Russian hockey players “Tampa” became hostages of Cooper’s ideas. Is it time for the coach to leave?

The 2022 Stanley Cup Final turned out to be one of the brightest in recent seasons. And it’s not just that for the first time in a long time, two favorites met at this stage. Fans are always pleased to watch the struggle of teams with different styles and philosophies. So in the current final there was such a duel: pragmatism vs. audacity, tight defense vs. aggressive forechecking… In short, Tampa vs. Colorado.

In Tampa’s case, however, the head coach’s tactics didn’t pay off. John Cooper put his players in too tight a box. For two years in a row, his ideas brought success to the team, but in the last final, the Lightning looked more like their hostages.

Moreover, Russian stars suffered the most from Cooper’s approach this time. Is it time for Tampa to part ways with the legend?

Photo: © Dirk Shadd / ZUMA Press / Global Look Press

Vasilevsky does not need help

The main feature of the current “Tampa” is the ability to block shots. Many experts argued that due to this element, the Lightnings were able to win the Stanley Cup for the third time in a row, but the dedication of the hockey players eventually played a cruel joke on them. The Lightning acted too tightly on defense throughout the entire playoff distance.

Even the attackers descended closer to the goal of Andrei Vasilevsky. And when the puck was at the opponent’s defender, the extreme forwards did not have time to prevent the shot. The only solution in this situation is to catch the hockey equipment on yourself. Hence Tampa’s phenomenal record of 413 blocked shots, which is the best result in this Stanley Cup season.

Vasilevsky, of course, is grateful for this to his teammates, but in the final the keeper experienced problems because of their dedication. “Evs” did not invent attacking schemes that would stretch the opponent’s defense, but simply tried to make shots from any position. And this brought the result – in every match, Tampa suffered from dangerous rebounds. The statistics clearly show this: in the finals, Colorado had 20 goals, of which three from the rebound and two after the rebound.

Photo: © REUTERS/Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

There are few hockey players in the league who can score against Vasilevsky with a direct throw. But reacting to a puck that suddenly changes direction is almost unrealistic. The Lightnings should not take away the job from the keeper, then he would not suffer from “accidental” goals.

Kucherov suffered in the majority

We can safely say that a terrible game in unequal lineups took away the opportunity for Tampa to win the third cup in a row. Surprisingly, the Lightnings scored more goals in a 5-on-5 game than the Colorados – 13 goals against 12. But Cooper’s team has big problems with the majority: out of 19 attempts, only two Lightnings were converted. The Aves, by contrast, played 16 power plays and scored six goals.

Hockey players “Colorado” each time used the lack of flexibility and variability of “Tampa” when drawing too much. In the first special brigade of the majority of the Lightnings, it all came down to the throw of Steven Stamkos or Nikita Kucherov. Before the meeting with Colorado, it worked: either the forwards threw it on the move, or Brayden Point or Corry Parry played the rebound.

But Evs blocked all the shots of Kucherov and Stamkos, preventing them from showing their best qualities. So the Russian, on average, was on the ice for almost 70% of the total majority time per match. But he has only seven shots and one abandoned puck. The Colorado players blocked the line of fire even before Kucherov’s throw. Indicative was the moment at the end of the sixth meeting, when Gabriel Landeskog caught the puck on himself after a Russian click.

Nikita Kucherov / Photo: © REUTERS/Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

With the second special brigade of the majority in Tampa, things are even worse. It all came down to Mikhail Sergachev’s throw from the blue line. Such a monotonous game was easily read by the Colorado players.

So it turns out that in the most important series of the season, Tampa could not use its main weapon. And Kucherov, the leader in points in the majority, suffered in the final.

Is it time for Cooper to leave?

Another feature of Tampa is to quickly get a comfortable advantage and start to dry the game. In total, the Lightning have accumulated 23 games in the playoffs, and in 14 of them they scored first. At the same time, Cooper’s team lost only four times, opening the scoring in the match.

Interestingly, all four of Tampa’s defeats were inflicted by teams with a bright attacking line: the Lightning lost two times to Toronto and Colorado. Cooper’s team lacked the flexibility and ability to derail the chosen tactics. Leading in the score, it would be worth trying to crush the opponent, and not slow down the pace of the game, but in the current Tampa this approach is strongly rejected.

Cooper’s ideas have become obsolete, and Lightning urgently needs to change in order not to gradually lose its leading position. The NHL is already starting to get used to Joe’s philosophy – the final showed this clearly.