Lines

[shepherd68]

With the roster now being complete, what does everyone think the lines will be?
I'll go with:

Lyle
Myers

K.Smith - Frank
M.Richardson - M.Smith
G.Adams - J.Batch

M.Birbraer - S.Matzka - J.Pierce
P.Hill - S.Macrae - S.Smith
B.Voth - S.Dobben - B.Davies (T.Burrows 10th forward).

I've put the forwards like that with the vother on the 3rd line, as last year G tried to have scoring ability throught all 3 line and i dont think a 3rd line of S.Smith S.Dobben and B.Davies would be up to much offensively. Whats everyone elses thoughts?

 

[James]

Doesn't the press release say Voth will be on a line with Macrae

 

[Finny]

Birbraer - Matzka - Pierce
Hill - Macrae - Voth
Smith - Dobben - Davies

I really like the look of our second line, and think Voth and Hilly running into everything that moves will give Stuuuuu even more space on the ice.
The third line looks obviously weaker than last year due to the drop in import numbers but that is going to be the same with everyone. Hopefully Sam Smith will continue to improve on last season and Ben's time in Basingstoke will have helped him improve too.

Unsure on how our D will line up at the moment though.

 

[shepherd68]

just read the press release and seen it says Voth will play 2nd line so my lines are clearly wrong, oh well ha. the season coudn't come any sooner!

 

[Koop11]

I have it as:

Max, Matzka, Pierce
Hill, MacRae, Voth
Davies, Dobben, S. Smith
Borrows

Richardson, M. Smith
Frank, K. Smith
Gerad, Batch

Lyle
Myers

 

[hockeyrocker26]

I agree with everyone else on the forwards but I think that the D will line up as:

M Smith - Batch
K Smith - Frank
G - Richardson

I think that it's more likely that there is a more physical D man on each of the pairings that putting G with Batch and Richardson and one of the Smith brothers together.

We shall wait and see though, I just can't wait for the start of the season now!!!

 

[devilsfan66]

It is only assumptions that Voth will be second line in the paper by the journalist. No quote from G, I believe one of the compromises mentioned by G regarding Brad re-signing is for him to be on the third line.

G wants to keep Sam and Stu together, I have that on good authority.

 

[Hynod]

It is only assumptions that Voth will be second line in the paper by the journalist. No quote from G, I believe one of the compromises mentioned by G regarding Brad re-signing is for him to be on the third line.

G wants to keep Sam and Stu together, I have that on good authority.

Terry did tweet last night that probable lines will be

Pierce - Matzka - Birbraer
Smith - MacRae - Hill
Davies - Dobben - Voth

I like the look at these, that second line could be one for the future too with beyond this season in mind.

 

[Aberdare_Devil]

It is only assumptions that Voth will be second line in the paper by the journalist. No quote from G, I believe one of the compromises mentioned by G regarding Brad re-signing is for him to be on the third line.

G wants to keep Sam and Stu together, I have that on good authority.

Terry did tweet last night that probable lines will be

Pierce - Matzka - Birbraer
Smith - MacRae - Hill
Davies - Dobben - Voth

I like the look at these, that second line could be one for the future too with beyond this season in mind.

I also like the look of these. Can't wait for the season to start now!

 

[phildavies21]

I havn't seen alot of Burrows but from what I have seen i'd prefer Burrows to play on that 3rd line rather than Ben. Ben works his nads off at improving and comming on as a player but at 5 " 6 hes just to easy to push off the puck and doesnt create any presence on the ice. Id love him to prove me wrong this season obviously. Im sure theres somebody who will now shoot me down. But hey its just an opinion!

 

[TheStub]

Re: Re: Lines

It is only assumptions that Voth will be second line in the paper by the journalist. No quote from G, I believe one of the compromises mentioned by G regarding Brad re-signing is for him to be on the third line.

G wants to keep Sam and Stu together, I have that on good authority.

Terry did tweet last night that probable lines will be

Pierce - Matzka - Birbraer
Smith - MacRae - Hill
Davies - Dobben - Voth

I like the look at these, that second line could be one for the future too with beyond this season in mind.

I'd like to see these lines as it keeps a load of consistency whilst also moving the experience around. Hopefully Dobben and Davies will have the speed and vision to make use of the space Voth opens up.

But I hope that G hasn't got any firm ideas on what lines he'll play. The lines should be chosen based on chemistry and dynamics.

I don't like to think of a 1st line and a 3rd line, just putting together three lines that can play well with each other.

 

[Finny]

Re: Re: Lines

But I hope that G hasn't got any firm ideas on what lines he'll play. The lines should be chosen based on chemistry and dynamics.

I hope he does, even if it doesn't end up working and eventually needs changing.
It looked to me last season that G knew what he wanted in players for each line, signed them and it worked pretty damn well.
Same thing this time, especially as he was able to keep the core of a side it hopefully made it easier for him to identify the remaining positions and the style of player he wanted.

In previous years we have chopped and changed our lines around all through the season. Last season we pretty much kept our lines the same all year (apart from when we had injuries/suspensions) and it got us a world record breaking run.

I get the feeling at times that Belfast and Nottingham have basically signed a group of players based on their stats and will hopefully fit them altogether somehow later on.

The new lines posted above are interesting and are probably better at spreading the talent evenly through lines 2 and 3 then what I originally posted. With Voth on Davies' line it also gives him some

 

[Mooney#16]

Think I actually disagree on those lines as the dynamics of two are being radically changed where as with a little more faith all three only need tweaking. I'd line up as

Birbraer - Matzka - Pierce

Hill - Dobben - Voth

Smith - McRae - Davies

I'll explain. The first is obvious. Pierce for Pelle is a straight swap.

Second line. Voth and Hill have played as a line for the last three years and have built up a good dynamic and know each others strengths weaknesses. I'd therefore swap in Dobben as a Finnerty replacement and maintain that winger set up.

Third line. McRae and Smith play well together but the lose of Michel is a big lose to that line one I don't think Hill should fill as he isn't a pacey enough winger. I would go with Davies on the line to provide the speed and head man pass for McRae so as to maintain there dynamic. I just think if you place any other guy with those two the line will slow up to much.

Mc Rae still plays the powerplay and penalty kill like last year so as not to under utilise his skills though.

On D of course its

Frank - K Smith

Richardson - M Smith

Adams - Batch

 

[Chris]

As Finny has already said, i'd much rather Adams did know what lines people would hopefully be playing on.

In previous seasons there have been lots of posts about the constant changing of the lines, last season was the first time for a number of seasons where players seemed to stick to just one line, probably helped by our lack of knee injuries of course :E

I like the idea of having voth and dobben on the 3rd line, it looks like it could/should be a little stronger (if that's the right word) than having smith and davies there.

Chris.

 

[TheStub]

Ok, I didn't explain myself too well.

I'd hope G signed players knowing where he was going to look at slotting them in... but lines are about chemistry. I would hope that the way the lines fall would as much be about how they are performing.

Yes, Pierce is a direct swap for Pelle on paper - but if the line is more effective with (to stretch the example) Burrows on the top line and Pierce somewhere else then it should happen.

We are going to see Pierce-Matzka-Max. I'd fully expect to see Stu with Smith. But this isn't last year's squad, so I'd hope we would use the line combination that is most effective with the dynamics that are present.

Whilst I like (love) stability, sometimes a line shakeup mid game can change a match. It may not be permanent, but is a tool in the arsenal.

 

[shoes_off]

Trying to remember the lines from the last few games...is this what we will use now?

Pierce Matzka Birbraer
Voth Macrae Hill
S Smith Dobben Davies

Burrows spare forward

M Smith Frank
K Smith Richardson
Adams Batch

 

[Soundwave1]

Trying to remember the lines from the last few games...is this what we will use now?

Pierce Matzka Birbraer
Voth Macrae Hill
S Smith Dobben Davies

Burrows spare forward

M Smith Frank
K Smith Richardson
Adams Batch

For me, Ben seems twice the player at Centre (his more familiar position I believe) I wonder if Dobben will go to the wing on the third when Max is back, but step in for the face-offs as he appears to be top notch in the circle...

Phil Hill is also a different player when on a line with Voth - I'd be surprised if the Voth - Hill - Macrae line doesn't remain as it's been top-notch at home at least.

 

[ASHIPP]

Trying to remember the lines from the last few games...is this what we will use now?

Pierce Matzka Birbraer
Voth Macrae Hill
S Smith Dobben Davies

Burrows spare forward

M Smith Frank
K Smith Richardson
Adams Batch

For me, Ben seems twice the player at Centre (his more familiar position I believe) I wonder if Dobben will go to the wing on the third when Max is back, but step in for the face-offs as he appears to be top notch in the circle...

Phil Hill is also a different player when on a line with Voth - I'd be surprised if the Voth - Hill - Macrae line doesn't remain as it's been top-notch at home at least.

Expect to see Tim rotated on the Smith/Dobben/Davies line - he looks very comfortable out there.

Ben's maturity is obvious this year - amazing work rate and positionally good as well as winning face-offs. Scott looks good on the face-off and fast on the wing. And Sam - what a great start to only his 2nd season in EIHL.

Defence pairings: Aren't Kenton and Frank the Tank paired together?

 

[shoes_off]

Could well be - I wasn't sure which order the Smiths were in.

I agree Ben plays well at centre - he had a good few runs (skates?!) down the centre of the ice against the dirty steelers. I've been sceptical about his return after what he did last season, but he does seem to be coming on. I still wonder if Burrows is a better player though. Time will tell as with everything!

 

[nebarton666]

K.Smith - Frank
M.Richardson - M.Smith
G.Adams - J.Batch

M.Birbraer - S.Matzka - J.Pierce
P.Hill - S.Dobben - B.Voth
S.Smith - S.Macrae - B.Davies (T.Burrows 10th forward).

dobben doing better than stu at the mo let stu play with the boys for a bit