![]() ![]() As deep as they are, the Lightning will be missing Kucherov badly while he is on injured reserve. In his view, the deadliest power-play weapon in the league - removing his own players from the discussion - resides in Tampa. The D are a huge part of the highlight reel.”Ĭassidy’s specialty as a coach is the man-advantage. ![]() Now you’re looking for guys who can play with the puck and support your forwards. It was, ‘Get it out, get it in.’ In the ‘80s, we all wanted to play like Bourque and Coffey, then the game went away from that - just bang it up the boards. “For a long period of time, kids didn’t want to play defense. “There’s probably more great young defensemen in the game than there’s ever been,” said Craig Hartsburg, a premier offensive D-man in the 1980s and former Chicago and Anaheim coach. Teams no longer need two blue-liners up top as a security measure. The more agile, confident defensemen there are in the league, the less teams worry about a bouncing puck or a blocked shot going the other way. Lighter, stronger sticks have allowed shooters much weaker than Ovechkin to fire missiles with increased accuracy and power. Two other factors that have helped this movement: composite sticks and mobile defensemen. ![]() The rise in skill training across the league has led teams to trust puck handlers, live with the risk, and worry less about giving up shorthanded goals. The four-forward alignment is now familiar. ![]()
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