot race that he will usually lose and if he does get to the puck first, he's likely to turn it over.
OTOH, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Brendan Smith ends up looking like a stud. Entry break ups are his jam.
If nothing else, this should indicate that management wants a steady hand and knows they haven't been nearly good enough even as a defensive team. Martin could take over for Quinn should the day come as well. Jacque Martin is everything Lindy Ruff was meant to be.
He should help our PK and hopefully get the young forwards to play Defense which was a big issue for this team last two seasons. It’s bad that our only decent defensive forwards are Zib and Panarin, Kreider,Buch being okay. Fast is probably gone which means our best PK player is gone.
I made a thread back in Jan/Feb about how the Penguins were the best defensive team this year. The Pens have squeezed a lot out of their defensemen the last few years.
Fantastic hire. He oversaw the defense and PK for Pittsburgh during their most recent cup runs. On paper those teams didn't have particularly strong groups of defensemen and he was able to use them effectively. Our PK was beyond awful under Ruff so surely we will see a huge improvement there.
This is the exact type of veteran X's and O's guy we needed to hire and glue to Quinn from the beginning. They hoped Lindy was that guy but it wasn't working and thankfully the Devils hired him away.
This always irked me because I felt we had the personnel to afford stepping up at the blueline to take away time and space as opposed to giving the opposition extra time and having forwards pick up trailers and then being forced to try to transition.
We had players with size and reach in Trouba and Staal (hear me out, the only thing he was good at is defending with his stick in close range) and then mobile defensemen who could quickly transition up ice (Fox and Tony).
I'd like to see the team begin to be more aggressive between the top of the circle and the blueline to counter the rush rather than sitting back and trying to take away passing lanes. Carolina chewed us out and spit us out because it's easy to adjust to our system (or lack thereof)
I think it's also an issue with the forwards and how all that works. Harder for defensemen to step up in the neutral zone if they don't have the forwards supporting them properly
Fantastic hire. He oversaw the defense and PK for Pittsburgh during their most recent cup runs. On paper those teams didn't have particularly strong groups of defensemen and he was able to use them effectively. Our PK was beyond awful under Ruff so surely we will see a huge improvement there.
This is the exact type of veteran X's and O's guy we needed to hire and glue to Quinn from the beginning. They hoped Lindy was that guy but it wasn't working and thankfully the Devils hired him away.
Hes the exact opposite of Ruff which as you said, is what we probably needed from the start of Quinn's tenure.
NJD is more or less a lock to finish bottom 3 in GA next year. I don't think we'll be spectacular in that regard, but I expect to jump out of the bottom 10 and hopefully into the middle of the pack. If they can do that while improving the PK, this group is a playoff team quite easily, injuries aside.
I think it's also an issue with the forwards and how all that works. Harder for defensemen to step up in the neutral zone if they don't have the forwards supporting them properly
This is true and this is why I've been a proponent of acquiring some bottom 6 muscle (particularly at center). It would help the transition game Quinn likes to play immensely if we have centers who are fast enough and defensively responsible enough to drop into the middle to pick up the gap the defense creates when doing this.
Zibanejad is probably the only one who frequently provides good support on the opponent's counter rush to break up plays. Chytil can loop around and provide a good outlet as well at times. Strome is pretty lousy defensively and don't even get me started on Howden.
I think it's also an issue with the forwards and how all that works. Harder for defensemen to step up in the neutral zone if they don't have the forwards supporting them properly
Yeah, I felt like Ranger defensemen were forced to backup a lot last year because of partial odd mans against and just poor gaps between them and the forwards. They like to create off the rush more than your average team, so that's part of it, turnovers and just guys being out of position. Also, just a poor forechecking system in general that starts up front.
Hopefully JM can help install a better forechecking system that doesn't leave the D out to dry as much.
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