LabattBlue Posted November 16, 2006 Report Posted November 16, 2006 I'm not saying this line has to light it up like the top 2 lines, but this line combo is not getting the job done recently and I'm not just talking about last night. Kotalik...my fears from last year are coming back. He is a one trick pony who when given a lot of PP time will put up some good numbers. Take the PP time away and he is a very very very average one dimensional hockey player. Drury...I know I'm going to get flamed for this in a big way, but I will say it anyway. Drury can score the clutch goal, but he can also disappear for games at a time and is not the responsible defensive player everyone makes him out to be. I've seen him floating on backchecks as much as anyone else on the team. For those who want to slam Briere for wanting 5+ mil a year, I'd be careful before I turned Drury into a 4+ mil player while throwing Briere to UFA. Novotny...started off great, but seems to have tailed off. What I would do...Since Mair and Gaustad have picked up their games, I would consider moving either of them up for a few games(not just a shift here or there and moving Novotny down hoping that this would jumpstart this line.
X. Benedict Posted November 16, 2006 Report Posted November 16, 2006 Drury...I know I'm going to get flamed for this in a big way, but I will say it anyway. Drury can score the clutch goal, but he can also disappear for games at a time and is not the responsible defensive player everyone makes him out to be. I've seen him floating on backchecks as much as anyone else on the team. I think it is high time to shake up this line, But I haven't seen the above point being made. Are you referring to any incidents in particular?
BetweenThePipes00 Posted November 16, 2006 Report Posted November 16, 2006 No doubt it has been the worst line of late (at least when Lindy puts someone other than Peters with Gaustad and Mair. The 51 seconds with Peters out there last night felt like a week.) Thing is, I would hate to break up the other lines at this point, especially if Max is close to coming back. Almost have to let them work their way out of it. As for Drury, as long as he is winning draws and throwing himself in front of shots on the PK like he was last night, I'll deal with the offensive slump. I'm sure you are right about him not getting back here and there, but to say "as much as anyone else on the team" is still not very often, because as a whole this team has busted its ass for a month and a half.
shrader Posted November 16, 2006 Report Posted November 16, 2006 It's all a part of the plan. Drury is such a team guy that he's not scoring right now so he can lower the value of his next contract, allowing Darcy to keep everyone together.
nfreeman Posted November 16, 2006 Report Posted November 16, 2006 I think Kotalik is a very good shooter and a solid forechecker, but by no means a playmaker. He was most productive on the wing of Connolly's line. Drury has a ton of great qualities, but playmaking is one of his weaker points. My hope was that Novotny would show some playmaking skills but this just hasn't happened. As a result, this line never seems to produce a good scoring chance during 5-on-5. When was the last time Kotalik got a good look for a one-timer during 5-on-5? I can't remember. So, that leaves this line as pretty much just a checking line to be pitted against the opponent's top line -- which inevitably drives down plus/minus. When you couple that with Drury's recent slump -- he can't seem to get a shot on net, let alone score -- the result is a distressingly unproductive line. I agree that we shouldn't break up Briere-Hecht-Pominville. When Max returns, which will probably be next week, he will almost certainly go back with Roy and Vanek. This will free up Stafford, who has shown a bit of offensive skill. If Stafford keeps playing well I'd put him on with Drury and Kotalik and drop Novotny to the Gaustad-Mair line. Of course if Stafford can't backcheck well enough against the opponent's top line, this won't work. Next time Lindy calls, that's what I'll advise him. EDIT: another interesting possibility, now that I think of it, would be Gaustad-Stafford-Kotalik and Drury-Novotny-Mair.
shrader Posted November 16, 2006 Report Posted November 16, 2006 Stafford won't stay with the team. They need to bank as much cap space as possible, instead of banking nothing by keeping him with the team.
inkman Posted November 16, 2006 Report Posted November 16, 2006 I've been advocating Gaustad and Mair being put on other lines for a little while and I think the time couldn't be better. They bring a tenacity to the game that frankly most of our guys don't. I'm hoping to see a little line shakeup Friday night.
Buffalo Wings Posted November 16, 2006 Report Posted November 16, 2006 I've been advocating Gaustad and Mair being put on other lines for a little while and I think the time couldn't be better. They bring a tenacity to the game that frankly most of our guys don't. I'm hoping to see a little line shakeup Friday night. I think I saw some shakeup in the 3rd period last night. Maybe some of these lines were because of guys not getting off the ice in time, but I thought I saw Gaustad with Briere & Hecht and Mair with Vanek & Roy. Whatever the lines ended up to be, there was definitely a change from the second period (and possibly even early 3rd). Were these by coincidence or was Lindy shaking things up?
BetweenThePipes00 Posted November 16, 2006 Report Posted November 16, 2006 He said today that it was mostly to get more ice time for Vanek and Kotalik that he was plaing them with Mair and Gaustad. But yeah i saw some unusual combos out there last night too ....
ko12010 Posted November 16, 2006 Report Posted November 16, 2006 It's all a part of the plan. Drury is such a team guy that he's not scoring right now so he can lower the value of his next contract, allowing Darcy to keep everyone together. I think before anyone points out Drury's little offensive slump, they should just remind themselves of what a true team player he is and how much he cares about the team. When we beat Carolina 7-4 he passed up a very solid chance at an empty netter to give the goal to Jochen Hecht. I think that example right there shows what a quality teammate Drury is. The goals will start to come again.
LabattBlue Posted November 16, 2006 Author Report Posted November 16, 2006 I think it is high time to shake up this line, But I haven't seen the above point being made. Are you referring to any incidents in particular? I don't notice it as much on TV as when I am at the game. I don't have any particular game or shift to point out. It's just something I have noticed in the past.
X. Benedict Posted November 17, 2006 Report Posted November 17, 2006 I don't notice it as much on TV as when I am at the game. I don't have any particular game or shift to point out. It's just something I have noticed in the past. Fair enough. I keep an eye out.
bob_sauve28 Posted November 17, 2006 Report Posted November 17, 2006 I'm not saying this line has to light it up like the top 2 lines, but this line combo is not getting the job done recently and I'm not just talking about last night. Kotalik...my fears from last year are coming back. He is a one trick pony who when given a lot of PP time will put up some good numbers. Take the PP time away and he is a very very very average one dimensional hockey player. Drury...I know I'm going to get flamed for this in a big way, but I will say it anyway. Drury can score the clutch goal, but he can also disappear for games at a time and is not the responsible defensive player everyone makes him out to be. I've seen him floating on backchecks as much as anyone else on the team. For those who want to slam Briere for wanting 5+ mil a year, I'd be careful before I turned Drury into a 4+ mil player while throwing Briere to UFA. Novotny...started off great, but seems to have tailed off. What I would do...Since Mair and Gaustad have picked up their games, I would consider moving either of them up for a few games(not just a shift here or there and moving Novotny down hoping that this would jumpstart this line. Great topic! Drury should play with someone else with offensive talent. And I'm not down on Kotalik at all, I like the way he plays and he does score. He's not going to pop in 40 this year or anything, but I bet some year he hits 35 or so. He still has time to grow. He scores enough and plays hard, I like him. And I'll throw this out to see if there are any takers. How about Brier and Vanek on the same line? They seem like they might make great plays together. Just a thought
Knightrider Posted November 17, 2006 Report Posted November 17, 2006 Fair enough. I keep an eye out. Looks like you have two out! :lol:
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