My GOD is Colorado’s first line AMAZING!
Alright, now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s talk about what has really behind the 3rd highest scoring team in the NHL: the “triangle offense.” Though the term originates from a basketball strategy made popular by Phil “Zen Master” Jackson, it really encapsulates what Colorado has been doing to generate such high danger scoring chances.
While watching one of their games, I became aware of the fact that, upon entering the offensive zone, the forwards are continuously trying to cycle the puck behind the net and set up. This isn’t a new strategy by any means (hell, that area is called Gretzky’s Office for a reason), but the way the other forward move to support the puck carrier is beautiful.
Setup 1 with skater movements
Despite my poor artistic representation, the above photo, hopefully, conveys their setup. Typically, they’ll try and to get the F1 to be the puck carrier, while F2 and F3 move into support positions, as shown. The F2 is the key here. If he can get near post position, the F3 will move to the half wall as a support option to facilitate a pass to the point or to F2. If nothing is available to F1, they will tend to flip around to the opposite side of the net (as my amazing red lines show). As he does so, F3 will skate to set for the one timer between the circles, becoming the primary target for the low puck carrier and using F2 as a screen.
Setup 2 with skater movements
The other look they give (diagrammed above) isn’t all that dissimilar. Once again, the MY MAN is F2 to key on. Should he get caught on the far post from where F1 sets up, F3 will set to support just below the face off dot. This gives F1 the following: hit F3 with a pass or go up the boards to the point. If nothing is available to F1 (again, follow the lines) he’ll roll to the opposite side. F2 will then push back to the high slot to receive the puck as F3 crashes the net looking to create chaos, whether that be shot, screen or rebounding.
I know that’s a lot of mumbo-jumbo to some folks, but hey, I’m a fuckin’ hockey nerd. I love it. At the end of the day, the Avs have a scary team that is really effective at scoring goals. Though they’ve been sliding of late, I still have faith that this team, with the right fine tuning from Joe Sakic, can be a real threat come playoffs.