When the Calgary Flames’ season began going down the tubes in roughly February, many began calling for the head of assistant coach Dave Cameron (and head coach Glen Gulutzan by extension) for the team’s woeful power play. Not only did general manager Brad Treliving swing the axe and clear out the big league bench, but he went out and hired Geoff Ward away from the New Jersey Devils.
A veteran coach with a Stanley Cup ring from Boston’s 2011 triumph over Vancouver, Ward has spent a decade in the NHL running power plays – primarily good ones. So what can Flames fans expect to see from the Flames power play beginning in 2018-19? After some poking around, here are our general expectations.
Four forwards, one defenseman (probably)
During Ward’s entire run in the Garden State – and much of his time in Beantown – his power plays ran with four forwards and one defenseman. Throughout much of this season, even through injuries and call-ups, the Devils ran two units of four forwards and one defenseman. More and more, special teams units with two defenders are the exception and not the rule.
The usual first unit for the Devils this season was Taylor Hall, Kyle Palmieri, Travis Zajac, Will Butcher and one of Patrick Maroon or Brian Boyle. That’s a lot of left shots. But it’s not the mixture of players that’s particularly novel, but rather how Ward positioned and deployed them.
The ever-familiar 1-3-1 structure, with a twist
The Devils used a variation on the familiar 1-3-1 structure: a defenseman at the top of the zone distributing the puck; two players up the slot for tips, redirections or quick passes; and players on the two wings to either shoot or pass defending if lanes are available. The Washington Capitals have famously used the right-shot Alexander Ovechkin on his “off” (left) side for quick one-timers, and a lot of teams have followed suit.
But more recently, things have flipped a bit. Tyler Dellow over at The Athletic examined the newer phenomenon where wingers are actually staying on their strong side. Here’s his explanation regarding what’s been happening:
So you don’t get the release as quickly as you do when one timing the puck but then the league is littered with players who can’t one time the puck. Instead, the movement makes it harder for a goalie to have all of the angles covered on the goal. There’s not just east/west movement of the puck — there’s north/south movement as well, which means that the goalie has to change his depth.
The strong-side winger allows for a more precise shot, but also avoids telegraphing the one-timer because a quick pass is just as viable an option. And the lack of reliance on the rapid-fire one-timer also means that you see the puck miss the net and careen off the glass and out of the offensive zone less frequently – there’s less of a blind panic to get the shot off.
The Flames utilized this strategy at times last season, but it was less structured and a bit messy. The variable quality and health of their right-shot options (Troy Brouwer, Kris Versteeg and very little else) also created challenges that they’ll need to overcome this summer.
Chaos in the slot, ideally
The side effect of the strong side wingers is some added precision and an entire system that’s seemingly design to create maximum chaos in the slot and net-front area. The wingers are making the goaltender shift around. The two attackers up the middle are (a) creating screens, (b) creating tips and (c) in an ideal position to outnumber the defenders for loose rebounds. And the point man at the top of the zone has a lot of bodies providing cover for his shot – Butcher got a ton of points last year based on the chaos unfolding in front of the opposing net.
There’s a potential variation of this scheme to think about: Bill Peters alluded to looking at using a forward below the red line (behind the net), which would create different looks and lanes and essentially force the goaltender and defenders to spin around rather than get used to a particular viewpoint on the ice. It’s still a 1-3-1, but a very different look that’s also based on creating chaos in the net-front area.
In other words, expect a lot less perimeter play from the 2018-19 power play.
More variation on zone entries
How many times did TJ Brodie skate very rapidly towards the offensive blueline, only to awkwardly stop and chuck the puck back to Johnny Gaudreau in the neutral zone? It’s called “the bump-back” by coaches and it’s the worst thing the power play has seen in years. You’re basically screaming to the opponent, “Don’t worry, Gaudreau’s bringing it in!”
Well, the Devils had a lot of fun, creative zone entry schemes. I watched five complete games worth of power plays. I saw zero bump-backs. But I saw this, which is largely resemblant of how much Ward wants his players to keep the defenders guessing. (Stick-tap to Mike Pfeil for the gif.)
Breeding predictability out of the special teams units seems to be the goal.
Faceoff improvements
The easiest way to avoid worrying about zone entries is by winning offensive zone faceoffs consistently. While it’s hardly a “tactic” per se, the Devils’ most common players at the dot won a lot of their draws and it helped them keep the pressure on. Pavel Zacha (61%) and Boyle (58%) took most of their draws, but Hall (63%), Nico Hischier (50%) and Drew Stafford (69%) also took a lot and won a lot.
For the Flames, Sean Monahan took the vast majority of draws at a 51% winning rate, followed by Mikael Backlund at 47%. The Flames will need to be better at the dot, and it’ll probably also be beneficial for them to get some more right-handed players that can take draws.
(Hopefully) more goals
The Flames scored 43 power play goals on 269 opportunities this past season. The Devils had 54 goals (11 more) on 252 opportunities (17 fewer). If the Devils had the same number of power plays as the Flames and scored at their same rate, they would’ve put up 58 goals. Even if the Flames can split the difference, an additional six or seven power play markers at key times in key games could be huge in 2018-19.
If we never use the ‘bump back’ I will be one happy fan of Ward!
Agreed. I absolutely hated watching Cameron’s 5 man penalty kill unit trying to create some offense. Really looking forward to seeing much improvement on the PP this season.
I hate the bump back so much. Besides telegraphing who is going to carry the puck over the line, it also leaves 3-4 players STANDING STILL OUTSIDE THE BLUE LINE. Sad.
Lol hey Treliving. You know that guy Chiason you let walk for guys like Hathaway and Glass and on and on.
Well he just won the Stanley Cup.
Great Judgement!
And what exactly did he contribute in the playoffs….nothing. Didn’t even play tonight. I think Treliving is sleeping ok
HE contributed more than Glass
Chiasson was a 2nd round pick and had 18pts in 61games for the caps. That’s garbage, Glass is not a comparable player. Just because you got a hate on Treliving, you’re pulling some lame dirt on him. McPhee traded Forsberg for Erat and ends up taking Vegas to the Stanley cup finals! No GM is perfect
Don’t we need strong Centre men to maintain possession for faceoff’s?
I’m sorry but 51% is ok, but wouldn’t 60% at the dots make a huge difference?!
ROR is tops in the league. Hmm
Winning draws is a learnable skill. If the centers spend a summer practising it they will be much better at it. Not playing with two broken wrists might help too.
Great point BC.
I feel for Monahan, I’m surprised he was that good considering his injuries!
No kidding. I read on the Flames site that he could barely hold his stick for like half the season. And he still had a career year.
Imagine if he’s actually healthy next year. Good god.
Backlund and Stajan still haven’t got that memo about winning draws being a learnable skill. Flames as a team have finished in the bottom half of the league every year for the last 10 years.
I was surprised to learn that Stajan had 51.5% last season. I could have sworn that it was far lower, but I think my perception was skewed from the fact that he couldn’t seem to win a draw (got waived from the circle every time) in the first few weeks of the season after the new rules took effect. He must have stepped it up afterwards.
Would ROR be worth his salary to take faceoffs and maybe teach the other centres how to do it? Would it over-shadow the cancerous stigma he has created for himself? It just makes one wonder why he seems to always be in the middle of these “culture change” scenarios
On the other side of the coin…I have looked up and read many reports about ROR and am starting to lean on the “worth a deep look” type of candidate. There are good reports that say he is one of the more proud, hard working players to better his craft and team. His focus to be better may be exactly what the Flames need? Another proud vet who can help the younger players become a little more focused on what they are trying to accomplish. The more I look at it, the more I am seeing that the Flames may just be the team that he would be very happy with, and vice-versus.
I absolutely would love to get RoR. But rumours of RoR for Dougie are ludicrous. Doubt Brodie gets it done, but maybe we have a decent prospect Buffalo may want. Dahlin is going to be a stud but for him to just drop in & be a premier top pairing D in the NHL in his first year is also unrealistic.
When it comes to Ryan O’Reilly, I would prefer the discount contract and free acquisition cost of right-handed center Derek Ryan who over the past 2 seasons has outperformed O’Reilly (per 60 minutes at even strength) in terms of game score, goals, points, primary assists, secondary assists, individual shots, Corsi for percentage, and expected goals for. Ryan also won 56.5% of his faceoffs last year. Let’s save our assets for a high end-winger.
https://public.tableau.com/shared/DGMXMTTTB?:display_count=yes
In terms of Buffalo, I would much rather target Reinhart. Who would be more expensive, Reinhart or O’Reilly?
Calgary has been pathetic at faceoff wins for as long as I can remember! The timing of the faceoff win (own end shorthanded, dying minutes trying preserve a 1 goal lead, etc.)is more important than the percentage, but I don’t think we’ve done well there either.
Rudy 27 is right, Calgary has been a complete dumpster fire on face-offs for years and the stats absolutely prove it. When you look at special teams where face-off wins are arguably the most important here is what you get (in order from most face-offs taken to least): Penalty Kill face off records: Backlund 42.7%, Brouwer 45.9%, Stajan 42.9%, Monahan 38.1%. Power Play face-off records: Monahan 50.6%, Backlund 45.6%, Jankowski 52.2%. I have 2 take aways from this. First I was surprised Brouwer took the 2nd most face-offs on the PK. Second, for a veteran Backlund is really terrible at face-offs.
Backlund belongs to the same school as Daymond Langkow. Lose the draw and win the puck.
Just checked Puckbase and Carolina had 4 centres in the top 20!
In order, Staal, Ryan, Rask and Lindholm
I’m thinking Rebar must like players who are strong at the dots.
I betcha they actually practiced faceoffs…
Ryan is a 30+ year old who was well above 50% on face offs. He is also a UFA on July 1. Hope we can sign him for 2 or 3 years at a reasonable cap hit. Glenn Gawdin was around 58% on face offs last year in jr. A year or two in Stockton he could step in and replace Ryan.
ROR of the Sabres is 27 and has 5 years left at 7.5 million cap hit per year…are we talking about the same player???
No. They’re talking about Derek Ryan.
I’m kind of considering it a forgone conclusion given Calgary’s needs and Rebar and Ryan’s history. That said lots of Carolina fans insisted Ryan was their Brouwer, given way too much opportunity for no good reason. Statistics put him in the top 10 faceoff men and top 10 Corsi for players in the league… He’ll definitely be a polarizing figure!
Good article Ryan, I humbly submit though that running Gaudreau off the half-wall on the RW is the biggest change that needs to happen.
Sticking him on the left side leaves him with very few options. On the offside he can spin, create, dance, shoot from a better angle, pass.
On the strongside he can pass it, skate behind the net, or shoot from a brutal angle.
Give our magician room to make magic and magic might happen.
Exactly. A good chef recognizes the ingredients he has and makes a winning dish from them — don’t make a cake when you have everything for pie. Good coaches do the same thing.
Very well put Wildfire
Which means…get JG off the point and in a position to create that magic. I like it!
Best argument for Johnny on the right side I have read….
Unpredictability on the PP means they understand the major flaw from last year–total predictability. I think Cameron was a big part of the reason we missed the playoffs last year. Ward seems like a definite improvement.
If Monahan can get healthy, I expect 40 or more from him next season!
For Monny to hit 40, he’d need to take 267 shots (assuming career avg. shooting %). He took a bit of a step forward in that regard last year, but it would still mean 65 more shots than he has ever put on goal. Possible, but I wouldn’t expect it. 35 seems a more reasonable target.
No more tell-tale bump back!?! Wow what a concept. A four forward and one defence scheme would mean plenty of PP zone time for the likes of Tkachuk and Bennett? Monny should be considerably better at faceoffs this year now that he will be healthy. Shore…a right handed centre with pretty good faceoffs. PP darkhorse? Maybe Ward is a pretty good faceoff coach as well…seeing the percentages from the Dev’s centres? Or bring in a faceoff trainer to focus on that (important) specific point of the game? I’m pretty excited about this actually, and not just cuz I have Dougie in my keeper pool. Keeping the opposition guessing on PK coverage? What a concept. Looks like Ward may be a great steal for the Flames and then with Huska as the perfect transition coach for the young ones coming up. Good going BT! I’m actually getting optimistic about this.
I hated to watch GG&Co scramble three separate lines and two D pairs, on the totally ineffective PP. It always took three shifts to get the lines back together and totally killed any momentum.
Watching our PP at the games last year was absolutely horrible. The only thing worse would be eating a Nachos at the Dome that has bad cheese, rancid jalepenos washed down by a flat beer.
The only thing I expect from Ward’s powerplay is that Brouwer isn’t on it….
The rest is gravy!
WW
You already have him penciled in on Coiler’s PP. Sure hope it happens!!
Off topic but does Washington close it out tonight or does the NHL need a couple more games to fill up the coffers with a few more dollars?
I would think that LV will win at home, so the Caps can close out at home? I’m sure that’s the scenario that they are cashing…er…hoping for.
It’s funny…but already reading many “conspiracy theories” on how a lot of Casino cronies are pooling together to NOT allow a 7th game scenario to give any chance of the city losing millions upon millions of dollars due to lost betting revenue. Makes one wonder? ?
How did the bookies get Holtby to make so many outstanding saves, and train the Knights to hit so many posts? Thems some bookies!
Lost betting odds?
There’s a guy that bet $1 million at 100 odds. It’s bankruptcy
I’m all about crazy conspiracy theories, but only if they have a grain of truth to them. How does anyone, much less a bookie, affect the result of any hockey game, much less a SCF?
I think conjecture about shady dealings and powerful hockey people pulling strings should start and end with the cards that Bill Daley turns over at the draft lottery.
That truly is the conspiracy (right Oilers fans?). The conspiracy about organized crime using resources to manipulate the outcome of sporting events is just a joking matter of course. Just ask the 1919 World Series losers…
I was laughing too of course. It’s all about the stigma of Vegas casinos being closely related to organized crime families ever since Vegas was a thought in people’s minds (thanks Bugsy). I know that mobsters have never reeeally been connected to sports betting manipulation like baseball, horse racing, boxing, college football, basketball…or anything like that. Makes a good story though ?
37 degrees in Vegas..hope the AC keeps the ice from melting…
Washington deserves to win tonight; Knights are completely flabbergasted..
To put it simply. I expect it to be better than last seasons.
I am sure the changes to defensive systems. the power play, penalty kill , the forecheck and the attack are going to improve the Flames next season. Having said that there is little coming out about players being released or traded. Why can we not quietly go about making trades to improve our club in the manner the Coyotes do?
NHL Rules: No player movements until end f Stanley Cup finals!
I believe in 48 hours teams can start announcing buy outs. Congrats to the Caps. Lets hope we can celebrate next year.
Don’t let us down Ward. Thankfully we don’t know if you take your coffee black or stir it so no nick name for you.
We are excited about the possibility of this power play under Ward w/o even adding anyone; imagine if BT could add a legit top RHS to the mix.
The Stanley Cup is over….we’re open for business!!!
Rumour is Brouwer is training super duper hard in the off season!
Birds will fly, fish will swim, and disappointing free-agents on bloated contracts will train hard in the summer to generate hope for a “bounce back”. Ho hum.
Let the off season trade rumours begin! Should be kicking into high gear now. Heard Flames looking hard at Hoffman again…
Which GM do you think is going to overpay for devante Smith pelley? Dude had as many goals in the regular season as he did playoffs, which is 7.
No doubt…I think Treliving learned his lesson on players like him. Cough, Brouwer, cough
Hard to compare Pelly to “The Buyout” no one will be confusing Pelly with a top 6 forward.
He is a RFA so that depends on what the Caps choose to do. They know he is 4th line RW who this year appears to have demonstrated that he plays the right way and gets rewarded for his effort. The Caps however do have a cap issue going into the off season; even if the cap goes all the way up to $80m they will be hard pressed to sign everyone. Carlson, Wilson, and Gruabuer would take all of their cap space even at $80m.