Namingway 146 Report post Posted February 21, 2010 (edited) Russians tinker with lines Malkin, of the Pittsburgh Penguins, will center his contemporaries and NHL rivals -- Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin of the Washington Capitals. Datsyuk moves down to play the pivot for Ilya Kovalchuk and Maxim Afinogenov. Edit : I just noticed this was mentioned on the other thread about the USA. Delete if necessary, if not discuss I think it'd be interesting to see what Pavel could do with Kovalchuk and Afinogenov. Maybe it'll give an idea or two to all of those people that have been wanting Afinogenov on the team. Edited February 21, 2010 by Namingway Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yzerman191 37 Report post Posted February 21, 2010 I sure hope Semin-Malkin-Ovechkin play with the top D-pairing... all three of them need a map to find their own defensive zone. I thought that was the whole point of having Datsyuk play with Ovechkin and Semin? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Namingway 146 Report post Posted February 21, 2010 I sure hope Semin-Malkin-Ovechkin play with the top D-pairing... all three of them need a map to find their own defensive zone. I thought that was the whole point of having Datsyuk play with Ovechkin and Semin? Yeah, that's what I was thinking too but from what I've seen so far, Datsyuk was kind of just there. I wonder if Kovalchuk's style will suit Datsyuk better than Ovechkin. Either way it's still a hell of a top 2 line Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cupforwings 138 Report post Posted February 21, 2010 looks like a good line for the 2010-2011 Detroit Red Wings. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
titanium2 867 Report post Posted February 21, 2010 Hmm. You still have too many guys on one line that want the puck a lot. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dragonballgtz 273 Report post Posted February 21, 2010 Yeah, that's what I was thinking too but from what I've seen so far, Datsyuk was kind of just there. I wonder if Kovalchuk's style will suit Datsyuk better than Ovechkin. Either way it's still a hell of a top 2 line I called it out the first game Russia played to which some people responded in the manner of "people still don't know how Pavel plays". He just did not belong on that line with the way the other 2 were playing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest zackmorris Report post Posted February 21, 2010 Translation: We're letting the big baby have his bottle. How pathetic. He plays like a puck hog idiot and then gets his way. Go Russia BTW Pav and Ovie were money. Semin was clearly the weak link there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GMRwings1983 8,804 Report post Posted February 21, 2010 Pavel has looked quiet so far, which is unfortunately indicative of they way he's played since the last playoffs. I want to see him dangle with the puck more frequently. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest zackmorris Report post Posted February 21, 2010 Pavel has always looked quiet. It's just how he plays. After nine years we still don't know the guy very well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FunkedUp 29 Report post Posted February 21, 2010 (edited) Pav is just the odd man out in this situation. You're not going to separate Ovie and Semin, so this is just the way it works. The Ovie-Pav-Semin line seems good on paper, but I don't think they were very good. There seemed to be indecisiveness. If you had the luxury of time, then I'm sure they'd develop some chemistry. I think Pav needs to be playing on the top line, because you need some defense. Ovie-Malkin-Semin is definitely defensively challenged. If they end up playing teams like Canada, the US, or Sweden then this will show. For Olympics sake, I think they should separate Ovie and Semin and Keep Pav with Ovie, but like I said before that probably won't happen... Ovechkin-Datsyuk-Kovalchuk Semin-Malkin-Afinogenov Russia also needs someone to drive the net. If Holmstrom was Russian then there PP would score every time. Edited February 21, 2010 by FunkedUp Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thedisappearer 291 Report post Posted February 21, 2010 Pav is just the odd man out in this situation. You're not going to separate Ovie and Semin, so this is just the way it works. The Ovie-Pav-Semin line seems good on paper, but I don't think they were very good. There seemed to be indecisiveness. If you had the luxury of time, then I'm sure they'd develop some chemistry. I think Pav needs to be playing on the top line, because you need some defense. Ovie-Malkin-Semin is definitely defensively challenged. If they end up playing teams like Canada, the US, or Sweden then this will show. For Olympics sake, I think they should separate Ovie and Semin and Keep Pav with Ovie, but like I said before that probably won't happen... Ovechkin-Datsyuk-Kovalchuk Semin-Malkin-Afinogenov Russia also needs someone to drive the net. If Holmstrom was Russian then there PP would score every time. I agree with everyone word here. It's perfect. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
titanium2 867 Report post Posted February 21, 2010 With the way Radulov played in the last game I think he could definitely create some room for Pav and Ovie. Ovechkin-Datsyuk-Radulov Kovalchuk-Malkin-Afinogenov Kozlov-Fedorov-Semin Zaripov-Zinoviev-Morozov Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dat's sick 1,002 Report post Posted February 21, 2010 Semin was clearly the weak link there. I agree with this. But I think these lines COULD work. Malkin hasn't been great but maybe he will step up when he gets what he wants: to play with Ovie. That top line has no defense in them but if they spend any time in the defensive zone the line has failed anyway. I've never been a huge fan of Kovalchuk but I feel like he has become a little bit more of a team-player in the last year. I think he might give Pavel more to work with. But I also agree with titanium, they should try Radulov on the top line. Semin can play with Kozlov and Feds who he knows from before. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest mindfly Report post Posted February 21, 2010 Meanwhile sweden wont make changes... BÃ…G f***in dug his own grave... what a ****** he is... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dat's sick 1,002 Report post Posted February 21, 2010 Meanwhile sweden wont make changes... BÃ…G f***in dug his own grave... what a ****** he is... Yeah that's idiotic.. at the very least he needs to put together some real PP-formations. We're gonna get owned by Finland. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Datsyuk2Zetterberg 1 Report post Posted February 21, 2010 swden has been pretty lucky so far, they haven't blown any team out, and both teams were close in thier games. they need PP units. And to get alfie/franzen with the sedins. But from the looks of it the sedin line will be "L3," the Z line is L1, Alfie line is L2. Although they will probably end up with similar minutes. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eva unit zero 271 Report post Posted February 21, 2010 I still say Fedorov should be centering Ovechkin. That was a money combo in Washington and Fedorov is just as good now as he was then. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
