The topic of conversation of the week was the Philadelphia coach by John Tortorella altercation with the refs in a game against Tampa.
The American pilot’s proteges drifted into a 0-4 loss position in just over ten minutes. At this point the pilot’s fuses blew. Tortorella talked himself into a two-minute suspension and a match penalty, but refused to leave the bench for a long time.
Tortorella is known for its fierce nature, so the episode seen did not represent anything new. For example, in 2015, while coaching Vancouver, Tortorella tried to fight the team’s head coach at the time in the Calgary locker room during the first halftime break Bob Hartley’s with.
– A zebra can’t get out of its tracks, ‘s ice hockey expert Ismo Lehkonen laugh.
Lehkonen still doesn’t believe in chance.
– He wanted to give an electric shock to his own team. Tortorella knows that they are about to make a pretty big splash with a place in the playoffs, but also that just being good isn’t enough with that team. He wants the team to perform at the top all the time to reach their goal. This was a very conscious decision on his part.
A completely different discussion is related to whether the referees’ job is to act as an intermediary between the team and the coaching at such moments. Tortorella’s behavior was undeniably childish. The NHL traditionally does not accept the behavior seen and did not do so now either: Tortorella was suspended for two games and fined 50,000 dollars.
Also in Finland, there has been a discussion during the winter about how coaches should communicate with the referees. Lehkonen would bring the NHL model to Finland.
– I haven’t been a bully myself, but the SM league has a map stick with which to control the fanaticism of the coaches. You have to make a fine out of it. Even though it is an entertainment business, the SM league is in a position where it must be able to set an example. Referees are really becoming an endangered species in hockey. They must be guaranteed peace of mind. The SM league must make it absolutely clear on the eve of the playoffs that it’s over, thunders Lehkonen.
Who surprised
Does it get better by changing?
This could perhaps be said about the New York Islanders. The one hired as the new head coach in February Patrick Roy’s the beginning on Long Island was sticky, but the results and, above all, the quality of playing are on a nice rise in the spring. After the end of February, it won six matches in a row and climbed over the playoff line for a long time and even fought for a direct playoff spot. Lehkonen sees clear reasons.
– He wants the defensive game to start already in the attacking zone. There you have to create a brake and exploits for the opening play, because it is the shortest distance to score goals. There has been a huge improvement in exploiting the attacking zone and as a result they spend more time in the attacking zone. Another big change came under pressure to open the game. There have been many new models for it, Lehkonen praises.
Lehkonen sees Roy straightening out the ranks in the club more broadly.
– Hiring him was exactly what that team needed. He cherishes sports and professionalism and does not compromise on them. That professionalism includes winning. I believe that they will no longer give up the positions they have reached.
That’s a really tough opponent for someone in the first round. And let’s not forget that they have two really tough goalkeepers there, Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov. Who wants to play against such a tough and tough team?
Who cheated
Just a few weeks ago, Detroit was praised on this column, but glory in the NHL is fleeting. The high flight has turned into a deep plunge in an instant, as there are currently six losses in a row. At the same time, the big club of previous years has bounced out of the playoff spot. The pressure has started to show in the team, because the players who were arguing with each other in training on Wednesday had to be separated from each other.
It’s no coincidence that Detroit’s side slide isn’t there either. Wednesday morning’s struggle in Buffalo was the latest prime example of why Detroit still isn’t ready to contend for bigger things. Incomprehensibly sloppy defending made it too easy for the opponent to score a goal, as long as there was even a willingness to defend from time to time. Of course, the team misses their injured captain Dylan Larkin.
– I don’t see Larkin alone making that much of an impact, Lehkonen snorts.
– I still think that the youth department there still doesn’t know how to play consistently winning hockey from week to week. There they think that the game is only about attacking and every now and then you wonder if you can defend. There is not a single bit of slack in the defense at times. Nothing then. There can’t be a single weak Link at that level or the whole thing will leak.
Detroit is equally still strongly involved in the rally, and the match schedule for the club during the week does not make the battle particularly difficult.
They will face Arizona, Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Columbus, all clubs below the playoff lines. The four-game stretch is a big test for Detroit. If the ski slips against these teams, it has not earned its place in the playoffs.
– That team bounces out of the playoffs. How on earth do they get hold of the plot anymore, Lehkonen asks.
Goal of the week (Vegas 4-4 vs SEA)
For the goal of the week, we highlight Vegas’ 4-4 tie without a goaltender against Seattle on Wednesday. by Chandler Stephenson the pass to the hit is a dizzying eye candy. The goal was important for Vegas, who needed it in the middle of a difficult period, and you could see it in the players’ gestures. The scorer must also be highlighted Jonathan Marchessault, who already scored his 37th goal of the season. The reading is tough for a 33-year-old undrafted player who is often outside the big headlines.
– The goal was really important considering Vegas’ final season. It could even be a turning point in terms of the final push. Marchessault has been a top player for a long time, but he doesn’t seem to get much appreciation. He knows the rules of scoring and always seems to be in the right place at the right time. I really appreciate the guy.
What next?
The NHL transfer window closed on Friday evening Finnish time. In the end, a lot of players moved from one club to another, even though it was a quiet day for Finns. Only San Jose’s Kaapo Kähkönen was traded to New Jersey.
So who were the clubs that Lehkonen intends to follow particularly closely due to the player deals?
– I’ll be the first to tell you to follow Sean Walker in Colorado. It will happen that the previously mentioned Tortorella will soon wonder how winning suddenly became so difficult. He then realizes that Walker left. He is the control For Devon Toews, an unbelievably good player. Someone Jalonen Jukka would fall in love with such a player. He doesn’t make himself a number, but he does winning things all the time, says Lehkonen.
Carolina made headlines after acquiring Pittsburgh as a solution to their scoring problems By Jake Guentzel and the one that got sidetracked in Washington already last season Yevgeny Kuznetsov. Lehkonen initially treats the duo with reservations.
– Whose game are we going to play here, theirs or Carolina’s, because maybe this duo is not especially made for that team’s way of playing. The coaching says tempo, tempo, tempo, but these players haven’t played that kind of game. I wonder if this duo is the right one to power that particular Carolina game. If Kuznetsov is considered to have not played sports at an elite level for two years, then his calves will be full of buttermilk due to that way of playing very soon.