Article content material
It was a shambles, a multitude, and it’s the elephant within the room of the Stanley Cup ambitions of the Edmonton Oilers.
I’ve been listening to interview sof Edmonton hockey boss Jeff Jackson, coach Jay Woodcroft and staff leaders Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, and the factor I’m not listening to a lot about is an important challenge for the staff, tips on how to turn out to be a superior shutdown defensive unit, tips on how to transfer from a mediocre defensive staff to an elite one.
Commercial 2
Article content material
Article content material
Final yr Edmonton gave up 256 objectives towards, 3.12 per sport, within the common season, making them simply the seventeenth finest staff within the NHL in that regard.
The Oilers led the league in objectives for with 325, 3.96 per sport, however they had been leaky on defence for a lot of the common season, and that got here again to hang-out them towards Vegas within the playoffs.
Las Vegas, however not nice attacking staff, was not solely capable of rating key objectives towards the Oilers, they had been capable of rating numerous objectives, 3.7 per sport.
Solely 4 NHL groups within the common season gave up greater than 3.7 objectives per sport, they usually had been all horrible groups, Montreal, San Jose, Columbus and Anaheim. Edmonton was in that very same territory towards Vegas.
Notably, within the 4 video games the Oilers misplaced to Vegas, the Oil gave up not less than 4 video games in every.
That’s not good. Not even near good.
On the assault, the Oilers are like a five-star restaurant, succesful to serving up essentially the most scrumptious of treats, essentially the most magnificent of concoctions. On defence, be careful for meals poisoning.
For a staff with this type of expertise, their defensive play final season was, finally, unacceptable. However they paid for it. It price them a win in a sequence the place they had been the higher staff. It possible price them a Stanley Cup.
Headline Information
Article content material
Commercial 3
Article content material
Any speak of Edmonton getting higher then, any speak of this staff altering issues up and discovering a strategy to win the Stanley Cup, wants to handle that elephant within the room, their defensive mediocrity.
I’m not but listening to a lot speak of it in pre-season interviews with the gamers and coach Jay Woodcroft.
Maybe Woodcroft is protecting his plan for defensive enchancment to himself.
He likes to maintain his future plans and methods to himself. As Woodcroft advised Bob Stauffer of Oilers Now this week, “By way of freely giving data (to different groups), not a giant fan of that.”
Honest sufficient.
However Woodcroft did research opposing groups this summer time to be taught a couple of issues. “By way of the gaining of data, when it comes to our research and your work and your capability to choose issues up the best way different groups do one thing efficiently, that’s a talent. That goes half and parcel with the quantity of labor you do in the summertime time, which we do numerous.”
In his first yr with the staff, Woodcroft mentioned he and asst. coach Dave Manson centered on bettering the backcheck. Within the second yr, they checked out including methods to grind out extra objectives within the offensive zone.
Commercial 4
Article content material
Now they’re including a couple of extra issues, Woodcroft mentioned, with out elaborating.
For the 2023-24 Edmonton Oilers, chopping 50 objectives towards off their whole of 256 objective towards final yr shouldn’t solely put Edmonton on the high of the NHL standings, it ought to set them as much as play shut-down championship defence.
A lot has been made from Edmonton’s iffy goaltending by Stuart Skinner within the playoffs and by Jack Campbell within the common season. After all, these two have gotten to be higher.
However, as I see, the massive challenge isn’t goaltending a lot because it’s defensive construction. Merely put, at key moments in huge video games, the Oilers run round an excessive amount of in their very own zone, attempt to do an excessive amount of, and find yourself permitting wide-open pictures in entrance of the web. That is what sunk them towards Vegas.
In opposition to the Oilers and their man-to-man defensive system, Vegas performed a zone, most frequently protecting two d-men and their centre in entrance of their very own web, not permitting Edmonton many straightforward pictures from there. It labored brilliantly to thwart Edmonton. It was a easy tactic nevertheless it stopped the Oilers in key moments.
Woodcroft acquired out-coached towards Vegas when it got here to defensive technique. I don’t anticipate that to occur once more. And I anticipate with an easier defensive system centered on protecting d-men within the defensive slot and limiting essentially the most harmful of opposition pictures, Skinner and Campbell are going to have larger save percentages, Edmonton’s going to chop down on objectives towards, and the Oilers will lastly set up the strong basis the staff must have success in Could and June.
Staples on politics
Fashionable rebellion kinds towards Edmonton handing over river valley to Ottawa administration
On the Cult of Hockey
LEAVINS: 9 Issues
McCURDY: The large boys are again on the town for the Edmonton Oilers
STAPLES: Vincent Desharnais units a agency objective for himself in Oilers silks
Feedback
Postmedia is dedicated to sustaining a vigorous however civil discussion board for dialogue and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Feedback could take as much as an hour for moderation earlier than showing on the location. We ask you to maintain your feedback related and respectful. Now we have enabled e mail notifications—you’ll now obtain an e mail for those who obtain a reply to your remark, there’s an replace to a remark thread you observe or if a person you observe feedback. Go to our Group Tips for extra data and particulars on tips on how to modify your e mail settings.
Be a part of the Dialog