Cataclaw Posted November 29, 2006 Share Posted November 29, 2006 I'm not seriously proposing a mix-up of the lines, especially not with a 7-3-0 record in our last 10 games. This is merely a speculative "what-if" thread. Alex and Saku have been doing rather well together on the power play. It begs the question... maybe Special K (aka Kovalev-Koivu) should be back together for a while, perhaps until Higgins returns. It would concentrate a lot of talent on the first line, maybe too much, but i think it would be fun to see. Those two always seemed to click pretty well. They form a powerful duo that complete each other. One is a big heavy slow russian who is one heck of a sniper and the undisputed king of puck control. The other is a speedy gutsy playmaking deke machine who can also find the back of the net. What do you guys think? Just trying to stir discussion, don't actually want/expect any changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bacchus Posted November 29, 2006 Share Posted November 29, 2006 I'm not seriously proposing a mix-up of the lines, especially not with a 7-3-0 record in our last 10 games. This is merely a speculative "what-if" thread. Alex and Saku have been doing rather well together on the power play. It begs the question... maybe Special K (aka Kovalev-Koivu) should be back together for a while, perhaps until Higgins returns. It would concentrate a lot of talent on the first line, maybe too much, but i think it would be fun to see. Those two always seemed to click pretty well. They form a powerful duo that complete each other. One is a big heavy slow russian who is one heck of a sniper and the undisputed king of puck control. The other is a speedy gutsy playmaking deke machine who can also find the back of the net. What do you guys think? Just trying to stir discussion, don't actually want/expect any changes. I think that the strategy is to look long term ... as long as the team continues to win, keeping 2 offensive lines going with rookies and softmores gaining valuable experience will probably bear sweet fruit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canajun Posted November 29, 2006 Share Posted November 29, 2006 softmores?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justintb Posted November 29, 2006 Share Posted November 29, 2006 I'm not seriously proposing a mix-up of the lines, especially not with a 7-3-0 record in our last 10 games. This is merely a speculative "what-if" thread. Alex and Saku have been doing rather well together on the power play. It begs the question... maybe Special K (aka Kovalev-Koivu) should be back together for a while, perhaps until Higgins returns. It would concentrate a lot of talent on the first line, maybe too much, but i think it would be fun to see. Those two always seemed to click pretty well. They form a powerful duo that complete each other. One is a big heavy slow russian who is one heck of a sniper and the undisputed king of puck control. The other is a speedy gutsy playmaking deke machine who can also find the back of the net. What do you guys think? Just trying to stir discussion, don't actually want/expect any changes. I couldn't agree with you more...They have some kind of hidden chemistry between them. I like how Guy is utilizing them on the PP Unit. It looks dangerous out there...I think that if the lines would be this...the Canadiens might put a few more pucks in the net... Latendresse-Koivu-Kovalev Samsonov-Plekanek-Ryder Johnson-Bonk-Perezhogin 4th line? If the first line starts to click, and the second line doesn't go anywhere...i would move Ryder down to the fourth line...I know that is a bold statement, but he is just not playing up to his potential right now...A few games down on line four would maybe smarten him up a little bit....It did for Perezhogin when he went on the 4th line at least...he's been playing great ever since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
habsfan88 Posted November 29, 2006 Share Posted November 29, 2006 I couldn't agree with you more...They have some kind of hidden chemistry between them. I like how Guy is utilizing them on the PP Unit. It looks dangerous out there...I think that if the lines would be this...the Canadiens might put a few more pucks in the net... Latendresse-Koivu-Kovalev Samsonov-Plekanek-Ryder Johnson-Bonk-Perezhogin 4th line? If the first line starts to click, and the second line doesn't go anywhere...i would move Ryder down to the fourth line...I know that is a bold statement, but he is just not playing up to his potential right now...A few games down on line four would maybe smarten him up a little bit....It did for Perezhogin when he went on the 4th line at least...he's been playing great ever since. I agree. Samsonov and Plekanec are not big shooters. When they do shoot, its always something special, but they always seem to want to pass more. Putting Ryder on that second line would be pretty cool to see because he has a beautiful wrister and he can utilize that by taking the incredibly creative passing from Plekster and Sammy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oleg Petrov Posted November 29, 2006 Share Posted November 29, 2006 Carbonneau's happy with the way Ryder's playing right now, even if he's not scoring. He's satisfied the effort is there, so I don't see him sending him down to the fourth. He's said the same thing about Samsonov. But I do like the idea of putting Koivu and Kovalev back together. Wasn't a Koivu-Kovalev-Perezhogin line on fire in October '05? You do have to be careful when messing up chemistry, but neither of the top two lines is scoring even-strength, so I don't see any downside to mixing it all up from zero. Ryder hasn't been married to Koivu forever - I feel like he was on Ribeiro's line for quite a while last season. Even if the new setup has one line scoring and the other doing nothing, that's one better than what we have now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huzer Posted November 29, 2006 Share Posted November 29, 2006 You do have to be careful when messing up chemistry, but neither of the top two lines is scoring even-strength, so I don't see any downside to mixing it all up from zero. Ryder hasn't been married to Koivu forever - I feel like he was on Ribeiro's line for quite a while last season. Even if the new setup has one line scoring and the other doing nothing, that's one better than what we have now... It was Dags-Ribeiro-Ryder to start the year last year. Higgins/Perezhogin/Bulis all saw time on the LW as well before Gainey took over. That's when Higgins-Koivu-Ryder was born. I'd love to see Kovalev play on Koivu's line again. Those would be 2 big bodies on Koivu's wing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beliveau1 Posted November 29, 2006 Share Posted November 29, 2006 Everybody's a coach.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huzer Posted November 29, 2006 Share Posted November 29, 2006 Everybody's a coach.... I'm coaching my horrific team here! We're undefeated in 1 game...woohoo! This is the year we turn it around, I know it! Now that I've thought about it, the second line has played well, IMO, the past few games. They had a few dominant possessions in the Philly game that I remember. Give them a little more time. Plekanec's speed has been much more apparent this time around. I still won't cry if Koivu and Kovalev get reunited at some point, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoRvInA Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 I'm coaching my horrific team here! We're undefeated in 1 game...woohoo! This is the year we turn it around, I know it! Now that I've thought about it, the second line has played well, IMO, the past few games. They had a few dominant possessions in the Philly game that I remember. Give them a little more time. Plekanec's speed has been much more apparent this time around. I still won't cry if Koivu and Kovalev get reunited at some point, though. I would agree only and only if it meant Koivu Kovalev AND Sammy... then when higgins comes back have the younglings play on one line ... Higgins centering Lats and Ryder.. in any case we have discussed this when we spoke of ... what happens when Higgins comes back thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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