Defending the 1-3-1
Posted 11:32 AM ET | Comments 0
This is my first blog. I have always stayed away from blogging as I felt I never had something worthwhile to say, and that remains to be seen. Something both delighted and bothered me about the "incident" in last nights Flyers/Lightning game. In Canada, the media blew up over Philadelphia refusing to play into the Lightning's 1-3-1 neutral zone trap. I enjoyed the talk this created on the TSN panel because I feel we hear a lot of mindless hockey talk and it is nice to hear more about strategy in hockey.
I truly am torn about my feelings about the 1-3-1 and other "boring" defensive systems. The fans want to seemingly see goals, and fights. A defensive system such as the 1-3-1 hampers offense and obviously annoys those who want to see real barn burners. Coaches and professionals a like need to expose the weakness's in the other coaches and players systems. The obvious course of action is the Philadelphia defense drawing Tampa out of the defensive formation. They however took a different approach making an already boring style of hockey even more boring by refusing to play Tampa's game.
The part of this conversation that really bothers me is the media (namely That's Hockey Tonight on TSN) suggesting the league intervene somehow to ban defensive systems. To me it would be like banning the blitz in Football because it obstructs the offenses ability to move the ball with ease. The onus is on the coaches and players to adapt to changing systems on the fly, it's what makes sports interesting.
I believe the NHL has already changed the game and continues to change rules to adapt to what they perceive the fans want to see, a more European style game. How long before we don't even recognize the game because of rule overhauls. But that's just my opinion.
I fully expect to be torn apart for sharing my feelings here but I didn't see enough chatter about this subject on this site.
I truly am torn about my feelings about the 1-3-1 and other "boring" defensive systems. The fans want to seemingly see goals, and fights. A defensive system such as the 1-3-1 hampers offense and obviously annoys those who want to see real barn burners. Coaches and professionals a like need to expose the weakness's in the other coaches and players systems. The obvious course of action is the Philadelphia defense drawing Tampa out of the defensive formation. They however took a different approach making an already boring style of hockey even more boring by refusing to play Tampa's game.
The part of this conversation that really bothers me is the media (namely That's Hockey Tonight on TSN) suggesting the league intervene somehow to ban defensive systems. To me it would be like banning the blitz in Football because it obstructs the offenses ability to move the ball with ease. The onus is on the coaches and players to adapt to changing systems on the fly, it's what makes sports interesting.
I believe the NHL has already changed the game and continues to change rules to adapt to what they perceive the fans want to see, a more European style game. How long before we don't even recognize the game because of rule overhauls. But that's just my opinion.
I fully expect to be torn apart for sharing my feelings here but I didn't see enough chatter about this subject on this site.