1. Lineup Decisions

When Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice took Nick Cousins out of the lineup in the middle of the team's 2024 Stanley Cup Playoff semi-final in favour of Sam Bennet, a top six forward returning from injury, it shouldn't have been much of a story. This is pro hockey, the NHL, right? Biggest stage in the game. But it was a story because Maurice made it a story. 

"And I agonized over it because of the human part of it. Everybody loves this guy. I do, too. Like he’s just got a great personality, and I gotta take him out of the playoffs.”

Maurice also admitted he was distressed because this is a contract year for Cousins.

“This is all important,” Maurice said. “It’s a sacrifice for our team that we asked him to make, and it was not easy.”

That's from an article in The Athletic between games three and four. Maurice even mentions Cousins' contract status - that's a coach who cares about his players. He still has to do what's best for the team, what he believes is the shortest path to a win, but it's good to know there are coaches at the highest level of our sport setting this kind of example. 

2. Too many players for not enough spots

Knoblauch upholding his strong communication. This morning with with Brown, Janmark & Ryan

This is a frequent sight for Knoblauch — different players require different approaches/messages, as he says. #Oilers pic.twitter.com/cb78Wh29AW

— Tony Brar 🚀 (@TonyBrarOTV) May 14, 2024

The coaches at the highest level of hockey spend time delivering honest messages even when said message isn't fun. One of the players in the clip above came out of the lineup in the middle of the Oilers' 2024 Western Conference Semifinal series with the Canucks. My thought is that I didn't particularly enjoy these conversations, but I was proud of the responsibility to have them. But the problem is that while I was constantly focused on the potential healthy scratches, the top 6 or top pair weren't getting the same attention. In junior hockey you have to make the most of the situation, even if you're alone most of the time. But it burned me out completely, I'm now realizing. Not enough hours in the day.

3. To Rotate or Not to Rotate

When it comes to goaltending, the easiest setup a coach has is rotating two quality goaltenders. The Boston Bruins have used the method to great success in recent years with Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ulmark. It's easy when you've got two starter-quality goalies! It's the most important decision, but the important thing is to remember that whatever decision the coach makes, they're not responsible for the players' reaction. Unless they pitch a shutout, then it's totally your responsibility. On that note, I'd love to be a fly on the wall in Kris Knoblauch's brain as he decided who to play in the third game of their series vs. the Vancouver Canucks. Stuart Skinner got them to this spot in the playoffs, but he's been the second best goalie in the series, while his opponent, Arturs Silovs, is likely the third best goalie on his own team. 

4. Goalie Breakout 

Special thanks to friend of the site Mac Budd for reaching out and asking a couple questions, which lead me to the topic of goalie breakouts. Mac wanted to know more about breakouts starting with the goalies, and lo and behold Jake Oettinger of the Dallas Stars would serve up multiple examples only a few hours later. The Colorado Avalanche are a heavy, hard forechecking team (more on that later), so the difference in a successful breakout and getting hemmed in could simply rely on efficient communication. Listen for the communication in the clips below - most teams use three basic calls when the D are communicating with the goalie: "set or leave it"; pretty self-explanatory, "up"; which calls for the goalie to pass the puck back up the strong side, sending it back from whence it came, and finally "over"; which happens in both instances here.

5. Zone: Dallas D-zone Coverage 

Watch the video to learn how Dallas is keeping Colorado's high danger chances to a minimum.

6. Man to Man: Colorado D-Zone Coverage

At the other end of the rink we've got an example of d-zone structure that's been more commonplace up until the last couple of years. At least in this series, in this game, Colorado runs fairly strict man on man coverage. Now, you should be aware that Colorado won the game in which all these clips were gathered. They're a good team! A coach could easily point to the examples I've gathered here and argue their point minus the nuance the game requires. 

7. What's Better?

The key, as coaches, is to take what's presented and listen to your gut when it comes to deciding what you're going to pass on to your players. Are we willing to learn and get out of our comfrot zone? Take the stress of winning games out of the equation, don't coach for your job. Coach to get better! I've used a hybrid d-zone coverage for years (zone in the corners, squeeze and stall, 5 1on1's when the puck goes low to high), but what I'm taking from these playoffs is that zone defence takes the guesswork out of where to go and who to cover. You need to work hard to get back into your position, but once you're in the zone the tax is more mental than physical, as opposed to man on man defence, which is just as demanding mentally but more difficult phsyically. I think that's why we're seeing fewer shots and grade A scoring chances in this year's playoffs. I'm going to try it zone defence to start next season, you heard it here first.

8. Dallas Neutral Zone Faceoff Win Goal

Have a plan for every faceoff. Every single one. Win or lose, all over the ice. The challenge is how to teach those plans, but it's a crucial aspect of the game - is there anything that happens more often in hockey? One thing: line changes, but that's another post. 

Watch Dallas execute a harmless neutral zone faceoff win to perfection. This is absolutely a planned play. Watch 21 for Dallas, Jason Robertson, generate speed through the middle off the left wing while Matt Duschene swings away from the dot. The defenceman doesn't dump it cross corner, he rims it low to set up the forecheck, and everyone is in the perfect spot to execute. You won't score a goal all the time off set faceoff plays, but you'll never score if you don't have a play at all. 

9. Playing the Right Way 

This is a catch phrase in hockey that sometimes has substance, sometimes doesn't. If you're looking for an example of playing the right way, save this clip of Mikko Rantanen forever. Let's go through this shift, but first, for me, context matters. 

• Colorado trails at this point in the series three games to one. They're tied at the start of the third period on the road, so there's no crowd to manufacture artifcial energy. What does 96 in white do?
• picks up a rimmed puck (it happens!) and makes the next play, which is skating it out of the D-zone
• minus support or a clear path to skate the puck into the offensive zone, chips the puck into space (it also happens!)
• gets in on the forecheck, hard, and takes Chris Tanev out of the play while also recovering the puck
• knocks anogther guy down, then goes to the net hard and knocks down two more, which fress up his linemates to score the go ahead goal

What a shift!