I Picked the Wrong Time to Watch Hockey

Last night was the first time I’ve really been able to set down and watch hockey for about a week given issues I’ve been having with DirecTV due to storm damage. During that time, I’ve been unable to see most of the game with Buffalo and was unable to see any of the game against Edmonton. Haptip to theViewFrom111, Dirk, and Brandon Felder for doing great summary work of those games.

Yesterday was a new day. Last night, via Dish Network, I was able to watch most of… that. Well, that was fun.

I’m waiting from someone to grab these guys and assert some leadership and discipline. I’m waiting for someone to be mad and do something about it. There’s so much wrong with this team it’s hard to find enough fingers to plug into the holes- and that’s with three coaches.

At this point, I’m still not worried about goaltending. For the most part both goaltenders are being no support by their teammates. Until proper support is given, and soft/weak goals begin to mount, goaltending drops in priority.

So where do we start?  I would start with more aggressive play.

Play Aggressively with Discipline

This team can’t seem to play aggressively.  There’s no aggression defensively, there’s no aggressive offensive play.  Defensively there are two areas where this team would greatly benefit from playing more aggressively.  Firstly, there must be better at forechecking.  At this point, there’s no real pressure on the opposing defensemen to force those critical turnovers.  It is also allowing those defensemen to see the ice and make breakout passes to forwards moving through the neutral zone with speed.  That leads me directly to the second area needing more aggressive play: defending our blueline.  Right now, opposing forwards are moving through the neutral zone and entering the offensive zone full speed.  Our defensemen are not making any attempt to stand the opposition up at the blueline.  If the opposing offensive moves up the ice essentially full speed, there’s no good way to stop them from executing essentially whatever they want and it also increases the likelihood that our defense will be in disarray.

Slowing down the opposition increases the chances for turnovers and allows our defense to establish itself in the zone.  Once there, man or zone discipline must take hold.

Right now, this team plays even more passively offensively.  They can barely enter the zone with possession, and when they do, they tend to turn the puck over.  When the stars do align and the team establishes itself in the zone, everyone tends to stand in one location and pass the puck around until the puck is turned over.  The Predators make it extremely easy to defend them.

It would be nice to watch a game in which Sullivan, Arnott and Hornqvist attempt to cycle the puck without ever attempting or looking for a shot.  It would also be nice if someone would drive the slot to provide an additional outlet.  It would be nice if the only movement wasn’t Weber roaming from one side to another trying to force a shot through a forest of traffic.  Of course, it would also be nice if someone gave Weber another option by making themselves available for another shot.

This non-aggression on offense has two other (related) problems: the inability to draw penalties (Nashville is 24^th in the league at drawing penalties) and the propensity to commit lazy penalties in the offensive zone because of not moving your feet.  That is huge and cannot be stated enough.

Power Play

During the offseason, Barry Trotz addressed the power play issues by stating (and I’m paraphrasing since I can’t find the link) that “the power play unit tends to grow roots on the ice and doesn’t move”.  That sounds familiar.  If it’s good enough for even strength play, then it’s apparently good enough for power play time.

That said, that statement says to me that either there will be more movement on the Predators’ power play units or the units will change.  To this point, the power play continues to play the same style as last season with even worse results: 30^th in the league at 5.9%.  At home they are 0 for 9.

When I look at the players receiving ice time, I’m not seeing any changes.  Shea Weber, Ryan Suter, Jason Arnott, Steve Sullivan, JP Dumont, and Martin Erat.  I’ve omitted Hornqvist and Wilson given their circumstances.  Martin Erat needs a night off for many reasons.  Beyond that, I think it’s at least worth it to try giving more time to Wilson, Santorelli, Hornqvist, or Legwand.  I’d probably keep Weber and Suter on the first unit, but the forwards would come from those four and potentially Jones and Ward.  Wilson, Horqvist, Jones and Ward are all willing to either camp in the slot or drive to the slot.  Legwand, Suter, and Wilson can all get the puck to those players driving the slot.

Now is the time to grow up, accept responsibility and take hold of this team and season.  That goes for David Poile, Barry Trotz, and the leadership group on the team.