Practice lines were posted today, fyi:
He almost has no choice but to keep that third line in tact after last game. But that production was obviously an outlier and they'll be broken up soon enough.
Ultimately, I think our long term lines will be:
Nyquist - Zetterberg - Abdelkader
Helm - Datsyuk - Tatar
Franzen - Sheahan - Jurco
Miller - Glendening - Weiss
But that's a guess. I think that top line is locked in. The +/- ratings of Zetterberg and Gus have skyrocketed since Franzen went down, and I don't think that's due to a drop in competition. Hint hint.
Realistically, there is so much chemistry that has developed in our top nine that we can roll a bunch of different combinations without complaints. 40/13/8, 21/15/14, 21/15/26 have all proven to be effective combinations in addition to the ones above. The only real problem is finding a place for Franzen to play full time - and I'm not the type who is typically a Franzen hater. If he's not skating hard he won't help either of those bottom six lines much. Sheahan has been great with almost every single player he's been paired with, but I think that's largely because a lot of the chances on his shifts are gritty, high effort based situations that may not be entirely up Franzen's ally. He gets the benefit of the doubt over Weiss for now, but I liked what I saw with Weiss next to Sheahan an awful lot last night.
Wouldn't mind Franzen-Andersson-Miller as 4th line. he would be a big scoring threat from there.
Abdelkader - Zeta - Nyquist
helm - Datsyuk - tatar
Weiss - Sheahan - Glendening
Franzen - Andersson - Miller
Wouldn't mind Franzen-Andersson-Miller as 4th line. he would be a big scoring threat from there.
Abdelkader - Zeta - Nyquist
helm - Datsyuk - tatar
Weiss - Sheahan - Glendening
Franzen - Andersson - Miller
No Jurco?
At this point, stint in Grand Rapids would do good for him.
babcock apparently getting his say on ouellet/XO.
At this point, stint in Grand Rapids would do good for him.
I don't get it..how you could have 4! goalies on ice when there are only 2 for main team who travel?? Like Babcock and somebody put goalie gears on??
If by having our number you mean that Tampa managed a shootout win back in Nov you are right. They have really had our number!OT but should Zetterberg really go downhill skiing in the Rockies during the ASG?
On Topic, Tampa has had the Wings number so I am not holding out too much hope. But hey at least they are in the playoff hunt.
Looks like Jurco could be in for this one?
Ansar Khan @AnsarKhanMLive
Babcock confirms Jurco is in tomorrow. He replaces Cleary. Kindl cleared to play but Ouellet will remain in lineup for now.