Dein erstes Forum » effectiveness, he says, is

LONG ISLAND, NY – Like his head coach, Roman Polak didnt want say too much about the early success of Torontos penalty kill, fearful that the hockey gods might strike quickly. Basically, [if] youre always talking about it, all of sudden it just goes [to] [expletive], said Polak with a hearty laugh. Things are going well. I want to keep it this way. Polak is one of the many new members of the Maple Leafs revamped penalty killing unit, which is off to an encouraging start this fall, following another disastrous campaign a year ago. Last year in fact marked the sixth time in seven seasons that Torontos penalty kill finished 28th or lower – the lockout-shortened 2013 being the only exception – just a stunning run of ineffectiveness thats contributed to many springs without the postseason in these parts. YEAR RANK 2013-14 28th 2013 2nd 2011-12 28th 2010-11 28th 2009-10 30th 2008-09 30th 2007-08 29th Personnel has changed considerably from the group that killed penalties last year. Only three of the eight Leafs who broke 100 minutes shorthanded last season still remain with the team today, Jay McClement being the most prominently absent of that group. Gone are mainstays like McClement, Carl Gunnarsson, Nik Kulemin and the assistant coach leading the unit previously – Greg Cronin – replaced by the likes of Polak, Daniel Winnik, Leo Komarov, Stephane Robidas and Peter Horachek – all of whom boast a history of some regard in such duty. PLAYER SHORT-HANDED ICE TIME Jay McClement * 277:22 Carl Gunnarsson * 235:05 Dion Phaneuf 226:22 Nikolai Kulemin * 181:29 Cody Franson 129:39 James van Riemsdyk 116:37 Mason Raymond * 111:48 Paul Ranger * 101:03 * No longer with the team Drafted and developed in St. Louis, Polak was a regular member of the Blues penalty kill, consistently amongst the leagues best, including a second-ranked finish last season. The key to effectiveness, he says, is how well the finer points are executed. The Blues, who suppressed shots almost better than anyone, placed high value on stick positioning, body positioning and holding teams to the perimeter as effectively as possible. Just the little things, you know, said Polak. Then theres the willingness to fill up shooting lanes, an obvious example coming in the Leafs most recent 1-0 overtime loss to Detroit. Gustav Nyquist had an open cage to shoot at on the Wings fifth and final power-play and though he didnt end up blocking it, Polak cut off the angle and forced Nyquist to shoot wide. I thought our PK was a big part of our game, said Jonathan Bernier, who stopped 31 shots in defeat that night. So far, the Leafs have killed off all but three of 22 power-plays, perfect in every game but one. There wasnt a whole lot of that effectiveness last year. The Leafs, instead, forced their goaltenders into incredible action on power-play after power-play. Only three teams gave up more shots per 60 minutes in four-on-five situations than did Toronto. That meant that only brilliance from the tandem of Bernier and James Reimer would suffice most nights. Even a league-average unit would have saved the team 10 goals, potentially the difference in a win or two and perhaps a playoff berth. One of two new coaches on the Leafs coaching staff, Horachek is directing the revamped unit this season. Unwilling to provide much in the way of details, players nonetheless conceded to some structural changes under his direction. The teams captain insisted though that system was only part of the formula. When youre out killing penalties its not only structure its outworking the guy that youre up against and their five-man unit, Dion Phaneuf said with the Leafs heading to Long Island for a Tuesday matchup with the Islanders. The bottom line is its not just system, it takes hard work, it takes sacrifice by blocking shots and weve done that so far. Key to the early success has been the forward combination of Winnik and Komarov. Winnik, whom Komarov calls the boss in this PK, has yet to be on the ice for a power-play goal against, his size (6-foot-2, 210 pounds), skating ability and smarts proving quite effective - particularly up ice and in shooting lanes. The Leafs are disrupting power-plays as a result, leading to less time in-zone, fewer shots for the goaltenders (about 14 less per 60 minutes) and thus fewer opportunities. Its still far too early – just six games – to gauge whether the early success will translate into a full season of effectiveness, but the results thus far have been positive. That being said, things can change quickly, which explains Polaks reluctance to talk about it and a similar tone from head coach, Randy Carlyle. Toronto started 17-18 in the opening five games last year (with worrisome underlying trends) before devolving into another mess. 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