The Edmonton Oilers players had a day off on Friday and then had an optional skate yesterday morning. Today they are expected to have a full skate as they prepare for their third round matchup against the Colorado Avalanche.
The four days between games allowed me to talk to Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft.
Woodcroft joined me on TSN 1260 to talk about the Oilers ’win over Calgary, coaching against Darryl Sutter, looking for clashes and possible lineup changes. Will we see Dylan Holloway in the third round?
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That interview came on Friday before Colorado defeated St. Louis. Louis.
Jason Gregor: It’s a day off for the head coach, and I’m curious: did you have at least one celebratory beer after the series beat your archrival rivals?
Jay Woodcroft: Well, of course! Yes! Of course, you have to have one to recharge your batteries after such a victory. But I would tell you that there are no days off in training. Not until summer. So we were at the office and at work this morning and tried to line up our ducks to make sure we were ready for the third round.
Gregor: You believe in the big picture, as well as in psychology and other factors. I think it’s fantastic. As a balance, because I’m sure that in parts of those books and people you’ve talked to, it’s the importance of celebrating the steps along the way. Because if you just say that I will only celebrate it well in the end, you may miss part of the journey. So, it’s last night where you say “okay, I’m not thinking about anything else, I’ll just be in the moment?”
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Woodcroft: Yeah, I think it’s important, to celebrate your victories, and we do, and we do it in ways that aren’t public. They stay a little internal. But we know how hard it is to win and you have to celebrate and sometimes you have to make a joke after the games: “Well, it will take 15 or 20 minutes to enjoy it”, but really, that’s our mentality. , that we want to enjoy these victories.
But then we park it and move on to the next day and really try to have that approach of just taking care of the business of the day. And if you do it and you do it well enough that over time the results will take care of themselves.
Gregor: Your team showed great ability to overcome deficits. And in today’s NHL, where it’s more offensive, no team can score first all the time. You overcame a four-goal lead in the first match. And then in games two and five you overcame the disadvantages of two goals to win. You also conceded a three-goal lead. This was an emotional roller coaster of a series for everyone who watched it.
Your inside was a bit of a roller coaster, but is the outside person even a keel?
Woodcroft: Well, I think as a coach you want to model the behavior that you want your team to have. So this is the first step. And for us, we think we have the people to meet every circumstance and that is the true belief. Whether we score first or not. I think we played 12 games in the playoffs, scoring the first goal six times, four in the first set and two in the second. You know the other team has a voice sometimes, and they do good things, and as the league shrinks, the teams get better and better.
So even if we start with a plan, sometimes the other team doesn’t give a damn, you have to be able to react to it. But if you have the belief that we have the parts in the locker room to deal with any circumstance that throws us in the way, I think that resonates and as I said whether we score the first goal, or not the first goal. , whether you are scoring two goals or scoring two goals, we believe we have the people who will do the job.
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Gregor: Jay, you pressed a lot of the right buttons sometimes. Last night you said you changed [Zach] Hyman i [Evander] Kane as it was to make a little jump to the top line, but it was also related to the confrontation. Calgary chose to play the [Mikael] Backlund against him [Connor] McDavid Line and more [Elias] Lindholm against [Ryan] Nugent-Hopkins o [Ryan] McLeod line. What he liked about Kane in this confrontation was denial [Matthew] Tkachuk specifically with its size and speed?
Woodcroft: Yeah, I thought he did a good job with Tkachuk and it had an effect on that player. And for me, I thought we didn’t like the way we started last night. Hyman was showing something in the first period that I thought might help Draisaitl and McDavid and so we wanted to turn it around.
We also took Yamamoto from his line and created a new line with Nugent-Hopkins and Kane. I felt it would benefit us if we did, we made a similar adjustment at the end of game number four and it worked. Sometimes, you know from experience and just watching the game inside the game, that leads to decisions like this and we did well, so I’m happy.
Gregor: Zach Kassian only played two minutes last night, he also shook in the second period, he was very slow getting on the bench, he was hit?
Woodcroft: Oh, you know what time of year Jason is, I think most of the guys are hooked, but no, Zach gave us everything he had, his contribution was valuable for our team to win yesterday. He didn’t play much along the stretch, but that’s just a factor in the way that game was played. They wore 11 forwards and seven D. They ended up playing only 10 forwards and so the way the game went made us have to change lines. But you’re talking about a teammate, someone who gives the team everything it has and that’s a big reason we move on to series number three.
May 26, 2022; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid (97) celebrates his goal with teammates during the first overtime period against the Calgary Flames in the fifth game of the second round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Saddledome. Credit required: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports
Gregor: The defensive play of your six defenders and the overall defense of your team was impressive. There was so much focus on Draisaitl and McDavid, and rightly so. Draisaitl had 17 points for God, but what impressed you most about the execution you wanted to implement defensively against the Flames of your defenders that worked so well?
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Woodcroft: Well, you know if you look at the complexion of our D core or the way it is composed, it’s not all these reputable players. We are a group behind doing commission work. For commitment to the basics of the way we defend by keeping it simple in outbreaks. I think each of these players there brings us a slightly different ingredient and helps us succeed.
You have a quarterback in the power play [Tyson] Barrie, you have a guy who gets his shot from above [Evan] Bouchard. You have [Darnell] Nurse i [Cody] Ceci who is able to play against some of the best players in the world and deny the best players on other teams. And you have what Kulak has brought to the table, with his constant two-way play. Her legs (skating) are fantastic. Duncan Keith, I think the record goes as well as anyone in the National Hockey League from the bottom. It is a very underrated skill. He gives us rhythm through the movement of his record and then the warrior qualities of a guy like Kris Russell. While we’re not full of all these big names, we’re a lot of really solid collaborators and it works for us.
Gregor: Brent Kulak talked about how his job as a defender was a lot easier because of the strikers ’assignments, and how good they were at paying attention to the defensive. Specifically coming back from the rush, but more in Zone D. You were able to implement a system that took out one of Calgary’s fortresses that used its defenders to activate. As you did, what worked to eliminate Calgary’s defenses for much of it?
Woodcroft: (Laughs) Do you want me to give you all the details?
Gregor: (laughs) Well, the series is over now, Colorado plays differently.
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Woodcroft: (Laughs) You know what, you’re right, they’ve been offended a lot by their defenders. I think there are things we talk about in point coverage. Therefore, the way we want to handle our point of man, either on the strong side or on the weak side, there are details involved. We wanted to make sure we were physically on the attack.
First, we took some steam out of their D men at their own end, we didn’t want to beat the ice again with our rush cover. Like I said, there were things in the area with our point coverage. I thought Calgary did a great job shooting the record to try and break you. And then his D went down to the records, there were only certain things we wanted to do, against a pinch that could help us. But in the end, they are a very good team, but our team, not just one individual, but our team did a lot of very good things and that is what helped us move forward in the series.
Gregor: You and the coaching staff will be watching Colorado-St. Does Louis play together, or do you see it yourself? And how do you deal with it because there is still the possibility of facing any of them, do you have to look for both in the same game?
Woodcroft: Just for our staff because physically and mentally for the players, a playoff series is very exhausting, we know that, but for coaches we know that. With the interest of staying fresh, we did our job this morning, we went our separate ways, we will see it separately and tomorrow morning we will go in to talk, …