Hey kids! Guess what? Nikolai Antropov is going to grace us with his very large presence tomorrow evening down at the Ramsay Hockey Fun Park when the Preds come down from the hills to battle your pre-season Thrashers. How do I know? 'Cuz Chris Vivlamore of the AJC told me so. I'm not gonna bother posting a link cuz I'm just a lazy blogger who is out to destroy journalism and what's left of its integrity (wink, wink). At any rate, I am very exciting about seeing the "Big Nik-lipse" take the ice for the first time this season.
Which got me to thinking about potential line-ups for Wednesday nite. Don't worry, I'm not going to bore you to death with another laborious read about how I conjured up lines for the next game. But I'm thinking it's a safe bet that we'll see this first line iteration against the Nashville Preda-bores...yeah, I said it!
Pain Train -- The Big Nik-lipse -- B-Litts (hey, that rhymes with "lipse!")
Anyway, we already know that Niclas Bergfors has good chemsitry with Mr. An-TROP-ov, but it's time to see if a Big Nik / Kaner combo can bear some first line fruit. And since Niclas Bergfors played last nite in the 'Ville, then I think it's safe to assume we'll see Bryan Little back at right-wing, since we seem to be a bit thin there right now. As for the other lines, I have no clue. I reckon Coach Ramsay will select his line-up carefully and thoughtfully so he can test a few more of his line chemsitry experiments before setting his roster in stone for the final two pre-season tilts.
Before I stumbled upon the aforementioned Nik-nugget, I was ruminating on the collected thoughts and carefully crafted hypothesizing of one, Ben Wright of the Blueland Blog. In his blog he relates three interesting points about the Opening Night roster and how certain pre-season phenomena are impacting our lives as we relish earnestly the beginning of the new season. In it he discusses the success of the "Freddy Mo-Pevs" line (or "Fred-Rich Pettersson" line as Ben likes to call it), Alexander Burmistrov's strong run at a pro contract and the emergence of Anthony Stewart as a wild-card roster possibility. I know!!! Yes, it could actually happen.
Why?? Because we are suddenly on the verge of becoming desperately thin on the right side of our forward line combos. Not to say that you can't have a lefty playing his off-wing, but that doesn't seem to be the desired look Rammer is looking to achieve. As illustrated by his discussions with the press, as well as his pre-season line-ups thus far, Ramsay seems to prefer a strategy in which wingers play on their natural side since his overall approach -- one of attacking with an aggressive forecheck as a team -- is better served without the risk of players trying to dangle through the neutral zone on their off wing.
But no matter how you slice it, there is a dearth of right-handed players in camp. Of the 20 forwards listed on the current roster, only 6 of them are right-handed and that's if you include Rich Peverley, whom everyone expects to play the pivot. And if Little and Chris Thorburn both play in the middle, then only Bergfors, Pettersson and Stewart remain as natural right-wingers to play on the right side. As a result, Stewart's energized and effective play thus far in the pre-season isn't the only basis for thinking he may have a shot at the final roster.
Humor me as I fancy an Opening Night line-up such as this:
Kaner - Antropov - Bergfors
Modin - Peverley - Pettersson
Ladd - Burmistrov - Little
Eager - Thorburn - Stewart
All 4 RW would be right-handed and all LW would be left-handed. Obviously, that is not a reason unto itself for assigning roster spots. And we all know that players end up on both sides of the ice especially on offense throughout a game. But when it comes to defensive support and assisting the D-men on break-outs from the defensive zone, Ramsay would probably prefer the above scenario as it shortens the distance of a chip-out or outlet pass from the wall if a wing is providing support. Not to mention the fact that a 4th line that weighs roughly 700 lbs can weigh heavily on the minds of opposing D-men as those three are barreling down on you for a loose puck in the corner.
At this point in time, it is anyone's guess as to whether Stewart, Nigel Dawes, Patrick Rissmiller or even Enver Lisin has the clearest edge for the final 4th line roster spot. But going on solely pre-season game performance, Anthony Stewart looks like the clear favorite right now. What do you think?
1 comment:
As usual, your Nik nuggs are scintilating!
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