Both times, a Washington defenseman screened goaltender Semyon Varlamov while attempting to clear a...

Both times, a Washington defenseman screened goaltender Semyon Varlamov while attempting to clear a Stars forward from the crease.

Tarik's story on the penalty kill (emphasis added). Still want a "crease-clearing defenseman" ?

almost 2 years ago red army line 7 comments 0 recs |

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okay, so..

i understand the backlash against the cries for “crease-clearing defensemen.” it’s usually the same anonymous internet guy/gal that wants to send jeff schultz to hershey, move mike green to wing, etc., etc. the purpose is to keep pucks out of the net, not to impess fans with big hits, and if you’re good at the former, who cares about the latter.

but isn’t there a balance? and isn’t there a time and a place? within the rules as called by NHL refs, players get away with shots around the crease that would be called interference elsewhere. i see it every game. doesn’t cleaning a clock every now and then serve to deter a forward from repeatedly going back to the cookie jar? i’d think as a D you’d want a guy’s head on a swivel…never comfortable. and in that regard, owning your space around the crease and putting an opposing forward on his ass every now and then (umm…without screening your goalie!) is similar to a big-hitting safety in football that makes a receiver think twice about breaking his route over the middle of the field.

in the same vein, “positionally sound” in-and-around the crease is a different ballgame than “positionally sound” in transition or covering the cycle. positionally sound in the crease requires a level of physicality, a “this is my crease” mentality, that i wonder if our best defensemen are lacking.

by Natty Bumppo on Mar 10, 2010 12:36 PM EST reply actions

Well yes, but then, it I think changes things defensively. It would, I think, take time to incorporate a such a guy into the system.

I guess the main thing is that it’s not always best for guys to try to be “crease-clearers”—getting pressure on someone while the puck is loose in the crease and while the goalie can see the puck normally would lead to a no-goal I would think as the rebound shot would not come strongly. That’s what the Caps D right now can do. They shouldn’t get caught up in trying to play the man in front when the puck is elsewhere and not about to be passed into the slot, because then a one-man screen turns into a two-man screen. It’s one deal if Sidney Crosby is looking to center from the corner and Chris Kunitz is in front, another if Gonchar is looking to shoot from the point and Kunitz is in front—in the latter case, you play the stick/puck, not the man, right?

CИДHИЙ KPOCБИЙ: АЛEKCAHДP OBEЧKИH, OH CEЙЧAC TBOЙ ПAПA

by red army line on Mar 10, 2010 1:34 PM EST up reply actions

absolutely, and i wouldn’t for a moment want a player like jeff schultz to change his game, since that’s what works for him. i guess this is just something i think about often (because it resurfaces so often)…that grit/physicality around the crease isn’t in and of itself a negative. it’s just how you pick your spots, and maybe which opposing forwards you’re picking on. i agree 100% with mac below…there’s a time and a place, and if BB’s system calls for players to be blocking more shots, then what the hell are they doing jostling and pushing down low, besides screening their goalie and inviting an interference call.

by Natty Bumppo on Mar 10, 2010 2:12 PM EST up reply actions

I also can’t help but feel like a 55 type would be cheaper to keep in the long run that a “crease-clearer” and with the offensive talent on the Caps, I think that’s a positive to not having such a defenseman.

CИДHИЙ KPOCБИЙ: АЛEKCAHДP OBEЧKИH, OH CEЙЧAC TBOЙ ПAПA

by red army line on Mar 10, 2010 2:45 PM EST up reply actions

Well actually, I wouldn't mind one

Because the insinuation is that the crease would be clear. Really what this refers to is when the puck is loose down low, that’s when you clear the crease. You’re not allowed to clear the crease while the puck is being passed around away from the guy standing in front of the net, so it wouldn’t have done a damn bit of good.

Can I just get 4 guys with a clue on the PK instead?

Russian Machine very rarely breaks. Oh and f**k Brooks Orpik.

by macvechkin on Mar 10, 2010 12:53 PM EST reply actions

Maybe if they were better at clearing the crease, they wouldn’t have been in the way when the puck came.

by snowburnt on Mar 11, 2010 4:07 PM EST reply actions

Guys try to get in the way just as a shot comes, and all the time they’ll be just going through the crease and timing it like that. The trick is to prevent them from going there (legally), something which I’ve really only seen Karl Alzner and Nicklas Lidstrom do (not to compare, just that I’ve seen a ton of Alzner).

CИДHИЙ KPOCБИЙ: АЛEKCAHДP OBEЧKИH, OH CEЙЧAC TBOЙ ПAПA

by red army line on Mar 13, 2010 2:59 AM EST up reply actions

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