Mystery of Jets’ defence solved, sort of

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/02/2017 (3513 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As the Winnipeg Jets near the three-quarter point of the season, I decided to turn to my Twitter followers and try to answer a few questions regarding the local NHL team as it nears the end of the season.

I ended up choosing three questions submitted by Claude Saindon, a self-described Jets fan and retired journalist who lives in Montreal. His twitter handle is @amatoudi

Question #1: Do the Jets play a full man-to-man defence in the defensive zone?

Answer: It’s man-to-man, but I’ve wondered at times if they were trying to move to a hybrid style, only to change back. Quite frankly, I thought the Jets might just be confused during these times.

I threw my thoughts at a couple of people who also watch the details of the games closely and here’s what they had to say on this.

From @maxthesilen: “There have definitely been games where they played a hybrid or switched after the first period — no idea what the rhyme or reason is to it though (they should be defaulting to a hybrid if they want some form of man to man).”

From a Jets season-ticket holder, who prefers to remain anonymous: “They appear to be (playing man-to-man), and anything that looks like zone in the defensive zone seems like players not doing the right thing rather than a plan. In the neutral zone, I do think they try to use a lock on occasion, with sporadic success.”

The words in these answers seem to fit with the Jets season, whether you use “confused”, “no idea what rhyme or reason…”, “not doing the right thing” or “sporadic”. When the Jets have a true identity that combines with winning we won’t be wondering what systems they are using — you’ll see it on a nightly basis.

Question #2: Is a system like that known to be effective?

Answer: Effective is the key word here, as it can work at times — it seems lesser-talented teams cling to it in some cases. The reads that a player makes are so much simpler in man-to-man coverage. The one huge image that comes to mind is Dustin Byfuglien chasing his check out to the blue line and around the zone. This is just one of a few reasons for my distaste for it — but the game is simple and it limits overall scoring chances against.

What stands out with this system is when a player loses a battle for the puck or is beaten by his check — it often results in an opposition player standing all alone in front of the net with the puck. It’s also much harder to break out of the zone after winning a puck battle, as teammates could be anywhere in the defensive zone, depending on where the guy they are checking takes them. This leads to poor breakouts and less offensive opportunities in the transition game.

Basically, a zone system (there are different types) has each player covering an area of the ice, with the support structure depending on where the puck is. This makes for less hard-fought puck battles, but provides layers of security in case of a breakdown.

This also provides for much easier break outs when a puck is recovered, as everyone knows the approximate area his teammate will be in to accept a pass, helping the transition game to get moving quickly.

Question No. 3: Is it a big deal to change D-Zone (defensive zone) systems mid-season?

Answer: It’s taken place a couple of times this year in dramatic fashion — right after a coaching change. The St. Louis Blues fired Ken Hitchcock, who was replaced by Mike Yeo. As was reported here. Hitchcock had the Blues playing zone coverage in past years but switched to man-to-man this year. Number one goaltender Jake Allen was terrible until the firing.

When Yeo took over he put them back into a zone scheme, cutting down on those wide-open chances. The players have liked the change, and Allen’s play has rocketed, although it’s a small sample. The Blues look like a different team.

Meanwhile, the Florida Panthers fired head coach Gerard Gallant in late November, replacing him with Tom Rowe. Rowe said that while he immediately switched to an area zone defence, it didn’t bring winning results right away. His players had to learn how to make the reads required and gain confidence in the system. The jury is out on whether the system change is a key in their late resurgence, but it may be. Having injured star players back in the lineup helps too, but they are playing to their strengths.

With the right personnel you can switch systems mid-season, but it usually takes time for players to adjust to the different reads they have to make in a zone system. The Blues familiarity with it obviously helped them, while it’s taken longer in Florida.

On another matter, I received a lot of the questions from Twitter around the same time that I ran a quick poll that featured head coach Paul Maurice saying he had run some players hard the night before (while chasing a 2-1 lead against Chicago), explaining the lack of zip in some of his player’s that night.

It was the third option (”I don’t care anymore”) that caught my attention when 50 percent of 401 people voted that way. It shocked me.

I just hope apathy isn’t contagious – maybe we’ll talk more on this another day.

 

Chosen ninth overall by the NHL’s St. Louis Blues and first overall by the WHA’s Houston Aeros in 1977, Scott Campbell has now been drafted by the Winnipeg Free Press to play a new style of game.

 

Twitter: @NHL_Campbell