Messing with the lines already?

[Wing Across The Pond 196]

Just to defend myself, I can't agree more that Holmstrom has been fantastic in his role with the Red Wings, and he is a guy that, if time had frozen, you'd put in the lineup all the time. But like someone said, I just think Cleary now does more. He battles in the corners, he does his best in front of the net, he has a bit more zip, etc. I think it works better than throwing Dats, Fil and Franzen up on the first, or something to that effect. All of these lines and beautifully balanced (apart from the third line, which is just 'Murder INC.' that line is killer). Just sad to say now that Homer is in the Maltby role c.2009, and the Draper role c.2010.

Just out of interest, did he get any PP time the other night? I saw Cleary out there with Dats and Z incidentally?

[P. Marlowe 748]

I remember there was this coach named Bowman who changed lines all the time and he did rather well.

[eva unit zero 271]

The great thing about having 3 centers in the top 6 is that we can mix things up at any time.

Five centers. That's what has made the Wings such a versatile and skilled team over the years. They find skilled centers capable of also playing the wing, and stack the roster with them.

Of the forwards who are on this year's team, it breaks down as such for natural wingers:

Brunnstrom and Mursak are yet to play.

Holmstrom and Eaves have played one game.

Cleary, Bertuzzi, and Miller have each played both games.

The rest of the lineup is centers.

So of the 14 healthy forwards, the bottom three - based on scratches - are wingers. That leaves four wingers in the top 11, compared to seven centers. Take a look at other successful teams around the league and who their best players are. Pittsburgh; top three forwards are centers. Chicago, four of their top five are natural centers. Tampa Bay's big three are all natural centers.

Edited October 10, 2011 by eva unit zero