When You’re The NHL’s Biggest ‘Disaster’

When You’re The NHL’s Biggest ‘Disaster’

Huge news over the weekend it’s been a long time coming one of the strangest and probably most disrespectful things we’ve ever seen in the league that kxs they let Bruce buau twist in the wind uh they finally let him go they hired Rick toet named him the coach on Sunday he’s

The 21st head coach in franchise history almost exactly a year ago the Vancouver Canucks were a complete disaster after the first half of the Season that saw players turn on each other superstars completely dejected and a total mismanagement of a beloved coach the Canucks were a circus that was to be

Inherited by Coach Rick toet fast forward exactly 1 year later and that same team finds themselves on top of the NHL I never saw this coming but a lot has changed both on and off the ice to make this team a potential Stanley Cup Contender as this video is being made

The Vancouver connects are on top the NHL and depending on where you live in Canada there’s an argument that they are the team to beat coming out of the West whatever your opinion is on that the truth remains that this conu team has become a juggernaut the kucks have been

One of if not the biggest surprise of the 2024 NHL season what was initially thought to just be a hot start has fully turned into a threat that is here to stay so how did they go from a full-on circus disaster to potential Stanley Cup contender in one year Well Rick toet has

Invigorated this team but tactically he’s got them playing a system that benefits their Personnel let’s start with what they do better than anyone else in the league and that’s create offense the Canucks are the best offensive team in the NHL as they rank first in goals 4 and it’s because of two

Reasons one how they facilitate off the rush and two how they maintain Zone pressure the kcks are a team that always want to keep you on their heels in all three zones they want to turn defense into offense quickly and having a weapon like Quinn Hughes makes it really easy

Teams have trouble pressuring the Canucks on the 4 check or stuff in them in the neutral zone because they simply can’t keep up with Hughes and how the Canucks like to spread out when you have a player like Hughes who can single-handedly break out the puck with

His legs or Vision it opens up all kinds of options for the Canucks to attack on the rush take this play here against the Oilers as the Canucks look to counter Hughes doesn’t like what he sees so he curls back instead of forcing a play he gives his teammates a chance to spread

Out and head north the Oilers scramble to get into their one 122 structure and Hugh sends a bullet up the middle to besser and with one pass the Canucks have an odd man rush in their favor when Hughes has possession the Canucks have the green light from toet to spread out

And be ready for a potential stretch pass or a long flip at the same time this Canucks team understands when to stay close and provide support on the defensive side of the puck for them to begin on offense watch here as Edington looks to enter the Zone but look at the

Level of support Vancouver has with all five guys snuffing out the rush Quinn Hughes steps up to take his man a loose Puck seemingly finds it way to Edmonton but because Miller is there for support a perfect stick lift gives Hughes a lane and then just fantastic awareness for

Hughes to feel the pressure and give it back to Miller to start the rush the other way now enter their Rush game looking at the numbers they are on a lucky run in terms of shooting percentage according to Mike Kelly on Twitter the Canucks are first in the

League shooting a ridiculous 22% off the rush the second best team in the league comes around 133% they may be getting a lot of Puck luck but their process is what’s allowing them to produce at such a high clip aside from Quinn Hughes doing Quin Hughes things to Spring a

Rush the entire conu roster is manufacturing turnovers in all three zones to create a rush chance here in the defensive Zone Nashville threatens with a rush chance of their own but julson takes a fantastic angle off here and he’s able to close the gap rather quickly Vancouver once again has the

Proper support on the back pressure as soon as they get possession mckv and Pon head north and a composed play by Suter instantly creates a rush chance for Vancouver where the skill of Alias Pon can be used effectively then again in the neutral zone Vancouver continues to Hound the puck carrier with back

Pressure and force a turnover Garland attacks the middle and will kick this back out wide to drive the net and even though the Canucks are outnumbered on this Rush a perfect passing play leads to a goal now is that type of play going to go in every time no the shooting

Percentage will likely regress but with toet and the Canucks like to see is the process process of backchecking creating turnovers and then taking that Puck and attacking instantly off the rush it’s these tiny little details on the defensive side of the puck that end up rewarding Vancouver for their work when

You play the game right good things happen now where the Canucks truly Drive team’s nuts is in the offensive zone since toet has taken over all four lines have shown a deep commitment to being absolutely relentless on their for check the conu go aggressive with a 212 setup

And when I watched the footage they remind me a lot of the Colorado team that won the Stanley Cup a few years ago a strong for checking team that relies on their speed to create chaos they also ran a similar 212 as well like Colorado the Canucks finished their checks too

But it’s the speed of the F1 and F2 that forces Defenders to make a panic decision Rick toet has been very outspoken about wanting all of his players to for check with this type of intensity when the first two forwards can steal a puck or win a battle they

Instantly have a dangerous option in the middle of the ice that can strike of course the F3 or high guy has to be responsible and make the proper reads as to when to dive in as when you run a 212 an Elvis P or tip Puck can lead to an

Odd man Rush against but when the Canucks get possession in the offensive zone they can absolutely torch teams with their movement The Meta in the NHL right now seems to be a 23 offensive zone pressure with two forwards low and three skaters High and a constant movement to create separation however

When you throw a Quinn Hughes in the mix you become borderline Unstoppable Hughes has the innate ability to walk the line and manipulate Wingers at his will however the Canuck’s offensive system further empowers a player like Hughes and gives him even more space when they have the puck near the Blue Line they’re

Essentially running a scissor play with the puck carrier having options to either keep or drop the puck here Hughes gets the puck at the Blue Line and tries to make a move but decides to peel back watch honic and kuseno come in on the scissor route and kuseno goes in front

Of the attacker to provide a tiny pick while heroni goes behind him for support here Hughes has options to attack the given space or drop it this play he decides to drop it and it creates a solid scoring chance this type of movement up high puts teams in a

Defensive blender against Montreal it’s the same thing one player swings in front while heroic swings behind and because of that this Montreal Winger has to stop up in case of a drop pass that’s exactly what Hughes wants and he St steps right in but this isn’t only exclusive to a player like Hughes

Veronic here has possession and this time only one player will crisscross up high just the option forces the Winger to actually ease off of fonic in anticipation of a drop pass that buys him a tiny bit of space to get the puck over to Hughes and the end result is a

Goal four the Canucks run this scissor route down low as well here Tampa is playing man but they will switch to his Zone when the puck goes low so watch Hughes crisscross with kusco and he opts to hold on to the puck instead of dropping it the threat of Quinn Hughes

Causes Tampa to collapse and look at all that space that is left up high for all three Vancouver players Hughes circles the wagon and finds Brock besser in the most dangerous area of the ice it’s this level of creativity and motion in the offensive zone that is a big reason why

This team is first in NHL scoring to give you an idea of how much the Canucks have teams on their heels with their offense in their last nine games the Canucks have tra triled for only 53 seconds their ability to create offense is a powerful defensive tool but it also

Really helps when you have Thatcher demp going that 131 in1 in his last 15 starts and he’s the fastest goalie in franchise history to reach 25 wins while recording five shutouts in the process if the Canucks have a breakdown he’s right there to save them this team in one

Year’s time since Rick taka took over has completely 180d after being perceived as one of the biggest jokes in the league from top down Rick toet and the Canucks are completely unrecognizable from the team that they were a year ago for a team that was filled with supposed locker room cancers

And frustrated Superstars they have come together and created one of the deadliest teams in the league the expectation was to just be competitive but if they maintain this level of play they will be serious contenders come April

#nhl #hockey #vancouvercanucks

After being one of the most disastrous teams of the 2022 NHL season, The Vancouver Canucks have completely turned things round under Rick Tocchet.