Line Combos: 2014-15 Lineups - Part II

[The Macho King]

I can't overlook the fact that Cooper destroyed the 90-51-13 line, only to bring it back today. What on earth is going through his head when he thinks "gee, this is a productive unit to keep sending out there"...

My mind was in the place of "I'm okay if we lose in the first round, depending on HOW we lose". We're losing because our coach isn't good, our Captain isn't good, and our goaltending isn't stepping up.

That worries me going forward.

 

[Kramerica Industries]

It definitely worries me too, as I've said elsewhere here and on Twitter. I really couldn't believe that everything that had been absolved in Game 4 was back with a fury in Game 5.

Morrow - check
No Drouin - check
90-51-13 - check

And, even worse, Nesterov scratched as well for g-d knows what reason. Coop has scared the hell out of me as a playoff coach in this series and, look, if one wants to argue that he's getting his clock cleaned by a highly experienced playoff coach in Babcock, then go ahead and make that argument, but then try to explain just how one of the league's most criticized head coaches did the exact same thing last year, too. I mean, Therrien is a punching bag, right? Would never know it from last year's playoff series.

This isn't to say Cooper can't get better with more experience. It's to say that, right now, he's not fielding his best 18 healthy skaters in a way where all 18 of them are in position to succeed, and he's doing this on a night-in/night-out basis when the microscope is on him. He's showing a shocking degree of stubbornness about it, and, even worse, can't seem to adapt the game plan at all for what Detroit is taking away. The neutral zone is being bossed by Detroit right now and this hasn't changed for three entire games now. I'm at a loss for words to explain all this.

 

[Todd1a]

My mind was in the place of "I'm okay if we lose in the first round, depending on HOW we lose". We're losing because our coach isn't good, our Captain isn't good, and our goaltending isn't stepping up.

That worries me going forward.

Glad you see it I thought I was alone

 

[DFC]

I can't overlook the fact that Cooper destroyed the 90-51-13 line, only to bring it back today. What on earth is going through his head when he thinks "gee, this is a productive unit to keep sending out there"...

I...

...



for **** sake Coop.

 

[Todd1a]

My mind was in the place of "I'm okay if we lose in the first round, depending on HOW we lose". We're losing because our coach isn't good, our Captain isn't good, and our goaltending isn't stepping up.

That worries me going forward.

The last 3 games have been a joke for us! Cooper sucks

 

[DFC]

My mind was in the place of "I'm okay if we lose in the first round, depending on HOW we lose". We're losing because our coach isn't good, our Captain isn't good, and our goaltending isn't stepping up.

That worries me going forward.

And the two most worrying were the things we didn't see coming at the beginning of the year--Stamkos and Cooper.

Bishop has been passable, not great, but definitely good enough that we could have won any of these games if our offense could have broken through. Which is hard to do when two of your lines are ice cold and the coach won't juggle them. And your elite top 3 center on pace to be one of the greatest goal-scorers of all time looks like he has issues with depth perception.

 

[FinnLightning26]

I...

...



for **** sake Coop.

It was a great thing we scratched Nesterov so we could bring in Morrow and/or Namestnikov. I mean, they've been so incredibly essential to our success. Not like Nesterov, he was only leading the team in points and playing really well before game 4. Namestnikov has almost been visible this series and Morrow has been pretty useless, I'm sorry, great the whole year but yeah, lets put those guys in for a crucial game five. They surely will suddenly play better. I think we're going to win the game five with that lineup.

 

[Kramerica Industries]

I know I belabor this point - I just can't comprehend, and couldn't before Game 1 (like many of us), what makes Namestnikov more playoff-ready than Drouin; even worse, what kind of benefits Names had to offer over Drouin that made it worthwhile to take an already-unbalanced forward unit (five natural C's already) and make it even more unbalanced at the expense of an actual, live natural winger. And now, it seems like 90-51-13 is gonna be a trio of numbers that we'll let haunt us for the next several months to come because, hey, lets throw a three-C unit together at the very end of the season, and use the playoffs to see how that goes.

It's absolutely brutal. Virtually any hockey novice could hear the idea of a three-C line and realize that it's not gonna be a good idea because, ****, players familiar with playing down the middle of the ice and being the first into the attack zone aren't gonna be familiar with coming down one side of the ice and having to wait to make sure they don't set the play off-side. This is elementary stuff I'm explaining here. Just what the **** is it, Coop?

 

[Todd1a]

And the two most worrying were the things we didn't see coming at the beginning of the year--Stamkos and Cooper.

Bishop has been passable, not great, but definitely good enough that we could have won any of these games if our offense could have broken through. Which is hard to do when two of your lines are ice cold and the coach won't juggle them. And your elite top 3 center on pace to be one of the greatest goal-scorers of all time looks like he has issues with depth perception.

Cooper can't adjust to the redwings box outs! We get nothing but outside shots!

 

[CarpeNoctem]

Cooper can't adjust to the redwings box outs! We get nothing but outside shots!

It is his fault, in part. Good players make natural adjustments without the coaching staff telling them about every, single instance. We've needed to attack with speed and use short passes through the neutral zone to spread them out. None of the players are figuring it out either.

 

[Cigar City]

I wouldn't mind seeing Stammer moved to the wing. Couldn't be worse than it is now, right?

18-9-86
24-51-17
91-11-27

 

[Sky04]

Looks at the adjustments Babcock has made after game 1, even in game 2 they played significantly better than they did in game 1, then games 3,4,5 have been ALL Detroit.

 

[LightningStrikes]

We all laughed but the Babcock Effect is real.

 

[zeykshade]

We all laughed but the Babcock Effect is real.

Channeling 1995 Devils Hockey only works if you know that the other team's PP is worthless and you think the refs will let it go for the most part.

Kudos. Teams will continue to check this team silly close until they fear the PP. It's why we did well against everyone in 2011. They couldn't risk taking penalties so the time and space was greater.

I remember talking about this around the same time folks were saying that the PP isn't needed in the playoffs. The PP isn't needed in the playoffs if your team can dominate at 5s through Devils Checking from two decades ago. Ours can't. It was not built for that style of game since it hasn't been legal since 2004. Can't really blame Yzerman for that, but you can blame him and Cooper for the PP. Personnel and scheme are both wrong.

 

[HowSweeeedeItIs]

It seems like having only one dangerous line isn't going to cut it in this series since Detroit seems to be able to pretty easily neutralize the TKO line for most parts of the game. Maybe it's time to split the TKO line up? What about something like

27-91-18
86-9-90
17-51-24
23-11-13

and then replace Sustr with Nesterov. I always liked Stamkos with Palat and Namestnikov worked well with Kucherov when Palat was out. I guess the main worry is that the second line will be way to soft.

 

[redwingfan19]

It seems like having only one dangerous line isn't going to cut it in this series since Detroit seems to be able to pretty easily neutralize the TKO line for most parts of the game. Maybe it's time to split the TKO line up? What about something like

27-91-18
86-9-90
17-51-24
23-11-13

and then replace Sustr with Nesterov. I always liked Stamkos with Palat and Namestnikov worked well with Kucherov when Palat was out. I guess the main worry is that the second line will be way to soft.

Worth a shot, you need stamkos to do something to win 2 in a row. Tampa had got to try to get him going.

 

[DFC]

Considering Kuch's struggles, I wouldn't mind replacing him on TKO for this game. Not sure who I'd put there. Cally? I prefer TKO/KFC/91+27, but really, anything that gives us multiple threats would be an improvement. If Coop ices the same 1/2 dead lineup as last game, I'll lose a lot of faith.

Maybe:

18-9-24
17-51-13
27-91-86

 

[Kramerica Industries]

I see three options for Game 7, from a line POV:

1) Keep tonight's ensemble
2) Go 12-6, dress Drouin, scratch _____
3) Stay 11-7, swap Names for Drouin

It's either 1 or 3. In a situation like tonight, I fully agree with how Coop managed the lines. I like the 11-7 at this point, and the line pairings it creates, so I wouldn't mind sticking with that one.

 

[DFC]

I don't think I want to insert Drouin into a Game 7 cold. If we're lucky enough to win, I'll get on Coop again.

 

[CarpeNoctem]

I don't think I want to insert Drouin into a Game 7 cold. If we're lucky enough to win, I'll get on Coop again.

Yeh, because Pac was good and Names played so little. Who would we scratch?

 

[2020 Cup Champions]

I don't think I want to insert Drouin into a Game 7 cold. If we're lucky enough to win, I'll get on Coop again.

I've been thinking we won't even see him unless we're up a couple games in a series.

 

[Rschmitz]

Cooper said he likes doing 7 D on the road because the other team has last change. I'm assuming we will see the same lineup from game 5

I don't think we'll see Drouin

 

[LightningStrikes]

I like the idea of having Nesty as #7 and our (not so) secret weapon on the PP. The occasional double-shift for Killer, Palat or Boyle didn't seem to slow them down in any way.

I say go with the winning team.

 

[Kramerica Industries]

Cooper said he likes doing 7 D on the road because the other team has last change. I'm assuming we will see the same lineup from game 5

I don't think we'll see Drouin

...because that one worked out so well, huh. Would hope Coop doesn't act that hard-headed.

 

[The Gongshow]

They should go with what they has for game 6, have them mixing up lines again. It actually worked out really well, Babcock didn't know who to match Zetterberg or Dats up against, Coop made it so Zetterberg wasn't near the TKO line. Some of those mixed lines made some great scoring chances, goals, and or chemistry. They have last change now so maybe Coop will stick with normal lines, idk. Game 6 was the only time Coop actually coached really well this series. Here's hoping he can do it again and lead us to victory!