Podcast (Audio) ATKM Ontario Reign Head Coach Marco Sturm - ACCEPTING QUESTIONS NOW

[All The Kings Men]

We'll be talking to Reign head coach Marco Sturm in advance of the Rookie Faceoff next week so....

you know the drill... get your questions in here.

Keep em appropriate, keep em on topic and I'll get to as many as I can.

Click to read more...

 

[DoktorJeep]

BMW or Porsche?

 

[Chazz Reinhold]

If Sturm was actually the decision maker for power play alignment and personnel, why did he continually give Iafallo and Brown top power play minutes when they weren't producing on a power play that was objectively one of the worst in the league, and why did he insist on keeping Kaliyev on his strong side instead of putting him in position for one-timers?

 

[ibleedkings]

If Sturm was actually the decision maker for power play alignment and personnel, why did he continually give Iafallo and Brown top power play minutes when they weren't producing on a power play that was objectively one of the worst in the league, and why did he insist on keeping Kaliyev on his strong side instead of putting him in position for one-timers?

Excellent question but you know it will never be asked.

 

[Kingspiracy]

Why did the powerplay suck?

 

[Lt Dan]

Did the organization see something in Trevor Moore that they "fixed" like the Dodgers did with Justin Turner and are trying to do with Joey Gallo , or was Trevor just that happy to be closer to his native Thousand Oaks?

Which young forward does he think has the most upside?

Did they give Kempe homework/ coaching over last summer that resulted in the breakout season? Or did he finally ripen like a stubborn avocado?

What is the coaching staff most proud of since they took over (except making the playoffs this year)?


Does Marco believe in aliens/ extra terrestrials?

What is his favorite donut?

 

[kinghock]

Why did the powerplay suck?

Why is Vilalta starter goalie for Reign

 

[All The Kings Men]

Excellent question but you know it will never be asked.

I asked Yanneti about Cernak
I asked Stoll about Byfield's stick

Work with me here

Don't ask me to ask someone else why something sucks

 

[Sol]

Can you ask him what the biggest issue with the powerplay was and why was it not improving ? And if you’re feeling gutsy, how much control over the deployment and structure does the head coach have?

we need some serious focus on the PP and what happened all season with it and it’d definitely help to know how much control a coach has over the pp vs the pp coach.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

and why did he insist on keeping Kaliyev on his strong side

Maybe because Kaliyev was scoring plenty of goals on his strong side? Call me crazy, but you usually sticks with something that works...it's rocket science.

 

[tws38]

Jesse-Thanks as always for taking our questions!

Many of the players talk about the seamless transition of going from Ontario up to the Kings because of the system that is in place at both levels and that presumably includes the special teams. The power play down in Ontario was one of the best in the league while the Kings were one of the worst. Can you break down what would lead to such a stark difference despite having a similar system in place? Level of play/PK Strategy/Personnel/Buy In/Execution/etc.

What goes into the decision of choosing players for the power play unit? It would seem to me that your best players may not necessarily be your best power play option as they may be stronger on 2-way play, transition, board play, etc that might not be as important on the power play vs. 5 on 5. Do you try to form a certain combination of players (1 puck carrier/1 quarter back/1 shooter/1 net presence/1 puck retriever etc.)? Do you deploy different strategy/style between PP1 and PP2 based on personnel?

How difficult is it to adopt new PP strategies as a player? As an example, if a player has become very accustomed to the style of being on the half wall and just remaining there as a QB and you ask him to adopt a style to be more mobile and create more movement, is that difficult to do from a mental perspective?

I'll leave it there. Thanks!

 

[Sparky206]

Arthur Kaliyev scored a huge amount of goals from the RW circle on the PP in Juniors, why was he never positioned there for the kings?

 

[Chazz Reinhold]

Arthur Kaliyev scored a huge amount of goals from the RW circle on the PP in Juniors, why was he never positioned there for the kings?

I feel like it's worse: when he was positioned there on one rare occasion he scored. Then he was back on the left side pretty soon thereafter. He scored a number of his goals from that left side, but he was there such a high percentage of the time that a highlight video is misleading as to how frequently it didn't work (and sometimes caused the play to slow down since he has to stop the puck first and then shoot).

The difference in how often he can take a slapshot (i.e., likely a one-timer) from one side versus the other is pretty apparent here:

I asked Yanneti about Cernak
I asked Stoll about Byfield's stick

Work with me here

Don't ask me to ask someone else why something sucks

My questions certainly weren't asking why he sucks. They are about thought process and decision making.

 

[Statto]

I’m impressed he’s up for this given some of the criticism he’s had on here.I’m sure he’d probably prefer to focus on what’s ahead but some of the past coming up is inevitable.

My question: The veterans are there to mentor but will he have the younger character guys like Turcotte and Thomas form the core of the leadergroup group? Given their intangibles are very important to their value in the organisation, will they be put in a position to be leaders on and off the ice.

 

[tbrown33]

We all really gotta know why they were allergic to setting up Kaliyev for one timers on the power play. It still drives me nuts. Team’s leading pp scorer on the 2nd unit most of the season? Iafallo in the bumper with zero success? Kopitar on the half wall ad nauseum?

Who is in charge of personnel decisions on the pp?

 

[Maynard]

Can you ask if there’s extra pressure to win with a roster that will likely be loaded with 1st round picks in their early 20’s, some of them with dozens of NHL games played?

Also, does he think there are enough podcasts covering the team?

Also, was he born in Germany? If so, when he was in school as a kid, what did the German history books say about…well…you know.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

I’m impressed he’s up for this given some of the criticism he’s had on here.I’m sure he’d probably prefer to focus on what’s ahead but some of the past coming up is inevitable.

Maybe he's actually level-headed and realizes that the weight of PP success (or lack thereof) isn't entirely on his shoulders.

I've heard several takes from people who are much closer to this team than any of the experts on this board say that the #1 issue with the Kings PP was the lack of skill to execute.

 

[tbrown33]

Maybe he's actually level-headed and realizes that the weight of PP success (or lack thereof) isn't entirely on his shoulders.

I've heard several takes from people who are much closer to this team than any of the experts on this board say that the #1 issue with the Kings PP was the lack of skill to execute.

The lack of skill is definitely part of it, but there were easy, obvious fixes they could have at least attempted with the personnel they do have that they just never gave a shot over an entire season. That PP was the definition of insanity, and I am curious if that was more of a head coach decision or if it was actually Sturm, or some combination.

 

[All The Kings Men]

My questions certainly weren't asking why he sucks. They are about thought process and decision making.

That was directed at a question after yours that literally was "why did the PP suck"

 

[All The Kings Men]

I’m impressed he’s up for this given some of the criticism he’s had on here.

He doesn't know about this part unless he reads the boards.

 

[Herby]

I was sympathetic to Sturm because the Kings roster was pretty lacking in natural finishers, but whoever made the decision to keep sending out Iafallo and Danault on the #1 PP unit deserves some heavy criticism. They were two of the worst PP players in the NHL last season yet they both spent the majority of the year on the #1 PP.

So, who makes the personnel decisions on the PP. The HC or the PP coach?

 

[All The Kings Men]

I was sympathetic to Sturm because the Kings roster was pretty lacking in natural finishers, but whoever made the decision to keep sending out Iafallo and Danault on the #1 PP unit deserves some heavy criticism. They were two of the worst PP players in the NHL last season yet they both spent the majority of the year on the #1 PP.

Out of curiosity what metric are you using to determine "worst PP players"

My recollection is that Danault on the PP at least stopped the bleeding of short handed chances against even if it didn't result in an avalanche of goals

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

I was sympathetic to Sturm because the Kings roster was pretty lacking in natural finishers, but whoever made the decision to keep sending out Iafallo and Danault on the #1 PP unit deserves some heavy criticism. They were two of the worst PP players in the NHL last season yet they both spent the majority of the year on the #1 PP.

So, who makes the personnel decisions on the PP. The HC or the PP coach?

Danault and Iafallo were 3rd and 6th in scoring for the team. But who makes these ridiculous decisions?! You are something else, Herby.

 

[Herby]

Out of curiosity what metric are you using to determine "worst PP players"

My recollection is that Danault on the PP at least stopped the bleeding of short handed chances against even if it didn't result in an avalanche of goals

Raw offensive production- goals +assists/time on ice
Shots/time on ice

PP there is so much possession that it's easier to evaluate guys based on raw production, because well that is how you evaluate a PP.

Danault had as many PP goals on the season as Durzi, Vilardi and Frk.

He had 4 PP points all year while spending the vast majority of that time on the #1 unit.

And the Kings allowed the 6th most SHG in the NHL last year.

 

[Kingspiracy]

That was directed at a question after yours that literally was "why did the PP suck"

Isnt that why they pay you the big bucks though Jesse. To phrase tricky questions in fluff so they arent as offensive but get answers?