A chance to win with this team, maybe?

Stranger things have happened.

Just because you don’t think he’ll have any success doesn’t mean he won’t.

The hole being the more aggressive style of play?? I know you don’t like an aggressive uptempo style with the D-Man pinching in but the old system of play D and score on the PP didn’t work either. Especially when you trying to get past the Caps and Pens against those teams a keeping them out of the offensive zone with a strong forecheck is key, you can’t contain them with a passive style trying to win 3-2, 2-1. For three reasons:

1) Malkin, Crosby, Ovie, Semin are going to get their points no matter how hard you try to play D. You can expect them to score 3 goals therefore you have to score 4 to win.

2) You will be taking too many penalties trying to play contain in your own zone Pens and Caps PP is too good to give up many PP opportunities.

3) It is more exhausting to play especially against those superstar forwards you will wear down and if you do have a lead late you are going to run out of gas in the end leading to blown leads.

That is my logic for the change of system against some other teams this style might not work as well because you can give up more odd man rushes etc… but we are trying to beat the Caps and Pens hoping our talent can get us past the other squads. When we were fighting to get past the Devils a more patient Hitchcock style system was needed we have to get with the times because he took two shots with the old system and it didn’t work.

I am sure you more than familiar with the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expected a different result. Stevens had 2 shots and couldn’t get it done his way time to try something different.