One of the things that makes hockey great is that you’re welcome to be as offensive- or defensive-minded as you like, and either strategy can work. You can claim your defence-first plan leads to your offence, you can claim that your all-in offensive plans mean you don’t play in your own end, and you can live anywhere in between those polar examples.
The only caveat is, for each to be effective every player better know exactly where the team has the slider set on that aggress-o-meter, because strategic changes have to made based on its location.
In Game 4 against the Vegas Golden Knights, the Canucks played in a way that I believe gave them a chance to win. At times the aggressive needle teetered into the red, which again, isn’t necessarily bad. They kept their defencemen active in the offensive zone, which allowed them to extend O-zone possessions, and in general, leaned into a team strength.
Watch Alex Edler down the left wall here keeping pucks alive, which leads to a Jake Virtanen chance in the slot. This chance could’ve just as easily ended up in the back of the net (there were offensive options past “smash it wide” here), and had it gone in, we’d be lauding Edler’s play for allowing the play to develop.
Knowing Edler is green lit to play like that influences how the forwards should react, which we’ll get to momentarily. But I’d be remiss if I didn’t note that “being green lit to pinch down the walls” does not equal being green lit to stay in the zone and just hope everything works out so you can create more offence.
Here’s how it all plays out after the two Edler pinches and Virtanen chance:
What kills me is the score (3-3) in a must-win game, the time (middle of the third period), the situation (JT Miller heading into a 50/50 puck battle with multiple Vegas players above the Canucks forwards), and that Edler appears to think “I’m going to just wait and see how this plays out. I might get a puck in a good spot here if he wins that battle at the blue.”
GET BACK, MAN.
Three Vegas skaters have legs clearly loaded to head up-ice, you’re a defenceman, and this has 2-on-1 against written all over it if Miller and a Vegas forward nullify each other (though that never quite unfolds). I honestly can’t believe Edler isn’t in full hustle on the way back given that picture right there.
As I said, though, if Vancouver’s defence is going to be aggressive coming in from the offensive blue line, the forwards have to know that can create rushes against. With that, they need to be not just covering off behind those defencemen (like Miller above), but F4 and F5 also need to be coming back hard too, because Vegas’ defence jumps like pets near fireworks, and their forwards are savvy enough to find them trailing the rush as second and third waves.
There are a number of issues with Vancouver’s play on this particular goal: Miller covers for Edler, but he doesn’t really settle into a proper defensive spot. They have bad body position (really bad) in the puck battle in the neutral zone. You can quibble about tying up sticks. But the bigger picture is that this was part of a small trend, where Vancouver’s defence made dicey decisions thinking offence, and it fell apart going the other way partially because teammates weren’t prepared to cover off for those pushing defenders.
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Rush chances went Vegas’ way in each of the three periods, with Sportlogiq crediting Vegas with a total of 13 to Vancouver’s 7.
This all comes back to the aggress-o-meter, and the classic line from The Wire: “If you come at the king, you best not miss.” If Vancouver’s defencemen are going to get aggressive, fine, but they better make Vegas pay, or be ready for retribution.
Here’s the Knights’ second goal, which saw Quinn Hughes do something you’d like him to do 100 times out of 100: skate at a loose puck on the wall and take it down deep into the offensive zone. You’d want him doing that every time (emphasis on specifically Hughes and his skill set here, and not all defencemen), because more often than not he’s going to do something good with it. He does that so well so often that you actually forget it is, in fact, a real risk. When you don’t do good things with the puck, well…
Knowing that it’s a risk — and that Vegas is good with jumping defence — let’s return our attention to Vancouver’s F4 and F5. When Ryan Reaves buries Hughes here, Vancouver’s forwards have to get on the right side of the play. As soon as it looks like he’s not in the clear, really.
Tanner Pearson does, by filling in on defence. Elias Pettersson gets on the right side of a guy. Tyler Toffoli, though, has essentially to make the same decision as Pearson here — though if Pearson told him he’s covering high, maybe Toffoli can take a stride or two and see how this plays out.
He just keeps drifting deeper, though, hoping Hughes can get the puck somewhere advantageous. Toffoli’s the deepest guy here, again, just hoping the puck shows up.
You might even want Pettersson (on the wall) to pull out here if you don’t think he can get to the puck first, but he’s pretty pot-committed at this point, so if I’m Travis Green I’m fine with his read.
The worst of it, of course, is Toffoli not back-checking the rush against, and instead choosing to confront Reaves for hitting Hughes, playing into exactly everything the big Knights forward wants to happen. They’re in a square in the below pic, because it’s an utterly blockheaded decision.
ODD-MAN RUSH AGAINST FELLA, TURN AROUND.
Reaves even jumps by him as a next wave threat, which Toffoli can’t contest. Were there a save and a rebound Reaves would’ve finished the job from start to finish.
Finally is an instance where a team just seems like they’re forcing it, trying to make something happen when it isn’t there. The score is 4-3 Vegas now (“let’s go get one”), it’s an O-zone draw (“let’s go get one”), Vancouver has two more offensive-leaning defencemen out there (you get the point). But trying to make a move at the blue line against perennial Selke-nominee Mark Stone isn’t the offensive aggressiveness the Canucks are looking for from their defencemen. There’s nowhere to go even if they get by Stone. Just put it in deep and let Brock Boeser, Bo Horvat and Miller get to work.
This whole sequence is a big ol’ 0-for-3 from Myers. It’s a bad offensive play that starts a rush against, he gets back but fails to break up the play, and he ends up standing by the guy who scores the goal, all but holding his hat for him.
Fun fact about this return-to-D-zone from the Canucks: at no point do any of Miller, Hughes, or Myers really seem to have anyone. They’re all vaguely circling roughly about where they should maybe stand, with zero total incidents of us being able to just ‘X’ out two players and say “OK, that defender is cancelling out that Knights player.”
Like in the frame below, who has who? Max Pacioretty is dropping the puck to his stick at this very moment behind the net.
Hughes is clearly about to re-attack Pacioretty, but just a moment earlier it looked like he was leading him in a speed skating event around the oval.
So, nobody is marked overly well.
If you watched a highlight package for this game, most of the clips wouldn’t start early enough to identify where the Canucks had their trouble. The takeaway for me is that if the defencemen on the Canucks are going to try to do offensive things, that’s fine, but they need to: A) do better offensive things, and B), the rest of the team can’t be impatient and get ahead of the play. You saw it from Edler after Vegas tied the game, you saw it from Myers after they fell behind. You just can’t be on the wrong side of “maybe” piles against a good team with active defencemen like Vegas.
So keep the needle flirting with the red on the aggress-o-meter, create those chances, and just don’t miss. Because we’ve seen how it plays out when they do.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
Inter Milan winger Tajon Buchanan, recovered from a broken leg suffered in training at this summer’s Copa America, is back in Jesse Marsch’s Canada squad for the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal against Suriname.
The 25-year-old from Brampton, Ont., underwent surgery July 3 to repair a fractured tibia in Texas.
Canada, ranked 35th in the world, plays No. 136 Suriname on Nov. 15 in Paramaribo. The second leg of the aggregate series is four days later at Toronto’s BMO Field.
There is also a return for veteran winger Junior Hoilett, who last played for Canada in June in a 4-0 loss to the Netherlands in Marsch’s debut at the Canadian helm. The 34-year-old from Brampton, now with Scotland’s Hibernian, has 15 goals in 63 senior appearances for Canada.
Midfielder Ismael Kone, recovered from an ankle injury sustained on club duty with France’s Marseille, also returns. He missed Canada’s last three matches since the fourth-place Copa America loss to Uruguay in July.
But Canada will be without centre back Derek Cornelius, who exited Marseille’s win Sunday over Nantes on a stretcher after suffering an apparent rib injury.
The Canadian men will prepare for Suriname next week at a camp in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
“We are looking forward to getting the group together again with the mindset that there is a trophy on the line,” Marsch said in a statement. “We want to end 2024 the right way with two excellent performances against a competitive Suriname squad and continue building on our tremendous growth this past summer.”
The quarterfinal winners advance to the Nations League Finals at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., with the two semifinals scheduled for March 20 and the final and third-place playoff March 23, and qualify for the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Thirteen of the 23 players on the Canadian roster are 25 or younger, with 19-year-old defender Jamie Knight-Lebel, currently playing for England’s Crewe Alexandra on loan from Bristol City, the youngest.
Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies captains the side with Stephen Eustaquio, Jonathan Osorio, Richie Laryea, Alistair Johnston and Kamal Miller adding veteran support.
Jonathan David, Cyle Larin and Theo Bair are joined in attack by Minnesota United’s Tani Oluwaseyi.
Niko Sigur, a 21-year-old midfielder with Croatia’s Hadjuk Split, continues in the squad after making his debut in the September friendly against Mexico.
Suriname made it to the Nations League quarterfinals by finishing second to Costa Rica in Group A of the Nations League, ahead of No. 104 Guatemala, No. 161 Guyana and unranked Martinique and Guadeloupe.
“A good team,” Osorio said of Suriname. “These games are always tricky and they’re not easy at all … Suriname is a (former) Dutch colony and they’ll have Dutch players playing at high levels.”
“They won’t be someone we overlook at all,” added the Toronto FC captain, who has 81 Canada caps to his credit.
Located on the northeast coast of South America between Guyana and French Guiana, Suriname was granted independence in 1975 by the Netherlands.
Canada has faced Suriname twice before, both in World Cup qualifying play, winning 4-0 in suburban Chicago in June 2021 and 2-1 in Mexico City in October 1977.
The Canadian men, along with Mexico, the United States and Panama, received a bye into the final eight of the CONCACAF Nations League.
Canada, No. 2 in the CONCACAF rankings, drew Suriname as the best-placed runner-up from League A play.
Canada lost to Jamaica in last year’s Nations League quarterfinal, ousted on the away-goals rule after the series ended in a 4-4 draw. The Canadians lost 2-0 to the U.S. in the final of the 2022-23 tournament and finished fifth in 2019-20.
Canada defeated Panama 2-1 last time out, in an Oct. 15 friendly in Toronto.
Goalkeepers Maxime Crepeau and Jonathan Sirois, defenders Joel Waterman, Laryea and Miller and Osorio took part in a pre-camp this week in Toronto for North America-based players.
Canada Roster
Goalkeepers: Maxime Crepeau, Portland Timbers (MLS); Jonathan Sirois, CF Montreal (MLS); Dayne St. Clair, Minnesota United FC (MLS).
Defenders: Moise Bombito, OGC Nice (France); Alphonso Davies, Bayern Munich (Germany); Richie Laryea, Toronto FC (MLS); Alistair Johnston, Celtic (Scotland); Jamie Knight-Lebel. Crewe Alexandra, on loan from Bristol City (England); Kamal Miller, Portland Timbers (MLS); Joel Waterman, CF Montreal (MLS).
Midfielders: Ali Ahmed. Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS); Tajon Buchanan, Inter Milan (Italy); Mathieu Choiniere, Grasshopper Zurich (Switzerland); Stephen Eustaquio, FC Porto (Portugal); Junior Hoilett, Hibernian FC (Scotland); Ismael Kone, Olympique Marseille (France); Jonathan Osorio, Toronto FC (MLS); Jacob Shaffelburg, Nashville SC (MLS); Niko Sigur, Hadjuk Split (Croatia).
Forwards: Theo Bair, AJ Auxerre (France); Jonathan David, LOSC Lille (France); Cyle Larin, RCD Mallorca (Spain); Tani Oluwaseyi, Minnesota United (MLS).
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
