Line Combos: 2012-13: Your lineup for opening night

[Hockeystar3712]

Hahaha yea just took over a team in a keeper league and Malone was on the team and I was able to grab Carle cheap (figure he'll get more time in TB than he did in Philly). That is the bottom end of the team though...

 

[ThunderAlleyNomad]

So we already kind of knew this, but confirmation

PS Syracuse Crunch‏

BriseBois confirms Conacher is sticking with TB. Labrie too

http://twitter.com/PSCrunchHockey

 

[Felonious Python]

Notably none of us listed Labrie in our rosters to this point.

 

[ThunderAlleyNomad]

Notably none of us listed Labrie in our rosters to this point.

Nope. I was surprised. Looks like they want a bit more toughness. Cue the annual grit vs. skilled softie debates

 

[bov]

No need for a debate. It's clear what's more important to us at this point

 

[chasespace]

Has Johnson been sent back down? He's on a 2-way so he wouldn't need to pass through waivers.

 

[ThunderAlleyNomad]

No need for a debate. It's clear what's more important to us at this point

Well that's boring

Happy for Nacho though, liked him a lot last year.

 

[ThunderAlleyNomad]

Has Johnson been sent back down? He's on a 2-way so he wouldn't need to pass through waivers.

Yep. Johnson, Barberio and Gudas were all sent back.

 

[Felonious Python]

Has Johnson been sent back down? He's on a 2-way so he wouldn't need to pass through waivers.

1 or 2-way status has nothing to do with waivers.

but yes, Johnson, Gudas and Barberio got reassigned to Syracuse.
https://twitter.com/PSCrunchHockey/status/291973678265147392

 

[HeavyHammer]

Notably none of us listed Labrie in our rosters to this point.

Yup, I'm glad he stuck though. It's hard not to like Nacho.

He def adds some toughness too. Aulie/Malone/Crombeen/Labrie are all pretty willing combatants.

So, I'm assuming the top 2 forward and defense lines are pretty set in stone. Anyone want to take a crack at what the 3rd D pairing and 3rd/4th forward lines will look like? I'm going with:

Pouliot -- Pyatt -- Tyrell
Labrie -- Thompson -- Crombeen

Aulie -- Lee

To be honest, I'm still a bit concerned about secondary scoring though.

 

[Kristia]

Can it be Saturday already please!!

 

[bov]

I doubt Hall will be the odd man out.

 

[bassassin]

I'm hoping to see the DNA line back. But that would mean putting Labrie/Crombeen on the 3rd line.

Realistically I see:

Pouliot - Pyatt - Tyrell
Labrie/Crombeen - Thompson -Hall

I can see Labrie/Crombeen/Tyrell being the rotating scratches until one forces themselves into the lineup. (If Tyrell is the scratch bump Labrie or Hall to the 3rd line)

But I want to see Tyrell stick and do some damage, I think he could work well on a line with Pouliot and Pyatt, crazy speed.

And for the D pairing

Aulie - Mikkelson

 

[HeavyHammer]

So that's it. I guess it's time to compare this opening day roster to last years.

I know these aren't the lines we used last season (or the lines we will use this season), but I tried to arrange them so they would be easier to compare.

2011/2012 Roster:
Malone -- Stamkos -- St. Louis
Connolly -- Lecavalier -- Purcell
Shannon -- Moore -- Downie
Ritola -- Thompson -- Hall
Jones, Pyatt

Brewer -- Hedman
Clark -- Kubina
Gilroy -- Bergeron
Gervais

Roloson
Garon


2012/2013 Roster:
Malone -- Stamkos -- St. Louis
Conacher -- Lecavalier -- Purcell
Pouliot -- Pyatt -- Tyrell
Labrie -- Thompson -- Crombeen
Hall

Hedman -- Salo
Brewer -- Carle
Aulie -- Lee
Bergeron, Mikkelson,

Lindback
Garon

My thoughts:
1st forward line: Same. Should be just as dangerous as last year. Malone and St.Louis might be a year older, but I doubt that has a huge effect on their play.

2nd forward line: Better. Lecavalier should play about the same as last season. Purcell should be improved over where he was to start last season. Conacher should do better than Connolly did as a rookie.

3rd forward line: Worse. Moore > Pyatt, Downie > Tyrell, but Shannon < Pouliot. The dropoff is much less noticeable if you compare Pouliot to Downie and Tyrell to Shannon, but the difference between Moore and Pyatt is still fairly noticeable. I'm not saying this line will be bad, but it's pretty unknown at this point. It will be important for this line to contribute offensively, something i think it is less capable of (on paper) than last season's 3rd line.

4th forward line: Better. Thompson is still Thompson(which is good), Hall is still Hall(which is also good), but Labrie and Crombeen add a huge amount of grit to this line.


1st defensive pairing:Better. Hedman should be improved over where he was last year, and a healthy Salo is a pretty good Dman (maybe a little better than Brewer defensively, but noticeably better on the offensive side of things).

2nd defensive pairing:Better. Huge improvement here. We lost some physicality with Kubina gone, but both Brewer and Carle are much more mobile than Kubina was. Clark had a bad year that I don't expect Brewer or Carle to replicate, even on their worst nights.

3rd defensive pairing:Better. Lee > Gervais, Mikkelson/Aulie > Gilroy, Bergeron = Bergeron.


#1 goalie: Better. Lindback looks real good, even the biggest pessimist can expect better play than Roloson last year right?

#2 goalie: Same. Garon is Garon. He was playing a little better right before his injury, but I still wouldn't be comfortable with him as a #1 goalie.

I doubt Hall will be the odd man out.

Yeah, he'll probably rotate in and out of the lineup. I just like trying to figure out where the new guys would slot in.

 

[Vasilevskiy]

Clark -- Kubina
Gilroy -- Bergeron
Gervais



I don't know how we didn't end last overall last year

 

[CupsOverCash]

Clark -- Kubina
Gilroy -- Bergeron
Gervais



I don't know how we didn't end last overall last year

Think his first name was Steve and his last name rhymed with Amkos.

 

[AlphaCatalyst]

2012/2013 Roster:
Malone -- Stamkos -- St. Louis
Conacher -- Lecavalier -- Purcell
Pouliot -- Pyatt -- Tyrell
Labrie -- Thompson -- Crombeen
Hall

Hedman -- Salo
Brewer -- Carle
Aulie -- Lee
Bergeron, Mikkelson,

Lindback
Garon

I know what I hate. And... I don't hate this

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

Interesting seeing Tyrell on the 3rd. This is his chance to generate a little more offense than he could playing a 4th line role. Hope they can get something going and help chip in some goals.

 

[Felonious Python]

The Lightning's media guide is out.

http://lightning.nhl.com/v2/ext/Lightning_MG2012-13.pdf

It's interesting to see how they do things, and for this year, Brendan Mikkelsson was thrown in with the rest of them, which is something I'm a little suprised by. The subtext being that he's a minor leaguer. Same with Labrie, but no one was picking him for opening night.

They've also got Schemitsch in with the prospects, which blows my mind.
http://www.boltprospects.com/content/janosik-schemitsch-re-enter-draft

 

[The Wyzerhood]

So that's it. I guess it's time to compare this opening day roster to last years.

I know these aren't the lines we used last season (or the lines we will use this season), but I tried to arrange them so they would be easier to compare.

2011/2012 Roster:
Malone -- Stamkos -- St. Louis
Connolly -- Lecavalier -- Purcell
Shannon -- Moore -- Downie
Ritola -- Thompson -- Hall
Jones, Pyatt

Brewer -- Hedman
Clark -- Kubina
Gilroy -- Bergeron
Gervais

Roloson
Garon


2012/2013 Roster:
Malone -- Stamkos -- St. Louis
Conacher -- Lecavalier -- Purcell
Pouliot -- Pyatt -- Tyrell
Labrie -- Thompson -- Crombeen
Hall

Hedman -- Salo
Brewer -- Carle
Aulie -- Lee
Bergeron, Mikkelson,

Lindback
Garon

My thoughts:
1st forward line: Same. Should be just as dangerous as last year. Malone and St.Louis might be a year older, but I doubt that has a huge effect on their play.

2nd forward line: Better. Lecavalier should play about the same as last season. Purcell should be improved over where he was to start last season. Conacher should do better than Connolly did as a rookie.

3rd forward line: Worse. Moore > Pyatt, Downie > Tyrell, but Shannon < Pouliot. The dropoff is much less noticeable if you compare Pouliot to Downie and Tyrell to Shannon, but the difference between Moore and Pyatt is still fairly noticeable. I'm not saying this line will be bad, but it's pretty unknown at this point. It will be important for this line to contribute offensively, something i think it is less capable of (on paper) than last season's 3rd line.

4th forward line: Better. Thompson is still Thompson(which is good), Hall is still Hall(which is also good), but Labrie and Crombeen add a huge amount of grit to this line.


1st defensive pairing:Better. Hedman should be improved over where he was last year, and a healthy Salo is a pretty good Dman (maybe a little better than Brewer defensively, but noticeably better on the offensive side of things).

2nd defensive pairing:Better. Huge improvement here. We lost some physicality with Kubina gone, but both Brewer and Carle are much more mobile than Kubina was. Clark had a bad year that I don't expect Brewer or Carle to replicate, even on their worst nights.

3rd defensive pairing:Better. Lee > Gervais, Mikkelson/Aulie > Gilroy, Bergeron = Bergeron.


#1 goalie: Better. Lindback looks real good, even the biggest pessimist can expect better play than Roloson last year right?

#2 goalie: Same. Garon is Garon. He was playing a little better right before his injury, but I still wouldn't be comfortable with him as a #1 goalie.



Yeah, he'll probably rotate in and out of the lineup. I just like trying to figure out where the new guys would slot in.

Hi all, how have you all been? Glad to be back after a long delay!

Interesting how you rate our team going into this season compared to last, as I completely agree with everything you say. I also feel the third line will be a weakness and got worse from last year, as it lacks grit and it remains to see if Pouliot can produce with players like Pyatt and Tyrell. One thing's for sure, there'll be a ton of speed on that line.

 

[More 2004]

2nd forward line: Better. Lecavalier should play about the same as last season. Purcell should be improved over where he was to start last season. Conacher should do better than Connolly did as a rookie.

I pretty much agree with all of your assessment. Good job on that. The one thing you didn't really note is Vinny is finely 100% healthy. As noted here: http://www.tampabay.com/sports/hock...lier-says-shoulder-finally-good-after/1222581

His shoulder really hurt his game the past few seasons and now he seems primed to have a huge rebound season in my opinion. The line of Lecavalier, Purcell and Conacher has looked great in camp and I don't expect that to let up one bit. I think our second line will be quite a bit better than last year given Purcell's maturing, Vinny's health and Conacher's willingness to get dirty and play hard every shift.

 

[Felonious Python]

hai guyz, fantasy hockey question. (fantasy hockey is where you pick players to do things for fake but you talk about them like tehy were real. Manti Te'o's gf then lol) j/k i dont want to make fun of t'eo in case he reads this. too much respect from this nd fan.

did kontos make the team? and is wyman going to play with stammer again and get 70 goals this year? I want to know because of my fantasy team in my fantasy league wich plays fantasy hockey. if soemone could just say yes or no bcause i don't want ot read things about yur broke ass team

keep in mind that if you say 'no' to either question ill get angry at you.

 

[TBLbrian]

I agree with everything above esp. the 3rd line stuff. If it can be a puck retrieving, ugly shots on net, speed line, i think it will be awesome. I guess that makes the 4th line the "shut down" line since I dont see Pouliot - Pyatt - Tyrell as that. They seem like more of an energy/spark line.

 

[CupsOverCash]

If these guys can stay relatively healthy and play at a high level consistently, I dont see why they cant make the playoffs. They got the talent and can have the attitude and grit needed to get it done there too. Im too excited to see how its all going to play out.

 

[Evergreen]

What happened to Connolly? I thought he would have a spot for sure on the team.