Why is Trevor Linden not playing on the second line?

DavidPratt_ · Post by **DavidPratt_** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 7:16 pm

OK,

Call me a biased Trevor Linden fan, but....why is Trevor not playing on the second line? If anyone has watched Trevor in pre-season and in the first three games, there's more of a spring in his step and a bit more quickness that he is showing out there. Pyatt was moved down to the third line and Cooke moved up to play with Bulis and Morrison.

What about giving Trevor Linden a chance?

dp

jchockey · Post by **jchockey** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 7:32 pm

Not a bad idea, dp, not a bad idea...

Linden Is God · Post by **Linden Is God** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 7:51 pm

I can dig that

MarkMM · Post by **MarkMM** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 7:53 pm

I've only seen the first and third games, but yes, I thought it was clear that Linden was one of the more noticeable players out there, moreso than Cooke or Pyatt, for sure. He's not as fast as he used to be, but I don't think he had a problem keeping up with others, he's thrown some good hits, forechecked aggressively and has been willing to go to the front of the net.

Since Pyatt couldn't seem to hold his game there and Cooke doesn't have the size to provide presence in front of the net, I'd give Linden a chance to do that job, he is a right-hand shot...

gmisinthegarage · Post by **gmisinthegarage** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 8:07 pm

I agree ..... Pull Marcus off that line for 5 on 5 then we might be more then a one line team. I don't like having them all on one line.... Dont get me wrong it works but we need more then one line. He has played with them before give it a shot again. Really the Twins DONT need Marcus on their line.

RC51 · Post by **RC51** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 9:41 pm

My only concern would be whether Linden can still finish. Watching him over the past few seasons he doesn't take the puck to the net like he used to, or play with the same confidence, especially when it comes to scoring or trying to score. But Pyatt's been a bust thus far (mind you, it's only 3 games in).

However, I think Cooke deserves a chance on the 'second' line. Personally, I'd like to see the lines juggled to Morrison, Naslund and Cooke, and try Bulis with the twins - like was originally bandied about.

hehateme · Post by **hehateme** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 1:21 am

DP, i agree, Linden should be given an opportunity. I don't know if he can finish but no one on the other three lines can anyways so he deserves a shot.
As for all you guys saying Cooke or whoever should get a chance with the Sedins......... your wrong. Who cares if they have all there top players on one line, nobody seems to be able to stop them?
It also creates opportunity for the Morrison line since everone is focused on the top line. They need to worry about getting production from the 3rd and 4th lines. They cannot always rely on the top 2 like last year as that turned to shit. Cooke, kesler, etc need some production as well as Pyatt and Burrows.

Todd Bersnoozi · Post by **Todd Bersnoozi** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 6:30 am

Nah... He sucks. He's good on the 4th line.

rikster · Post by **rikster** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 6:36 am

I'd like to see Linden tried on the Morrison/Naslud line and Bullis with the Sedins...

I like Kesler and Cooke together and think the third member of that line can be any one of Burrows, Rypien or Reid....

Moving Burrows down to the fourth line might not be a bad idea, give it some speed and energy to go along with the bigger bodies in Pyatt and Santala/Green/Chounard...

Take care...

Madcombinepilot · Post by **Madcombinepilot** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 8:38 am

The only problem with nmoving Burows, is that Kesler and Burrows almost seem to have chemistry... something this team lacks. If Burrows / Kesler/ Cooke are working (and they seem to be) then I wouldn't mess with it too much right now. I would try Linden with the Twins (remember the start he had in 03 with them before the injury?). If it doesn't work, then try Bulis and Pyatt in there for a couple games each. IF nobody finds the chemistry, then break up Burrorws, Kesler and Cooke.

I realize that the third line is not going to score many goals for us, but they do bring that "We play in thier end" part to our game. It builds momentum and thier shifts often result in offensive zone faceoffs. Between the forechecking, energy and faceoffs they bring, having that as a stable line sure makes experimenting with the scorers a bit easier....

rikster · Post by **rikster** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 9:24 am

Good thoughts Madcombinepilot...

I guess the reason I thought of moving Linden to the Morrison/Naslund line was to give it some sort of physical presence which it wouldn't if you moved Bullis to it...

The Sedins are stronger on the puck than Morrison/Naslund are which is why I thought of putting Bullis on their line...

I'm not overly sold on Burrows if for no other reason than nothing comes easy for him and I am starting to get annoyed at his constant attempts to draw penalties...

I think Reid can give them what Burrows does with more offensive upside and more speed...

Take care...

Island Nucklehead · Post by **Island Nucklehead** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 9:53 am

Putting Linden on the 2nd line might work for a game or two, but I don't think he can handle second line minutes for a whole season, he's at the stage where his carreer is winding down and he needs the 3rd/4th line minutes.

As for the rest of the team...we NEED Morrison to start earning his 3 mil. Some times during the games I forget we even have a second line. I notice the Kesler/Burrows line because of the energy and a frustrating lack of stick skills, but I don't really see much out of the Morrison line. Pyatt hasn't impressed me one bit, he may be the reason that line is disapearing.

Keep the Naslund/Sedin line together, they're the only line we KNOW can score.

Luongo is the real deal, I love not having the sick feeling in my stomach every time a puck flies towards our net. If our D stop watching him make great saves and start clearing pucks and bodies from the slot he'll keep us under 2 GA per.

Jyrki21 · Post by **Jyrki21** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 10:20 am

Island Nucklehead wrote: Keep the Naslund/Sedin line together, they're the only line we KNOW can score.

Disagree totally. NÃ¤slund is being wasted in that role, and he could get Morrison going. As I wrote in the Game Day Thread:

"I want to see an end to the NÃ¤slund-Sedin experiment now. Bringing NÃ¤slund back to Morrison and Pyatt (or Cooke, as a suggestion) will create two effective scoring lines, and get Jan Bulis going with the Twins. I don't think that line would lose too much of a step. We don't need Markus NÃ¤slund to be Anson Carter when Jan Bulis can do it. We want Markus NÃ¤slund to be Markus NÃ¤slund!"

MarkMM · Post by **MarkMM** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 11:05 am

Island Nucklehead wrote:Putting Linden on the 2nd line might work for a game or two, but I don't think he can handle second line minutes for a whole season, he's at the stage where his carreer is winding down and he needs the 3rd/4th line minutes.

As for the rest of the team...we NEED Morrison to start earning his 3 mil. Some times during the games I forget we even have a second line. I notice the Kesler/Burrows line because of the energy and a frustrating lack of stick skills, but I don't really see much out of the Morrison line. Pyatt hasn't impressed me one bit, he may be the reason that line is disapearing.

Keep the Naslund/Sedin line together, they're the only line we KNOW can score.

Luongo is the real deal, I love not having the sick feeling in my stomach every time a puck flies towards our net. If our D stop watching him make great saves and start clearing pucks and bodies from the slot he'll keep us under 2 GA per.

I too noticed that the second line wasn't out there much, but I'm not sure I'd blame that on the play of Morrison (who yes, has been quiet, though he might still be dealing with his injury, and having missed much of camp and the pre-season, is understandably behind the curve on getting his timing back) or Pyatt (who last game I did notice he went to the net well, threw some hits and backchecked well). We were dealing with a lot of penalties, so we saw a lot of our PK units, and when we had power plays, the Swedish Touch got first dibs, they were playing really well so got as much five-on-five time as they could handle. When we threw our checking line out to try to shut down the other teams top lines (happened a bit less in Colorado as they were going power to power), that ate up minutes, so just as a matter of circumstance, the second line didn't get much opportunity to play.

Meerschaum · Post by **Meerschaum** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 1:23 pm

DavidPratt_ wrote:OK,

Call me a biased Trevor Linden fan

Ok. You're a biased Trevor Linden fan!

Happy?

It'll be interesting to see how Mo responds to very publicly being benched on Sunday's game (which I missed eating Turkey). He'll be given the chance today to man the point with Lukas Krajicek on the second unit PP (with Kessler, Cooke and Bulis up front).

http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/ ... e7&k=20193

It's an interesting change for Mo - moving from Crow's doghouse to AV's doghouse. While Crow just used to complain about Brendan's play publicly, AV actually seems to be serious about stapling guys' butts to the bench if they don't produce.

If Mo and Pyatt continue to nosedive in the coach's eyes, Linden's time will no doubt come. But, because of Trevor's strength on the PK - AV will be hard pressed to give Linden too many minutes playing with the Twins in an offensive role - that's just too much ice time for the oldest guy on the team.

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Why is Trevor Linden not playing on the second line?

Why is Trevor Linden not playing on the second line?

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