Are the Lines right?

[Rempel16]

I appreciate it's a little early having played just 4 competitive fixtures, and I also appreciate that I am simply an 'armchair coach' , so I could be talking complete pants, but I have been thinking about it a lot, and I think all three lines are the wrong combinations so far.....

Granted, the top line is linking up well, however, I think Blight and Faulkner have undeniable chemistry that perhaps doesn't bring Max in as much as it could. As a result we perhaps don't optimise Max's top game.

I think Max had great chemistry with Ben in pre-season and would have liked to see us stick with this. I also think there's undoubted chemistry between Hill and Macrae, so those two would ideally be kept together, so the starting base for what I'd like is the three duo combinations:

LW Faulkner Blight
Birbraer Davies RW
Hill Macrae RW

From here, there's Adams (LW), Didiomete (RW) and Mckenzie (RW) to slot in.

I'd seriously consider playing G up top in a similar role to that given to Sample on the Smith/Birbraer line...... Or even giving Harding a go at it with G dropping back to D.

I'd opt for Deeds with Max and Davies, where he can provide the added bit of protection for Ben whilst going to those dirty areas around the net and keeping D-men busy, freeing up space for his flashy line mates.

Mckenzie had 10 minutes with Hill and Stu last night and reaped the rewards with a goal.... Untapped chemistry there maybe???

This would balance our scoring potential throughout all three lines and perhaps go some way to replicating our goal potency from the forwards in the 2010-11 season..... (Matzka, Pelle, Michel et al)

Any thoughts?

 

[DevilDom]

I'd like to see the lines shaken up a bit to add some more potency to the 2nd and 3rd lines.

I agree with you Rempell that Max and Ben looked good together in pre-season. Add Deeds to that line and I think it would work well.

I also agree that Mckenzie has an untapped scoring ability which we are not utilising on the 3rd line at the moment. He proved he can score good points playing with good players when he was with the caps, so I'd agree with pushing him on to a line with Hill and Mccrae.

I'd like to see Harding and Piggott share the ninth forward spot but i'm not sure it would work with Faulkner and Blight, however I also don't think G would be good on that line either. Difficult decision really.

 

[Skippy]

I was thinking much along the same lines last night to be honest.

I'd even consider McKenzie or Ben with Blight and Faulkner as they'd both do well on that line. After all Mckenzie did darn well on that Caps top line last year.

Maybe play Max with Stu & Hill to give someone to captalize on Stu's passing and vision?

Again all Arm chair coaching and I could be horribly wrong.

 

[Tyke Devil]

Max with Stu & Hill I think would be a fantastic and a very hard working gritty line with some skill & vision to boot.

Also agree, give McKenzie a go with Faulkner & Blight. A very quick line and some proper sniping. Maybe a bit lightweight though?

Then what to do with Ben? Ben, Deeds and Adams. Probably live with that to be honest.

Crikey...maybe we have an embarassment of riches up front? Maybe more emphasis required on settling the D? Seems we will score this year, just that at the moment the D is struggling a bit. Not sure why to be honest.

Glad I'm not a Coach and just get to do this stuff from the comfort of my computer. If one thing we have learned though from the past few seasons. G quickly gets the best from what we have.

Just a bit more physicality please. Let's try and dominate the opposition in that respect.

 

[ASHIPP]

Bari provided prolific assists last season to one of the leagues top scorers Rene Jarolin.
Partner him with someone like Mac or Stu and Bari's potential will be realised. His talent is wasted where it is right now.

Devils play at their best when they keep it simple and gritty. D seem to be missing the composure and control that G and Mark Richardson brought during last 3 seasons. Need a return to that style which made BBT a fortress and when the team had a fantastic home record.

 

[Sheincar]

The only thing I would say about the D is please don't have the Smiths out at the same time. They may be brothers but they don't work well together.

 

[jimmy snels]

i think G might need to put himself on D before long and have a rotating 9th forward (piggot/harding)

 

[DevilDom]

In the latest Walesonline article it mentions that G will be keeping the top line as it is but may make changes to the 2nd and 3rd lines.

 

[rolf]

I think D is where we have our biggest issues and I believe that we are 1 man (brit) short. It looks like we are a playing a 5 man D with a rotational double shift which means no set pairings. This is leading to the confusion and lapses we have so far seen with players getting caught out of position due to lack of understanding. I like the idea of G being a 3rd line winger as it adds stability and also shares the imports around a bit more as 5 import D and Phil is imbalanced defensively and would dry up our goalscoring. I don't want us to become Rick Strachan's stingrays

I'm also of the mind that we should have a brit on each forward line to play with two compatible imports, this would balance my armchair team up perfectly.

Just my opinion mind you and purely based on no great hockey wisdom or insight.

 

[jimmy snels]

Deeds tweeted he's on 'the donut line' with G and Ben... so it would seem G doesn't think lines are right :?

 

[kettdevil1]

Interesting - that would create:

Hill - Stu - Bari
G - Ben - Deeds

I like the look of this, it appears to have balanced things nicely. G and Deeds will create space for Ben (wouldn't like to play against that line though) and Bari will hopefully benefit from Stu's vision and Phil's ability to dig the puck out.

We will see in a few hours but this does look as though it might work.