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GDT: 4/7/16 - 7:00PM EDT - Tampa Bay @ New Jersey

Leonardo87

Leonardo87

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TheDaysOf 04 said:
Yeah with Drouin back, this was to be expected. I'm sure people would rather have both play to bolster the offense to compensate for the loss of Stammer, but the Bolts want to tighten up their game and it comes down to roles. Coop has been trying to make the 3rd line into a shutdown trio, and I guess have the 4th be grinders. So it makes less sense to play him now if he's not in the top 6 or with other skilled players. A guy like Bluden, as limited as his skillset is, can fill that role and play within his game.
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That's the thing, JAM is not good on defense, so he cannot be put on the 3rd line for a shutdown role. Cooper is going like you said with all true "4th line grinders" on that line now. To be honest, I don't see anything special with him in the top 6 , and obviously Cooper does not see it either. But with Drouin back, it is a no brainier you go with Drouin over JAM, to have them both in the top 6 would be a defensive nightmare, and with no Stralman or Hedman, makes matters even worse.
 
DFC

DFC

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Dolphins2Bolts said:
Maybe go with this when everyone gets back...

Drouin - Johnson - Kucherov
Palat - Flip/Vladdy - Callahan
Killorn - Vladdy/Flip - Brown
Paquette - Boyle - JAM/Condra





Meh not too upset. JAM has been ok, not great.
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Being "ok" puts him above 90% of his teammates.
 
Leonardo87

Leonardo87

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DFC said:
Being "ok" puts him above 90% of his teammates.
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This team is a mess right now. Outside of Kucherov, who is still below his potential but still having an excellent season, and Bishop who is having a career season. Outside of them no one has been consistent enough or really stepped up when key guys have been injured. Last game, they blew that 2-0 lead, and it was a joke. No one stepped up, and at this point Cooper is just looking for us to be more solid on defense and not blowing those leads since we are down both our top D. They added Drouin to bring more offense, but to have both Drouin and JAM in the top 6 is a defense liability waiting to happen. Cooper wants his 4th line grinder line, and his 3rd line shutdown line. Do I agree with some of his decisions, not really, but with Drouin back, it means JAM is the odd man out, since there is no room for him on the Bottom 6.
 
FinnLightning26

FinnLightning26

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Yeah, not surprised to see JAM being the odd man out. He's had a good season but he's nothing special. It seems Cooper goes with the conventional lineup of two scoring lines, a checking line and an energy/grinding line. JAM really doesn't fit in the bottom 6 in that case so it's top 6 or bust.
 
TheDaysOf 04

TheDaysOf 04

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Dolphins2Bolts said:
This team is a mess right now. Outside of Kucherov, who is still below his potential but still having an excellent season, and Bishop who is having a career season. Outside of them no one has been consistent enough or really stepped up when key guys have been injured. Last game, they blew that 2-0 lead, and it was a joke. No one stepped up, and at this point Cooper is just looking for us to be more solid on defense and not blowing those leads since we are down both our top D. They added Drouin to bring more offense, but to have both Drouin and JAM in the top 6 is a defense liability waiting to happen. Cooper wants his 4th line grinder line, and his 3rd line shutdown line. Do I agree with some of his decisions, not really, but with Drouin back, it means JAM is the odd man out, since there is no room for him on the Bottom 6.
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Agreed. At one time the strength of this team was rolling 4 lines that could all contribute offensively. But like you said, with guys struggling, key players injuried, and not really knowing what we'll get with Drouin, we're not that team any more. It's too bad, because that team could overwhelm opponents, were a nightmare to try to match lines with, and was very very exciting to watch. But this is what we have to deal with, so you have to make adjustments. Whatever equals wins. You can bet if we face Detroit, it's going to be a grind-it-out type series like it was last year.
 
DFC

DFC

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Dolphins2Bolts said:
This team is a mess right now. Outside of Kucherov, who is still below his potential but still having an excellent season, and Bishop who is having a career season. Outside of them no one has been consistent enough or really stepped up when key guys have been injured. Last game, they blew that 2-0 lead, and it was a joke. No one stepped up, and at this point Cooper is just looking for us to be more solid on defense and not blowing those leads since we are down both our top D. They added Drouin to bring more offense, but to have both Drouin and JAM in the top 6 is a defense liability waiting to happen. Cooper wants his 4th line grinder line, and his 3rd line shutdown line. Do I agree with some of his decisions, not really, but with Drouin back, it means JAM is the odd man out, since there is no room for him on the Bottom 6.
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That's just not true. As BP said recently, Drouin being a defensive liability is way overstated. He's at least average defensively. And JAM is the only player not named Kucherov who's looked dangerous with 18 and 9.

Our top-six should be so obvious right now, but Coop gon' Coop. We need two lines that can score. Instead, we're likely to see some weird combo of three playmakers, or two playmakers and a grinder.
 
Leonardo87

Leonardo87

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DFC said:
That's just not true. As BP said recently, Drouin being a defensive liability is way overstated. He's at least average defensively. And JAM is the only player not named Kucherov who's looked dangerous with 18 and 9.

Our top-six should be so obvious right now, but Coop gon' Coop. We need two lines that can score. Instead, we're likely to see some weird combo of three playmakers, or two playmakers and a grinder.
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Our top six will never be set under Cooper.
 
These Are The Days

These Are The Days

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Dolphins2Bolts said:
Our top six will never be set under Cooper.
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Not for now anyway. A few moves here or there and a very obvious top 6 becomes apparent with or without the loss of Steven Stamkos. We'll know after July 1st of what we can expect our team to look like. We're gonna have to blow it up if he sticks around for cap purposes and we're SURE AS HELL gonna have to blow it up to find a way to account for that much lost production. Promoting from within in a constantly struggling lineup would be one of the worst things Yzerman could do.
 
Leonardo87

Leonardo87

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AlwaysSunnyInTampa said:
Not for now anyway. A few moves here or there and a very obvious top 6 becomes apparent with or without the loss of Steven Stamkos. We'll know after July 1st of what we can expect our team to look like. We're gonna have to blow it up if he sticks around for cap purposes and we're SURE AS HELL gonna have to blow it up to find a way to account for that much lost production. Promoting from within in a constantly struggling lineup would be one of the worst things Yzerman could do.
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Going to be a long summer.
 
Volodya Krutov

Volodya Krutov

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Nesterov-Carle might be together the worst pairing in the league, defensively speaking. Coop needs to separate them asap.
 
Coopers Gum

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DFC said:
That's just not true. As BP said recently, Drouin being a defensive liability is way overstated. He's at least average defensively. And JAM is the only player not named Kucherov who's looked dangerous with 18 and 9.

Our top-six should be so obvious right now, but Coop gon' Coop. We need two lines that can score. Instead, we're likely to see some weird combo of three playmakers, or two playmakers and a grinder.
Click to expand...

I've said this from day 1. So overblown, it's not even funny. Is he a mess? No. Is he stellar? No. He's no more a liability than Kucherov. Maybe a fraction more so.
 
Outl4w

Outl4w

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This it fellas. Time for the young guns to step up and take the reign. Win and you are in it comes down to that. As we used to say on the hockey bench before the start of every game in high school" HERREE WEEE GOOOO" Lets go Lightning! Do it for the fans and yourselves. Put some pride behind that logo.
 
Brie

Brie

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I have had a very good sport night with my Swedish football team (sorry soccer team) won their first home game of the season with a 5-0 result so I'd be very happy if Tampa could keep building on that to make the night even better.
 
TheDaysOf 04

TheDaysOf 04

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I'm watching the MSG pregame and Steve Valiquette pointed out the Bolts are 35-3-3 when we score 3 or more goals. Well that's pretty darn good. :amazed:
 
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