Re: Boston University 2010-11 part II - The Hunt For Red November
What's more concerning is that BU's defense has a tendency to give up the blue line almost immediately allowing the other team's forwards to "walk-in" the zone which leads to lots of shots. I think BU gives up, on average, 44 shots per game. Many of these are lower percentage shots as it seems BU is content to play the angles. That approach might be OK against UML and Providence, but not BC. BC forwards will make the extra pass and take the higher percentage shot. This teams sags even more on the PK. It's almost shocking how quickly they give up entry into their zone.
BU's defense also seems to take a lot of unecessary risks IMO. It looks like the team is eager to run a transition game and skate the puck out to center ice every time. They never seem content to bank the puck out off the boards when in trouble. Rather they often make the extra pass or skate the puck out up the middle of the crease without support. Since they are young, this leads to a lot of turnovers. Fortunately, Millan and Rollheiser have been able to bail them out, but again...a much riskier proposition against a team as skilled as BC.
BU's powerplay is awful. Once they get set-up in the zone. Nobody seems to move an inch. What ensues is a pass-a-thon with poor angle shots.
Kind of agree on the powerplay, though I don't think things are quite as dire as you make them out to be. The puck movement has been effective enough to create a lot of shots –– I think more than moving without the puck, they need to be getting to the net more for deflections/rebounds. They've been inconsistent about that all season, but when they were effective early in the season, it was because they were doing a lot of that.
More wanted to address your defensive concerns. First, no idea where you pulled that 44 shots allowed per game number from. They've given up 33.4 shots per game –– still a lot, but not 44, obviously.
All those extra shots allowed are by design -- Parker and his staff changed the defensive system over the summer to a more conservative one. The result is that teams are taking more shots from the outside, simply because it's being given to them. When they do, the BU defense is blocking a lot more shots and the ones that do get through have generally been easier saves for the BU goalies.
Millan and Rollheiser have both been markedly better than they were last year, no doubt, but I think there numbers are also a bit of an allusion created by that system. For one, their save percentages are getting a big boost as they face more 30-foot slap shots.
More importantly, with the defense playing closer to the net, less opponents are finding open space in grade-A areas. So many times last year, the D blew coverages below the dots and the other team made them pay. That's happening far less often now, and Millan and Rollie benefit big time as a result.
Also, regarding the breakouts. I know Parker said earlier in the year that he was a bit frustrated because Warsofsky was carrying the puck a bit too long on the breakout. Still, he likes his defensemen to be aggressive, and recruits so he has the personnel to run that aggressive system.
