I think he slips into the 3rd line with some 2nd line minutes.
It'll be a nice battle between Perreault, Fehr, Wolski and Crabb for some minutes.....may wanna throw Wardo in there too.
Katie Carrera @kcarrera
Caps lines: Ovechkin-Backstrom-Johansson; Wolski-Ribeiro-Brouwer; Chimera-Beagle-Wilson/Ward; Hendricks-Perreault-Fehr/Crabb
Those lines seem awfully familiar. Put Laich back in the line-up at 3C (demoting Beagle to 4C and Perreault to healthy scratch) and you have the line-up I was proposing.
Is it too much to ask for a decent complement to one of the best offensive tandems in the league?
God Johansson sucks. The only thing he brings to a line is off sides stoppages.
Johansson does not suck at all. And he will be MUCH better this year. I'd imagine its not easy coming in your 1st 2 years as an offensive player and playing in trap systems with little focus on offense and scoring. And he still put up 46 points last year.
Is it too much to ask for a decent complement to one of the best offensive tandems in the league?
God Johansson sucks. The only thing he brings to a line is off sides stoppages.
He was better than Backstrom during the Channel One Cup.
Hard to describe how he was playing, but it was a real treat, you guys will be surprised if you didn't watch it.
Also from Whyno:
Quote:
Asked George McPhee yesterday why he decided to bring Tom Wilson to #Caps camp: "I changed my mind...
"I really thought that we had to come with a smaller group just to get ready with 5 or 6 days to practice and get going. So I didn't want to bring in any of the amateur players. But our director of player development, Steve Richmond, insisted that this should be at the camp. That he believes he's got a chance to make the team and so that's his job, to make those decisions for us. So we listened and we said OK. So if he can make the team, good for him. If he can't, it's a terrific orientation and it'll make him a better player."
Last edited by SimplySensational: 01-13-2013 at 11:40 AM.
Why? What was the point of bringing him here for such a short stay? Or were you referring to the post-camp roster?
Post-camp. He only arrived yesterday I think. I consider Wilson's invite as similar to Schilling's in that both are highly regarded within the org. but the numbers work against them. They'd have to force the front office to make a decision to open up a spot for them.
Any line with Beagle on it becomes the fourth line (or a fourth line). I like him but...c'mon.
McKenzie seems to believe Laich would be 2LW when healthy.
does anyone know if there is more training camp this afternoon? I went down there after church this morning and found the 10:30 workout already concluded. On the Caps site it doesn't mention anything about the afternoons.....
Would allow Ribeiro to build Laich into a very consistent forward. This would be the best combo for the first two lines in my opinion, but you have to push Beagle up to third line center or move Hendricks up there. Since most people here are in favor of Beagle, i'll leave it at that. It still allows us to have virtually nothing beyond the first two lines.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Ovechkin, Backstrom, Johansson
Chimera, Ribeiro, Brouwer
Wolski, Laich, Perreault
Hendricks, Beagle, Ward
(Crabb, Fehr)
Would allow to have three great centers along with Beagle on the 4th line. This is what they will go with in my mind. I don't know if Wolski and Chimera will swap. It's possible. But this makes the 2nd line very, very weak unless Ribeiro virtually makes both wings playmakers.
So it's either you sacrifice the 2nd line for more depth on the 3rd line and hope Ribeiro helps everyone around them regardless of skill level, or you solidify the 2nd line and hope Beagle/Hendricks can play out the rest. This would be the best situation FOR LAICH in my opinion. He's not a third line player in my mind. He will improve if you put him with Ribeiro. The first scenario where he is paired with Ribeiro and Brouwer would be very dangerous if he catches his stride. For now I think that is what you have to do. But then again, I think they'll even out the roster.
Stephen Whyno @SWhyno
Lighter #Caps news. Joel Ward moved his locker to get away from Laich/Brouwer media corner. Laich said it was my fault. #BlameWhyno
@SWhyno
Adam Oates said it was Alex Ovechkin's idea to try RW. Speed was reason for Marcus Johansson on top line
interesting wonder how it changes his game
I am not in the game
Good for Ovi. I thought Oates would figure it out but Ovi beat him to it. He can hold the puck for a lot longer, and get the other forwards/Green involved in the rush. He can protect the puck along the boards. He can avoid being double teamed by the 2 dmen if not a C as well. It opens up his ability to pass. It makes him less predictable. I could go on.
It opens up the things Backstrom can do that's for sure. Including shooting off of passes from Ovi, something that just never can happens with Ovi doing his move at LW.
Marcus will like life at LW much better than RW. Book that too.
Good for Ovi. I thought Oates would figure it out but Ovi beat him to it. He can hold the puck for a lot longer, and get the other forwards/Green involved in the rush. He can protect the puck along the boards. He can avoid being double teamed by the 2 dmen if not a C as well. It opens up his ability to pass. It makes him less predictable. I could go on.
It opens up the things Backstrom can do that's for sure. Including shooting off of passes from Ovi, something that just never can happens with Ovi doing his move at LW.
Marcus will like life at LW much better than RW. Book that too.
Also means Ovechkin wont have to give and take the majority of his passes on his backhand could really help chemistry Backstrom
Mojo Being a left handed shot also will get same benefit
