Change Is Good

A Wednesday night game in Columbus has provided the Oilers with another deserved loss and more fodder for questioning the powerplay and its ineffectiveness. It was particularly noticeable tonight that the Oilers tried to over handle the puck to gain entry into the zone. Also noticeable was how seldom the puck went below the hashmarks after we got control unless it came as a point shot. Some points on the powerplay below:

Last year one of the esteemed bloggers I frequently read (I’d bet on it being Willis, but I’m a crappy gambler) noted how good Joni Pitkanen was at gaining entry to the zone on the PP. Visnovsky has had a lot of trouble with his decisions when trying to set up a man advantage. I’ve noticed that when he gets the puck in the neutral zone on the PP that he stops moving his feet and then makes bad decisions with his passes.

As noted above, the puck almost never went below the hashmarks when we had control. This has produced an unbalanced attack and teams have no reason not to key on our point men if we give them no other threat to watch for.

Cole has been fairly ineffective on the PP so far this year. I think Penner has better hands in tight and better chemistry with Hemsky and Horc. He also led the team in PP goals last year and I think it’s time that he got some serious time on the first unit.

There is not nearly enough movement or fluidity when we have the man advantage. Players who aren’t moving are easy to cover. I like to think of a good powerplay as being an overload of information for the PK unit. One where the forwards have to fill the shooting lanes, watch for cross seam passes, stay with pinching defensemen, and do all that while staying in sync and keeping the puck carrier from walking into the middle of the ice.

It might be time to split up Visnovsky and Souray. Souray has been an absolute menace this year, especially when a man up and he should stick with the first unit. In Lubo’s place I nominate Tom Gilbert for getting minutes with the first unit. He’s showed good decision making ability when gaining entry to the zone, something which Visnovsky has not done, and showed a good ability to pinch down at the right time last year.

Sam Gagner should be on the first unit as well. In Sam we have a guy who is comfortable both on the wall being the quarterback and playing below the goal line. Having two guys on the first unit who can operate effectively from the half boards should create more fluidity in the attack and gives more options for guys to move around and find space and open up new lanes. Gagner is also good at finding dead areas on the ice.

Ales Hemsky can not stay permanently on the half boards for the Oilers to add a new dimension to their powerplay. His options there are too limited and, while he is certainly adept in that position, when he is not moving around out there he does not draw defenders to himself like he does when he is moving his feet.

In conclusion, our powerplay would have some new dimensions if we had a first unit of Hemsky, Gagner, Penner, Gilbert, and Souray. Hopefully DP is at least okay on faceoffs. That having been said, the real problem seems to lie in the rigidity of the attack, and may very well require new philosophies rather than new personnel.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpriuSMv0og