Letter to: Mr. Marc Bergevin

[BCHabnut]

Isn't Mike green in Detroit?

I do think that Markov is very effective on the left side feeding a slapper at the right point and a left handed sniper on right side down low. I don't think machine is just making shit up because he is bored. Many times the habs seem to have only one option. Pass to subban. The down low play is covered because the defense only have to cover the right side of the ice. The side that pac is on. So it eliminates the down low play and Subban is up too high. If Marky could qb from the left side and had a point option as well as a good cross seam option. Combined with his backdoor success, you have to think the pp would Improve. Vice versa with Petry running it from the right side. I think it's pretty standard stuff on most nhl power plays. Having several options.

[Commandant]

Every team plays crappy teams and gets the chance to get PP goals against them.... the argument that we aren't worth of a top 10 PP% because of who we've scored doesn't hold much water.

[IN THE HEARTS OF MEN]

Yes green went to Detroit this year as a UFA. But last year the top ranked washington powerplay had ovechkin on the left boards and green and Carlson on the points...

[Commandant]

as for handedness.... Again there have been a ton of teams in the NHL that use two point men of opposite handed ness and set up one timers for each other....

A ton of them....

its actually an advantage, not a disadvantage, because both of your point men can play the role of passer or shooter....

This idea that it only works with both righties or both lefties is crazy, and flies in the face of hockey history as well as in the face of our pp goals in the last week, and in the face 2012-13 when we were wildly successful with Subban/Markov as our primary combination.

Also 2014-15

you conveniently ignore #5 columbus... who used Johnson (L) and Wisniewski ® as their two most used PP Dmen

Going back further the 2013-14 season

#1 Pittsburgh - Used Letang ® on the powerplay with four forwards... the other Point man was Kunitz (L)
when Letang was hurt... used Niskanen ® with Kunitz.
#2 that year was washington... okay two righties

#3 that year was boston... Chara (L) and Hamilton ®; and Krug (L) Boychuck ®

#4 that year was Phoenix... OEL (L) and Yandle (L)

#5 that year was colorado Benoit (L) and Johnson (Right)

So again, there are plenty of pps that can be successful with the same shot, and plenty of pthers that can be successful with alternate shots....

IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE... the other aspects... skill, people moving their feet, multiple options, execution, coaching, these are all more important.

distilling this complex issue down to two defencemen shooting the same way is lazy analysis.

[Commandant]

Isn't Mike green in Detroit?

I do think that Markov is very effective on the left side feeding a slapper at the right point and a left handed sniper on right side down low. I don't think machine is just making shit up because he is bored. Many times the habs seem to have only one option. Pass to subban. The down low play is covered because the defense only have to cover the right side of the ice. The side that pac is on. So it eliminates the down low play and Subban is up too high. If Marky could qb from the left side and had a point option as well as a good cross seam option. Combined with his backdoor success, you have to think the pp would Improve. Vice versa with Petry running it from the right side. I think it's pretty standard stuff on most nhl power plays. Having several options.

The PP is already improving by having Markov shoot more, by having markov move more to the centre of the ice where he can pass to galchenyuk/pacioretty on the boards to his right, or Subban on the boards to his left... by getting more traffic in front of goalies, by making down low plays, and by exploiting other options.

The coaches have already found a way to make this PP work with both Subban and Markov on the points.... the handedness has nothing to do with the reason why they only had one play back to subban last year, it was poor coaching that created that situation... not the handedness of the dman.

[IN THE HEARTS OF MEN]

The PP is already improving by having Markov shoot more, by having markov move more to the centre of the ice where he can pass to galchenyuk/pacioretty on the boards to his right, or Subban on the boards to his left... by getting more traffic in front of goalies, by making down low plays, and by exploiting other options.

The coaches have already found a way to make this PP work with both Subban and Markov on the points.... the handedness has nothing to do with the reason why they only had one play back to subban last year, it was poor coaching that created that situation... not the handedness of the dman.

the umbrella you are referring to that the team has used only a few times (and has resulted in zero goals for thus far) is directly related to "handedness". the coaches are adjusting to the fact that markov has trouble setting up the point shot from the right as a lefty.. so to try and make that particular play more effective they've moved pk off the point to the half boards and allow markov to walk the line and try and feed both one timers with one guy in front of goal and the other forward finding holes in the high slot and switching up. they tried this last season as well

[Commandant]

Oh please

It works for other teams, and Ive given numerous examples.

It worked in the past with these two defencemen in particular.

There is more than one way to run a successful powerplay in the NHL....

Here is the thing, if you always do the same thing, other teams will figure it out and stop it... there is no magic formula. its a lot of things.

[Commandant]

the umbrella you are referring to that the team has used only a few times (and has resulted in zero goals for thus far) is directly related to "handedness". the coaches are adjusting to the fact that markov has trouble setting up the point shot from the right as a lefty.. so to try and make that particular play more effective they've moved pk off the point to the half boards and allow markov to walk the line and try and feed both one timers with one guy in front of goal and the other forward finding holes in the high slot and switching up. they tried this last season as well

Also the umbrella has resulted in goals....

Here is one... Markov is in the middle of the ice... the sabres take away his two passing options... subban on the left side of the umbrella and Pacioretty on the right.... He walks in and scores.

Here is another.... Youll notice on the ice... Left handed defenceman, Nathan Beaulieu.... right handed defenceman Jeff Petry... and the pass to left handed shot Max Pacioretty.

[BCHabnut]

In Montreal case I just think Markov always looked better running the pp from the left side. And I do think it's important to have a player on his off wing down low for one timers. I agree with what you are saying in that the adjustments gave Marky the option to slide left so subban can move down. This way he can pass to subban left or patch right. If what hand the player is doesn't matter, why doesn't ovechkin play on the right side of the ice on pp. I think the one timer is better on the off wing. Like you say though. It's about having multiple options. There's no one formula.

[Commandant]

But you cant always use the umbrella... its all about multiple looks, and confusing an opponent...

Its like football, if you pass on every down, teams will figure it out and stop you, you need balance and running the ball too....

Here is balance.... Instead of subban firing like he did a lot against toronto, he sets up gallagher who has gotten to the front of the net.

Again, opposite handed Dmen, and it doesnt prevent the teams pp from working.

[Commandant]

In Montreal case I just think Markov always looked better running the pp from the left side. And I do think it's important to have a player on his off wing down low for one timers. I agree with what you are saying in that the adjustments gave Marky the option to slide left so subban can move down. This way he can pass to subban left or patch right. If what hand the player is doesn't matter, why doesn't ovechkin play on the right side of the ice?

The hand of the player matters on where they set up for a onetimer, obviously... you want the pass on their stick and not having to cross their body.

What doesnt matter is that it doesnt have to be a left shot setting up a left shot.... or a right shot setting up a right shot.... you can have two point men, one who shoots left and one who shoots right.... this can still work... you dont need both your point men to shoot the same hand in order for things to work... that is just silly.

In fact, one of each works better cause both can pass or both can shoot.

When its righty setting up righty... the guy on the left becomes the primary shooter... (cause it has to cross his body for the other dman to do a one timer, giving the goalie more time to go post to post)

When its lefty setting up lefty... the guy on the right becomes the primary shooter

When its lefty setting up righty... or righty setting up lefty.... both can be options to take the shot.

[Commandant]

Here is another example of multiple looks... this time Markov its markov sneaking in from the point and then setting up the down low play.

Again you have Subban and Markov on points, but you are doing a different set up here....

And here is petry scoring with subban on the ice (two same side shots)... using the umbrella again.

This is my point, and lets be clear.

There is no necessity that it be two Righties, or two lefties, or a righty and a lefty.... it literally doesnèt matter.

What the PP needs to work.

1) MULTIPLE OPTIONS (dont let a well coached PK unit be able to focus on stopping just 1 or 2 things).

2) traffic in front of the net
3) people moving their feet to open up passing and shooting lanes.
4) Execution.

Multiple looks, multiple plays, and the talented players to make it happen... thats what a PP needs, and thats what Ramsay is doing.
Look at how many different ways we have scored a PP goal... all the different setups, all the different nuances... thats what we didn't have before... it was the same thing, pass to subban, subban shoot, rinse, repeat. Now the PP does different things, and defenses don't know what to overcommit to in order to stop us.

Again i bring up this article where Ramsay talks about his philosophy.... does he talk about handedness? No... His key point is that if you always do the same thing, teams catch on and it fails.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=716665

[IN THE HEARTS OF MEN]

as for handedness.... Again there have been a ton of teams in the NHL that use two point men of opposite handed ness and set up one timers for each other....

A ton of them....

its actually an advantage, not a disadvantage, because both of your point men can play the role of passer or shooter....

This idea that it only works with both righties or both lefties is crazy, and flies in the face of hockey history as well as in the face of our pp goals in the last week, and in the face 2012-13 when we were wildly successful with Subban/Markov as our primary combination.

Also 2014-15

you conveniently ignore #5 columbus... who used Johnson (L) and Wisniewski ® as their two most used PP Dmen

Going back further the 2013-14 season

#1 Pittsburgh - Used Letang ® on the powerplay with four forwards... the other Point man was Kunitz (L)

when Letang was hurt... used Niskanen ® with Kunitz.

#2 that year was washington... okay two righties

#3 that year was boston... Chara (L) and Hamilton ®; and Krug (L) Boychuck ®

#4 that year was Phoenix... OEL (L) and Yandle (L)

#5 that year was colorado Benoit (L) and Johnson (Right)

So again, there are plenty of pps that can be successful with the same shot, and plenty of pthers that can be successful with alternate shots....

IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE... the other aspects... skill, people moving their feet, multiple options, execution, coaching, these are all more important.

distilling this complex issue down to two defencemen shooting the same way is lazy analysis.

left columbus out because the top 4 teams was enough to show that NHL teams don't break this strategy as you suggested

the year prior

#1 pitt had a team make up different then ours

had a top 5 of crosby neal malkin kunitz and letang. 4 lefties 1 righty. (niskanen, martin). the team PP strategy was not to get the point shot off like ours but designed to go to crosby in the corner coming from the side of goal and off the wall. hence why both points were same sided. as the name of the game was to get the puck down low. This was very effective for them because of their personal. they had malkin and crosby (both elite), a good sniper in Neal and Kunitz (who has never been able replicate that shooting% since) and letang.

#2 wash CHECK

#3 Boston CHECK actually chara started the season playing in front of goal as net presence then switched back to the point chara L and krug L and they took off on the PP since (similar to what I'm suggesting) hamilton had 6 PPP that year as i believe a rookie and was like 9/10th in ice time. also boychuk had zero PPP and played only 26min all season on the PP not even a factor.

#4 Phoenix CHECK

#5 COL are you sure it wasn't Johnson R was #1 and Barrie R #2 and then andre benoit L #3?

so in the last 2 full seasons in the NHL arguably 4 of the top 5 teams on the PP in both years ran a point of same handed players hmmmmm

thanks commandant i think your on to something here...

[IN THE HEARTS OF MEN]

nice replays of the our goals COM but the umbrella formation is usually a formation set up after possession of the puck in the zone none really are the umbrella.

a) the face off is won to markov at the right point he simply skates in as subban drifts wider to create separation for his shot and nobody covers markov so he takes the lane given to him and shoots no umbrella formation

b) starts as an umbrella but formation breaks down as petry draws back to the point and patches circles from the high slot to come off the wall for the goal. (break down is petry and plex should switch sides on the half walls)

c) notice the huge space between markov and subban on that play and that the leaf player is very close to going the other way for a break away. nice play none the less

d) the DD goal is exactly what I'm asking of the PP.

e) again not an umbrella as petry is on the right and subban on the left, subban wants a one timer and petry is just looking him off taking the shooting lane himself

[Commandant]

Yes, I looked up each team and put together the two d who accumulated the most PP time over the course of the season as the first unit... (unless i got four forwards who were miles ahead of the second defenceman and then i looked into and found out if they used four forwards and who was on the point).

Another highly successful pp team over the last 5-6 years (especially in playoffs) has been chicago who used... Patrick Sharp (Right) and Duncan Keith (Left) on the point.

[Commandant]

nice replays of the our goals COM but the umbrella formation is usually a formation set up after possession of the puck in the zone none really are the umbrella.

a) the face off is won to markov at the right point he simply skates in as subban drifts wider to create separation for his shot and nobody covers markov so he takes the lane given to him and shoots no umbrella formation

b) starts as an umbrella but formation breaks down as petry draws back to the point and patches circles from the high slot to come off the wall for the goal. (break down is petry and plex should switch sides on the half walls)

c) notice the huge space between markov and subban on that play and that the leaf player is very close to going the other way for a break away. nice play none the less

d) the DD goal is exactly what I'm asking of the PP.

e) again not an umbrella as petry is on the right and subban on the left, subban wants a one timer and petry is just looking him off taking the shooting lane himself

Oh right off none are the umbrella... watch the god damn tape of a, b, and e and they are are all umbrellas.

If you are this ing dense, that you ignore video evidence then fine....

C and D aren't umbrellas you are right... but I didnt claim they were.

My point is that a successful powerplay uses more than one system... uses more than one look... and thats what montreal is doing.

Seriously if you can't ing see that... .now i remember why i took a long sabbatical from this board last season, and went elsewhere, cause even with video evidence staring some people here in the face, they will still argue that the sky is green and not blue just cause....

I'm done... maybe i'll stop by again next year, cause this is like banging my head against the wall.

[IN THE HEARTS OF MEN]

Yes, I looked up each team and put together the two d who accumulated the most PP time over the course of the season as the first unit... (unless i got four forwards who were miles ahead of the second defenceman and then i looked into and found out if they used four forwards and who was on the point).

Another highly successful pp team over the last 5-6 years (especially in playoffs) has been chicago who used... Patrick Sharp (Right) and Duncan Keith (Left) on the point.

2010- 16th

2011- 4th

2012- 26th

2013-19th

2014- 10th

2015-20th

currently- 17th

[Commandant]

Thanks for proving my point that you ignore the evidence, even when i put it clear in front of you.... Chicago had a highly successful PP in the playoffs....

2010 (cup)- 22.5%
2014 (conference final) 21.4%

2011 - 20.7%

2015 (cup) - 17.9%

4 years of pretty good pps, (though their 2013 team won without a good PP)

[IN THE HEARTS OF MEN]

Oh ###### right off none are the umbrella... watch the god damn tape of a, b, and e and they are are all umbrellas.

If you are this ######ing dense, that you ignore video evidence then fine....

C and D aren't umbrellas you are right... but I didnt claim they were.

My point is that a successful powerplay uses more than one system... uses more than one look... and thats what montreal is doing.

Seriously if you can't ######ing see that... .now i remember why i took a long sabbatical from this board last season, and went elsewhere, cause even with video evidence staring some people here in the face, they will still argue that the sky is green and not blue just cause....

I'm done... maybe i'll stop by again next year, cause this is like banging my head against the wall.

A) how can an umbrella be set up off a face-off where the goal is scored literally off the face off. please watch a) again... face off is won.. PK and markov are parallel... pk backs off for the one timer and markov instead steps up into the huge whole and fires... the face off line up is 3-2 your right the video doesn't lie please re watch!

B) i did say B) was an umbrella but plex should not be on the left and petry should not be on the right for it. when the goal was scored by patch they were no longer in an umbrella as beaulieu and petry were both on the blue line because patches broke formation

E) 55'-- all 3 of glchenyuk semin and DD in right corner fishing out the puck

52 -- galchenyuk back to right point of petry subban at center of blue line

50' -- petry skates to center subban retreats with stick ready to fire

49' -- petry has shot on his mind the whole time and subban is the decoy.

6 seconds from corner to goal.. thats just heads up from petry not going with the play we've seen all to often!

[IN THE HEARTS OF MEN]

Thanks for proving my point that you ignore the evidence, even when i put it clear in front of you.... Chicago had a highly successful PP in the playoffs....

2010 (cup)- 22.5%

2014 (conference final) 21.4%

2011 - 20.7%

2015 (cup) - 17.9%

4 years of pretty good pps, (though their 2013 team won without a good PP)

shoot never caught that you were referencing playoffs.

but in the regular season they are a middle of the table 16th average over 6 years

[Commandant]

a) team wins faceoff... Subban and Patch both begin moving into their positions... Markov shoots as sabres part like the red sea to make sure the two passing options are covered..... this isn't hard... it really isn't. Yes it comes after a won faceoff, but watch where the guys are moving, and how the sabres start to move to defend it....

[IN THE HEARTS OF MEN]

a) team wins faceoff... Subban and Patch both begin moving into their positions... Markov shoots as sabres part like the red sea to make sure the two passing options are covered..... this isn't hard... it really isn't. Yes it comes after a won faceoff, but watch where the guys are moving, and how the sabres start to move to defend it....

no I'm sorry you need to open your eyes. i am not dense and that is not an umbrella.

standard face off formation.

plex kicks the puck in between pk and markov and ties up the C o'reilly

markov steps up onto the puck and stalls and pk sets up for a one timer (Classic face-off one timer)

girgonsen chooses to pass off markov and take away pk's shooting lane.

problem is ryan orielly is tied up with plek for that second giving markov another step before the shot.

e) watch the 20 seconds prior to petry goal and they aren't even setup and subban skates out of the corner and has to come all the way back to his point. when petry shoots galchenyuk is actually parallel to him deep along the blue line nobody is in the high slot and semin is overloaded on the right side in case petry decides to square the puck to galchenyuk.... you need to re watch

i wasn't born yesterday.... i know my freakin hockey!

the umbrella formation is a 1-3-1 setup

point man- left side- high slot -right side- net presence

replay b) started with beaulieau-plex-patch-petry- gallagher until it broke down and petry had to retreat back to the point and patches had to circle out to the half boards and thats when you broke the down to score

[IN THE HEARTS OF MEN]

we are never going to agree... and thats ok. as I'm a believer that you need to get that right sticks in the right places as per the personal you inherit on your team.

our powerplay starts from the point. thats our teams biggest asset...one likes to predominately shoot (subban) the other predominately pass (markov) . our best sniper is a lefty (patches). we don't have a kane or crosby to change our dynamics and until galchenyuk flourishes this is our style on the PP.

sometimes the simplest answer is the hardest to make... and dropping one of pk subban or markov from the 1st wave is not an easy decision.. as both have huge egoes I'm sure and neither would take it well.

[BCHabnut]

I think commandant argument about defense each being able to shoot is very valid. And one I hadn't considered really. The only thing I will still miss is how at home and in control Markov was from the left side. Also his beauty backdoor goals he would score. The cross seam to kovy pulling everyone to the right side and kovy would thread it back to Marky for a wide open tap in. It was so beautiful.

[Commandant]

And the pp is over 20% with both of them on the first wave. And the pp has been #3 overall in the league with both of them on the point in 2012-13.

But you are so set in proving this both defenceman must shoot the same hand bullshit that youve ignored that, along woth the fact that numerous nhl teams in history have run a pp successfully with opposite facing shots.

Its frustrating and like running into a brick wall when someone keeps insisting that they are rright without addressing a mountain of evidence where teams have succesfully run pps with one right shot and one left shot on the poiny...

Including this very team.

Including a team that has 3 of the last 6 stanley cups.

Including multiple teams that have finished top 5 in pp percentage in the last 3 years.

Quite simply it isnt a factor.

Some teams can have two lefties an succeed

Some teams can have two righties and succeed

Some teams can have one of each and succeed.

Its talent, coaching, execution... thats tge factors to success on the powerplay. What hand your point men are has nothing to do with it.

Replacing a norris winner with a guy with 1 career nhl goal on the first unit of the powerplay was the dumbest idea in history two weeks ago... and remains the dumbest idea now... and despite the fact the pp is clicking without this change you still insist its the way to go.

It boggles my mind