One thing I can guarantee is that the Edmonton Oilers coaching staff will be prepared for their opponent. The same goes for Joel Quenneville and the Anaheim Ducks. They’ve likely been holed up in their offices since the moment the regular season ended, balancing their approach between tweaks made specifically for the matchup and improvements made internally.

It’s more about us than it is about them.

I’d bet the Calgary Flames’ next three first-round picks those words have been spoken on both sides.
In college and junior hockey it’s normal to have a week to prepare for the first round of the playoffs. I’ve spent that entire week breaking down every conceivable potential weakness in an opponent only for that weakness to be magically cured 10 minutes into the first period of game one. That’s frustrating.

So while the Oilers and Ducks need to know who they’re playing and what their tendencies are, the bottom line is they need to play to their strengths and execute when the lights shine brightest.

For Edmonton, that starts without the puck. For me, there are only two systems: attacking and defending. Defend as fast as you can in all three zones so you get to the attack, the fun stuff.

Let’s start in the defensive zone.

Edmonton’s D-Zone Retrievals & Breakout

As a coach, it’s tempting to deliver every shred of information imaginable. If it’s in my brain as a potential solution, I should share it with the players, right? I’ll always remember Tom Renney reflecting on training camp 75 years ago when he talked about the players drinking through a firehose. What an incredible line. I’ve tried to keep that in mind in my own coaching career when I find myself getting sick of hearing my own voice.

With that in mind, here are three tight D-zone concepts that cover a lot of........

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