GDT: Game 6: Ducks vs. Wild 2/1/13 7:00 PM

[The Midnight Burrito]

No one's mentioned that Fasth is starting. So. . . Fasth is starting.

 

[Kalv]

Our 2nd line and 3d pair if Vatanen is on, scares me

 

[OCSportsfan]

They either want one more day with Rakell and hell play tomorrow night, or they are planning on doing something with him.

Maybe sending down.....trade.

As usual I am probably reading too much into this.

Oh, and Lydman should be in rather than Souray.

 

[Exit Dose]

Ryan at center? That's...peculiar. Maybe it's the right thing given how difficult that combo has been to spark, but still...you'd think they'd choose the winger with the better faceoff percentage.

 

[DigitalSea]

We should have kept rakell.

 

[Exit Dose]

We should have kept rakell.

I don't think they've sent him down.

 

[12ozPapa]

The Ryan at center experiment shows itself once more.

It worked so well the first time around too!

I swear, with all this line changing and stuff you'd think Bruce stole Carlyle's notes before he left.

 

[Mr Rogers]

Didn't they have Ryan centre Selanne at the beginning of the 2010-11 season? Those two don't work particularly well on opposite wings and iirc, when Ryan was in the middle it was even worse.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

Gee. Maybe line juggling really isn't the hallmark of a poor coach.

 

[UnknownAvenger]

I thought Ryan last season worked well with Palmieri. Not sure why they don't put them together again.

 

[paine]

Relax.

I don't mind trying Ryan at center, I never thought he was bad in his first stint. But I'd preferred to give Rakell a shot first.

Vatanen needs a look so Lydman sits, no big deal. If Vatanen performs well for more than one game, Lydman will be the one on the trading block.

Edit: I'd also play 7 D, and scratch DSP.

I'm actually excited for tonight's lineup, I can't wait to see how Vatanen looks, and I still think Ryan has huge potential at center.

Anyone else feel the same?

 

[Ducksgo*]

Here are the lines the OCR put up, but nothing here is a given.

Matt Beleskey-Ryan Getzlaf-Corey Perry
Kyle Palmieri-Bobby Ryan-Teemu Selanne
Andrew Cogliano-Saku Koivu-Daniel Winnik
Emerson Etem-Nick Bonino-Devante Smith-Pelly
Bryan Allen-Cam Fowler
Sheldon Souray-Francois Beauchemin
Luca Sbisa-Sami Vatanen

http://ducks.ocregister.com/2013/02/01/line-rushes-ducks-vs-wild-2/114807/

So stoked we get to see Etem and Vatanen play tonight. And DSP? Seems pretty potent. Go ducks!

 

[gradeAducksfan]

One thing is for sure.......... BB Wants more scoring!

Ducks need to get there PP going and this is the line up to do it.

 

[gradeAducksfan]

The Ryan at center experiment shows itself once more.

It worked so well the first time around too!

I swear, with all this line changing and stuff you'd think Bruce stole Carlyle's notes before he left.

A couple of games is not going to hurt anything. We need to try different things for that line. It's not working how it is right now.

 

[12ozPapa]

Relax.

I don't mind trying Ryan at center, I never thought he was bad in his first stint. But I'd preferred to give Rakell a shot first.

Vatanen needs a look so Lydman sits, no big deal. If Vatanen performs well for more than one game, Lydman will be the one on the trading block.

I'm actually excited for tonight's lineup, I can't wait to see how Vatanen looks, and I still think Ryan has huge potential at center.

Anyone else feel the same?

A couple of games is not going to hurt anything. We need to try different things for that line. It's not working how it is right now.

I'm fine with sitting Lydman for Vatanen to give the kid a shot. I don't think Lydman should be sat but I understand it. I also find it amusing how I posted on the Trade board about Lydman's value and was torn apart by Ducks fans saying I'm crazy. He is our most tradeable d-man.

As far as Ryan at center, it didn't work before, it probably won't work now. He was terrible at face-offs and floated to his natural wing position every shift. Now, I am willing to give it another shot BUT I feel Rakell should have had one shot at that spot first. I feel he earned that. To reward his good play by benching him is odd. Also, DSP better show me something. He needs to take this game as his one chance to prove he can stay. If not, send him down.

 

[Exit Dose]

It does buy Rakell a little more practice time with the 2nd line if that's where they're looking for him to finish his tryout. Giving Ryan a shot there before relying on one of the kids might be the best move. It's not like we're 0-5, why not tinker? It's not like the 2nd line has been much of a factor for us lately.

 

[paine]

I'm fine with sitting Lydman for Vatanen to give the kid a shot. I don't think Lydman should be sat but I understand it. I also find it amusing how I posted on the Trade board about Lydman's value and was torn apart by Ducks fans saying I'm crazy. He is our most tradeable d-man.

As far as Ryan at center, it didn't work before, it probably won't work now. He was terrible at face-offs and floated to his natural wing position every shift. Now, I am willing to give it another shot BUT I feel Rakell should have had one shot at that spot first. I feel he earned that. To reward his good play by benching him is odd. Also, DSP better show me something. He needs to take this game as his one chance to prove he can stay. If not, send him down.

Sounds like you and I are on the same page.

 

[gradeAducksfan]

I'm fine with sitting Lydman for Vatanen to give the kid a shot. I don't think Lydman should be sat but I understand it. I also find it amusing how I posted on the Trade board about Lydman's value and was torn apart by Ducks fans saying I'm crazy. He is our most tradeable d-man.

As far as Ryan at center, it didn't work before, it probably won't work now. He was terrible at face-offs and floated to his natural wing position every shift. Now, I am willing to give it another shot BUT I feel Rakell should have had one shot at that spot first. I feel he earned that. To reward his good play by benching him is odd. Also, DSP better show me something. He needs to take this game as his one chance to prove he can stay. If not, send him down.

Agreed! It's only game 6 tonight and everyone (but the 3rd line) is still missing there chances. DSP has been one of the worst Ducks out on the ice. I had high hopes for him this season, but again. It's only the sixth game. It just doesn't seem like our 2nd line is doing much out there. It's making our D look bad.

Has Allen looked bad this year? I know I've seen him get bured on a couple of plays but that's what you are going to get from him. Huge Dmen like that always are a spet behind. Great at other things!

 

[Ducks DVM]

Rakell hasn't showed much of anything to say he should be the 2C. He's playing less effectively than Bonino against lower level competition. He's doing great for his age but pretty much every other team expecting to be in the playoffs he's already back in juniors.

I typically hate a 7D system but this might be a good route to go - sit DSP, dress Lydman just in case, If Vatanen is getting exposed move him to 4th line wing.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

Rakell hasn't showed much of anything to say he should be the 2C. He's playing less effectively than Bonino against lower level competition. He's doing great for his age but pretty much every other team expecting to be in the playoffs he's already back in juniors.

I typically hate a 7D system but this might be a good route to go - sit DSP, dress Lydman just in case, If Vatanen is getting exposed move him to 4th line wing.

The Finnish ****storm on these boards following a Vatanen move to wing would be amazing.

edit - Can that please be Vatanen's nickname? The Finnish ****storm?

 

[paine]

It does buy Rakell a little more practice time with the 2nd line if that's where they're looking for him to finish his tryout. Giving Ryan a shot there before relying on one of the kids might be the best move. It's not like we're 0-5, why not tinker? It's not like the 2nd line has been much of a factor for us lately.

This is one of two scenarios that make sense -- give Rakell more time before the Ducks have to make a decision. One more day with the team, one game at #2 center to make a final impression. Or scenario 2) the Ducks have a trade in the works for a #2 center.

I'll be pretty upset if neither scenario ends up reality.

 

[c4rcy]

Surprised Lydman is sitting. As mentioned he's been our 2nd or 3rd best defensemen so far. Maybe a lingering injury that may not be worth noting? Either way excited for Vatanen and Etem to make their home debuts. Not terribly excited about Bobby playing center, but as said before him and KP worked well together in the past. The boys should be fired up after San Jose's game. The team has been playing well enough to win.

 

[Selanne138]

Souray and Vatanen would be a sick combo. Just sayin

A sick combo until they cross center ice. Where they are likely around -4.

Im gonna be upset if Lydman sits tonight though, hes been so solid this season.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Quick points since I'm coming in late.

When you post Bald Cpt the image of Star Trek: TNG's Picard runs through my head. heh

Sitting Lydman down for Vatanen, in a way makes sense. You're removing a defensive defenseman for an offensive one. But it really doesn't make sense when Lydman is your best defensive defenseman. I would have thought Allen would sit because Lydman's solidified whoever he's with this year.

Rakell not playing shows indecisiveness in the org. You mean to say they haven't made up their minds on him yet? If the premise is to give Rakell more time to gel with the second line, then why isn't he getting it during the game? And if the org doesn't feel like they have enough time to view Rakell, then the org is disorganized. Putting Ryan at center makes no sense considering you had Holland available and could have sent down DSP instead.

There doesn't seem any rhyme or reason to a lot of these moves aside from pushing the young guys. And if that's the case, then Lydman is trade bait and we're expecting an exodus of veteran forwards from our team.

 

[PhoenyX]

Yeah, I've been a little puzzled by some of the moves thus far, but it's early in the season and Boudreau did say that he wanted the young guys (Rakell, Etem, DSP, Holland, Palmieri, Vatanen, and I guess Bonino) to push each other since there are only a few available spots. There has also been a lot of line juggling going on and because it's a shortened season, finding chemistry quickly is important. I'd personally like to see Holland get a chance to centre the 2nd line sooner rather than later since Bonino hasn't done much.