M(aurice). O(ffense).

I suspect someone in the MSM read James Mirtle's post questioning how the Maple Leafs are going to score goals this year without Allison and Lindros, as the very next day Steve Milton of the Hamilton Spectator gets the new head coach to articulate his basic game plan.

The offence is based on how fast you practice...That's where offensive concepts come from. You learn how to play with each other. You practice at high speed, and what you've done is create anticipation of where the puck is going to be and how it's going to get there. That anticipation creates the half-step you need. It used to be that a half-step didn't mean anything...But now, you get five or six inches and that's enough to get away.

break

It'll be a two-man forecheck with room in it that if you had to pull it back, you can. But the whole concept of forechecking is changing, because we're not dumping the puck in any more, except for line changes. Our basic offensive theory is 'Where will we put the puck when we can't do anything more with it?' And some of that is dictated by the skill level of the individuals.

Milton also speculates that due to the high skill level of the Leafs blue line (additions Kubina, Carlo and/or White) much of the offense will originate with the puck mover, which is ideal for the new-NHL (and really, the old NHL too, but it was less prevalent due to the emphasis on defense).

"...Bringing centres back into their own zone would increase the options for the defencemen. And a puck handler with options is a dangerous weapon."

With that approach in mind, perhaps we'll see McCabe(R) and Kaberle(L) as the first pair, Kubina(R) and Carlo(L) as the second, and White(R) and Gill(L) as the third.

Sounds like a decent strategy; play to your strengths. Just keep those odd-man rushes off of turn-overs to a minimum, Paul.