The NHL, the Trap, and Legal Interference Come the Playoffs

“When you go against defense and you know somebody’s chasing you from behind, it’s tough to change speeds.  You just come in the trap. That’s the way Boston plays. That’s the way New Jersey plays. I remember in 1996, that’s the way Florida played, and we lost. People said, ‘How could you lose to Florida?’ They did a good job.” --Jaromir Jagr, 2013

Translation:   Mario and I only scored 1 goal TOTAL in the 1996 Eastern Conference Finalsagainst Florida.   We couldn’t get past New Jersey in 2001.   Our teams back then weren’t built to beat the trap, and our teams weren’t built to deal with interference being legal.   Crosby and Malkin had the same problem this series that Mario and I had when we lost to Florida and New Jersey.

Takeaways:   If you watch the NHL playoffs, you know the rulebook changes.   In the NHL playoffs, interference is more legal than it is during the NHL regular season.   That’s just reality.   But, if interference is legal, how does having an undersized defense, comprised mainly of puck-moving defensemen, provide any benefit?    How does maintaining lines that score 5-on-5 in the regular season with lots of time and space work out when time and space disappears in the postseason?

Action item:  Accept that interference is legal in the NHL playoffs.   Adjust your team, system, and structure accordingly so you can have success when—inevitably—your team encounters the trap and a slew of legal interference.   This likely means swapping out personnel on wing and defense—and it definitely means adjusting structure and strategy to be able to break a trap.