Burke style team vs. Wilson style team

[TheMadHatTrick]

I kept wondering during the teams early struggles if Wilson was having trouble adapting to the style of play his GM wanted. Wilson's teams in the past have never been (strictly speaking) Burke style teams. They hardly ever fought, were seldom penalized, and usually had a lot of skilled guys even in the bottom six. Wilson also rolled 3 scoring lines in San Jose from what I can remember rather than having a top six bottom six demarcation.

It seems the teams success recently has come from the team not playing an all-out take the opponents head off Burke style game, but rather an efficient, take less penalties Wilson approach. I hardly remember a fight over the last four or five games which has coincided with the teams improved played (along with Gustuvson of course)

I think part of the reason the Burke model didn't work at first is because we didn't have the personel. In Anaheim the teams best players (Pronger, Getzlaf, Perry) were also among their toughest.

Does anyone else notice the team toning down the whole truculence and pugnacity thing, and do you think it has correlated with our recent success?

[dimi78]

Originally Posted by TheMadHatTrick

I kept wondering during the teams early struggles if Wilson was having trouble adapting to the style of play his GM wanted. Wilson's teams in the past have never been (strictly speaking) Burke style teams. They hardly ever fought, were seldom penalized, and usually had a lot of skilled guys even in the bottom six. Wilson also rolled 3 scoring lines in San Jose from what I can remember rather than having a top six bottom six demarcation.

It seems the teams success recently has come from the team not playing an all-out take the opponents head off Burke style game, but rather an efficient, take less penalties Wilson approach. I hardly remember a fight over the last four or five games which has coincided with the teams improved played (along with Gustuvson of course)

I think part of the reason the Burke model didn't work at first is because we didn't have the personel. In Anaheim the teams best players (Pronger, Getzlaf, Perry) were also among their toughest.

Does anyone else notice the team toning down the whole truculence and pugnacity thing, and do you think it has correlated with our recent success?

I think there is a miss understanding on what Burke means top 6 bottom 6 and his belief in playing tough meaning spending time in the penalty box for fighting all the time.

The top 6 bottom 6 doesn't mean all the top 6 players will be on the same lines and all the bottom 6 players will be on the same lines. It's just a guideline to what the roles on the team will be and what types of players will be counted on to fill those roles. Where each player will play will be entirely the coaches decision and chemistry will be the #1 reason of who plays with who.

All those big words Burke used in describing on how his teams will play mean is that the team will be aggressive not passive and will stand up for one another when the time comes. Those words don't mean that Burke believes his team should play like a group of crazed violent animals.

[bbgobie]

Why do leaf fans think playing tough means dropping the gloves as soon as u step on the ice?
If the forthine can forechecking hard and guys like Komi can continue toplay hard that is some team toughness we never has before and it helps a lot more than Orr stepping on the ice and starting a fight.
Pretty hard to protect someone when you're in the box

[LTIR]

Orr serves a purpose though, we all talk about how his (staged for the mostpart) fighting isn't toughness, and it's true it's not "team toughness", but visions of Cam Janssen running Kaberle while Darcy Tucker shouts at him from the stands come to mind. Orr would've held him accountable.

[Brown Dog]

Originally Posted by TheMadHatTrick

I kept wondering during the teams early struggles if Wilson was having trouble adapting to the style of play his GM wanted. Wilson's teams in the past have never been (strictly speaking) Burke style teams. They hardly ever fought, were seldom penalized, and usually had a lot of skilled guys even in the bottom six. Wilson also rolled 3 scoring lines in San Jose from what I can remember rather than having a top six bottom six demarcation.

It seems the teams success recently has come from the team not playing an all-out take the opponents head off Burke style game, but rather an efficient, take less penalties Wilson approach. I hardly remember a fight over the last four or five games which has coincided with the teams improved played (along with Gustuvson of course)

I think part of the reason the Burke model didn't work at first is because we didn't have the personel. In Anaheim the teams best players (Pronger, Getzlaf, Perry) were also among their toughest.

Does anyone else notice the team toning down the whole truculence and pugnacity thing, and do you think it has correlated with our recent success?

Good points. It seemed like the team was really struggling to find an identity during its early-season struggles. I think maybe, as you suggest, all the preseason hype about Burke's vision of the team becoming the Bay Street Bullies had them forcing something that wasn't there. And, of course, the shoddy goaltending just compounded every problem.

Now, they just seem to be playing hard, trying to win battles, blocking shots, stuff like that. It's probably what Burke and Wilson both had in mind in terms of team toughness, so maybe the players are just settling down.