Job one: Maurice focuses on neutral zone
After watching his new team hand the Pittsburgh Penguins a 5-2 win on Thursday, new Carolina Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice identified the first area of concern to address.
Before practice Friday, Maurice’s second with the team, the Hurricanes discussed their defensive positioning in the neutral zone, taking an approach Eric Staal called “not so aggressive,” although hardly out of line with what most NHL teams are doing.
Maurice, though, was quick to point out that most of the drills the team did out on the ice were offensive-minded, designed to get the puck to the net, preferably with a body somewhere in the area as well.
(Staal said he remembered a few of the drills from the first half of his rookie year.)
“We looked at what we’re doing without the puck,” Maurice said, “and then one general concept of what we’re doing with the puck.”
There’s no way to change everything at once. It’s going to take time. Friday, it started in the neutral zone.
Perhaps the biggest change to the team had nothing to do with Maurice (although he was consulted) or anything that happened on the ice Friday. The Canes dispatched Josef Melichar — a $1 million oops — and Pat Dwyer to Albany (AHL), recalling Casey Borer and Tim Conboy.
Borer replaces Melichar on the blue line and Conboy should add some desperately needed toughness, first on the blue line while Tim Gleason, Frantisek Kaberle and Dennis Seidenberg are out, then on the fourth line where he played last season.
Conboy’s no-holds-barred approach to the game made him a quick fan favorite last year, and his unpredictable physical play was a big factor in Carolina’s late-season turnaround. His teammates were happy to hear the news of his return.
“It’s not the (physical) edge,” Rod Brind’Amour said. “We just like the guy as a player.”
Luke DeCock
Luke has worked for The N&O since 2000. He covered the Carolina Hurricanes and the NHL before becoming a sports columnist in August 2008. A native of Evanston, Ill., he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. He can be reached at 829-8947 or luke.decock@newsobserver.com.
Comments
Go Slow Mo
Sat, 12/06/2008 - 10:24 — NetMinderMo sees a lot of changes that need to be made ... first things first, defensive positioning in the neutral zone. Cool. Shots on goal with a couple of guys on the crease with their butts in the goaltenders face. Cool. Bring a little toughness to the party by bringing up Conboy. Cool. And that's just for starters. Not cool.
The team we had under Laviolette was uptempo, aggressive (sometimes to a fault) and, when they were on their game, as fun to watch as any team in the NHL. There were, however, two glaring weaknesses ... the power play and clearing our own zone. Mo needs to focus on those two areas. We need a simpler, more confident PP. We need to win the battles on the boards in our own zone and get the puck out of there.
The big concern is this ... if Mo makes too many changes, we could be in for a very long season. The old adage "if it ain't broke don't fix it" couldn't apply more here. Fix the things that need fixing, build simplicity, confidence and consistency, and leave the things that make this team special alone.
Under Laviolette, our speed and skill took us a long way. It was our defensive decision making that killed us. We could really get buzzing on the forecheck and create chances. Yet there were times, especially on the PP and in our own zone, when we looked like a team with ADHD desperately in need of a ritalin cocktail.
Whether or not Mo is the calming influence this team needs remains to be seen. What this team needs to be right now is more confident. What it needs to be, even more than that, is itself. Mo needs to let the Canes be who they are ... fast, highly skilled, capable of long periods of sustained pressure on the forecheck. Then, he needs to make a few, repeat few, tweaks to control overly aggressive play, improve defensive positioning, and turn them into a playoff team.
Team Toughness
Fri, 12/05/2008 - 16:26 — SkooteriI like these recalls. Hurricanes severely lack team toughness. Melichar sometimes showed an edge, but that doesn't make up for not being able to get the job done.
Yo Luke
Fri, 12/05/2008 - 16:24 — esteban1949writting like playing in Carnagie hall takes practice,Practice,Practice...hehehe And so far what you,Chip and Javier & Humble Phil in NY are doing your best to keep us fans in the news circuit. True there are times we'd like to be there to ask some questions that yall may not think of or even dare to ask,but trust me.I wouldn't,as being a grandfather with the last 2 grandkids in college is hard enough !! Thanks and have a good week end !!
Go Canes !!
Low scoring, solid defense is looking better to me
Fri, 12/05/2008 - 15:42 — wxray1I loved the Cane's crazy-wild offensive approach these few years. Total entertainment. So what if we get a couple of goals against, the boys will come back.
But not anymore. Last night's Melichar turn-over and subsequent goal was enough to make me sick.
Tell you what... A temporary return to "defense first" is looking good to me. Not sure what Mo is going to do, but after these recent games with so many goals against, keeping the puck out of our net first doesn't look so bad.
About time
Fri, 12/05/2008 - 15:35 — scomilI just wonder why it took so long to do this. Was Laviolette against having Conboy in the mix?
so much for no major changes to style
Fri, 12/05/2008 - 15:23 — Richie7so we have already gone from minor tweaks to:
There’s no way to change everything at once. It’s going to take time.
To be fair, that's me
Fri, 12/05/2008 - 15:42 — ldecock (author)To be fair, that's me writing that, not him saying that. And what I meant was, anything he does want to change — from minor tweaks to major changes — can't all be done at once.
Perhaps a better way to say that would be, "There's no way to make all the changes Maurice feels needs to be made at once."