I don't like it either. Having one good line will create problems. Why not create another good line?
Parise-Elias-Zubrus
All smart players, let Zubrus do the board work, Parise occupy the left side looking to shoot and let Patty set up all the plays.
Kovalchuk-Henrique-Palmieri
Kovalchuk needs someone who drives to the net and Henrique is that guy. Palmieri has shown that he can be effective down low and drives to the net.
Tedenby-Sykora-Clarkson
I always see Sykora going down center ice with the puck and you have Teddy buzzing and Clarkson doing the dirty work. While they will be pretty bad in the d zone, the offense and momentum they will create will be amazing.
My answer is always more Janssen, but I may be in the minority here.
lull the other team into a confused state of why hes getting so much ice time, this is too easy. then have henrique cherry picking. it all makes sense. >hugs<
I don't like the "don't break up the geezer line" mentality. It's our only good line, yeah, but no one sees a problem with that?
If you're trying to solve a Rubik's Cube and you get one side completely correct, you still need to change it to solve the rest of the puzzle.
Playing devils advocate...
Then you always run the risk of not having any of your sides complete and getting yourself more lost. In hockey terms... You go from having 1 line clicking to 0. Either way it's a risk all coaches have to go through and a decision all will make at some point.
stay the course until T.Z. gets back....they'll be fine.....kinda stoked to get boulton back too for some reason. i think he can come back and be a bit of a positive influence. and i also do agree get parise and kovy the hell away from each other. i wouldnt be opposed to trying kovy with someone like carter as his centerman right now only because then you can let him loose and he doesnt keep the puck off the stick of other guys who are legitimate threats (i.e. parise). call me crazy but i dont see what the risk is. people need to understand too, when you get a team who will be competing for the final couple playoff spots, you are gonna get losses to weaker teams that they should beat and overall inconsistency, plus throw in your top centerman sidelined for the first three months. relax people, relax. its too early to be ******** your pants unless their record gets to last season-esque.
Last edited by AirheadPete: 11-27-2011 at 01:01 PM.
C. Keep the old line together, but still split Parise and Kovy.
I just don't see that happening with DeBoer. It's definitely an option but he seems to like his top guys on the top lines, opposed to spreading everything out.
Zajac coming back should solve some chemistry problems, and restore our depth so that DeBoer doesn't have to lean on the top 6 so much. But we also can't expect too much too soon from him, because he's returning from a serious injury and may not be up to full effectiveness for another month or two. That'll be a tough balancing act.
This is spot on. Zajac will help, there's no question about it, but I'm not expecting him to contribute all that much right off the bat. It'll take some time for him to get adapted to the pace of the game. He'll be playing and facing competition that are already in mid season form, so it's only normal for him to be a little behind in the first couple of games.
Even with the return of our centers, our defense is still terrible. It's the only move Lou needs to do IMO with the emergence of Henrique. He's actually looking like the stud on his line that includes two all-star talent.
Last edited by DEVILS ALL THE WAY: 11-27-2011 at 01:34 PM.
The offense isn't a issue other then maybe our lack of depth at the right wing but we have a bunch of players, like you pointed out, that can player several positions, so I'm not worried.
Our main issue is the lack of mobility/creativity from our back end. Fix that and we'll get way more scoring chances, a better transition game and it wouldn't hurt our PP. I hope Lou goes all out for a solid d-men like he did when we needed secondary scoring to help out Parise.
Elias - Zubrus - Sykora (dont touch it while they produce a goal per game)
Kovy - Zajac - Teddy (or Palmieri)
Parise - Henrique - Clarkson
Whatever - Whatever - Whatever
Elias - Zubrus - Sykora (dont touch it while they produce a goal per game)
Kovy - Zajac - Teddy (or Palmieri)
Parise - Henrique - Clarkson
Whatever - Whatever - Whatever
I think they would still produce a GAG with Tedenby instead of Sykora. Teddy made magic with Elias and Arnott last year, and my one gripe with DeBoer is that he isn't giving him anyone competent to play with... and when we do give him someone decent to play with (like Clarkson) he makes them look much better. Sykora has his magic faceoff touch... but he really seems to score a lot on broken plays, which he would see more of on the 3rd line as Clarkson's sniper. He seems to choke a lot on golden chances, but bury the ones where nobody knows what's going on.
I think they would still produce a GAG with Tedenby instead of Sykora. Teddy made magic with Elias and Arnott last year, and my one gripe with DeBoer is that he isn't giving him anyone competent to play with... and when we do give him someone decent to play with (like Clarkson) he makes them look much better. Sykora has his magic faceoff touch... but he really seems to score a lot on broken plays, which he would see more of on the 3rd line as Clarkson's sniper. He seems to choke a lot on golden chances, but bury the ones where nobody knows what's going on.
I'm fine with Tedenby on the 3rd line at this point. I was hoping he would get a chance in the top 6 but his defense is the biggest priority at this point. The funny thing is people look at his stats and ask why isn't he producing, but fail not realize that he is trying to be more defensively responsible. I'd rather his stats take a hit for a season so that he can get better on defense.
C. Keep the old line together, but still split Parise and Kovy.
I agree. But I don't know how to do that without putting one of Kovy and Parise with Carter, who wouldn't do justice to their offensive capability. We need to wait for Zajac.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tedenby21
I wouldn't be surprised to see Zajac start on the 3rd line centering Tedenby and Clarkson so that he can acclimated to game action.
I'd be ok with that at first. Let him work his way back up the depth chart.
1. Put Salvador on waivers
2. Call up Taromina
3. Put Janssen in the AHL
4. Call up Zharkov
5. wait for Zajac and Josefson
lineup after Zajac:
Kovalchuk-Zajac-Tedenby
Sykora-Elias-Zubrus
Parise-Henrique-Clarkson
Boulton-Carter-Zharkov (double shift Parise on this line for equal minutes)
I would prefer someone like Urbom over Taormina, but Lou wouldn't waive Salvador. I can see him making a deadline deal and just having Salvador as a healthy scratch.
Also, DeBoer didn't seem to be impressed by Zharkov. Janssen should be out of the lineup once Boulton is back though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rhodes 81
make the powerplay this
parise-zajac-elias
greene-larsson
kovalchuk-henrique-teddy/clarkson
tallinder-fayne
give both units equal time. pretty much everybody is interchangeable with their counterpart on the other unit.
i typed up a nice little trade proposal for enstrom as well, but what's the point.
I don't see Kovalchuk being taken off the #1 PP. It will most likely be:
Parise-Zajac-Elias
Kovalchuk-Larsson/Fayne
I still think they should run an umbrella with Larsson at top and Kovy and Elias on the boards. I'm not sure if they don't do it because they don't trust Larsson enough to QB the PP.
I'm fine with Tedenby on the 3rd line at this point. I was hoping he would get a chance in the top 6 but his defense is the biggest priority at this point. The funny thing is people look at his stats and ask why isn't he producing, but fail not realize that he is trying to be more defensively responsible. I'd rather his stats take a hit for a season so that he can get better on defense.
I think his defense will improve when he gets some responsibility put on his shoulders, and he's not put on a line where he feels like he has to create all the offense by himself. He reminds me of Kovy Lite when he was with the Thrashers. His defense was poor because he felt like without his offense, the team wouldn't score anything. And put yourself in his skates, this is a guy trying hard to make a name for himself and force his way onto the top 2 lines where a player with his style belongs. Put him next to Elias and Zubrus, or Zach and Zajac when Trav returns, and I guarantee Teddy would play a lot more responsibly. If he doesn't, send him back to the 3rd, but he's being utilized in the worst possible way right now.
Sykora has been far from a defensive beast as well. I'd put him and Teddy in the same boat defensively, because Sykora has experience that Teddy doesn't and Teddy has legs that Sykora doesn't, and arguably a better stick check.
