herman said:
OldTimeHockey said:
The one reason I replayed this one to my daughter a couple times is so she could focus on Tavares and what he does after winning the draw.
At all times he has his eye on the puck. He transitions in all motion so he's facing the puck, except for the one split second that he had to turn due to the rebound getting kicked to the right. At all times, he knew exactly where the puck was on the ice. I've been working with her on transitioning in this manner. It seems so simple but it's a skill that a lot of players lack at the younger ages which leads to missed opportunities.
His off-puck decision-making (especially on offense) is so next level. He creates a lot of 'next plays' just by getting into open ice and presenting a target while he's already working on what to do with the puck after reception. He and Nylander (and Matthews and Marner) are so good at receiving the puck in stride as they're positioning for the play they want to make.
Just like I was saying after the loss to Ottawa, we shouldn't get too up or too down this early in the season, but one thing I've noticed is the play is still sort of a mess. Quite a few times, I've seen players running into each other, or causing a loss of the puck because players aren't quite in sync yet. The pass seems to be off by a split second or the player seems to be circling in the wrong direction or at the wrong time. When this all comes together, look out.
