Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Fixing The Oilers And Other Hockey Topics

11/25/2017 at 3:27pm EST

from Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe,

- The fix that could help the plummeting Oilers, however, may be too big to make.

The Oilers play man-to-man instead of zone defense in their end. Some coaches prefer man-to-man because of its simplicity: You pick your opponent and stay with him.

But the trouble with the free-falling Oilers is their man-to-man setup has them constantly chasing in the defensive zone instead of occupying space. They are so worried about shadowing their assignments that they leave the danger areas open with no safeguards in place.

- One of the best qualities of Hischier, 2017’s top overall selection, is his battle level. The 18-year-old is still slight at 175 pounds. But he has a Jeff Skinner-like fearlessness of being strong on pucks in close quarters.

- Black Friday, once known as the day for shopping deals, will hereby be repurposed for the date the Sabres are annually eliminated from playoff discussion.

more on the Oilers and other topics too...

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About Kukla's Korner Hockey

Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.

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