A Different Approach
I don't mean to harp on the media contingent that covers the Leafs, but coming off the biggest win of the season you'd think some of the post-game coverage would include a modicum of insight or analysis into what the Leafs did differently Saturday night.
To my eyes, it looked like Coach Maurice moved away from his 2 man forecheck system and used a more conservative 1-2-2 approach. The extra forwards would cycle in if the Leafs gained possession or could clog up the neutral zone to take away the Sens' speed while providing more support for the oft-criticized Leaf D.
Two other big changes - McCabe and Kaberle were reunited and Maurice dramatically shortened his bench. The top 4 D played the vast majority of the game. Woz was limited to a season low seven minutes of ice-time and Kronwall logged 12 while McCabe played a whopping 30 minutes (and turned in his best game of the season so far).
If any of the dozens of media folks that routinely cover the Blue and White did ask the coaches or players about the short bench or the modified forecheck, the answers certainly didn't make it into any of the post-game coverage I saw.
It's too bad as I love to know the thinking/strategy behind the Leafs' big win and, more importantly, if this is a sign of things to come from the club.
I'm not reading anything into Saturday's game. A good friend of mine always say, "even a blind squirrel finds the occasional nut." Over the last few years the Leafs have had some great games but they could never sustain it. They are consistently unpredictable. Any adjustments made can diasppear as early as Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteThe adjustments remained, unfortunately results changed.
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