Collier Says System is Therrien's Greatest Accomplishment

Today at the PG, Collier lays out many points that support the idea I laid out about how changing the rules and even the goalie equipment won't increase scoring in the NHL, only coaching will bring about the change. Collier's article is geared towards the Pens and how good a job Therrien is doing, but in doing so uncovers some ways that the NHL has changed that no rule change and only coaching philosophies could reverse:

• Therrien after the Pens demolished the Flyers 7-1: "It's nice to be able to play with confidence when we get the puck," he said that day, "but what was most impressive was that with the defensive system, they played it from beginning to end. You saw a team trying to stick to the plan."
• Collier notes that when he "asked asked Bob Errey, the celebrated mucker from the Cup years if the game is still played systematically the way he and Lemieux and the gang played it, he didn't equivocate.

  "No."

  In that era, Errey explained, the players had positional and alignment responsibilities, but they weren't nearly as detailed as what coaches insist upon today.
• As many Pens fans from 1992 recall: "in the Paleozoic early '90s, I could have pointed out that the coach's attendance at practice was actually frowned upon, somewhat limiting the opportunity for systems analysis." This was from a year when the Pens were coached by perhaps the greatest coach in NHL history.
• "But while basic forechecking systems, backchecking systems and neutral-zone lane responsibilities likely date to the invention of the goal cage, technological and even cultural and political forces have refined hockey systems rapidly."
• Pen newcomer Hal Gill notes that: "Before I came here, I'd have told you that all systems are pretty much the same. But this is definitely a little more nuanced. It was definitely something I had to study and something I didn't really get right away. As long as you pay attention to the details, it'll come." Collier notes that if you don't pay attention to those details or fail "to consistently follow the protocols on defense could have you waking up on left wing."

Still think that a change to some of the rules will result in more scoring? If you really want more scoring, eliminate the coaches, not the red line.

System management paves road to riches