The Sabres new "system"

[Hawk]

What I am buying is that two things are happening... The talent is back on D to rush the puck up the ice. Ruff loves attacking D and when the Sabres have been successful he has had them.... Last year with injuries and losing Soupy that was not there... Yet the D are more responsible then Soupy and Spacek ever were...Butler and Meyers get back...

 

The other thing I noticed is the effort by wingers to cover back and more than one at a time.... Gap control is enabled when this happens.... and it breaks the trap when the D can carry the puck deep. And Linde has said the trap is still there but it can't account for the D moving up quickly or attempting to and being and extra man to support the puck on the same side the trap is set up.... That way the numbers aren't overwhelming on one side for the trapping team and talent can take over.

 

Just MO, p.s. I still play over 40 hockey and when our D brings the puck up and our wingers cover the point we tend to cycle a whole lot better... simple hockey 101 really.

 

I think LR emphasis this year is what they do when they dont have the puck.

[spndnchz]

I dunno. When I think gap control, I think of the 45 seconds ink spent with spndnchz. The greatest three-quarters of a minute of his young life.

 

 

That included foreplay!

 

Why men think that the time it takes to drive back to my place is foreplay I'll never know.

[inkman]

Why men think that the time it takes to drive back to my place is foreplay I'll never know.

Is the guy driving? :w00t:

[shrader]

Is the guy driving? :w00t:

 

Or if you're in a cab. I'm sure a good number of cabbies have gotten a show over the years. They can't all be bad.

[SDS]

Why men think that the time it takes to drive back to my place is foreplay I'll never know.

 

:lol: you implied leather coat/assless chap wearing inky was a man.. :lol:

[LabattBlue]

In order to get this thread back on topic and away from assless chaps :sick: , I offer this...

 

For those who are still giddy over the new "system"(which may not be much different, if at all, from the old "system"), Nashville and their system man Barry Trotz missed the playoffs last year. This same Nashville team has looked like #%^$#! their last three games getting completely outplayed by Buffalo but only losing 1-0 thanks to Rinne and then getting blasted by a combined score of 12-1 their last two. What's my point? The system plays a SMALL role in the success of a team. The guys on the ice regardless of the system, play a very LARGE role in the success of the team.

 

Please no more assless chap talk.

[korab rules]

Saw this topic yesterday, and wanted to dive in, but was on the road all day.

 

I will preface my observations by stating we are only four games into the season, so everything will change as teams adapt to what the sabres are trying to do. I also haven't seen a game live yet, and TV isn't the best way to draw conclusions about the system a team is trying to run.

 

From what I have seen so far, the Sabres have been running a tighter gap between the forwards and D, which is probably why you are seeing D-men jumping into the play more; they don't have as far to go to join the forwards. This has also cut down on the number of errant breakout passes. They don't seem to be trying the two zone cross ice breakout pass that will usually won't hit a player in stride, even if it doesn't get picked off. Keeping the passes short means less chance of turnovers.

 

Second, they seem to be trying to play deep in the offensive zone, a lot of play below the goal line, so even if there is a turnover, it means they have to go 200 feet up ice; less chance of odd man rushes. They are also eschewing the pretty tick tack toe play for getting pucks and bodies to the net and scoring ugly goals. Less highlight reels, but more success.

 

Puck pressure, all over the ice, seems to be a major point of emphasis, which is why their back check has been so effective. The Dmen have been keeping the gap real tight on the opposing team from the other teams blue line all the way through the neutral zone. Last year, the D-men seemed to immediately fall back to their own blue line, and allow the opposition to build speed as they came through the neutral zone. Between the more aggressive gap control, the opposition having to come out from deep in their own end, and forwards backchecking like MF'ers, they aren't allowing the opposition easy entry to our defensive end, and ebven causing turnovers for the other team in the neutral zone.

 

Its not a dump and chase vs. attempt to carry the puck in the zone issue. Which you do will always be dictated by what the opponent allows you to do (if they stack the blue line, you chuck it deep and go get it. If they back off you carry it in). Its more about where they are trying to generate their offense (on the boards, below the goal line, and ugly scrums in front designed to decrease the danger of a turnover) which is complimented by tighter defensive gaps and hard charging, backchecking forwards.

 

When I refer to the gap control, I am mostly referring to the gap between our D-men and the opponents forwards, not the gap between our D and our forwards, which has also been tighter, though.

 

Working for offense in the corners and down low sure isn't as pretty as Max, TV and Roy playing tic tac toe for a tap in, but its a hell of a lot less dangerous than Max turning the puck over above the circles.

 

That's my take.

[Taro T]

GAP CONTROL.docTHANK BARRY TROTZ FOR THE ‘NEW SYSYEM’ …..PLEASE READ ON….

 

I was one of the very few Sabres fans who disliked Lindy for his lack of ‘X’s & O’s’ smarts. Lindy advocated what I used to call the ‘HOPE’ offense. That is, dump the puck in and get it deep at all costs all the time. When you dump, you are giving up possession with a 50% chance you get it back. So he would HOPE you get another forward to chase it, HOPE he wins the battle on the boards so he can ring it around the net, HOPE somebody else gets to it and HOPE they win the battle on the boards so they can get it to the guy on the point. Then, he HOPES the defenseman can get a shot off and HOPE for a screen, or HOPE for a deflection, or HOPE for a rebound then HOPES somebody crashes the net to put it in. Hockey is not a game of hope. Can you visualize that? Seem A WEE BIT FIMILIAR? It should.

 

Having said all that, now you get the rest of the story.

At a coaching clinic in Windsor in 2004, I tipped a few Labbatts with Coach Trotz and he taught me all about GAP CONTROL. Listen to Lindy lately? That is exactly what he keeps saying now in press conferences in response to the Sabres early success.

Gap control refers to the defensemen following tightly up behind the rushing forwards, therefore eliminating the ‘open ice’ or ‘gap’ created by lazy or lackadaisical defensemen, kinda what the soccer guy said. If the defensemen take away the gap, when/if the forwards lose the puck, the defensmen combined with the ‘3rd guy high’ are in position to muck up the opponents transition. Picture this – if the D were lazy in following up and there was a big ‘gap’ of open ice between the FW & D, a quick transition by the opponent would automatically result in them regrouping in a big area of open, unobstructed ice behind the now trapped and too deep forwards and an odd man advantage against you is the result. Sound like last season yet?

 

Lindy spent time this summer with Barry Trotz. I’m guessing they may have tipped a few themselves and GAP CONTROL sure does seem to have been part of the conversation. THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE NOW SEEING.

THAT, my hockey loving friends, IS THE ‘NEW’ SYSTEM. Yes, they are also collapsing very well in the defensive zone and hustle and desperation are definitely part of this year’s game. But when you talk about the word ‘system’, which you have heard over and over without knowing what it was, now you know!

GAP CONTROL or the HOPE offense – which do you prefer?

I say…..”THANK YOU BARRY TROTZ!”

I have attached the handout I used to give my teams - the diagrams explain just what my wordy paragraphs are saying! all you youth coaches out there - I think you'll like it.....especially for PW level and up

Saw this topic yesterday, and wanted to dive in, but was on the road all day.

 

I will preface my observations by stating we are only four games into the season, so everything will change as teams adapt to what the sabres are trying to do. I also haven't seen a game live yet, and TV isn't the best way to draw conclusions about the system a team is trying to run.

 

From what I have seen so far, the Sabres have been running a tighter gap between the forwards and D, which is probably why you are seeing D-men jumping into the play more; they don't have as far to go to join the forwards. This has also cut down on the number of errant breakout passes. They don't seem to be trying the two zone cross ice breakout pass that will usually won't hit a player in stride, even if it doesn't get picked off. Keeping the passes short means less chance of turnovers.

 

Second, they seem to be trying to play deep in the offensive zone, a lot of play below the goal line, so even if there is a turnover, it means they have to go 200 feet up ice; less chance of odd man rushes. They are also eschewing the pretty tick tack toe play for getting pucks and bodies to the net and scoring ugly goals. Less highlight reels, but more success.

 

Puck pressure, all over the ice, seems to be a major point of emphasis, which is why their back check has been so effective. The Dmen have been keeping the gap real tight on the opposing team from the other teams blue line all the way through the neutral zone. Last year, the D-men seemed to immediately fall back to their own blue line, and allow the opposition to build speed as they came through the neutral zone. Between the more aggressive gap control, the opposition having to come out from deep in their own end, and forwards backchecking like MF'ers, they aren't allowing the opposition easy entry to our defensive end, and ebven causing turnovers for the other team in the neutral zone.

 

Its not a dump and chase vs. attempt to carry the puck in the zone issue. Which you do will always be dictated by what the opponent allows you to do (if they stack the blue line, you chuck it deep and go get it. If they back off you carry it in). Its more about where they are trying to generate their offense (on the boards, below the goal line, and ugly scrums in front designed to decrease the danger of a turnover) which is complimented by tighter defensive gaps and hard charging, backchecking forwards.

 

When I refer to the gap control, I am mostly referring to the gap between our D-men and the opponents forwards, not the gap between our D and our forwards, which has also been tighter, though.

 

Working for offense in the corners and down low sure isn't as pretty as Max, TV and Roy playing tic tac toe for a tap in, but its a hell of a lot less dangerous than Max turning the puck over above the circles.

 

That's my take.

I only got to see the opener against Moe-ray-all, but when things were working (in the 1st period), they looked to me more like Detroit than they did Nashville. Yes, they drove the puck deep into the zone, but if there wasn't a lane open to the net, they'd send the puck back to the point and regroup w/in the zone. The Sabres haven't really done that much in the past few seasons. That seemed to be a big factor in the Sabres keeping the puck in the Moe-ray-all end for about 16 minutes of the 1st period. They got away from that in the last 2 periods.

 

I'm thinking it was more of getting ideas from Babcock than Trotz, but I'd hope that Lindy picked both of their brains.

 

And as for gap control, Lindy's always had A D-man staying close to the forwards, it's just that he's had the other one back a bit more. The Sabres haven't used a true trap, but they've had a D-man up w/ 2 of the forwards trying to clog the neutral zone and then let the other D-man clean up anything that might get through.