LSCII
Cup driven
The article specifically mentioned that the CK-CS-LE line was wearing the white jerseys as the defacto first line.
Line Combos: So...What Are The Lines Gonna Be?
- Thread starter corpfan1
- Start date
The article specifically mentioned that the CK-CS-LE line was wearing the white jerseys as the defacto first line.
LSCII
Cup driven
Ugh. It's even worse than I thought it was going to be in the off season. Shows how little actual dept this team has right now, especially skilled depth. Painfully thin. Scary.
RussellmaniaKW
Registered User
- Sep 15, 2004
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so does that make Milan Lucic a 3rd liner? I wouldn't read too much into the practice lines. They're shuffling guys around to work around the Krejci injury, but ice time will determine the real first line and I'll eat my hat if it's not Bergy and co.
Considering Krejci's history with the Flyers sitting him out might not be such a bad idea.
Bmessy
Registered User
Question to all of us:
Why do we conistently keep Lucic on our first line?
Every post, including mine has him a LW1.
He often has streaks of brutal play. He often has terrible defensive play.
But we all get all crazy about his hitting. I know he can be a force when he puts it all together.
But maybe putting him on a different will get him to realize that he isn't a skilled forward and that his game really comes through when he's mucking and grinding in the corners, winning those battles. It could help him be more consistent.
I know he puts up 30-30 almost every year. I guess I should pick my battles
I just remember several situations in last playoffs with Lucic trying to finesse the puck to the offesnive zone. It was so easy for the Habs to stop him. It was awful. Just dump the puck in and play to your strengths ya damn ogre.
I should say, I'm not trying to bury him on the 3rd line, but just want to mix it up.
Why do we conistently keep Lucic on our first line?
Every post, including mine has him a LW1.
He often has streaks of brutal play. He often has terrible defensive play.
But we all get all crazy about his hitting. I know he can be a force when he puts it all together.
But maybe putting him on a different will get him to realize that he isn't a skilled forward and that his game really comes through when he's mucking and grinding in the corners, winning those battles. It could help him be more consistent.
I know he puts up 30-30 almost every year. I guess I should pick my battles
I just remember several situations in last playoffs with Lucic trying to finesse the puck to the offesnive zone. It was so easy for the Habs to stop him. It was awful. Just dump the puck in and play to your strengths ya damn ogre.
I should say, I'm not trying to bury him on the 3rd line, but just want to mix it up.
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Trap Jesus
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- Feb 13, 2012
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C'mon, surely we're past this now, right? He's a lock for 25-30 goals and 60 points every year, is awesome along the boards in the cycle game (not sure why you are bringing up winning battles, he's awesome at that), and has great chemistry with Krejci. You just have to take the slumps as they come as he'd be a waste on the third line. And luckily as long as we have Bergeron, we can shelter him from playing on the defensive side of the puck as much as possible.
Bmessy
Registered User
I'm saying he seems to try to focus on being finesse, make fancy passes, etc. when he's on the first line. He gets some mental thing where he wants to be a great finesse player. He isn't and he's better when he realizes what his strengths are.
We hear him say it every year. "I need to simplify my game". Well why not simply it from the start and mash away
I think he has the problem most physical grinders have. It's extremely difficult to play that way shift in and shift out game after game due to fatigue,both mental and physical,and wear and tear. He's capable of being a real force but to sustain it is a different story.
Trap Jesus
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- Feb 13, 2012
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I can agree with bad passes; he tries to force it through way too much. I would never call him a finesse guy, but he can definitely be frustrating to watch at times. All I'm saying is that we know what we're getting with him, and it's pretty damn good overall. No use putting him on the third line when he's one of our more reliable players on a year-to-year basis.
Why not mention 59 points as well?
I actually asked Haggs this once, I think it was like Kelly-Seguin-Paille wearing white with Bergeron-Marchand- someone else wearing black or whatever color. Asked if that would actually make the Bergeron line the first one and he condecendingly answered with "The white jerseys are the first line so no....."
Come on, you're a smart guy. You're a much better poster and much above this stuff.
Ten Thousand Hours
Registered User
How much do you want to bet the Bergy line sees more time on ice tomorrow if those are the lines? Who cares about the jersey colors?
No kidding, that guy tries so hard to be miserable about this team. Marchand-Bergeron-Smith drew the toughest match ups last year despite being considered the 2nd line by many and will do the same this year. If Krejci can't play you're not gonna see Chris Kelly on the ice more than Patrice Bergeron.
If you go by TOI, Marchand-Bergeron-Smith were considered 2nd line by Stone Clode as well...
Sorry my point was, does it really matter what line is labelled what? The personnel is the personnel. Particularly when Krejci is out of the lineup. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Soderberg's line see more ice time with Spooner taking Krejci's spot. Especially if Fraser is playing the other side. It's the same as the "Loui needs to be on the 1st line or he's a failure" argument. I couldn't care less where he played if he produces. A goal from the "3rd" line counts just the same as one from the "1st". And regardless of jersey colour, and with or without Krejci in the lineup, Bergy's line is still the best line on this team.
In practice I would definitely say not...however, some players need to play to the role they are here for. For example, if Lucic didn't play well for a stretch, and got sent to the 4th line like he has in the past...it's clear what that means. Get playing better so we can put you back in the role you should be playing from.
Especially now that it seems at least last year, Claude has ventured away from his "roll 4 lines" approach and gone with a more 1st-2nd-3rd-4th tactic.
In your Loui example, it would be disappointing, because that means his play isn't producing enough to warrant being out there 19 minutes a night with Krejci, and therefore, isn't as dangerous you know what I mean?
Bergeron and Marchand killed penalties and got the toughest match ups even strength. Krejci's line played about a minute more per night, more on the powerplay and a lot less on the penalty kill (PP is a little less tiring than PK). You could call either the first line and be right. Regardless I'm not worrying about Chris Kelly's white jersey. You take a guy like Krejci away from any team they're gonna look a lot worse, hopefully he's not out long.
Ten Thousand Hours
Registered User
When Krejci's healthy though. The Kelly line is not the 1st no matter what jersey color they wore.
Also, TOI doesn't tell the full story. Bergeron and Marchand were 1 and 2 in shifts per game among forwards. The Krejci line had more offensive draws and more long shifts. It's a 1a and 1b.
I see what you're saying, like a means of motivation. I guess I'm saying as a fan, I don't particularly care. If a guy produces on any line or is a better fit on a different line great, he should play there. If Loui can produce with Carl but not Krejci, oh well not a big deal. If he can't produce with either, that's when it becomes a problem to me. Also, I suspect we might see Claude revert to using those top 3 lines a little more evenly, or at least until they find the right fit for that right side of Krejci.
Ten Thousand Hours
Registered User
Claude didn't turn his back on a spread out attack. The 3rd and 4th line players stopped producing as well as guys like Wheeler and Ryder so he obviously stopped playing them more. If Loui scores 25 and Claude thinks it's best to keep him with Soderberg, great.
Even Strength:
Krejci: 15:54
Bergeron: 14:02
Soderberg: 12:28
Campbell: 9:53
For reference, an example of a "one line team" like Dallas last year looked like:
Seguin: 15:31
Eakin: 13:42
Peverley: 12:11
Fiddler: 11:03
I think it's clear cut the Krejci line is viewed as the "#1 line"...at least in terms of last year. We've shifted to a 1-2-3-4 approach, which I don't think is a bad thing at all personally. It allowed the first line to have their most consistent year in a while.
