Offense: Keep in mind that in Hartford, players play in combinations, not in positions – this is why we have 9 left wings and only one center on our regular season roster. This means that guys will play with several different lines within one game, and that it is hard to figure out sometimes whether they got caught in the middle of a line change or if Paddock is just doing something different again. I am going to show you some combinations you may see in the post-season, plus a few that I would like to see myself.
The "decoy" offense: Brad Mehalko – Derek Armstrong – Brad Smyth. Melks rushes around crashing into everyone while the other team tries to keep track of Army dancing around on the ice – meanwhile Shooter throws everyone off his tracks by falling down. Then, while the other team is still laughing, he picks up the puck behind the goal line and throws it in the net from an unbelievable angle. Then he punches the guy who was laughing at him.
The "get the business done" line: Boyd Kane – Dave Duerden – Brad Smyth. Brad wants the puck, Dave wants to avoid being hit, and Boyd knows he is on the ice for some reason that seems to involve running into the glass face first as often as possible (although he kicks the boards as he does so, so it sounds like he didn’t completely miss his check). Boyd hits someone, Dave stands in front of the net, and Shooter puts it home. Dave will pick up any garbage that gets dropped as well. Boyd will be found glaring at an opposing player off on the side.
The "I’m gonna whip this team into shape if it’s the last thing I do" line: Kenny Gernander and whatever two kids need some help. Kenny plays with whoever needs a bit of help on the ice, like Garrett Bembridge on his first few shifts or Boyd Kane when he was struggling before getting sent to Charlotte. But I guess that is what captains are supposed to do. His steadying hand might help out Todd Hall or Ryan Tobler as well, in my opinion.
The "lost soul" line: Todd Hall – Ryan Tobler – Brad Mehalko. Don’t expect much of this line, they apparently exist just to rest the other combos. They look completely bewildered out on the ice.
The ‘speedy kid’ line: Brad Mehalko – Manny Malholtra – Garrett Bembridge. Manny played some with Tony and Kenner last year, but Tony is injured and I think Kenner may be quite a bit beneath him on the line ranking right now. Would be fun to see him with Melks and baby Garrett this spring, to give him speed up the wings to play with.
The "go for the gold" line: Manny Malholtra – Derek Armstrong – Brad Smyth. With Derek passing, Brad shooting, and Manny crashing the net, could we go wrong? I think not….
The "I’m not going to fight you" line: Jeff Toms – Derek Armstrong – Chris Kenady. Kenner and Toms both act as though they could whip your ass if you weren’t so far beneath their effort - they openly laugh in opposing players’ faces, and Kenady has gone so far as to give guys the "run along, little boy" hand gesture while leaning casually on the net. Army tends to drop like he’s been shot when someone even looks at him funny, and unbelievably almost always gets the call. This line has never played together, but I think it would be highly entertaining.
The "puck hog" line: Boyd Kane – Jeff Toms – Brad Smyth. I just want to watch these three do battle with each other for the puck. Jeff and Shooter refuse to give up a chance to shoot, and Boyd doesn’t appear to have the sense to realize when he should do so. Obviously, this line would never work, but it would be lots of fun to watch.
The "let’s get ready to rummmbllllllllle…" line: Richard Scott – Ryan Tobler – Benny Carpentier. These three want to fight so bad, they would probably fight each other if they couldn’t get anyone on the other team to dance. In real life, it often seems that a fighter gets put onto one of Army’s lines along with someone else who is there just to tango while a little blood-letting goes on – Army usually heads for the blueline to hang out while the real stuff is going on. A little kid asked Tobler at the team skate who would win if he fought Richard Scott, but Ryan just said, "Why would I fight him? He’s on my team!" Yeah, tell that to Burke Henry, who ended up with two black eyes courtesy of Dale during training camp!
And, of course, there still are the question marks of Jamie Lundmark, Pavel Brendl, and Filip Novak. But among the three, I have only seen Pavel play before, so there isn’t a lot I can say here.
SUMMARY: Offensively, we have what it takes when it comes to talent for putting the puck into the net. We are seriously lacking in tough guys who can intimidate the other team without having to fight (and thus disappearing for the rest of the night) but even if our "regular" guys would finish their checks and play more aggressively, we would be okay. The team relies too much on Army and Shooter to get things done for them, and the talent level falls off very quickly after that. A couple of the younger guys want it, but effort is too uneven across the board.
Defense: With the heart-rending loss of Tomas, obviously our defensive pairings are up in the air right now. We have seen some new pairings the last few games, and they aren’t that different than the others. Wes Jarvis will likely sit out the games unless Bast has to do so due to the veteran’s rule.
The "dirty play" pair: Ryan Bast and Terry Virtue. Terry is much better at not getting caught, but both of these guys like to slash, trip, cross check, and generally maim the other players when possible. Ryan spends waaaaay too much time in the box, though, he needs to take some lessons from Terry.
The "watching the world go by" pair: Jason Doig and Burke Henry. Jason looks annoyed to have to chase the puck, and Burke – well, I think I will reserve my comments about Burke for once. Let’s just say this may be our least enthusiastic pairing.
The "wanna fight?" pair: Drew Bannister and Jason Doig. These two are lippy when they play together, more than ready to go with anyone who messes with them or their goalie. They seem to have permanent bad moods on the ice, and would love nothing more than to take that out on an opposing player.
The "mystery" pair: Peter Smrek and Mike Mottau. Will these two play together? Who knows… looking forward to seeing both of them in Hartford this week.
SUMMARY: Defense is the strongest of our areas right now, but can be moody. Hopefully the youth infusion will kick some life back in this bunch, which can be downright nasty about letting opposing forward get close to our net. Crafty, crabby, and good with the puck, this group can take care of their end of the ice.
Goaltending: the suspense has ended since Vitali Yeremeyev went down with a sprained MCL today, causing Johan Holmqvist to leapfrog into the #1 position for the playoffs. Baby Bryce Wandler will be called up from the UHL since our ECHL goaltender Jason Labarera is currently busy with playoffs in Charlotte.
SUMMARY: Johan does well whenever Vitali is out of town, so perhaps he will flourish in the next few weeks – he shut the door tonight after Vitali went down, turning away all 23 shots he faced. What isn’t very comforting, though, is that whenever Vitali returns from New York, the first game he gets back Johan tanks – like he can’t handle the pressure of having competition. The pressure of playoffs can be fierce, so I am worried about that. We’ll see soon, though, as the post-season starts in just three days.
OVERALL: I don’t know what the odds-makers are saying about the Pack in the post-season, but we do know now that we will be facing the Providence Bruins in the first round. Unfortunately, the Big B’s got knocked out of the playoffs, so they will be sending a healthy group down to join the kids in Rhode Island. The Pack has always struggled with the Bruins, but ever since a shocking 8-1 spanking administered to the Bruins back on December 27th (the one game I missed this year, wouldn’t you know it?) we haven’t lost to the Bruins. I am going to say Pack in 5 for the first round. If we don’t make it, it will be because our offense just didn’t put in the effort.
Heather
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