Winnipeg Jets Power Play: Dissected

Winnipeg Jets Power Play Dissection from the Illegal Curve show on TSN Radio 1290 in Winnipeg

This past Saturday I had the opportunity to be a guest again on the Illegal Curve show on TSN Radio 1290 in Winnipeg. If you haven’t listened to the show before, and you’re a Jets fan, check it out here: http://illegalcurve.com/

The topic I covered on Saturday will be useful to any coach, whether you’re a Jets fan or not. I also made a video dissection of the Jets power play after the fact, illustrating a few of the things I mentioned on the show. So, Check out my segment in the audio below, then watch the vid!

[haiku url=”https://weisstechhockey.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/jets_pp_tsn1290.mp3″ title=”Jeremy Weiss on the Illegal Curve show – TSN Radio 1290″]
Here are the key points as discussed on the show:

1. Not getting a lot of power plays in the first place (especially last week)
   1. Only two against Boston
   2. Only one against Buffalo
   3. Against the Rangers and Devils they started using their speed, and Drew more penalties those game
2. Puck movement is pretty good once they actually get the set-up
3. Problems with breakout and moving through the neutral zone
   1. Forcing passes to covered players in NZ (in my opinion, it’s ok for the defenseman to carry it all the way on a PP if the other team lets him walk)
   2. Against Rangers and Devils, they improved on this a lot – and were able to get the puck deep and set up
   3. Not driving deep enough
4. Problems with the initial attack
   1. taking the shot before getting the set up (I usually say don’t shoot on the initial attack on a PP unless you have a 2 on 1 or better, because if you miss, you’re not in position to rebound and the other team can ice it and waste time)
   2. Forcing passes – the whole idea of the PP is to isolate a man, then beat him with a pass. If you pass too soon, or force a pass, you’re not going to open up opportunities
   3. They never really got the set-up in last week’s games… this week was better on that front.
5. Against the Rangers & Devils they started fixing these problems
   1. Used speed more to draw penalties
   2. Didn’t force passes in the neutral zone (defenseman started walking it more)
   3. Drove the puck deep then looked for the set up, or sometimes dumped it in to the open man
   4. Great puck movement within the zone
   5. Still not pulling the trigger enough, and getting sticks on rebounds
6. MY SUGGESTIONS: Assuming they continue to improve on the breakout and puck movement through the NZ, and assuming their puck movement on the set-up stays solid like it was this past week, my main observation would be that the men in front might be a little too low. There are two approaches to screening a goalie, both have pros and cons:
   1. Right on top of him – better screen, more annoying, but tips don’t have as much room to change the trajectory of the shot, and rebounds usually bounce past you (which happens a lot to the Jets)
   2. Further out (7 or 8 feet in front of the goalie) – not as good for screens, not as annoying/distracting for the goalie, but much more effective for tips, and way better for jumping on rebounds