Tuesday, February 5, 2008

I don't get it (or "why I'll never be an NHL coach")

With Eric Fehr recalled to Washington's lineup and apparently recovered from injury, the Caps have a chance to inject some size and toughness into their linuep. Which is a good thing. Except they're injecting it into a line that doesn't need it.

Tarik reports that Fehr is going to skate on the first line, opposite Alex Ovechkin. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it the SECOND line that needs size and toughness? Let's take a look at the lines as they are reported:

Ovechkin-Backstrom-Fehr
Fleischmann-Kozlov-Semin
Laing-Steckel-Bradley
Brashear-Laich-Gordon

Doesn't it make much more sense to move Fehr to the second line? Yes, Alex Semin plays right wing as well, but he played almost his entire career at left wing, so moving him isn't an issue. I understand the need to have a better playmaker at center, so lets assume we leave Kozlov as is. That leaves Semin-Kozlov-Fehr as a solid and balanced second line.

If Fleischmann can't play the right side, move one of the Caps defensive centers to the right wing on the first line. Seems to make sense. But chemistry is an odd thing, and clearly Boudreau thinks an all skill second line has a shot at putting up some numbers. Lets just hope they don't give up a lot more than they score.

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