I’m sure it needs to be practiced during…well…practice. But if Dr. Freddy Venkman (my affectionate (?) nickname for Darryl Sutter) tells them to control the puck down low in the offensive zone corners – y’know…that place where we used to excel in with puck possession via the cycle – we would have a better chance of putting more than just 2 goals up per game.
If this team has any chance of turning things around offensively, the players have to win the battles in the corners and go to the slot/net with authority. Registering 40+ shots is only good when the goalie has issues tracking the puck and that would mean creating traffic in front of him. All too often, this doesn’t happen. And to compound the problem, the Kings players tend to shoot into the defense without having a good angle to get the puck through to the net.
Changing the mentality of this team’s offensive execution inside this system is the most important action that the good doctor must attend to. Winning loose puck battles and heading towards the slot for better opportunities is what I’m stressing. I think this rekindled strategy/mentality will help increase our scoring. If we can’t beat teams with speed, we have to beat them the ol’ fashion way – by grinding it out in the corners.
It might not be instantly pretty, but rediscovering the cycle and creating better shot opportunities I’ll take over “shot mentality” any day and is tantamount to producing more goals. If the Kings can remaster the art of the cycle…a la Detroit or Boston…they might just make the highlight reels for instead of against.
No doubt that the cycle is a big key to more chances. We still cycle pretty well, I believe it’s the FINISH that is the problem. All of your diagrams show at least one forward making his way in front of the crease by the end of each drill.
(If I’m reading these correctly)
Your first diagram is your dump n chase from the center slot with the center shooting for the boards behind the net to start the cycle with two forwards pursuing in tandem. This is a drill to have the f1 recover, circle back, pass to the f2 and take off to the net. F2 circles and either drives to the net, passes to the f1 in front of the net or has the Center avilable to continue the 2 man cycle with f2 with the f1 in front of the net or going behind it to recover a puck if the cycle breaks. This is assumiung they can open up the D- enough to get a pass in front. The f2 driving to the net is designed to draw a defender to open things up for the pass to the f1. Effective, assuming the f2 and the center eventually make the pass to the f1 or drive toward the net. At the very least, get the puck to the front.
This is where the Kings are failing. They never seem to finish a cycle, the puck is always lost eventually and they clear. Both D-men are left waiting. If we were to activate the far side d-man backdoor to go 10 feet above where the f1 should be, this opens up 2 lanes for a pass to get a shot. The near side D-man just has to be aware (Along with the f2) that if that pass misses, they will need to get back in a hurry. Dallas does this VERY effectively the times I have seen them play and it opens up chances tremendously.
(Open this in a separate window, shrink, and follow along below)http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo44/paincorp1/Game%20Diagrams/CycleFinishDiagram.jpg
If you look at my diagram, you’ll see the finish I believe we need. Either the center or the f2 has the puck, D1 (Far side d-man) floats 10 down to 10 feet above f1 in slot. C or F2 now have 2 passing lanes to get puck to slot. If D1 takes the shot, f1 is there for the rebound.
If the pass/shot is blocked and they go the other way, d2 takes off across the ice to cover the forward who got beat by D1 when he moved to the slot because he can attack at an angle, f2 needs to have wheels to cover the guy who was covering d2.
I hope that makes sense.
The 2nd diagram looks to just focus on the puck carrier and the forechecing forward. Puck looks like it is shot on net from the blueline, rebound into the corner with the same 2 forward cycle system, one breaking to the net. Difference being the puck carrier doesn’t stay low, but cycles with the 2nd forechecker and then goes to the net.
The 3rd looks to be a dump n chase board drill where 2 forwards lull one d-man into the corner, puck carrier tails off to the net as the F2 passes to the front. Problem here is, the 2nd d-man will pick up the F1 going to the net, but if the trailing F3 sits high in the slot, creating the triangle, the F2 has 3 real options to move the puck: f1 at the net, f3 in high slot, D1 up the boards behind him.
I could be reading these wrong, but that’s how I see ‘em. The Kings could fix a lot of cycle issues by allowing on e D-man to go backdoor on cycle plays and/or allow the f3 to sit high slot and offer passing options once the cycle is established. Even if the f2 went low to high to the d-, we’d have 3 at the blueline with the puck, which is going to draw their guys out and open up lanes and space by the net.
Just my take. Great stuff V-
yr hockey IQ is off the charts, C – you broke it down beautifully…(!)
just to add few points…:
yr right, the first example is what the kings usually employ – yr basic dump and chase…the one-side overload is suppose to facilitate the free forward or a streaking defensemen for a backdoor opportunity…often times, teams run into problems by trying to thread the “perfect” pass instead of using their legs to move the flow into the slot…you also need sufficient blueline defense coverage to protect from an opposing rush…
which brings us to yr example…the defensemen collapse lower, offering more cycle support…but you still have the point covered with either yr D2 or yr F2 – depending on who’s committed down low…i prefer this cycle because you are shrinking the coverage area, allowing more open ice above the slot, which in turn leads to more possible point-blank opportunities…but there is more risk involved with this module because yr relying on great communication and postional understanding from yr free D2 or F2…if you get a bad bounce or make an errant pass through the middle, you can open yrself to 2-on-1′s and rushes heading the other way…
my second example utilizes more of the offensive zone instead of just the corners, with two designated players on top of the circles, deciding when to get involved…again, yr hoping that the defense collapses too low, opening up the slot for either a pass of good penetration towards the middle…
my third example is based upon detroit’s delayed cycle, where they utilize the cycle similar to a weave in basketball…and, once again, yr exactly right when you say yr waiting to “lull” or lure the defending player to one side of the ice, while yr point-men look for seams towards the middle…if no one is open, you alternate the play and set up the cycle on the other side…this is done in hopes of having the opposing defensemen over-commit or miss an assignment…spacing is very key here, because if yr too heavy on any one side, the middle is once again exposed…this is why high-skilled teams like detroit can employ this type of cycle…timing and positional understanding, mainly getting inside of the defense, is critical towards its success…
the one glaring difference between all the examples here is the amount of ice the cycle is utilizing in the offensive zone…teams that have problems with support and completing passes – like the kings – will usually choose to simplify the cycle, making sure that their own defensive positioning is secured before heading towards the slot…
as teams develop more trust and chemistry on the cycle, more surface is covered, further opening up lanes, but also increasing the susceptibility of an opposing rush…
i actually had captions explaining each example, but for some reason, they didn’t get included…but you obviously didn’t need them…
i feel like we wrote this together…thanks so much for taking the time to break it all down…(!)
Variable, not sure I’m getting the diagrams right.
The first is an overload, the 2nd is down the middle, and the 3rd is an alternate from one side low to high, then reset the otherside and reverse? Cynics is a triangle setting up the center, or f2 off to the side as the play makers with a weekside D swinging over? I can only see part of Cynics diagram, but that’s what it looks like.
Maybe I should read the comments.
I get it now, but it’s pretty late. I had to go to weissiechhockey.com to understand your diagram lines, but it’s pretty cool stuff.
Damn it! http://weisstechhockey.com/blog/
Cynic,
In your diagram is it the d2 swinging over to cover the opposite side while the f2 falls back into a defensive position covering the other? It looks like the d1 is being set up for the onetimer, or shot inside the circles with the f1 screening, or looking for tips. Center and f2 looking for recovery, or rebounds after making the pass to the weak side D.
I like this set up, but in setting up the play, wouldn’t the f2 be committed below the circles, there would be no coverage coming back on the weekside point? The key looks like the spacing on the f2, and if he’s committed to the play, he won’t be in position to fall back if a penalty killers above him.
I am not smart enough to get those diagrams as I only played in-house as a kid, and pick up as a bigger kid.
Hope the experts know what they’re doing.