Yesterday, we talked about the development of young defensemen such as Davis Drewiske and Alec Martinez. It’s worth noting that the six current defensemen have an average age of 25.3. Even if you add 33-year-old Willie Mitchell into the mix, that only raises the average age to 26.4. Terry Murray was asked about the teaching process involved with the young defensemen and what aspects of their games are stressed, and how. What issues pop up during the development process of young players, and how are they corrected?
MURRAY: “It’s just feedback. When you don’t have a lot of quality practice time, like it is right now with the heavy schedule, it has to be like that. That happens in the team meetings. Then John (Stevens) pulls the defensemen aside, and he do the individual stuff and review their shifts on a 1-on-1 basis, which reinforces it again. The killer, to me, in sports is hesitation. In anything you’re going to do, if you hesitate you’re going to run into big problems. Certainly in a reactive sport like hockey, you’ve just got to be able to play the game. Trust your teammates, know what they’re doing and play the hockey game without a lot of thought put into it, really. You want that intensity in your game, to do the right things.”
“Our Anaheim game the other night, in the first period and even in the early part of the second period, we were trying to make plays standing still. That’s all we were talking about on the bench. `We’ve got to get skating, move our feet, get the puck, take ice.’ It was the same between periods, and carried through in the early part of the second period. You’ve got to skate. That is one of the first things that I’m looking at, with our hockey club, when we get started in the game. You cannot make plays standing still in this game. That’s one of the big issues with young defensemen. It’s simply neutral-zone tandem play, counters. You pass the puck to your partner, dot to dot in the faceoff circle in your own end, and if that defenseman doesn’t take a couple strides immediately, he’s dead. There’s going to be a turnover, and you’re now forcing the puck into areas instead of opening up options, two or three different options for yourself. You’re dead. So you have to skate. You have to move your feet. Those guys are doing a good job of that right now.
“It’s just habits, especially with young players. Repetition is the mother of skill. These young guys have been doing stuff over the last several years, and they’ve been able to get away with it, playing the game. It’s just the way it is. You have to take that part of the game and correct it, get it out of there, clean it up and make them play the game the right way. So I’m seeing good things, and that’s a huge difference in Martinez’s game from last year. He came into camp this year very confident with the puck, skating with the puck, carrying it. He was the point leader in Manchester, and that’s because he’s using his number-one asset, and that’s just moving, mobility, agility, skating. It opens up shot lanes and passing lanes. Now, what exposes a player the other way is, if you’re skating and opening up ice, does he have the vision? Is he a double-option, triple-option player? Now you see who he really is. That’s where Doughty is so great. He’s a third, fourth option guy. He’s an exceptional player. But he’s got to be moving. Early in the season, he was not moving his feet. Now he is, and now he’s starting to put the `A’ game up consistently.”
Probably the best Murray-ism so far “Repetition is the mother of skill”.
[Reply]
That is correct about DD he was not moving. A funny thing about hockey is the great players hold the puck a second longer in order to make plays. However, if you hold the put a second too long you destroy the play of your teammates and the window of opportunity closes. Moving and not being caught flat-footed when trying to make plays is imperative.
[Reply]
That’s one of the best TM answers I’ve seen. He’s still talking about a simple concept – “keep your feet moving” that we’ve all heard before, but this time he really got into the specifics of it.
[Reply]
Our defensemen make a mistake once in a while, but except for the 8 game slide earlier this season (and even that wasn’t really bad on defense), these guys have been outstanding. It is a lot easier for Quick to get a shut-out facing only 20 shots as opposed to facing 50 shots (except against Detroit and Quick saved us there). Hopefully TM will just have to do some fine tuning and reminding as the season moves along since it seems that this group knows what it is doing and how to do it.
[Reply]
KC23 Reply:
December 29th, 2010 at 4:57 pm
@DesertKing, Yeah, when I think about when Jones was back there last year I cringe. We have been witnessed to some of the best defensive hockey in King’s history. We did have one year with a better defense than this, but just one and our offense wasn’t as good as this team.
[Reply]
“Heavy ” schedule…….not just a “heavy” type of game…..
[Reply]
Rich,
Insightful interview. Thank you.
[Reply]
So if things stay steady for the Kings and no major colapse happens what kind of move or moves should the kings make at the deadline??? If Sturm can find the net and kick in his average do the kings still need a top six guy??? Do we trade Martinez and some picks for a high end D-man??? What to do??
[Reply]
gcheng Reply:
December 29th, 2010 at 5:42 pm
@illegalstick33,
i would not trade martinez. he is prob the only defensivemen we have that have shown the ability to initiate the attack and make plays. i love watching him on 4-4 plays.
he would go into the ozone with speed, pass to the forwards and hit straight for the net. Because of his speed, the other defensivemen all backoff which gives everyone else more ice.
[Reply]
Martinez has really developed nicely. I have been critical of our development abilities under DL, but this is a great sign that our ability to develop players is working.
Martinez really looked like he’d not be an NHL’er when he’d been given prior opportunities, albeit breif. But, he looks incredibly solid and I think he’s earned a lot of trust from coaches AND fans.
Drewiske is a much less notable player out there, but has been pretty steady. Of the two, however, I think Drewiske may eventual move on.
[Reply]
KC23 Reply:
December 29th, 2010 at 4:58 pm
@Cristobal, Martinez looked horrid last year. Something good is going on in Manchester to be sure.
[Reply]
Doughty is a plus 16. 7th in the league.
[Reply]
Great interview. Very insightful. I see the game well, especially I see players and their abilities well, but there’s also plenty I don’t see, so I’m always looking to learn more about the game. You’re always trying to get better at seeing the things on the ice that don’t come quite as naturally. Usually reading interviews or watching “expert analysis” on TV, you’re not going to learn anything at all unless you’re a complete novice to the sport. I’m not saying TM just blew my mind by saying that skating is important to hockey, but he did get into some specifics that were interesting and that serve to just add to one’s body of hockey knowledge and one’s collection of various perspectives on the game. Also it’s interesting to find out that the coach actually does see what you saw. For example, Doughty continued to struggle, and not skate, for months. I saw that, but I figured the coach obviously hasn’t, or he would have helped Doughty fix it by now. Well, apparently he did see it, which bodes well for his eye for the game, but not for his ability to actually change the bad habits of his players. He certainly took his time with Doughty. Although, it did seem like Doughty was also really out of shape. It helps your skating game when you can actually skate fast again.
[Reply]
@lvkingaholic, Thank You.
[Reply]