"They’re great players. There’s no
question about it. It’s not easy. Everybody is waiting for you to do something.
It’s like in basketball. When you [face] a good player, you double team him.
Let the other guys beat you. If you’re going to play against LeBron James,
you’re going to put two guys on him. Let the ‘Birdman’ [Heat center Chris
Andersen] beat you.” -Jaromir Jagr, 2013
Translation: In the regular season, coaches
game-plan a little bit, but in the regular season, Crosby and Malkin and all
the other All-Stars on the Penguins can run wild because they’re way more
talented than most other guys on the ice. But in the playoffs, coaches really
game-plan hard for the game’s best players.
No matter how good those guys are, they’re going to have off games at
some point, and somebody else is going to have to step up and cover for
them.
Takeaways: Back in the day, Jagr insisted he was fine
with Jan Hrdina and Kip Miller as his linemates—and he won the NHL scoring title
with Hrdina as his center and Miller as his left wing (literally—I watched it happen; Jagr was THAT good in his prime). In the modern NHL, Dupuis-Crosby-Kunitz was
the NHL’s best regular season line. In
the postseason, that line didn’t do a whole lot at even strength. In the modern NHL playoffs, former MVPSs like
Crosby and Malkin will be facing former Norris Trophy winners and Selke winners. Strength on
strength, talent on talent. What
works in the regular season won’t automatically translate to postseason success.
Action items: There are several things Pittsburgh needs to do.
1.) Plan for postseason success, not regular season success. It is an entirely
different thing to plan for postseason success than it is to plan for regular season success. Bluntly, that means Pittsburgh better have 6 defensemen (not 3) capable of playing top-4 minutes if they hope to advance in the 2014 NHL playoffs. It means the third and fourth lines need to be able to drive possession positively. At its basic level, it means that a TEAM has to be constructed to cover when the inevitability of "stars" being shut down occurs.
2.) Give your All-Stars linemates and partners who cover their relative weaknesses (which they have!) the best. In the postseason, opponents will focus all their energy on shutting down your All-Stars. What are your stars' "weak" points? Because all talented players have them. All of Pittsburgh's stars are guilty of trying to do "too much" when things get hard. But, why? Is it because no one can create time and space for them, so they try to create that time and space themselves (and fail)? Is it because they're being asked to do something (dominate physically stronger opposition) they just can't do?
Look at when and why Crosby, Malkin, and Letang failed this postseason. And, for any All-Star on your roster next season, openly acknowledge their weaknesses. Find the defensive partner who can complement and cover; find the linemate who can create time and space. Because in the postseason, such coverage is necessary because All-Stars are going up against All-Stars, and their All-Stars are going to be keyed in on shutting down your All-Stars.
3.) Make sure your depth guys can beat your opposition's depth guys: Your All-Stars will fail at times. Your team will have to cover when your All-Stars are shut down by other All-Stars. You need a third liner or depth defenseman to come through with a game-winning goal: do you have the third liners and depth defensemen who can do that? If you don't, can you find them?
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