System Update: How Boudreau's Old System Led to Goals Against and How the "New" System Hopes to Prevent Them
by D'ohboy on Jan 4, 2011 2:03 AM EST
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PrintElliote Friedman's most recent "30 Thoughts" column described the changes that Bruce Boudreau has made to the Washington Capitals' system to shore it up defensively, including implementing a neutral-zone trap. Friedman noted that one reason behind this change was that Boudreau's high-pressure, man-to-man checking system had a tendency to allow small mistakes to turn into major breakdowns, as some people have pointed out before. After the break, I'll use some video screen shots to diagram a breakdown that resulted in a goal. After that, I'll show how the play could have turned out differently. Finally, I'll conclude by diagramming the Caps' "new" system.
This first set of still shots comes from the December 11th game when the Caps hosted the Colorado Avalanche. Red symbols denote things the Caps did or could have done, whereas the Avs' actions are denoted in blue.
In this sequence, the Caps' 4th line is on the ice with David Steckel (1) flanked by Matt Bradley (2) and Jason Chimera (3). They're in the typical aggressive forecheck that the Caps have used for most of Boudreau’s tenure, with all three forwards below the offensive blueline, despite the fact that the Avs' defenseman Matt Hunwick (1) has clear possession. Steckel is (sort of) pressuring the puck, and Chimera is guarding Brandon Yip (3) while Bradley is moving to try to take away the outlet pass to Ryan Wilson (2). The dotted blue line represents the pass that just happened from Hunwick to Wilson. Right now, if Wilson tries to get the puck to Paul Stastny (4), Bradley and Steckel are in good position to create a turnover.
Instead of trying to force the puck to Stastny or chip it to neutral ice, Wilson sends the puck hard around the boards to Yip. Chimera moves to check Yip while Bradley and Wilson race up ice. The Caps are still in good position, but you can see that Bradley's aggression could allow Wilson to counter-attack and potentially create an odd-man rush.
Here you can see Yip getting the puck to Kevin Porter (5) in the neutral zone. The Caps aren't necessarily in bad shape yet, since the numbers are even up ice (there's one Avalanche player off-screen to the left), and Steckel could potentially apply backpressure. There are two things to note about this screen shot. First, there is a ton of time and space for the Avs in the neutral zone. All three Caps forwards are still below the offensive blue line, and the Caps' defenders are already behind the red line. Second, Bradley is heading to the bench for a line change at the top of the screen shot, as denoted by the red arrow. In the Caps' old forechecking scheme, the off-side winger's responsibility was to skate back hard to fill the lane to reduce the potential for an odd-man rush against the two defenders. Bradley clearly thought that Wilson wasn't a threat to join the rush and that the Caps had numbers back (which they did, technically), so he thought he was safe to go for a line change. He wasn't. This was the first breakdown, but as will become clear, the Caps should have been able to recover.
Here we see the consequence of all the time and space the Caps gave the Avs in the neutral zone. Porter has an eternity to hit Stastny with a pass and Stastny has more than enough room to receive the pass and turn up ice. Away from the puck, Wilson has taken advantage of Bradley's line change and is now charging up the ice in the space that Bradley left behind. Of note, the Caps' defensemen are still off-screen.
The green-ish trapezoid represents all the time and space that Statsny has to make a play because the Caps' defensemen, Scott Hannan (4) and Tom Poti (5), have backed off so far. At the same time, the Caps' forwards aren't applying any backpressure because, in Boudreau's man-on-man system, that's not really their job. Still, both Steckel and Chimera are coasting back instead of skating - at least Chimera is checking someone; Steckel's just floating. The real culprit in this screen shot is Poti. In Boudreau's system, he's supposed to be alongside Hannan about 15-20 feet away. Instead, he's in no-man's land. He's not pressuring Stastny, he's not preparing for a dump-in, and he's definitely not covering Wilson, who now has a head of steam.
The following video shows how the play ends up (sorry for the ad):
Wilson jumps into the space left by Bradley's change and Poti being out of position and Stastny sets him up easily with a pass. Poti has no chance of getting over to cover Wilson, and Michal Neuvirth is left to face an opponent barreling unchecked down the off-side. Though not a scorer, Wilson has little difficulty burying this relatively easy scoring chance.
What's odd is that Wilson was so open on what wasn't even an odd-man chance; the Caps had numbers back the whole way. Two small errors - Bradley's change and Poti's poor positioning - left Wilson with more than enough time and space because of the way Boudreau's system is set up. The following screen shots will attempt to diagram how the Caps could have avoided this fate.
This image represents what might have happened if the Caps had played Boudreau's old system perfectly, with the dotted red arrows showing where Bradley and Poti should have gone. If Bradley covers his lane and Poti is in his proper position, Stastny would not have had as much time and space to hit Wilson with a pass. If, however, just one of these errors were to have happened, the result probably still would have been a decent scoring chance. If Bradley backchecks but Poti is out of position, Stastny could have easily gained the zone with speed. If Bradley still goes for a change, but Poti steps up, Stastny probably still has a decent lane to make a pass to Wilson, and given that Wilson had a full head of steam coming through the zone, Poti would have had a hard time covering him. Admittedly, this play represents more than one single breakdown, but even had the Caps only made one error, they're vulnerable because everyone is just marking one opponent - there is little to no mutual support.
How might this play have looked in the Caps' new system?
In this screen shot, I assume that Bradley goes off for a change regardless, because his hard backcheck responsibility is an artifact of Boudreau's "old" system. Again, the dotted red arrows show where Caps players should have gone in the "new" system. Instead of dropping back into no-man's land, Poti steps up and plays his position as he ought to in Boudreau's old system. So far, no big difference - the big change is what the forwards do. Rather than guarding their men as they're supposed to do in Boudreau's old system, they backcheck hard through neutral ice. If you watch the video above, you can see Steckel coasting through almost the entire neutral zone. Had he skated back harder, he would have occupied the passing lane that Stastny used to find Wilson. At the same time, Chimera could have used his speed to apply backpressure to Stastny, reducing the amount of time he had to pull up and wait for Wilson.
This somewhat confusing picture represents an alternative to the picture that showed the time and space available to Stastny through neutral ice (the last picture before the video with the green trapezoid). If the Caps had backed off on their forecheck or backchecked harder, as the new system calls for them to do, Stastny's options would have been much more limited. He can try to make a perfect pass in the tiny sliver of time and space that the Caps' backcheck has left him, but that's a very dangerous pass and could easily be a turnover and odd-man rush the other way. His safest and most likely course of action would be to dump the puck in (dash-dot blue arrows) and let Wilson skate onto it. The Avs might still have gained the zone, but they almost surely wouldn't get a scoring chance.
What I've diagrammed above isn't a true trap, per se, because the Caps forecheckers didn't drop back to neutral ice immediately upon giving up the puck in the offensive zone. Still, the idea remains - clog the neutral zone by getting back quicker on the backcheck. What these screen shots show clearly is the tendency of Caps defenders to back in and concede the blue line. This is due in part to the relative lack of speed among Caps defenders (Jeff Schultz, John Erskine, Hannan and now Poti are all less-than-spry), but it's also caused by the system that Boudreau prefers to use. As evidenced by the first several screen shots, the Caps' forwards made little to no attempt to slow up the onrushing forwards. They essentially conceded center ice to the Avs and left their defensemen to bear the brunt of the Avs' ample speed. Under those circumstances, it's somewhat understandable that Hannan and, to a much greater degree, Poti backed in so far.
Just to illustrate what a "true" trap looks like, here are several screenshots from the end of the December 28th game against the Montreal Canadiens.
As you can see, all five Caps skaters are in the neutral zone. Alex Ovechkin (2) is challenging Mathieu Darche (1) and Nicklas Backstrom (1) is applying backpressure, forcing him to regroup in his own zone. The remaining Caps, Mike Knuble (3), John Erskine (4), and Jeff Schultz (5) are all helping to clog up the neutral zone. Also, note how every Cap player on the ice has only one hand on their stick and they're keeping their sticks active and in passing lanes. The contrast with the play diagrammed above, wherein almost every Caps player is coasting with both hands on their sticks and their sticks hanging uselessly in the air, is stark. You can also see Benoit Pouliot (2) begin to gain speed through the neutral zone.
Second verse, same as the first. The Habs' puck-carrier Darche essentially has nowhere to go. Pouliot has speed through the zone at center ice, but Darche can't see him, and even if he could, it's a dangerous pass. The Caps' pressure leaves him with only one decent option.
Darche's only remaining option at this point is to dump the puck in (actually it should have been icing). Pouliot is coming with speed, but there are three Caps defenders back, and they recover the dump-in with relative ease and move the puck back to center ice.
The trap is no panacea; it won't fill the second-line center void and it won't heal Tom Poti's groin. It will, however, help to compensate for the Caps' lack of speed at certain key positions. More importantly, it will give the Caps the ability to clamp down on their adversary when they get a two-goal lead, a capability they demonstrated ably against both Montreal and the Pittsburgh Penguins in their last two games. Should they sustain it, this ability will serve them well going into the playoffs.
On a final personal note, Bruce Boudreau deserves a great deal of credit for implementing these changes. He has made his distaste for the trap clear and, as Friedman points out, it's the first time in his career that he has used it. Personally, I don't care for the trap either, but I care even less for losing. Using the trap judiciously gives this team a much greater chance of winning now and in the playoffs. As one who has criticized Boudreau in the past for failing to adapt as the situation warranted, I must admit that this is a major step in the right direction.
If this FanPost is written by someone other than one of the blog's editors, the opinions expressed in it do not necessarily reflect those of this blog or SB Nation.
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being awake for this post is like being the first of the kids to come downstairs on christmas morning.
by Natty Bumppo on Jan 4, 2011 2:28 AM EST reply actions 2 recs
I was just feeling the same way. This amazed and informed me very well and is excellent work D’oh. Much appreciation from me.
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Awesome
awesome
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Unreal effort, Prof.
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by J.P. on Jan 4, 2011 7:10 AM EST via mobile reply actions
Rectacular!
Do you ever run out of these?
Notacular!
Dude. Great breakdown. Doin’ work expanding my (and I imagine others) knowledge of the Caps in specific and hockey in general.
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by Knee high to a duck on Jan 4, 2011 7:57 AM EST via mobile reply actions
excellent work. much respect.
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Great job, although that “how it might have looked in the new system” with the double Poti and Steckel was definitely confusing.
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Double Steckel… double Poti… think of the cap hit!
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Hmmm. Is there a visual way I could make it less confusing? What if I changed their color or put a circle around them? The program I’m using would make it look really ugly if I just “cut” them out of the photo.
T-R-A-P: TRAP, TRAP, TRAP!!!
If you put a 50% transparent white square over the guy you want to deemphasize, he’ll kind of “fade.” You can still see where he was, but the eye will glance over him.
Also, awesome, awesome stuff.
Atta dinnin stick a who!
by Gould Old Days on Jan 4, 2011 8:54 AM EST up reply actions
Ok, will try that. I’m using Google docs and Preview on a Mac to make these things. Our RA who does graphics has real work to do right now. :)
T-R-A-P: TRAP, TRAP, TRAP!!!
If it’s worth the effort for you, Gimp is a free Photoshop-like program that runs on OS X. It’s what I always use.
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by Laich It Or Lump It on Jan 4, 2011 9:07 AM EST up reply actions
I’m not particularly interested in the subject of this FanPost, simply because its Washington, but good grief – well done, sir.
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Awesome work. As a guy who only sees hockey on TV, and miss most of the X and O stuff because the camera usually doesn’t catch most of it, this is really appreciated. Even more appreciated, you actually showed how BB’s old system was supposed to work, something I’m not sure most of us ever really had a clue about.
Also, more than just covering the lack of speed on our defense, the new system also showcases the speed of some of our forwards. As shown in your pics, when you manage to get a turnover in the neutral zone, it often turns into an odd man rush, or at least a decent scoring opportunity because everyone on the other team is now heading in the wrong direction (how many times have we seen it happen to the Caps? and lets not even bring up offensive blue line TO’s). With guys on the team like Chimera, Johannson, Bradley, Semin, Perrault, and Ovechkin, there is an aweful lot of speed, spread over every line, to apply massive pressure off of turnovers, especially since the easy play of just a quick dump into the corner gives those guys the time to build speed and separation from the opposition.
Your quick jab at our lack of a second line center brought an interesting thought to mind. Does anyone have a script that can come up with the production of everyone while they were playing the second line center position. Just curious how our half year long rotation of players has compared to the production of the most obvious choices we could have had in that position.
Thanks for putting in the effort to explain a finer point of the Caps “new” system.
Where does your insight come from? Are you a coach, or just a student of the pro game?
Played, coached a little, have probably watched WAY too much hockey. It also helps that I’ve got seats behind the net in the 400-level. It’s super-easy to see the pattern of the systems from up there.
I also think that it helped that I wasn’t all that good when I played. It meant that I actually had to listen to the coaches and I had plenty of time to watch the game from close-up without worrying when my shift was.
T-R-A-P: TRAP, TRAP, TRAP!!!
I’m not sure if it has been said yet, but this is a great FanPost.
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by Laich It Or Lump It on Jan 4, 2011 9:04 AM EST reply actions
Holy crap. Incredible job, D’oh.
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by The Ghost of Bebop on Jan 4, 2011 9:18 AM EST reply actions
This is really great and obviously a tremendous amount of work. Many thanks.
And I concur with your kudos to BB for trying something different. One question I have is whether going to a trap style is the best option. It seems to be going from one extreme to the other. Are there other systems (Detroit? Pitt? Philly?) that are somewhere between BB v1.0 and the trap that might better suit our team’s offensive talents and aggresiveness?
it seems to me BB is just using the trap as one option in his bag of tricks. to be used when the situation calls, not 60 minutes a night.
by Natty Bumppo on Jan 4, 2011 10:02 AM EST up reply actions
I think we were worse in that department last year but there certainly was that infamous 3 goal lead that we lost against Toronto during our losing streak.
This year, if anything, the Caps seemed to usually give up the first goal.
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This is a fantastic post. Well broken down.
I would add that in the 4th frame is where the real breakdown occurs in the “old” system. Scott Hannon (who clearly hadn’t learned any system yet, new or old) is supposed to pinch up on that hard around to cover the man in the neutral zone (Kevin Porter).
This would make it so that Poti and Matt Bradley (who abandoned his man to go for the change, but regardless, there should be someone off the bench on the ice to cover his spot, as you can see in the 3rd frame, Bradley and the eventual goal scorer are both the same distance from the caps’ goal and Bradley is coasting to the bench) are both back if Porter can get the puck further up the ice. This is why Poti came over to the left side of the ice because in the correct rotation, Poti would become the left D and Bradley or his replacement off the bench would be the De Facto Right D. That would mean a 2 on 2 against Bradley and Poti which isn’t ideal (as wings playing D isn’t the best) but isn’t terrible considering Hannon made a mistake.
Maybe Poti could have reacted to Hannon’s mistake better but it was a lack of understanding of the system combined with a bad line change that led to this goal.
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This is a interesting point, because honestly up until someone says that Hannon is supposed to step up and take the body on Porter, there is absolutely no danger in this play until terrible positioning from Tom Poti leaves half the ice uncovered. And truthfully, Hannon stepping up there makes no sense, because Porter has no speed going and isn’t even a little dangerous. The flaw in the system, then, would be having Hannon be so needlessly aggressive. It makes no sense at all to have an aggressive forcheck from your forwards and expect your defensemen to be that aggressive too. But the forwards don’t do anything wrong except the change by Bradley, which to my eyes looks like a really slow change from the bench as much as anything else… the forward coming off the bench needs to be aware and faster getting on the ice, although Bradley could certainly have done a better job getting to the bench.
I don’t want to take anything away from the work D’ohboy did, I just disagree with the diagnosis.
and even if the change from Bradley is lousy, it’s still not dangerous if the defensemen are playing smart positional hockey… it turns into a 2v2 with backcheckers coming.
it’s still not dangerous if the defensemen are playing smart positional hockey… it turns into a 2v2 with backcheckers coming.
Here’s where I’d disagree. In Boudreau’s old system, Poti should have been alongside Hannan and taking away the center of the ice. This would have helped take away some time and space, but not all of it. Steckel and Chimera weren’t responsible for backchecking into that passing lane. If Stastny can hit Wilson with the pass, Wilson still has a full head of steam and Poti is basically standing still at the blue line. Maybe Poti can get a stick on him, but it’s still very likely a scoring chance or a penalty.
it turns into a 2v2 with backcheckers coming.
Technically, it still was a 2v2. The Avs never out-manned the Caps, it’s just that the Avs had speed through the neutral zone and the Caps’ defenders gave them waaaaay too much space.
T-R-A-P: TRAP, TRAP, TRAP!!!
it seems impossible to me to think that the system is designed to have a flat-footed defenseman in the middle of the ice as your last line of defense, because that’s suicide. If Hannon doesn’t step up, there’s no reason for Poti to have to take away a center lane that’s not being filled instead of staying in better position to protect against a streaking Wilson. If Hannon does step up, all Porter has to do is bump the puck past a pinching defenseman to create a 2v1, and the entire system hinges on your first forchecker not getting beaten back up the ice by someone which, again, is suicide. If you just have the 2 d-men play standard positional hockey, you have no real danger except for Poti having to play a streaking Wilson 1v1, and if you can’t trust him to stop Ryan Wilson (and his 8 points on the year) just because he’s got a head of steam, the problem is with personnel and talent, not systems. But that’s only my opinion
it seems impossible to me to think that the system is designed to have a flat-footed defenseman in the middle of the ice as your last line of defense, because that’s suicide.
And this is why it didn’t work very well. I think you and I are actually agreeing. Hannan and Poti both should have been further up in the play, but pinching all the way up on Porter would have been a bad choice since, as you point out, that would have allowed Porter to just chip the puck past Hannan and now Stastny and Wilson would have a 2-on-1 against a relatively stationary Tom Poti.
In essence, I totally agree with you – it was suicide. Now, Boudreau would likely tell you that, “if we play it right, blah, pressure, blah, turnovers, blah” but the fact is, if you’ve got three forwards skating in hard on the forecheck, any little mistake gives away tons of time and space and leaves your defense flat-footed facing an odd-man rush against.
there’s no reason for Poti to have to take away a center lane that’s not being filled instead of staying in better position to protect against a streaking Wilson.
I honestly have no idea what the hell Poti is doing on this play. I could understand the notion that he’s covering in case Hannan steps up, but even then, he’s put himself in terrible position and he’s left fully 2/3 of the ice completely uncovered.
T-R-A-P: TRAP, TRAP, TRAP!!!
it seems impossible to me to think that the system is designed to have a flat-footed defenseman in the middle of the ice as your last line of defense, because that’s suicide.
Just to reiterate, think of all the times you’ve seen a Caps defender get completely undressed by a forward coming through the zone with speed. (Think Dubinsky-Schultz in ’08.)
Personally, I think BB’s system worked better in the AHL, where there were a ton of slow skill players like Alexander Giroux. I also think it works pretty well overall because the aggression tends to create as many scoring chances as it gives up. Unfortunately, in the playoffs, the Caps don’t always have a skill advantage against other teams, and teams like MTL figured out that they could trap and block enough shots to cancel out some of the skill disparity.
if you can’t trust him to stop Ryan Wilson (and his 8 points on the year) just because he’s got a head of steam, the problem is with personnel and talent, not systems.
There aren’t many D-men in the NHL who could stop an opponent coming with a full head of steam through the neutral zone from the blue line in without taking a penalty. Even though it’s Ryan Wilson, that speed delta is hard to overcome, which is why most teams have a system in place to counteract it.
If, for example, the Caps played a system more like the Avs’, Steckel and Chimera (and Brads if he didn’t go for a change) would all have been backchecking hard toward the high slot. In so doing, they would have accomplished two things. First, by taking the angle to the most dangerous scoring area, they’d negate some of the opponent’s speed through simple geometry. Second, by backchecking through center ice and keeping their sticks active, they’d prevent dangerous cross-ice passes.
T-R-A-P: TRAP, TRAP, TRAP!!!
I think you’re correct, you and I do agree more than we disagree. And I certainly don’t mind simplifying the way the team backchecks in order to limit damage when mistakes are made. Honestly, I think my concern comes from a blog post I wrote yesterday where I talked about how I think this change in system misses the larger point about the problems the Caps have had in the playoffs over the past 2 seasons. I don’t like the idea of sacrificing an aggressive forcheck for a modified trap, but making tweaks to how the D play in the neutral zone and how forwards backcheck is just fine with me.
To be fair, I don’t think the Caps are going to use this system 24/7. My guess is that Boudreau will likely use a modified version of his aggressive forecheck (with more backchecking pressure) for 2/3 of the game, and whenever the Caps are down a goal.
The Caps will probably only use a full-on trap once they get a two-goal lead and later in games. For example, in the Montreal game shown above, the team didn’t really drop completely into the trap until the 3rd period. They still had more guys clogging up neutral ice the rest of the game just by having guys skate back harder and cover zones, rather than men.
T-R-A-P: TRAP, TRAP, TRAP!!!
First of all, D’oh, thanks for this. I’ve been one of those asking for some “system” explanation and your post is extremely well done. It’s very nice to put a name to what I see on the ice. I know many people are not a fan of the trap but I think you make your best point above about clogging up neutral ice by skating back harder. What I’ve seen as the Caps’ greatest improvement is the strong 2-way play of the forwards and consistent, fierce pressure on the puck. I believe that’s what beat the Pens in the WC (and also how Montreal beat the Caps in the playoffs). Possession won on loose pucks – and forcing turnovers whether through forechecking, backchecking or double teaming along the wall – have been key. I think the biggest issue with BB’s old system is that it allowed 3 of the players on the ice to coast back because it wasn’t their job to help out/cut off passing lanes once the puck got into the neutral zone. I didn’t realize that until reading this post (which explains my constant yelling at the TV for Caps forwards to “get back” and “move your feet”). Again, thanks. This was great!
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by Scott in Shaw on Jan 4, 2011 5:08 PM EST up reply actions
To turn things around a bit, one of the problems I’ve noticed with the power play is the zone entry. I usually see 2 guys straddling the line and then the puck carrier either sends it deep or carries it across with no where to go. They’re not usually coming onto the blue line with any pace making it easy for the PK to choke the attack….
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He wouldn’t be “needlessly” aggressive if he made the read the second the puck is reversed. At that point, poti becomes the back D and Hannon becomes the 4th forward. Had he immediately activated, he would have pressured Porter the second he received the puck and likely forced either a retreating pass back to his D or a turnover.
All systems that exist in the NHL work when well executed. Certain teams can execute systems better than others and it may be advantageous to be able to play multiple systems for multiple game situations. It is also important to have players who react well to the times the system breaks down. In this particular situation, poti should have immediately moved back to his right, and Bradley should have extended his shift.
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I would argue it is needlessly aggressive, because you’re committing a defenseman into a “4th forward” against a player that isn’t dangerous just to force him to circle back into his own zone, or create a turnover outside of their blueline when you have forwards who are deep in their zone. That risk/reward seems impossible to justify. But i guess that’s neither here nor there.
But we agree about Poti… his play in my mind is the big problem here regardless of system. Although if the system really does call for Hannon to immediately activate, then the Caps are at least 3 d-men shy of having the right guys to play this system.
All systems that exist in the NHL work when well executed.
Agreed, but not all systems are as easy to execute. Boudreau’s old system was what I’d call “brittle.” A couple mistakes here and there and suddenly it’s an easy scoring chance against. Other systems don’t forecheck as aggressively and don’t preach a full-rink, man-to-man press. Other systems force players to mutually support one another and take away time and space by covering zones rather than men. When you cover a man and you screw up, it’s immediately an odd-man rush almost by definition.
T-R-A-P: TRAP, TRAP, TRAP!!!
I like your full-court press analogy. In hoops, a broken FC press means just what you’ve outlined above: speed, possession and a numbers advantage as a team cycles into their attack. Or, in other words, a quality scoring opportunity.
With the extra room and the speed of the puck, it’s quite a bit easier to break that press in hockey.
I’m all for the new system if it prevents that huge space of white ice in the neutral zone which allows teams to generate speed.
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One of the beautiful things about this system is that you don’t have to rely on defensemen to make a great play one on one. If the defenseman is successful in just slowing the attacking forward down, or forcing him to change direction, it can delay the forward enough for one of our backchecking forwards to make a play (whether it be stepping into a lane, taking away a pass, or making a stick check.
It also creates a situation where defense is played by committee. In a man to man system, if you get into a situation where there’s a bad matchup, if a forward leaves his man to help apply pressure on the puck carrier, we risk leaving someone open to receive an easy pass. In this system the positioning of our players already reduces our opponents’ options, better positions our backcheckers to provide support. They can cheat towards the mismatch, with much less risk of leaving an opponent open for a pass.
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In this particular situation, poti should have immediately moved back to his right, and Bradley should have extended his shift.
This was something I worried about when using this clip. The clip is good because it’s a goal scored 5v5 wherein there’s a clear breakdown in neutral ice. It’s easy to see, understand and diagram. The only problem is, there are two smaller breakdowns on this play. As this conversation makes clear – there could be differing interpretations of the causation because of this.
Still, I think the clip shows how (a) small mistake(s) can have really bad results because the Caps’ system is so aggressive.
T-R-A-P: TRAP, TRAP, TRAP!!!
Scott Hannon (who clearly hadn’t learned any system yet, new or old) is supposed to pinch up on that hard around to cover the man in the neutral zone (Kevin Porter).
Actually, in Boudreau’s system, I don’t think Hannan was supposed to pinch up. This is something Alzner had a terrible time with when he first came up. He used to try neutral-zone pinches all the time and he’d get burned every time. Because he’s so aggressive with the forecheck, BB actually backs the D off a bit. He has them move laterally in tandem toward the side of the ice with the puck (think of the back line on a foosball table). In BB’s system, the D are really only supposed to step up in the neutral zone if they’ve got a sure-fire chance for a takeaway. Otherwise, it’s an instantaneous odd-man rush the other way. The problem is, if you back the D off that much and you forecheck that aggressively, you can end up giving your opponent way too much time and space in the neutral zone and you get goals like Wilson’s, where there isn’t an “odd-man rush” but the effect is the same.
T-R-A-P: TRAP, TRAP, TRAP!!!
Actually, in Boudreau’s system, I don’t think Hannan was supposed to pinch up. This is something Alzner had a terrible time with when he first came up. He used to try neutral-zone pinches all the time and he’d get burned every time. Because he’s so aggres
Ok so we agree on this part, which is good…
I guess, though, that for me it then goes back to Poti making a terrible read, either assuming Bradley had Wilson or not recognizing that Wilson was coming at all.
Exactly. But in another system, Steckel might have been backchecking hard down the center, or Chimera might have been pressuring Porter/Stastny. With this support, the Avs wouldn’t have been able to gain as much speed through the neutral zone, so maybe both Hannan and Poti feel more comfortable to step up into the play.
Facing 4-5 Caps in the neutral zone, maybe Stastny tries to get that pass through the traffic, but more likely he just dumps the puck in.
T-R-A-P: TRAP, TRAP, TRAP!!!
This is extremely helpful. Many thanks to both you and the RA who does graphics.
One thing that might help me would be if the opposition players were also identified, perhaps with letters. In the first photo, I appreciated the numbers 1,2 and 3 for Steckel, Bradley and Chimera, but I was having trouble matching up the Avs players.
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In the first photo, I appreciated the numbers 1,2 and 3 for Steckel, Bradley and Chimera, but I was having trouble matching up the Avs players.
+1
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by Scott in Shaw on Jan 4, 2011 11:07 AM EST up reply actions
Line Change
Was the Bradley line change just a dumb mistake, or is there something in the system that dictates when players should change? Would Steckel and Chimera also have skated off if it hadn’t turned into such a good scoring chance by the Avs?
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It depends on how tired he was but assuming he had anything left in the tank it was a dumb mistake once the avalanche got the puck over center ice with control and speed.
Had the avalanche dumped in the puck from center he could have gone for the change as that would have given poti time to get back into his position and once in the zone, bradley’s responsibility becomes the point man closest to the caps bench, which would have been easy for a guy off the bench to cover.
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This is another testament to how awesome the Rink is. I hadn’t seen a visual breakdown of the new system yet, great stuff D’ohboy.
I wonder also how the changed system manifests itself once the puck is in the Caps’ end. I guess the forwards have been playing lower in the zone?
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This is fucking awesome
D’ohboy, I would be honored and indebted if you’d sit down and coach me through my NHL ‘11 sessions. I’m a defensive nightmare.
Randomly bored at lunch and found that in terms of SA/G, here’s the Caps year by year under Boudreau:
‘07-08: 27.5 (a quarter of which under Hanlon)
’08-09: 29.5
’09-’10: 30.9
‘10-’11: 28.6 (though using the Colorado game D’oh has as a comparison, they’ve allowed 27.4 over their last nine).
Granted because there’s an official scorer there still may be some subjectivity, but maybe there’s a correlation.
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by Bald Pollack on Jan 4, 2011 1:25 PM EST reply actions 4 recs
Spectacular post.
I am struck dumb by the ridiculousness of Bradley, Hannan, Poti and Steckel on the first set of diagrams. I’m far from an expert, but I coached my son for eight years in youth hockey and would use this tape in training, had it been available.
I don’t care what system the coach employs:
1. Poor line change by Bradley. You don’t change when the opponent is accelerating into your zone.
2. You don’t coast back like Steckel did. Center is the only two-way forward position from behind-the-net to behind-the-net. If you don’t want to skate and don’t want to back check, don’t play center.
3. Poti couldn’t have been positioned worse. No fucking idea what he was thinking. He should have been toward the high slot guarding against the pass, head on a swivel. Instead he got hypnotized by the near side. In addition, he’s got his stick in the air. I hate, hate, hate that. Get your fucking stick on the ice.
4. Hannan should have stepped up at the blue line. I am sick and tired at all levels of defensemen backing so far in and not challenging forwards that their butts are almost literally in the goalie’s faces. Hannan is also positioned poorly on Stasny’s outside shoulder. He’s giving Stasny the center of the ice, when he should be forcing him to the boards. Forcing forwards to the outside is D-101.
Argggh. I hope the new system continues to work, but we also have a fundamentals issue, at least on this play.
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This play was pretty bad all-over. I hoped to find a play where one single little breakdown caused a catastrophe, but this one had to do because it showed both the forecheck and the backcheck schemes.
1) Usually I’d agree with you, but NHL teams change a lot more often coming back toward their own net than at younger levels. I agree, however, that it was a dumb change under the circumstances. Someone on the bench should have been aware of what Wilson was doing, particularly in light of the fact that Colorado LOVES to activate their D.
2) This is half laziness and half system-related, I think. In Boudreau’s system, Steckel is responsible for his man, and his man was behind him.
3) Totally agree. Poti was just out to lunch. Maaaaaaaybe he thought he was covering in case Hannan pinched up but. . . even still he’s not in the right place.
4) Both Hannan and Poti were both way too far back.
T-R-A-P: TRAP, TRAP, TRAP!!!
Just curious – do you agree about my point about Hannan’s positioning on the outside shoulder, when he should be on the inside shoulder?
I’ve always coached defense and have preached that your stick goes to the inside (which Hannan is doing) and your body is on the inside shoulder to force the skater to the outside (the boards). If you push him that direction then, best case, you crunch him against the boards, or, at minimum, you force him too wide to make a reasonable attempt on goal.
I’m very complimentary of defensemen that are too slow to check the forward, but, due to positioning, force the forward outside the face off circle to where they can’t get a reasonable shot off or where at least the shot is most likely to be stopped.
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1. Disagree here. Brads back is to the defender and he therefore thinks he has a clear shot at a clean change. 3 guys behind me, I’m safe to change. I would be willing to bet Colorado saw this on tape and had this entire play ready to go. Activating the D with speed while leaving a forward behind is akin to bringing extra preassure from a LB but dropping your DE into coverage to make it look like your blitzing. Either way, Wilson is now Poti’s man, and Brads was clear to change with the FWD coming on for him taking 1, 3 or 5.
This brings up a pet peeve of mine since BB took over. Poor time changes. Usually we see them more with the D going for a change when a fwd doesn’t get the puck deep. Our FWDs, especially the top line, do not seem to get a good grasp of when their D men need to change and when it is VITAL for them to get the puck deep. The team needs a “jail break” warning or something. Someone on the bench paying attention to the action who is able to inform those coming for a change that they need to stay out to fix the problem on the ice. If someone could have alerted Brads that he needed to stay on the ice, he’s fast enough, he could have gotten back into the play to apply pressure to Wilson. Maybe we need NASCAR style Pit signs for players.
3. I think Poti’s position is fine IF he’s misread Wilson’s intentions or speed. Remember, from where he is and where his focus is, he sees all 3 forwards to his left. From your periphery it is harder to gauge speed of the defender activating. I still think this is a play the Avs drew up cause they saw this weakness. Poti’s still not in HORRIBLE position, as he just about got over, and from my vantage point in the arena, I felt Poti could have made a play by leaving his feet to get his stick in the shooting lane. He didn’t. Game over.
4. Normally I’d disagree with this, but because he could see 4 players directly infront of his face, 2 of which other guys were covering, and 1 who is way the hell out of frame and not a threat, I agree. This is when you step up. Not ala early-season Alzner who had a very hard time making the right call there.
As for how far back they are. I really can’t pick on that too much. You want to leave the attacker with as low a percentage shot as possible. If you are too far up ice, there is much more room for a guy like Stasny to try to make a move around you. If I’m a slow guy defending a guy with speed, I’m going to give him some space to try to bait him into a shot from beyond the circles. If I get up on him and lose him as he goes around me, he has too much room to recover and turn it into a good scoring chance. I can’t pick on the depth of our D too much. Now, if this was 52 and 74 on the ice (or 55 who is just too big to try to go around quickly) then I’d complain a bit more as I have more faith in their ability to recover.
from my vantage point in the arena, I felt Poti could have made a play by leaving his feet to get his stick in the shooting lane.
If, on an even-up situation (so not an odd-man rush or a power play), a player has to leave his feet to have a chance to break up a play, he is in poor position by definition.
Poti’s just. . . nowhere. He’s not where he ought to be for Boudreau’s old system. He’s not covering someone. He’s just . . . nowhere. My only guess is that he was anticipating a dump in.
T-R-A-P: TRAP, TRAP, TRAP!!!
(jumping on the dog pile) – I agree.
Leaving one’s feet should always be a last resort, especially doing a superman dive, which is what Poti would have to do.
Poti just should not be where he is at all. He is not nearly close enough to the streaking wing, as evidenced by what eventually happened on the play.
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Updated
I changed some of the graphics per folks’ suggestions. Hopefully it’s clearer now.
T-R-A-P: TRAP, TRAP, TRAP!!!
by D'ohboy on Jan 4, 2011 1:39 PM EST reply actions 2 recs
Next up: New PK? ;)
I remember awhile back you criticizing Boudreau’s in-game adjustments because a team had found a way to enter the offensive zone on the PP every single time. I think you said something about passing it to a forward going up the wall.
Have the Caps started adjusting the PK to deny that?
Great post D’oh!
As someone who has also criticized BB plenty in the past I’m glad to see him making the needed adjustments. I wonder if blowing two multiple goal leads to the Leafs twice in just over a month was the final straw.
I hate the trap too, but just like the four corners was in basketball, it is highly effective when you’ve got a lead.
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One thing I’m sure I’m just missing here – why does BB hate the trap? What is it about it that he hates?
From reading his book, And If Im wrong somebody please correct me, He said that the Trap is basically sitting on a lead and he feels that being more offensive is the better defense.
I think he also said that the Trap ruins the game of hockey. Again I could be wrong, I would need to go back and look at his book again.
Great stuff, D’oh.
I’ll disagree with a bunch of people on Hannan. I don’t hate his positioning. That’s relatively good gap control for a guy of Hannan’s speed and Stastny’s speed. It was Steckel and Poti that were in bad position and Bradley with the brutal change.
Hard to see why Hannan is positioned on the outside, but that’s the only little complaint I’d have about him. It’s hard to see where he was earlier in the play so you just don’t know what he was doing. It looks like Stastny came across the ice so that would have prevented Hannan from setting up on the inside of him, but also makes it odd that he’d be set up outside that face off dot. Maybe Poti was mirroring Stastny across the ice? That’s the only reason I could explain why he is where he is. And again, that’s one of those mistakes you don’t expect a veteran to make, and a reason both D’oh and I have been poking fun at the idea that Poti is our veteran mentor. He makes more rookie mistakes than Carlson and Alzner do.
I also completely disagree with the notion that Hannan should have stepped up on Porter. It would be a very poor decision and if that was our system we’d be giving up even more odd man rushes than we do now. He just doesn’t have the speed to make that pinch happen and Porter isn’t a threat from there. Hannan needs to sit back and play for the proper gap control to keep the rush at bay.
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by Rob Parker on Jan 4, 2011 4:06 PM EST reply actions 2 recs
but also makes it odd that he’d be set up outside that face off dot
That’s a point I neglected to make. Spot on. D should set up even with the dots or inside, especially when they are back nicely on this type of rush.
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One other note -
To me, stepping up here meant at the defensive blue line. I’m an aggressive coach by nature and encourage D to pinch whenever a puck is 50/50 or better. But, here I meant step up to stop on the blue line.
Hannan’s appear to have great gap control, yes. But I’d like to see him step up, forcing the Stasny to the outside, instead of giving him the space to make the pass.
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I understand that the goal is to step up at the blueline, but it’s really hard to do in a one on one situation. Stastny is a very good player and Hannan needs to know his limitations. Stepping up to prevent the blueline there is very dangerous. Unless you have great back pressure from the forwards it’s near impossible to step up at the blueline on a talented player with speed, even for Nick Lidstrom. Keeping him outside is the best, and it’s up for debate whether Hannan was even in position to do that.
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by Rob Parker on Jan 4, 2011 6:39 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Awesome job, D’ohboy.
I hate the trap as well, but I think you are right that BB is coaching more of a hybrid version of the trap than the mind-numbing Lemaire hockey that the term usually conjures up. Lemaire’s classic NJ teams generally clogged the neutral zone by using a passive forecheck and then staying in their spots to wait and cause turnovers in the neutral zone, and this just killed the speed and excitement from both teams.
Other teams like Detroit have instituted a similar neutral zone system but kept a fairly aggressive forecheck by making sure the forecheckers skated back into those neutral zone lanes rather than waiting there for the opposing breakout. This allowed them to clog the neutral zone for the opposing attack while still keeping a faster pace to the game, and this seems to be more like what BB is trying to get. Aside from the fact that this is likely only a play with the lead system and not a full time adjustment, I think BB also wants to keep a fairly aggressive forecheck and just change the assignments of where the forwards are backchecking. The Caps will likely trade off some of their offensive explosiveness at times, but they aren’t going to become the 1995 Devils, so I’m okay with the adjustment.
And as someone who has been vocal about not trusting BB to make the necessary adjustments in the playoffs, I will echo the sentiment that this is an encouraging strategic development.
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by Killer_Carlson on Jan 4, 2011 9:53 PM EST reply actions 2 recs
I am in awe. I always pay studious attention to your analytical posts but you may have truly outdone yourself here.
The visuals really help—and I think I finally understand why the Caps have been so prone to some really big breakdowns.
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