EP Rinkside’s Sean Shapiro breaks down the Red Wings’ new penalty-killing “diamond” formation today on his Shap Shots blog, and it’s an interesting read, in no small part because Shapiro tells us that the Red Wings’ old PK was, well, getting old:
It’s easy to take pot shots at the old system once it’s been discarded, but multiple Red Wings told me in the past week that the old in-zone killing system was exhausting and frustrating for players. One Red Wings penalty killer told me it felt a bit juvenile and put Detroit in a spot where NHL-level players could simply expose Detroit.
Again, I don’t like taking pot shots as someone is out the door, but that’s what players told when breaking down the changes on the PK.
So [coach Todd] McLellan and [assistant coach Trent] Yawney came in and installed a passive diamond on the penalty kill, which looks just like it sounds, it’s a diamond that really doesn’t move too much.
In the version of the diamond the Red Wings are playing, each player is responsible for their quadrant, and one player said the coaching staff had explained it like rubber bands that give-and-take — players stretch into ares of their quadrant to defend, but always elastic back.
