OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post

ExeR · 10-07-2020, 01:33 PM

Tactical Tendencies of players

Key thing for understanding Tactical Tendencies is to not think about them straight forward. Even something as simple as Aggressiveness that reads like copy of Aggression attribute will have some nuance to it's usage. As introductory post showed, there is a logical web and things affect each other in hundred different ways. So priorities will be dynamic and dependent on other factors.
How Mild-Intense works

Pretty obvious, but the degree to which it works should be explained.
Mild (minimal) value means that you don't want this player doing that at all. It's a powerful limiter, that can nullify high aggression etc to pretty much non-existent output. Even with things like pass that you can't "turn off" use min value only for those, who are truly terrible (~10 for NHL).
In betweens are for preferences or situational use.
Intense/often (max) are for designated specialists or for elite attribute combos (close to 20, blue color). So if you want defender to shoot as much as possible with multiple screening forwards, you choose max. If you have him as one of shooting options for Behind the Net center (or he can skate with puck) then it's better just to increase his shooting. PK Subban will be able to separate himself for shooting opportunity (good quickness & get open) but won't be able to pass (weak passing & Off Read). So even if he skates with puck, it's better if he shoots.

Attacking

Description offers idea of risk taking & conservative play as two poles you're balancing between. But with context, this notion changes dramatically:
Attack & Backchecking "balance"

"Balance" in this case is not about picking one or another. There are players who can&should do both at max. What we really choose here are:
1) Offensive/defensive ability
2) Physical ability to combine Off&Def abilities
3) Priority of OZ/DZ production
M.Tkachuk example
For Tkachuk, defined weaknesses in 1 & 2 make priority obvious. Do we care if he takes all the attacking risks he can from defensive perspective? No, since he is not that good at defending in the first place and he won't be able to catch up even if we max his backchecking effort. So only thing to worry about with him is if he can execute max attacking risk, and that you'll need good defender in appropriate role on his side of ice to cover for him.
J. Gaudreau example
His teammate can handle backchecking effort physically, but gap between offensive&defensive abilities increased even more. So it's also pointless to make him backcheck, because he certainly can be "max attacking risk" player in OZ and will be very pedestrian in DZ. So priority stays in OZ, but if he wasn't as talented offensively and would be stronger defensively it would change. Or you can keep his backchecking at lower, instead of minimum.
M. Foligno example
If Foligno starts trying to be McDavid in OZ, it will lead to giveaways and takeaways for opponent. And after that he won't be able to skate back. So even if we make his backchecking maxed, his attacking risk can ruin it.
So that is the way to think about attacking&backchecking for a player:
1) Level of overall Off/Def ratings. If one is too weak, no need to focus on it. You can max focus on other end if overall ability is good enough.
2) Difference between Off/Def ratings. If players is two way & have skating to be present on both ends then attacking&backchecking sliders should be close & grow together if player is all around beast (att+def+skating).
3) Situational use with unit/line tactics in mind. 3rd/4th line that plays with weaker defenders can be exposed on weaker end. No reason to backcheck less if player is capable physically & plays less minutes than starter. Even if he is weak defensively, his prescence will make it tougher for opponent to punish your 3rd defensive pairing.
Forwards

"Risk" is not the same for positions and tactical roles. It is obvious that defenders & forwards "risk" differently. Let's take one of the most impressive seasons I've seen from opponents in FHM:
https://i.imgur.com/uAuoiE4.png
https://i.imgur.com/uIgdIbA.png
https://i.imgur.com/xwlbQFf.png
https://i.imgur.com/CUH4ryq.png
Despite subpar DR line perfomance was great. Defense was not the priority in the first place
https://i.imgur.com/OAxg2iD.png
But even better illustration is Matthews. He has ability to be looked at as 2-way player. Has stamina & speed to get back and defensive skills
https://i.imgur.com/PVYokuC.png
But success came from going completely opposite direction - making him "all out" Dangler
https://i.imgur.com/MufO0cU.png
Dangler is by default very attack oriented so you can't hurt him too much with adding a little extra risk. Key here is what it brought to the table - allowing team to attack with tempo with Dangler spearheading it
https://i.imgur.com/F99vvdu.png
Now, anytime Matthews couldn't 1vs1 on fast counter, he could find somebody open. If it wasn't fast counter attack, other players would bring the puck while Dangler would roam in dangerous positions.
Or Tarasenko example, as player more suited to Dangler role. He scored 62 goals on more balanced team, that had defense as their priority
https://i.imgur.com/drVH2H0.png
But having Dangler and ability of line to play with tempo maximized his output
https://i.imgur.com/UgjBxS5.png
So what these examples tell us, is that it's not necessary to squeeze all that player has out of him. It's much more important to connect abilities of player and his teammates. If somebody can be elite/unstoppable attacking force, you don't need to worry about "what can he do in DZ". Providing him with much needed tempo & quick support will be much more beneficial for the team. Especially if other player can carry extra load.
Defenders

Risk becomes a real thing for defenders: their mistakes will be almost impossible to cover for and costly (think 1v1 after TO).
Best Connor Mcdavid Breakaway Goals!!!
But there are positives too. Remember Dangler guy from previous paragraph? Well, he can be "checking" risk taking defender. Should be easy to get some of his goals back!
So what are the differences for attacking defender?
a) Not everybody gets same piece of pie. Hollowell from Toronto/Matthews example above had terrible ratings. All because AI manager made him try to be attacking defender in loaded line
https://i.imgur.com/CY6GFKt.png
Instead of trying to be 5th wheel he would be much better off as two-way or defensive role, that covers for others and accepts extra work in DZ. Doesn't mean he didn't do that, but GR for him couldn't be high, because he didn't have enough chances. And his tendency to risk in OZ hurt his defensive capabilities. For him increased attacking was a mistake.
b) Make role reversal in "Who checking who" benefit you. Dangler is checked by defender. Attacking attributes vs Defensive ones. For defender it's all reversed. Good attacking attributes can be against terrible defensive for opponent's forward. Quickness edge for opp's forward will balance it somewhat, but not enough. Let's take the best example in Erik Karlsson (or Dahlin):
https://i.imgur.com/ZQIGwaG.png
Our worst fears when using attacking defender are:
-Loss of possession or bad decisions
-Slow defender that even with good head on his shoulders won't be able to get back in time to cover for mistakes. Or he will not be able to lose checking of good def forward.
For Karlsson none of these problems exist. Not only he's quick and "handly" for defender, he's #20 in quickness and speed and #2 in puck handling in WHOLE league. So any time you make him key part of offense instead of forward, it's an improvement except for McDavid. And since he's checked by much weaker defender, he can have much more impact, relatively speaking.
Erik Karlsson puck control & skating
This opens all kind of doors. Slow pace but all out attacking & shooting? No problem, try to take puck away or prevent shot creation against guy like that. Tempo & skating till great chance? Again, he can breakout and keep puck till opponents run out of patience and foul him.
Decrease attacking

Defenders straight forward, forwards diminishing returns and attacking potential CAP.

Aggression

As a "copy" of attribute, there will be many instances where you don't need to touch aggression at all. So what are the exceptions to that rule:
PK/PP units

PK is negative expectation situation, so no need to make it worse. Main benefit of going after it and playing physically is to maximize puck possession (through return) in 50/50 and physical situation. When playing 4vs5 this benefit loses most of it's purpose. Nobody to pass to. Face pressure on puck. But most importantly cost of mistake. 3vs5 is horrible and "winning puck with some probability" is not worth it. It's ok to weigh pros and cons when it's "foul that leaves team 4vs5". It's completely different equation when it's 3vs5. Not worth it for PK, so even if you play in physical style, PK units are the ones where you need to tone it down. And build tactical tendencies that way: leave player tendencies open, but use unit's tendencies instead. That's how you allow physical defensive players to play w/o hurting team.
https://i.imgur.com/8BCIdrG.png

For PP it's reverse, go for more aggression, try to win puck when they have it and leave player immobile near boards. But don't go all out increasing agro for no reason, cost of mistake is still significant. But if you got above average physicals w/o dirtiness it will be beneficial.
https://i.imgur.com/wEHR35t.png
Nice guys & non-agro roles

Some players can play physical/agro style, but prefer not to. Understandable, since PK, random shifts & leaving team w/o star doesn't help it win. Let's look at other examples to get more reasons for and against:
https://i.imgur.com/pGkqNfK.png
a) Ovechking fits "star" that needs to stay in game for PP not sit in box for PK profile. But factors for activating agro for him would be suitable opponent. You can use active defence, active forecheck scheme and press some slow defenders with puck possession troubles
https://i.imgur.com/6GOhWDZ.jpg
b) Slow defenders like Chara. Not only that, but they are better at passive defense than active one (being slow affects that a lot obviously). So only use for them is to make him crease clearing role against good screener with below average character (temperament, sportsmanship etc).
c) "Quick" & active defenders like Doughty, Hedman, Parayko. Again situational for them. You can't make them more agro and roll through season because they won't be able to catch centers like McDavid. But against slower competition with worse puckhandling ramping it up can be good idea
Enforcers

That's the only group of players that benefit in GR from doing "negative" actions. If you limit their agro to keep them from PIM trouble, pick other role. Major fouls, fights and 500 hits are what fans are here for.
Agitator is probably most productive role in default sense, but all of them would benefit from good character. Bravery, Determination, Temperament, Sportsmanship. W/o those player will just be blackhole of PIM. With good character good agitator can give you:
a) Fights that drag important players of opponent out of game.
b) Get some PIM back from opp's retaliation on himself or on his teammates.
c) Hits. Those can help with puck possession. Recover puck, pass to attacking star, finish some easy opportunities. You can make someone with ~13 off ratings into contributor that way.
https://i.imgur.com/QYJkA3Y.png
Healing hotheads with minimal aggression

Minimal aggression works as a very potent limiter. Would be nice to have player ignore that, but as it stands this is a great way to nullify damage hotheads can do to a team.
https://i.imgur.com/3ZMP8Bs.png
If you leave this guy in default state, he will accumulate lots of PIM. But don't minimize agro for physical players, especially if being physical is big part of their game.
https://i.imgur.com/7aVQYEL.png
No reason to have them on ice if you don't let them do what they do best. Luckily hitting is separate and can be controlled on it's own, but strength, fighting, bravery will help power forwards&screeners to be more productive.
Did somebody tickle me?

If it's not your strong suit, don't even try.
https://i.imgur.com/O5h2tu3.png
End up hurting yourself or team through PIM

Backchecking

Can't treat backchecking like reversed attacking. Attacking has all kinds of other tendencies connected to it: tempo, pass, shooting. In contrast, backchecking just seems like decision about effort.

Carl Hagelin example

https://i.imgur.com/pnTZM0d.png
If it's about effort to get back to defending, this is prime example. Stamina & speed to get back, defensive abilities that are much better than offensive ones. Description of backchecking leaves some doubt as to if we maybe want to leave him hanging for a possible counter. But high speed or counter attacking role should not cloud the judgement. There are two other forwards, surely they don't have 13 Acceleration. Hagelin is better skating to puck than with it, so we don't want him to spearhead counters or be decision maker or creator of shots.
Another thing about offense is that it doesn't have to be minimized for player with max backchecking. Even if we don't want player to play with higher tempo, he can play with other players who play with max tempo because of speed.
https://youtu.be/G_TcTQbS8uc?t=101
Same with attacking risk. He is limited in attributes, so he needs any help he can get. Or there will be some accuracy numbers, that can be outdone by defenders
https://i.imgur.com/SQ5HPoj.png
If he is so adept at recovering, why not let him take some risks. He might not squeeze much out of it, but might still be better than what he will lose (nothing).
So instead of treating him like 3rd defender
https://i.imgur.com/cSAYF63.png
there is a case to be made for allowing him these tendencies in some mobile OZ schemes with teammates who also risk.
https://i.imgur.com/pgDFDvS.png

Defensive and/or slow center

Some differences from wingers. Bergeron is w/o speed and around same in offensive attributes
https://i.imgur.com/thJP5Tr.png
https://youtu.be/rBRVODTRS04
So the question is what are the differences?
a) Center has more defensive variety. So his presence&def ability is usually more important.
b) Can be faceoff specialist (like Bergeron). More puck possession = less defending.
c) Easier to play offensively w/o exposing yourself. Central position helps to cover odd number counters.

When not to backcheck

Obvious example was Dangler. Even if he has def capabilities, it's better to keep him as offensive threat spearheading fast tempo attacks.
Other than that it's important to limit players with weak stamina from tiring themselves out. This example of R.Suzuki
https://i.imgur.com/tP1yZx7.png
is combo of two reasons. If he had great def abilities, you could think about options. But w/o any, there's no use from him being on that side of ice. So he is candidate for minimal backcheck, to keep him as fresh as possible for offense.

Pressure

Pressure is a double edged sword. Main reason being that elite forwards are better than elite defenders at coming out on top from pressure situations.
So you can't treat it like any other tendency, create a rating and increase pressure for all top guys. There are diminishing returns and real risks, so what factors can help with choice of optimal tendency?
Targets for pressure

Luckily for us, most of our opponents won't have many players with 20 in all attributes. 1 line, maybe two. But after that, it's all but guaranteed there will be some targets who will crumble under pressure
https://i.imgur.com/h7OcWpn.png
Those players might have tactical&team role that keeps them off the puck most of the time. But he can't stand as a cone all the time, so as soon as it happens, he should giftwrap the puck for our counter. Those players will be key for the bigger picture.
Difference between DZ tactics (sag zone vs half-ice overload)

Next part of understanding of individual/targeted pressure comes from DZ tactics or schemes:
Something active like half-ice overload
https://i.imgur.com/c8Ao8xD.png
will require whole team moving together and pressing. Even if we target wings of other team, our mistakes & weaknesses will have butterfly effect. Much like with "man-to-man", that leads to more hits&takeaways and better shots allowed number, but those shots will be of much better quality. So it's important to match active pressing tactic with our line's ability to execute it.
Something more passive like sagging zone, that prefers defending space or "prime real estate=crease/seams"
https://i.imgur.com/XxRqM2L.png
can still provide pressure. Not constant and as a team, but targeted as a consequence of team playstyle. Wings have to cover two players while preventing passes to dangerous positions. So it allows us to "target" opponent's defenders. Most of them will be great targets, because it's much easier to find puckhandling+passing+quickness weakness in defender, than in forward.
As a result, pressure is best applied as unit tendency. Global tendency lacks targeting, player's tendency lacks direction. Unit, with the help of line matching, allows to combine best from both worlds.
If 3rd line of opponent got grinder/garbage collector w/o handle & defensive backline, we can press them so much that shot difference will be mind blowing.

Also, that can be a good factor for line matching.
Difference between forward & defender pressure

One more important thing about pressure is logic of risks, similar to attacking tendency. Increased pressure tendency for forward won't be the same as for defender.
From previous paragraphs and positioning/defensive read attributes description it's clear what kind of damage can be done with wrong tactics. If slow center, operating as 3rd defender, or stay-at-home defender starts pressing, instead of keeping crease protected or preventing behind the goal drives, it will lead to disaster (see sagging zone image). Forward can be armed with pressure as a tool to do something defensively, because he can't do it in conventional way
https://i.imgur.com/ECGsBpF.png
Weak positioning can also be a factor. Majority of best defensive players have all def attributes on elite level, so their pressure preference will be dictated by physical attributes or tactic. Some players are better suited for particular style. In this example he can also use his strength & low aggression to be effective. Can't be in many physical situations waiting in position.
https://i.imgur.com/RLmxFKX.png
Disregarding speed/quickness is probably the most common mistake when increasing pressure. Can't be effective at it if you're slow getting there and chasing puckhandler. Speed will also be beneficial if you succeed in pressure & force giveaway/takeaway, since you can counter easily.
https://i.imgur.com/dBZorwY.png
That's why it's important to remember last key attribute - stamina. Not the best idea to make player chase puck around if it will gas him out.
Increasing pressure for defender must have some solid reasoning behind it. Safe bet would be to combine all/most factors used for forwards.
Logical reasoning is pretty straight forward and exists in many sports. Pressure is all about forcing turnovers/giveaways/takeaways so key is to do something productive with them, to cover for risks of costly pressure mistake. Ideal player for that is the one that fits "player pressing=player creating counterattack". So if defender can actively defend on high level and then turn around and breakout by himself, skate from chasing opponent, create something on puck, that's the best possible outcome.
https://i.imgur.com/CbjjLPX.png
So quickness & speed aided by puckhandling & pass would make risking with pressure worth it for defenders.
More pressure = more PIM

Increased pressure will always lead to increase in PIM. So to avoid topping the chart of PK chances:
1) Make sure press is done by quick players with good stick checking & defensive read (less technical mistakes/fouls).
2) If you have quick players that usually lack power (strength, balance, hitting) discourage them from fouling by decreasing aggression & hitting. That's where stickchecking will be useful, can't have them playing passively and doing nothing with pressure style (less agro mistakes/fouls).
3) Match strongest forward (C or Wingers) and DZ tactic. Half ice overload relies more on center, wings down low on wingers.

Hitting

Hitting is one of the most straight forward tendencies, much like it's buddy - Aggressiveness. But unlike agro, Hitting master shouldn't be contained as much and can be put on max tendency.
With that out of the way, only thing left to do is to list all other factors:
Hit master character

Agro doesn't let go so easily. Most of hit masters will be dirty players, and if you unleash them with max hitting, they will bring back more PIM than heads.
Fixing that problem is better done through Aggression decrease. Optimal ratio would be to minimize agro and make Hitting increased.

It's not just more effective way to tame dirty player, but there is also another reason to keep hitting tendency high...
Hit wins possession

This consequence can help offense in hidden manner. All those extra minutes on the puck will make shot difference better in the end of game/season.
So it's much better idea to keep Hitting higher and agro lower, than try to decrease them together. For a player like Lucic (prototypical power forward) it becomes essential for defensive efficiency.

He can't win puck in conventional way: pressure is too weak (red attributes) and passive defense is not elite either (weak shot blocking & DRead). But he can crush some bones when anybody comes near him. So maximizing that through appropriate tactics (1-2-2 wide forecheck f.e.) will allow him to do something in terms of winning puck back. W/o hit he will be pretty close to dead weight.
There is an exception to this value of hit. If team has no problem with possession or it's effectiveness, but has trouble with PK, it might not be worth it. Quick team with many capable puckhandlers, but bad on faceoffs and with bad goalie should be an example.
Man on man is the plan

Since this tendency depends on so few attributes and is so precise at it's changes, unit/global tendency is rarely used. But some situational uses are still there.
Just like agro hitting should be decreased for PK. And increased for PP even more so than Agro, since you have extra man that can block path or use the fact that path was blocked by teammate. This creates much more opportunities for a hit. Guys with good character and hitting skill won't foul, so it's a freebie.
Only use for 5vs5 unit is again in linematching and situational strategy. Slow line with poor playmaking & puckhandling can be punished by man to man tactic(that increases hit opportunities) or increase in hitting. Playing physical and active against this line can be optimal, while standing around enjoying their "weak" relative effectiveness is not. Usually the goal of such line is to survive & defend, so they don't mind killing time and keeping score the same.

It's your job to take it to them and drop their +/- to Yakutsk temperatures.

Tempo

There are couple of examples of high tempo being productive in "Attacking" tendency description. And it's safe to say that playing with high tempo is better than playing slow. Poll of NHL player was almost unanimous in their desire to acquire one skill - "Speed" of McDavid.
"Why doesn't it work in playoffs" problem

Many things can work in regular season. But some never do in playoffs. Tempo, like many other concepts, fall victim to this problem too. Root cause of this problem is that level of competition becomes elite every night. And if you play quick & skillful defenders even the best forward won't be able to skate circles around them or put goals past "Top 2 Def line + Top 5 goalie" positional power rankings opponent.
If forward is limited, then there's a chance for negative chain reaction. You can have slow teammates that won't be able to support counter. Good teamwork can allow opponent to trap more effectively. More giveaways will be punished by more damage quick defenders of opponent can do. That's a reminder from playoff series vs SJS not to ignore opponent and just put tempo on high because of your player abilities. They might not be so good in relative terms.
Everything has it's limit

Sometimes ideas seems like pure madness
https://i.imgur.com/FZpTUww.png
Wise anecdote can offer some perspective
Tony's joke about the bull - The Sopranos
But a more practical and hockey related reason could be limited nature of "star" players (compared to other sports). When I look at this, I swear I don't want the third guy to play even a minute

But such is life, and that's the beauty of game's intensity. So the question is how to deal with this injustice and how to maximize playing time of stars?
Well, not playing at 100km/h and testing limits of stamina every games seems like good idea and a start. But this idea is not complete without second benefit of slowing it down...
We want you here, not there

Control of possession & playing time is big factor in many sports. No reason you can't exploit it in hockey. When you look at these guys
https://i.imgur.com/1NdJNqD.png
https://i.imgur.com/WlOK1n5.png
only question that comes to mind is "how do I make them use attributes in red instead of attributes in green?". Slowing it down and limiting giveaways just might be it. And best part is, there is nothing they can do to stop it. Mistakes in pressure will allow slow tempo offense to slice them up with efficiency similar to high tempo. Without pressure, they will have to defend as unit with these attributes. You can find AHL guys who are better than that. So key to defeating such a potent player with one weakness is to dictate the rules and control the game. Slow tempo with elite&quick players is all about it:

More minutes for star players
More time spent attacking, even if it goes nowhere
Save stamina to get back to defense
Use opp's inability to defend efficiently against him and earn most PP chances

Passing

Key thing about passing that is often ignored/forgotten is that it's both giving and receiving. So you can't just increase passing because you want that style of play. Somebody will have to be open for pass happy style to make sense.
Breaking down factors that affect passing from tactical point of view makes everything much simpler:
1) On one hand we have league wide averages by team. They're all pretty much the same
https://i.imgur.com/HjzJ14c.png
Differences are not big enough to say "This team should pass more and this less".
2) On other hand, players like McDavid can do it all. Multi threat. So you don't want to make him pass only like some playmaker, that has trouble with scoring & skating.
So the only thing that can make us decide it's worth it to make McDavid more pass happy are needs of unit/line. We can also bring league averages back to this to glue it all together.
For unit/line, you can find situations to combine best of both worlds:

Differences in passing ability big enough to implement the style
Positives from implementing style will outweigh limiting multi threat players

Tampa is a great example of that. Kucherov and Stamkos both can score and assist. But both of them + other players that are better than league average create a very potent passing unit
https://i.imgur.com/nq1WdQH.png
https://i.imgur.com/zPz2hGI.png
Skating & getting open is secondary, but needless to say it meets the requirement. So

Hold your horses on PP

Not everybody has TBL roster. But another use for max passing is PP. Countless players are good fits for PP as scorer, but not as a creator. In 5vs5 play complicating their actions can do more harm than good. But in PP there's less pressure and demand for quality. Mediocre player can still pass it around to create a better shot. This is especially important for weak faceoff attribute lines
https://i.imgur.com/mcsbrk7.png
Both McDavid & MacKinnon made the list, so your PP even with best players in league can be night and day just because of this little detail.
You can spam low % shots and then chase puck to your own zone for half of PP time. Or you can spend 2 minutes with McDavid trying to crack defense w/o unnecessary risks and shot created in the end will be much better.
Two-way PK

Increased passing can be a variant for puck possession SH Attack on PK. There are two main ways to do it: keep it with speed and puckhandling or keep it with strength & passing. So best suited players will be two-way stars. Good enough on defense for PK, and then can pass it around and deal with pressure from weak defenders (opp's power play unit will be attack oriented).
"You can do it" philosophy of less passing

Since the usual reason you don't want player anywhere near puck is solved using other tactical options, you don't have to worry about passing specifically. Lowered involvement of limited defensive player will be enough. Maybe in screener, slot overload tactics you can make the case for keeping puck and try not to pass it through zone. But other tendencies will be more useful. Can't make player not pass at all.
More practical case is somebody who exemplifies choice between rushing defenceman and other roles. You want speed & ability to score, but not to count on him as playmaker.
https://i.imgur.com/yf8tYxo.png
https://i.imgur.com/QVSctNE.png
Players like that will benefit from passing less, because they can skate with puck instead or get open in more dangerous position and hope teammate will deliver. Playmaker defender will stay back and open in safer position for attack restart.
https://i.imgur.com/UvfxWR1.png
For forwards, less passing becomes a little more nuanced. There are more combinations of factors that lead to it and more in-between roles:
1) Forwards with good screening almost never need less passing in regards to OZ. Maybe for breakout & NZ, but it's much better to build tactics around avoiding his weaknesses or his participation. In OZ, this guy either close enough to take "good" shot even with 5 Shooting Range, or he is in process of passing it to somebody who take a shot while he screens. Puckhandling is also not their strong suit
https://i.imgur.com/b98ihTC.png
So you will almost never find a player who will gain from skating away from goal.
2) In between snipers. Below average playmaking & puckhandling, and not enough range to be elite perimeter shooter.
https://i.imgur.com/Het7xu0.png
For a player who can skate in wider are and be perimeter shooter, below average passing & puckhandling is much easier problem to resolve. Defenders nearby providing space, triangle instead of cycle etc. But this particular type of player will be in much harder position. Closer to goal, more clogged passing lanes and no ability to improvise. You can fix him pretty much same way from OZ tactics stand point, but you can't have him constantly trying to squeeze in last pass because he is near the goal. Restraint when on puck can help him tremendously and allow him to avoid giveaways.
3) Puck recovery specialists. It's one thing to have Datsuk rob somebody blind and create easy chance from takeaway. It's another when we consider regular "hit/forecheck specialist". Since those guys usually have ways of protecting puck (speed/strength) and puck recovery can happen in weird spots, it's important to restrain them too. Otherwise they will try to organize breakout or try to be playmaker. Their job is to create space for others & get close and personal with opposition. Can do that when you try to get open for a pass or try to pass it through defenders waiting for it.
4) Not your job. Exception to #2. If you have designated playmaker & designated scorer it would help to keep good structure.
https://i.imgur.com/1QdlcEg.png
https://i.imgur.com/EdbyPGo.png
Especially when it's winger playmaker & center scorer. Center is key part in triangle that you can use when positions are switched (C playmaker & Wing Scorer). But when you don't want him involved in passing game too much and there are no problems with quickness, it would be much better to keep structure of line in tact. So that everybody can do their job and don't try something they're not good at.

Shooting

Key thing about shooting tendency is that it has limited impact. Especially compared to something like "Hitting". Influence on Shots stat will be much lower. So most of the shot volume will be created by line structure, unit abilities, player attributes & OZ tactics. Shooting tendency is a way to fine tune the output.
Reasons to shoot more

1) Elite accuracy. >=10 for defenders, >=16 for forwards. Forwards will also need good range, so that perimeter shots won't drag accuracy & effectiveness down.
2) Variation of first, but more precise. Forward with elite shooting, movement(get open+quickness+off read) & good puckhandle to max his SoG per playing time. He will be close to unstoppable in creating shot opportunities and more volume will allow him to maximize his impact through "Shot per Minute of playing time" metric. You can't ask everybody to do that, accuracy will tank and volume of shots won't increase. But elite player can do both.
3) Solo sniper who should carry the line/unit. If you have quality sniper playing with sub-par teammates for whatever reason, there's no need to think about effectiveness. It won't be good, so might as well go ahead and give best shooter green light. If he gets hot, it will allow line/unit to perform much better than expected. Positive thinking.
4) Volume of shots OZ tactics. Slot overload for example, that doesn't mind huge volume of low accuracy shots from defenders. It will be balanced out by cleanups & insane effectiveness screener or garbage collector can produce. Faceoff abilities & edge is essential for this playstyle.
5) Opponent's shot blocking & GK quality. If opponent doesn't have good passive defense and good goalie, you can put pressure on him with extra shots. One or two suspect goals in and it snowballs from there.
Reasons to shoot less

1) Other side of previous point. If opp has quality shotblocking and goalie or you have weak garbage collectors, shooting more can be counterproductive. Same thing with poor faceoffs skill. No need to give away puck possession through easy/routine saves.
2) Lots of hungry teammates for playmaker to feed. If you have all around threat in elite player, one reason to limit his shooting can be to make his unit better as a result. If he spends more time skating around and creating better opportunities and drawing fouls, it can benefit line of shooters.
3) Don't force shots on line/unit with good playmakers. Same thing as with tempo & attacking risks. Elite players with bad gameplan can play in very primitive way. So if you have ability to create good shots, why not use it. When you have weak faceoffs attribute star players this can be a huge boost to perfomance. Instead of 2-3 faceoffs off of rushed shots, they can try and get better shot at the end of the shift. And if they don't score, other line (with better faceoff %) can come in and create from OZ faceoff win.
4) Karlsson example. Some elite players will have minor potential weaknesses that can affect perfomance if left unchecked.
https://i.imgur.com/G0scm9t.png
We don't have to worry about Karlsson decision making, and his shot is not terrible by all accounts. But his other skills make this option much less desired. He can skate+handle&pass with the best of them, so shot should be last resort. Unless there is a good screener and he should be cog in offensive scheme, it's always better to max his creativity. Shot, especially with his range, will always be there for him.
Tough(?) choice

There are some players that can still be a riddle:
https://i.imgur.com/vpcHrlR.png
It's obvious that we don't want to limit him, but what about balance of scoring & playmaking?
1) Even though his puckhandling is elite, quickness is too low. He won't be able to create skating around, like forward playmakers (who have quickness highlighted as important attributes).
2) No need to worry about his pass or playmaking. If he has poor "teamplayer" attribute, that can be a potential problem. For this player, only problem can be if he has selfish pass/shoot tendency & you want to play with different style than "slot overload" types.
3) Keys to the puzzle:
Accuracy: even though it's sick, it won't make him shoot as well as forwards with same accuracy. Just allows us to enjoy the fact, that even on max shooting he will score better than average offensive defender and will get hot more often (scoring with very high accuracy compared to league average).
Getting open: it's better than your average offensive defender. But not enough to produce anything special, especially with those physicals.
Offensive read: This is the one. Not only it affects both playmaking & scoring, at elite level it can drag everything else with it. Through more attacking risk & previously mentioned above average attributes he can turn into contributor in OZ despite his weak physicals. He won't be able to separate from defender, but anytime defender leaves him & make mistake he will be there to punish it.
Conventional wisdom would be that he is the quarterback - decision making defender. But w/o ability to skate his initiation of creativity will be lackluster. Where he will shine instead is with teammates who can find him. Quarterback wants space so screener will be great for him. While this guy paired with screener will be 2nd immobile object on offense, so 3 other players will have to do all the heavy lifting (and one of them should be defensive defender). So if you give him agile & always moving Gretzky's office type center instead, synergy on offense will increase dramatically. He will be on receiving end of all the space Center created. He will be slow to get there, but vector will be right most of the time. And that's what behind the net center needs. He forces change of direction, cover/double teams from other defenders so he needs someone to utilize space created the right way. Slow "receiver" won't be optimal, but him being smart is much more important for the situation.

10-07-2020, 01:33 PM	#3
ExeR Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Aug 2015 Posts: 48	Tactical Tendencies of players Key thing for understanding Tactical Tendencies is to not think about them straight forward. Even something as simple as Aggressiveness that reads like copy of Aggression attribute will have some nuance to it's usage. As introductory post showed, there is a logical web and things affect each other in hundred different ways. So priorities will be dynamic and dependent on other factors. How Mild-Intense works Pretty obvious, but the degree to which it works should be explained. Mild (minimal) value means that you don't want this player doing that at all. It's a powerful limiter, that can nullify high aggression etc to pretty much non-existent output. Even with things like pass that you can't "turn off" use min value only for those, who are truly terrible (~10 for NHL). In betweens are for preferences or situational use. Intense/often (max) are for designated specialists or for elite attribute combos (close to 20, blue color). So if you want defender to shoot as much as possible with multiple screening forwards, you choose max. If you have him as one of shooting options for Behind the Net center (or he can skate with puck) then it's better just to increase his shooting. PK Subban will be able to separate himself for shooting opportunity (good quickness & get open) but won't be able to pass (weak passing & Off Read). So even if he skates with puck, it's better if he shoots. Attacking Description offers idea of risk taking & conservative play as two poles you're balancing between. But with context, this notion changes dramatically: Attack & Backchecking "balance" "Balance" in this case is not about picking one or another. There are players who can&should do both at max. What we really choose here are: 1) Offensive/defensive ability 2) Physical ability to combine Off&Def abilities 3) Priority of OZ/DZ production M.Tkachuk example For Tkachuk, defined weaknesses in 1 & 2 make priority obvious. Do we care if he takes all the attacking risks he can from defensive perspective? No, since he is not that good at defending in the first place and he won't be able to catch up even if we max his backchecking effort. So only thing to worry about with him is if he can execute max attacking risk, and that you'll need good defender in appropriate role on his side of ice to cover for him. J. Gaudreau example His teammate can handle backchecking effort physically, but gap between offensive&defensive abilities increased even more. So it's also pointless to make him backcheck, because he certainly can be "max attacking risk" player in OZ and will be very pedestrian in DZ. So priority stays in OZ, but if he wasn't as talented offensively and would be stronger defensively it would change. Or you can keep his backchecking at lower, instead of minimum. M. Foligno example If Foligno starts trying to be McDavid in OZ, it will lead to giveaways and takeaways for opponent. And after that he won't be able to skate back. So even if we make his backchecking maxed, his attacking risk can ruin it. So that is the way to think about attacking&backchecking for a player: 1) Level of overall Off/Def ratings. If one is too weak, no need to focus on it. You can max focus on other end if overall ability is good enough. 2) Difference between Off/Def ratings. If players is two way & have skating to be present on both ends then attacking&backchecking sliders should be close & grow together if player is all around beast (att+def+skating). 3) Situational use with unit/line tactics in mind. 3rd/4th line that plays with weaker defenders can be exposed on weaker end. No reason to backcheck less if player is capable physically & plays less minutes than starter. Even if he is weak defensively, his prescence will make it tougher for opponent to punish your 3rd defensive pairing. Forwards "Risk" is not the same for positions and tactical roles. It is obvious that defenders & forwards "risk" differently. Let's take one of the most impressive seasons I've seen from opponents in FHM: https://i.imgur.com/uAuoiE4.png https://i.imgur.com/uIgdIbA.png https://i.imgur.com/xwlbQFf.png https://i.imgur.com/CUH4ryq.png Despite subpar DR line perfomance was great. Defense was not the priority in the first place https://i.imgur.com/OAxg2iD.png But even better illustration is Matthews. He has ability to be looked at as 2-way player. Has stamina & speed to get back and defensive skills https://i.imgur.com/PVYokuC.png But success came from going completely opposite direction - making him "all out" Dangler https://i.imgur.com/MufO0cU.png Dangler is by default very attack oriented so you can't hurt him too much with adding a little extra risk. Key here is what it brought to the table - allowing team to attack with tempo with Dangler spearheading it https://i.imgur.com/F99vvdu.png Now, anytime Matthews couldn't 1vs1 on fast counter, he could find somebody open. If it wasn't fast counter attack, other players would bring the puck while Dangler would roam in dangerous positions. Or Tarasenko example, as player more suited to Dangler role. He scored 62 goals on more balanced team, that had defense as their priority https://i.imgur.com/drVH2H0.png But having Dangler and ability of line to play with tempo maximized his output https://i.imgur.com/UgjBxS5.png So what these examples tell us, is that it's not necessary to squeeze all that player has out of him. It's much more important to connect abilities of player and his teammates. If somebody can be elite/unstoppable attacking force, you don't need to worry about "what can he do in DZ". Providing him with much needed tempo & quick support will be much more beneficial for the team. Especially if other player can carry extra load. Defenders Risk becomes a real thing for defenders: their mistakes will be almost impossible to cover for and costly (think 1v1 after TO). Best Connor Mcdavid Breakaway Goals!!! But there are positives too. Remember Dangler guy from previous paragraph? Well, he can be "checking" risk taking defender. Should be easy to get some of his goals back! So what are the differences for attacking defender? a) Not everybody gets same piece of pie. Hollowell from Toronto/Matthews example above had terrible ratings. All because AI manager made him try to be attacking defender in loaded line https://i.imgur.com/CY6GFKt.png Instead of trying to be 5th wheel he would be much better off as two-way or defensive role, that covers for others and accepts extra work in DZ. Doesn't mean he didn't do that, but GR for him couldn't be high, because he didn't have enough chances. And his tendency to risk in OZ hurt his defensive capabilities. For him increased attacking was a mistake. b) Make role reversal in "Who checking who" benefit you. Dangler is checked by defender. Attacking attributes vs Defensive ones. For defender it's all reversed. Good attacking attributes can be against terrible defensive for opponent's forward. Quickness edge for opp's forward will balance it somewhat, but not enough. Let's take the best example in Erik Karlsson (or Dahlin): https://i.imgur.com/ZQIGwaG.png Our worst fears when using attacking defender are: -Loss of possession or bad decisions -Slow defender that even with good head on his shoulders won't be able to get back in time to cover for mistakes. Or he will not be able to lose checking of good def forward. For Karlsson none of these problems exist. Not only he's quick and "handly" for defender, he's #20 in quickness and speed and #2 in puck handling in WHOLE league. So any time you make him key part of offense instead of forward, it's an improvement except for McDavid. And since he's checked by much weaker defender, he can have much more impact, relatively speaking. Erik Karlsson puck control & skating This opens all kind of doors. Slow pace but all out attacking & shooting? No problem, try to take puck away or prevent shot creation against guy like that. Tempo & skating till great chance? Again, he can breakout and keep puck till opponents run out of patience and foul him. Decrease attacking Defenders straight forward, forwards diminishing returns and attacking potential CAP. Aggression As a "copy" of attribute, there will be many instances where you don't need to touch aggression at all. So what are the exceptions to that rule: PK/PP units PK is negative expectation situation, so no need to make it worse. Main benefit of going after it and playing physically is to maximize puck possession (through return) in 50/50 and physical situation. When playing 4vs5 this benefit loses most of it's purpose. Nobody to pass to. Face pressure on puck. But most importantly cost of mistake. 3vs5 is horrible and "winning puck with some probability" is not worth it. It's ok to weigh pros and cons when it's "foul that leaves team 4vs5". It's completely different equation when it's 3vs5. Not worth it for PK, so even if you play in physical style, PK units are the ones where you need to tone it down. And build tactical tendencies that way: leave player tendencies open, but use unit's tendencies instead. That's how you allow physical defensive players to play w/o hurting team. https://i.imgur.com/8BCIdrG.png For PP it's reverse, go for more aggression, try to win puck when they have it and leave player immobile near boards. But don't go all out increasing agro for no reason, cost of mistake is still significant. But if you got above average physicals w/o dirtiness it will be beneficial. https://i.imgur.com/wEHR35t.png Nice guys & non-agro roles Some players can play physical/agro style, but prefer not to. Understandable, since PK, random shifts & leaving team w/o star doesn't help it win. Let's look at other examples to get more reasons for and against: https://i.imgur.com/pGkqNfK.png a) Ovechking fits "star" that needs to stay in game for PP not sit in box for PK profile. But factors for activating agro for him would be suitable opponent. You can use active defence, active forecheck scheme and press some slow defenders with puck possession troubles https://i.imgur.com/6GOhWDZ.jpg b) Slow defenders like Chara. Not only that, but they are better at passive defense than active one (being slow affects that a lot obviously). So only use for them is to make him crease clearing role against good screener with below average character (temperament, sportsmanship etc). c) "Quick" & active defenders like Doughty, Hedman, Parayko. Again situational for them. You can't make them more agro and roll through season because they won't be able to catch centers like McDavid. But against slower competition with worse puckhandling ramping it up can be good idea Enforcers That's the only group of players that benefit in GR from doing "negative" actions. If you limit their agro to keep them from PIM trouble, pick other role. Major fouls, fights and 500 hits are what fans are here for. Agitator is probably most productive role in default sense, but all of them would benefit from good character. Bravery, Determination, Temperament, Sportsmanship. W/o those player will just be blackhole of PIM. With good character good agitator can give you: a) Fights that drag important players of opponent out of game. b) Get some PIM back from opp's retaliation on himself or on his teammates. c) Hits. Those can help with puck possession. Recover puck, pass to attacking star, finish some easy opportunities. You can make someone with ~13 off ratings into contributor that way. https://i.imgur.com/QYJkA3Y.png Healing hotheads with minimal aggression Minimal aggression works as a very potent limiter. Would be nice to have player ignore that, but as it stands this is a great way to nullify damage hotheads can do to a team. https://i.imgur.com/3ZMP8Bs.png If you leave this guy in default state, he will accumulate lots of PIM. But don't minimize agro for physical players, especially if being physical is big part of their game. https://i.imgur.com/7aVQYEL.png No reason to have them on ice if you don't let them do what they do best. Luckily hitting is separate and can be controlled on it's own, but strength, fighting, bravery will help power forwards&screeners to be more productive. Did somebody tickle me? If it's not your strong suit, don't even try. https://i.imgur.com/O5h2tu3.png End up hurting yourself or team through PIM Backchecking Can't treat backchecking like reversed attacking. Attacking has all kinds of other tendencies connected to it: tempo, pass, shooting. In contrast, backchecking just seems like decision about effort. Carl Hagelin example https://i.imgur.com/pnTZM0d.png If it's about effort to get back to defending, this is prime example. Stamina & speed to get back, defensive abilities that are much better than offensive ones. Description of backchecking leaves some doubt as to if we maybe want to leave him hanging for a possible counter. But high speed or counter attacking role should not cloud the judgement. There are two other forwards, surely they don't have 13 Acceleration. Hagelin is better skating to puck than with it, so we don't want him to spearhead counters or be decision maker or creator of shots. Another thing about offense is that it doesn't have to be minimized for player with max backchecking. Even if we don't want player to play with higher tempo, he can play with other players who play with max tempo because of speed. https://youtu.be/G_TcTQbS8uc?t=101 Same with attacking risk. He is limited in attributes, so he needs any help he can get. Or there will be some accuracy numbers, that can be outdone by defenders https://i.imgur.com/SQ5HPoj.png If he is so adept at recovering, why not let him take some risks. He might not squeeze much out of it, but might still be better than what he will lose (nothing). So instead of treating him like 3rd defender https://i.imgur.com/cSAYF63.png there is a case to be made for allowing him these tendencies in some mobile OZ schemes with teammates who also risk. https://i.imgur.com/pgDFDvS.png Defensive and/or slow center Some differences from wingers. Bergeron is w/o speed and around same in offensive attributes https://i.imgur.com/thJP5Tr.png https://youtu.be/rBRVODTRS04 So the question is what are the differences? a) Center has more defensive variety. So his presence&def ability is usually more important. b) Can be faceoff specialist (like Bergeron). More puck possession = less defending. c) Easier to play offensively w/o exposing yourself. Central position helps to cover odd number counters. When not to backcheck Obvious example was Dangler. Even if he has def capabilities, it's better to keep him as offensive threat spearheading fast tempo attacks. Other than that it's important to limit players with weak stamina from tiring themselves out. This example of R.Suzuki https://i.imgur.com/tP1yZx7.png is combo of two reasons. If he had great def abilities, you could think about options. But w/o any, there's no use from him being on that side of ice. So he is candidate for minimal backcheck, to keep him as fresh as possible for offense. Pressure Pressure is a double edged sword. Main reason being that elite forwards are better than elite defenders at coming out on top from pressure situations. So you can't treat it like any other tendency, create a rating and increase pressure for all top guys. There are diminishing returns and real risks, so what factors can help with choice of optimal tendency? Targets for pressure Luckily for us, most of our opponents won't have many players with 20 in all attributes. 1 line, maybe two. But after that, it's all but guaranteed there will be some targets who will crumble under pressure https://i.imgur.com/h7OcWpn.png Those players might have tactical&team role that keeps them off the puck most of the time. But he can't stand as a cone all the time, so as soon as it happens, he should giftwrap the puck for our counter. Those players will be key for the bigger picture. Difference between DZ tactics (sag zone vs half-ice overload) Next part of understanding of individual/targeted pressure comes from DZ tactics or schemes: Something active like half-ice overload https://i.imgur.com/c8Ao8xD.png will require whole team moving together and pressing. Even if we target wings of other team, our mistakes & weaknesses will have butterfly effect. Much like with "man-to-man", that leads to more hits&takeaways and better shots allowed number, but those shots will be of much better quality. So it's important to match active pressing tactic with our line's ability to execute it. Something more passive like sagging zone, that prefers defending space or "prime real estate=crease/seams" https://i.imgur.com/XxRqM2L.png can still provide pressure. Not constant and as a team, but targeted as a consequence of team playstyle. Wings have to cover two players while preventing passes to dangerous positions. So it allows us to "target" opponent's defenders. Most of them will be great targets, because it's much easier to find puckhandling+passing+quickness weakness in defender, than in forward. As a result, pressure is best applied as unit tendency. Global tendency lacks targeting, player's tendency lacks direction. Unit, with the help of line matching, allows to combine best from both worlds. If 3rd line of opponent got grinder/garbage collector w/o handle & defensive backline, we can press them so much that shot difference will be mind blowing. Also, that can be a good factor for line matching. Difference between forward & defender pressure One more important thing about pressure is logic of risks, similar to attacking tendency. Increased pressure tendency for forward won't be the same as for defender. From previous paragraphs and positioning/defensive read attributes description it's clear what kind of damage can be done with wrong tactics. If slow center, operating as 3rd defender, or stay-at-home defender starts pressing, instead of keeping crease protected or preventing behind the goal drives, it will lead to disaster (see sagging zone image). Forward can be armed with pressure as a tool to do something defensively, because he can't do it in conventional way https://i.imgur.com/ECGsBpF.png Weak positioning can also be a factor. Majority of best defensive players have all def attributes on elite level, so their pressure preference will be dictated by physical attributes or tactic. Some players are better suited for particular style. In this example he can also use his strength & low aggression to be effective. Can't be in many physical situations waiting in position. https://i.imgur.com/RLmxFKX.png Disregarding speed/quickness is probably the most common mistake when increasing pressure. Can't be effective at it if you're slow getting there and chasing puckhandler. Speed will also be beneficial if you succeed in pressure & force giveaway/takeaway, since you can counter easily. https://i.imgur.com/dBZorwY.png That's why it's important to remember last key attribute - stamina. Not the best idea to make player chase puck around if it will gas him out. Increasing pressure for defender must have some solid reasoning behind it. Safe bet would be to combine all/most factors used for forwards. Logical reasoning is pretty straight forward and exists in many sports. Pressure is all about forcing turnovers/giveaways/takeaways so key is to do something productive with them, to cover for risks of costly pressure mistake. Ideal player for that is the one that fits "player pressing=player creating counterattack". So if defender can actively defend on high level and then turn around and breakout by himself, skate from chasing opponent, create something on puck, that's the best possible outcome. https://i.imgur.com/CbjjLPX.png So quickness & speed aided by puckhandling & pass would make risking with pressure worth it for defenders. More pressure = more PIM Increased pressure will always lead to increase in PIM. So to avoid topping the chart of PK chances: 1) Make sure press is done by quick players with good stick checking & defensive read (less technical mistakes/fouls). 2) If you have quick players that usually lack power (strength, balance, hitting) discourage them from fouling by decreasing aggression & hitting. That's where stickchecking will be useful, can't have them playing passively and doing nothing with pressure style (less agro mistakes/fouls). 3) Match strongest forward (C or Wingers) and DZ tactic. Half ice overload relies more on center, wings down low on wingers. Hitting Hitting is one of the most straight forward tendencies, much like it's buddy - Aggressiveness. But unlike agro, Hitting master shouldn't be contained as much and can be put on max tendency. With that out of the way, only thing left to do is to list all other factors: Hit master character Agro doesn't let go so easily. Most of hit masters will be dirty players, and if you unleash them with max hitting, they will bring back more PIM than heads. Fixing that problem is better done through Aggression decrease. Optimal ratio would be to minimize agro and make Hitting increased. It's not just more effective way to tame dirty player, but there is also another reason to keep hitting tendency high... Hit wins possession This consequence can help offense in hidden manner. All those extra minutes on the puck will make shot difference better in the end of game/season. So it's much better idea to keep Hitting higher and agro lower, than try to decrease them together. For a player like Lucic (prototypical power forward) it becomes essential for defensive efficiency. He can't win puck in conventional way: pressure is too weak (red attributes) and passive defense is not elite either (weak shot blocking & DRead). But he can crush some bones when anybody comes near him. So maximizing that through appropriate tactics (1-2-2 wide forecheck f.e.) will allow him to do something in terms of winning puck back. W/o hit he will be pretty close to dead weight. There is an exception to this value of hit. If team has no problem with possession or it's effectiveness, but has trouble with PK, it might not be worth it. Quick team with many capable puckhandlers, but bad on faceoffs and with bad goalie should be an example. Man on man is the plan Since this tendency depends on so few attributes and is so precise at it's changes, unit/global tendency is rarely used. But some situational uses are still there. Just like agro hitting should be decreased for PK. And increased for PP even more so than Agro, since you have extra man that can block path or use the fact that path was blocked by teammate. This creates much more opportunities for a hit. Guys with good character and hitting skill won't foul, so it's a freebie. Only use for 5vs5 unit is again in linematching and situational strategy. Slow line with poor playmaking & puckhandling can be punished by man to man tactic(that increases hit opportunities) or increase in hitting. Playing physical and active against this line can be optimal, while standing around enjoying their "weak" relative effectiveness is not. Usually the goal of such line is to survive & defend, so they don't mind killing time and keeping score the same. It's your job to take it to them and drop their +/- to Yakutsk temperatures. Tempo There are couple of examples of high tempo being productive in "Attacking" tendency description. And it's safe to say that playing with high tempo is better than playing slow. Poll of NHL player was almost unanimous in their desire to acquire one skill - "Speed" of McDavid. "Why doesn't it work in playoffs" problem Many things can work in regular season. But some never do in playoffs. Tempo, like many other concepts, fall victim to this problem too. Root cause of this problem is that level of competition becomes elite every night. And if you play quick & skillful defenders even the best forward won't be able to skate circles around them or put goals past "Top 2 Def line + Top 5 goalie" positional power rankings opponent. If forward is limited, then there's a chance for negative chain reaction. You can have slow teammates that won't be able to support counter. Good teamwork can allow opponent to trap more effectively. More giveaways will be punished by more damage quick defenders of opponent can do. That's a reminder from playoff series vs SJS not to ignore opponent and just put tempo on high because of your player abilities. They might not be so good in relative terms. Everything has it's limit Sometimes ideas seems like pure madness https://i.imgur.com/FZpTUww.png Wise anecdote can offer some perspective Tony's joke about the bull - The Sopranos But a more practical and hockey related reason could be limited nature of "star" players (compared to other sports). When I look at this, I swear I don't want the third guy to play even a minute But such is life, and that's the beauty of game's intensity. So the question is how to deal with this injustice and how to maximize playing time of stars? Well, not playing at 100km/h and testing limits of stamina every games seems like good idea and a start. But this idea is not complete without second benefit of slowing it down... We want you here, not there Control of possession & playing time is big factor in many sports. No reason you can't exploit it in hockey. When you look at these guys https://i.imgur.com/1NdJNqD.png https://i.imgur.com/WlOK1n5.png only question that comes to mind is "how do I make them use attributes in red instead of attributes in green?". Slowing it down and limiting giveaways just might be it. And best part is, there is nothing they can do to stop it. Mistakes in pressure will allow slow tempo offense to slice them up with efficiency similar to high tempo. Without pressure, they will have to defend as unit with these attributes. You can find AHL guys who are better than that. So key to defeating such a potent player with one weakness is to dictate the rules and control the game. Slow tempo with elite&quick players is all about it: More minutes for star players More time spent attacking, even if it goes nowhere Save stamina to get back to defense Use opp's inability to defend efficiently against him and earn most PP chances Passing Key thing about passing that is often ignored/forgotten is that it's both giving and receiving. So you can't just increase passing because you want that style of play. Somebody will have to be open for pass happy style to make sense. Breaking down factors that affect passing from tactical point of view makes everything much simpler: 1) On one hand we have league wide averages by team. They're all pretty much the same https://i.imgur.com/HjzJ14c.png Differences are not big enough to say "This team should pass more and this less". 2) On other hand, players like McDavid can do it all. Multi threat. So you don't want to make him pass only like some playmaker, that has trouble with scoring & skating. So the only thing that can make us decide it's worth it to make McDavid more pass happy are needs of unit/line. We can also bring league averages back to this to glue it all together. For unit/line, you can find situations to combine best of both worlds: Differences in passing ability big enough to implement the style Positives from implementing style will outweigh limiting multi threat players Tampa is a great example of that. Kucherov and Stamkos both can score and assist. But both of them + other players that are better than league average create a very potent passing unit https://i.imgur.com/nq1WdQH.png https://i.imgur.com/zPz2hGI.png Skating & getting open is secondary, but needless to say it meets the requirement. So Hold your horses on PP Not everybody has TBL roster. But another use for max passing is PP. Countless players are good fits for PP as scorer, but not as a creator. In 5vs5 play complicating their actions can do more harm than good. But in PP there's less pressure and demand for quality. Mediocre player can still pass it around to create a better shot. This is especially important for weak faceoff attribute lines https://i.imgur.com/mcsbrk7.png Both McDavid & MacKinnon made the list, so your PP even with best players in league can be night and day just because of this little detail. You can spam low % shots and then chase puck to your own zone for half of PP time. Or you can spend 2 minutes with McDavid trying to crack defense w/o unnecessary risks and shot created in the end will be much better. Two-way PK Increased passing can be a variant for puck possession SH Attack on PK. There are two main ways to do it: keep it with speed and puckhandling or keep it with strength & passing. So best suited players will be two-way stars. Good enough on defense for PK, and then can pass it around and deal with pressure from weak defenders (opp's power play unit will be attack oriented). "You can do it" philosophy of less passing Since the usual reason you don't want player anywhere near puck is solved using other tactical options, you don't have to worry about passing specifically. Lowered involvement of limited defensive player will be enough. Maybe in screener, slot overload tactics you can make the case for keeping puck and try not to pass it through zone. But other tendencies will be more useful. Can't make player not pass at all. More practical case is somebody who exemplifies choice between rushing defenceman and other roles. You want speed & ability to score, but not to count on him as playmaker. https://i.imgur.com/yf8tYxo.png https://i.imgur.com/QVSctNE.png Players like that will benefit from passing less, because they can skate with puck instead or get open in more dangerous position and hope teammate will deliver. Playmaker defender will stay back and open in safer position for attack restart. https://i.imgur.com/UvfxWR1.png For forwards, less passing becomes a little more nuanced. There are more combinations of factors that lead to it and more in-between roles: 1) Forwards with good screening almost never need less passing in regards to OZ. Maybe for breakout & NZ, but it's much better to build tactics around avoiding his weaknesses or his participation. In OZ, this guy either close enough to take "good" shot even with 5 Shooting Range, or he is in process of passing it to somebody who take a shot while he screens. Puckhandling is also not their strong suit https://i.imgur.com/b98ihTC.png So you will almost never find a player who will gain from skating away from goal. 2) In between snipers. Below average playmaking & puckhandling, and not enough range to be elite perimeter shooter. https://i.imgur.com/Het7xu0.png For a player who can skate in wider are and be perimeter shooter, below average passing & puckhandling is much easier problem to resolve. Defenders nearby providing space, triangle instead of cycle etc. But this particular type of player will be in much harder position. Closer to goal, more clogged passing lanes and no ability to improvise. You can fix him pretty much same way from OZ tactics stand point, but you can't have him constantly trying to squeeze in last pass because he is near the goal. Restraint when on puck can help him tremendously and allow him to avoid giveaways. 3) Puck recovery specialists. It's one thing to have Datsuk rob somebody blind and create easy chance from takeaway. It's another when we consider regular "hit/forecheck specialist". Since those guys usually have ways of protecting puck (speed/strength) and puck recovery can happen in weird spots, it's important to restrain them too. Otherwise they will try to organize breakout or try to be playmaker. Their job is to create space for others & get close and personal with opposition. Can do that when you try to get open for a pass or try to pass it through defenders waiting for it. 4) Not your job. Exception to #2. If you have designated playmaker & designated scorer it would help to keep good structure. https://i.imgur.com/1QdlcEg.png https://i.imgur.com/EdbyPGo.png Especially when it's winger playmaker & center scorer. Center is key part in triangle that you can use when positions are switched (C playmaker & Wing Scorer). But when you don't want him involved in passing game too much and there are no problems with quickness, it would be much better to keep structure of line in tact. So that everybody can do their job and don't try something they're not good at. Shooting Key thing about shooting tendency is that it has limited impact. Especially compared to something like "Hitting". Influence on Shots stat will be much lower. So most of the shot volume will be created by line structure, unit abilities, player attributes & OZ tactics. Shooting tendency is a way to fine tune the output. Reasons to shoot more 1) Elite accuracy. >=10 for defenders, >=16 for forwards. Forwards will also need good range, so that perimeter shots won't drag accuracy & effectiveness down. 2) Variation of first, but more precise. Forward with elite shooting, movement(get open+quickness+off read) & good puckhandle to max his SoG per playing time. He will be close to unstoppable in creating shot opportunities and more volume will allow him to maximize his impact through "Shot per Minute of playing time" metric. You can't ask everybody to do that, accuracy will tank and volume of shots won't increase. But elite player can do both. 3) Solo sniper who should carry the line/unit. If you have quality sniper playing with sub-par teammates for whatever reason, there's no need to think about effectiveness. It won't be good, so might as well go ahead and give best shooter green light. If he gets hot, it will allow line/unit to perform much better than expected. Positive thinking. 4) Volume of shots OZ tactics. Slot overload for example, that doesn't mind huge volume of low accuracy shots from defenders. It will be balanced out by cleanups & insane effectiveness screener or garbage collector can produce. Faceoff abilities & edge is essential for this playstyle. 5) Opponent's shot blocking & GK quality. If opponent doesn't have good passive defense and good goalie, you can put pressure on him with extra shots. One or two suspect goals in and it snowballs from there. Reasons to shoot less 1) Other side of previous point. If opp has quality shotblocking and goalie or you have weak garbage collectors, shooting more can be counterproductive. Same thing with poor faceoffs skill. No need to give away puck possession through easy/routine saves. 2) Lots of hungry teammates for playmaker to feed. If you have all around threat in elite player, one reason to limit his shooting can be to make his unit better as a result. If he spends more time skating around and creating better opportunities and drawing fouls, it can benefit line of shooters. 3) Don't force shots on line/unit with good playmakers. Same thing as with tempo & attacking risks. Elite players with bad gameplan can play in very primitive way. So if you have ability to create good shots, why not use it. When you have weak faceoffs attribute star players this can be a huge boost to perfomance. Instead of 2-3 faceoffs off of rushed shots, they can try and get better shot at the end of the shift. And if they don't score, other line (with better faceoff %) can come in and create from OZ faceoff win. 4) Karlsson example. Some elite players will have minor potential weaknesses that can affect perfomance if left unchecked. https://i.imgur.com/G0scm9t.png We don't have to worry about Karlsson decision making, and his shot is not terrible by all accounts. But his other skills make this option much less desired. He can skate+handle&pass with the best of them, so shot should be last resort. Unless there is a good screener and he should be cog in offensive scheme, it's always better to max his creativity. Shot, especially with his range, will always be there for him. Tough(?) choice There are some players that can still be a riddle: https://i.imgur.com/vpcHrlR.png It's obvious that we don't want to limit him, but what about balance of scoring & playmaking? 1) Even though his puckhandling is elite, quickness is too low. He won't be able to create skating around, like forward playmakers (who have quickness highlighted as important attributes). 2) No need to worry about his pass or playmaking. If he has poor "teamplayer" attribute, that can be a potential problem. For this player, only problem can be if he has selfish pass/shoot tendency & you want to play with different style than "slot overload" types. 3) Keys to the puzzle: Accuracy: even though it's sick, it won't make him shoot as well as forwards with same accuracy. Just allows us to enjoy the fact, that even on max shooting he will score better than average offensive defender and will get hot more often (scoring with very high accuracy compared to league average). Getting open: it's better than your average offensive defender. But not enough to produce anything special, especially with those physicals. Offensive read: This is the one. Not only it affects both playmaking & scoring, at elite level it can drag everything else with it. Through more attacking risk & previously mentioned above average attributes he can turn into contributor in OZ despite his weak physicals. He won't be able to separate from defender, but anytime defender leaves him & make mistake he will be there to punish it. Conventional wisdom would be that he is the quarterback - decision making defender. But w/o ability to skate his initiation of creativity will be lackluster. Where he will shine instead is with teammates who can find him. Quarterback wants space so screener will be great for him. While this guy paired with screener will be 2nd immobile object on offense, so 3 other players will have to do all the heavy lifting (and one of them should be defensive defender). So if you give him agile & always moving Gretzky's office type center instead, synergy on offense will increase dramatically. He will be on receiving end of all the space Center created. He will be slow to get there, but vector will be right most of the time. And that's what behind the net center needs. He forces change of direction, cover/double teams from other defenders so he needs someone to utilize space created the right way. Slow "receiver" won't be optimal, but him being smart is much more important for the situation. Last edited by ExeR; 11-10-2020 at 12:18 PM.