Heaton 1 Report post Posted August 19, 2007 News to me. I've heard Grigs will be with Dats, Homer and Z will of course be on the top two, leaving a selection of Filppula, Samuelsson, Franzen, Cleary, and Hudler. I guess I expected Hudler to be Babcock's last pick of those guys to actually get worthwhile playing time given the fact that last season he was the only one who didn't get a shot on the first line at some point, and that Babcock benched him in favor of a recently-back-from-long-term-injury Kopecky, who is 6'3, 205, and posted 22 PIM in 26 games, which projects to 68 PIM over 80 games. Well it certainty is cute how the only way to address the situation if you don't agree with it is to mock it. To start off the pre-season Babcock said the lines will look like this: LW - Datsyuk - Holmstrom LW - Zetterberg - Samuelsson Cleary - Filppula - Draper Maltby - Kopecky - Drake Lidstrom - Rafalski Kronwall - Lilja Chelios - Lebda/Meech Of course it's only a preliminary thought about line combos and it will change 50 times from now until the first game of the season, but I'd guess Hudler would go with Datsyuk and Franzen with Zetterberg. Grigorenko will be on the outside looking in until Babcock finds out what he's all about and then go from there where I'd guess Franzen would move down and Grigorenko up. http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article.../708190690/1053 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GMRwings1983 8,794 Report post Posted August 19, 2007 Forsberg, & O'Neill are 2 guys whom could fill the holes on our 2nd line (hopefully Grigorenko will surprise us all as well, & play great with Dats). Forsberg has a handful of teams "interested"; if we are able to land him - he'll needs another 3 to 4 months to heal/get himself into shape...As for O'Neill - is this guy capable of playing like he had when he was a Hurricane (25 to 35 goals)? There's also the rumor of him having a fear of flying - not good for the Wings. Holland may be forced to wait until the deadline once again to get a decent sniper; hopefully it'll work out better this time around. Forsberg is a passer first, and we already have several of those. And why should we wait 3 or 4 months for him to heal when he's only going to get injured again. Likewise, O'Neill would be a big gamble because of his health and he's many years removed from being a Hurricane when he put up solid numbers. I would have loved to have a guy like Bill Guerin on this team, but that ship has passed twice so I'll leave that alone. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eva unit zero 271 Report post Posted August 19, 2007 Well it certainty is cute how the only way to address the situation if you don't agree with it is to mock it. To start off the pre-season Babcock said the lines will look like this: LW - Datsyuk - Holmstrom LW - Zetterberg - Samuelsson Cleary - Filppula - Draper Maltby - Kopecky - Drake Lidstrom - Rafalski Kronwall - Lilja Chelios - Lebda/Meech Jim Nill said Grigs would be playing with Dats right away to see if he would stick. So I was using that in all my mock ups, which usually looked something like: Holmstrom/Zetterberg/Samuelsson Filppula/Datsyuk/Grigorenko Cleary/Hudler/Franzen Maltby/Draper/Drake Kopecky Also, I don't see Kopecky centering the fourth line you posted..Drake would get that job as he is an excellent faceoff man. If Grigorenko is removed from the top two lines as in your lineup, I would expect Draper on the third line centering Cleary and Franzen, with Hudler and Flip on the wings with Hank and Dats, respectively, and Homer playing with Dats. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wings_Dynasty 267 Report post Posted August 19, 2007 (edited) Jim Nill said Grigs would be playing with Dats right away to see if he would stick. So I was using that in all my mock ups, which usually looked something like: Holmstrom/Zetterberg/Samuelsson Filppula/Datsyuk/Grigorenko Cleary/Hudler/Franzen Maltby/Draper/Drake Kopecky Also, I don't see Kopecky centering the fourth line you posted..Drake would get that job as he is an excellent faceoff man. If Grigorenko is removed from the top two lines as in your lineup, I would expect Draper on the third line centering Cleary and Franzen, with Hudler and Flip on the wings with Hank and Dats, respectively, and Homer playing with Dats. These are the lines I expect to see. Except that someone in the office (Holland, Babs, Jim D, or Nill) said that Drake would be a mentor to Kopecky. I would think that he would be on the same line it that were true. But to be on the same line would mean that he would be playing and Grigs, Huds, or Flip would be sitting. And since Grigs can't sit and Flip is too good to sit... we all know what that may mean. And just for gits and shiggles, here are my 2k7 lines. Hudler-Dats-Homer Flip-Z-Sammy Grigs-Draper-Cleary Franzen-Drake-Maltby Lids-Cheli Rafalski-Kronwall Lilja-Quincey Edited August 19, 2007 by Wings_Dynasty Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Heaton 1 Report post Posted August 19, 2007 Jim Nill said Grigs would be playing with Dats right away to see if he would stick. So I was using that in all my mock ups, which usually looked something like: Holmstrom/Zetterberg/Samuelsson Filppula/Datsyuk/Grigorenko Cleary/Hudler/Franzen Maltby/Draper/Drake Kopecky Also, I don't see Kopecky centering the fourth line you posted..Drake would get that job as he is an excellent faceoff man. If Grigorenko is removed from the top two lines as in your lineup, I would expect Draper on the third line centering Cleary and Franzen, with Hudler and Flip on the wings with Hank and Dats, respectively, and Homer playing with Dats. Well, as much as I respect Nill he isn't the coach and the article I just posted doesn't comply with what Nill said in that nhl.com article. It could happen, but from the guy who actually makes the lineup decisions that's not what he's saying. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CdnWingsFanEh 2 Report post Posted August 19, 2007 Well it certainty is cute how the only way to address the situation if you don't agree with it is to mock it. To start off the pre-season Babcock said the lines will look like this: LW - Datsyuk - Holmstrom LW - Zetterberg - Samuelsson Cleary - Filppula - Draper Maltby - Kopecky - Drake Lidstrom - Rafalski Kronwall - Lilja Chelios - Lebda/Meech Of course it's only a preliminary thought about line combos and it will change 50 times from now until the first game of the season, but I'd guess Hudler would go with Datsyuk and Franzen with Zetterberg. Grigorenko will be on the outside looking in until Babcock finds out what he's all about and then go from there where I'd guess Franzen would move down and Grigorenko up. http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article.../708190690/1053 Gotta say I'd really like to see Hudler get a little ice time with Zetterberg, just to see how they mesh. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eva unit zero 271 Report post Posted August 20, 2007 Well, as much as I respect Nill he isn't the coach and the article I just posted doesn't comply with what Nill said in that nhl.com article. It could happen, but from the guy who actually makes the lineup decisions that's not what he's saying. And it doesn't change the fact that Nill's comment on Grigorenko and Dats was the only thing we had heard regarding the lineup until this Babcock article. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yzerfan1999 81 Report post Posted September 6, 2007 The silly thing about guessing the lines is that they rarely stay together all year. Every team shuffles the lines. If Babcock or Nill say they are going to play someone with Dats or Zetterberg, it would be safer to say they will TRY to play them with those players. Why bicker over line combo's right now? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eva unit zero 271 Report post Posted September 6, 2007 Football yes; hockey most definitely , & basketball - a big no! How else can you explain to how certain systems ie: the trap, dump & chase with aggressive forecheck, & the left-wing-lock are implemented? Not by luck, or player skill, but by the will/guidance of the coaching staff...The NBA is a joke IMHO when it comes time to coaching - many of these primadonas do their own thing on the court so what difference does the coach make? Now college basketball is a whole different story. I would argue that the difference between Larry Brown and Flip Saunders was the difference between winning the championship one year and going to the finals the next, and not even winning the conference after that. More specifically, Brown's ability to utilize Ben Wallace to his maximum ability, something Saunders just couldn't do. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
