Nucks IceMan Makes the Coach’s Move on the Canucks Sedins
This is going to be short and sweet. I have been pondering about this Sedin dilemma and what would be the best way to rectify it. I have put on my coach’s hat and have come up with a way for the Canucks to kick start the Sedins in the play-offs. Because realistically, the Canucks can’t win without their contribution.
Coach Vigneault has done this in the past and it’s time to take a page from his coaching expertise. My move – split the Sedins up! Stay with me here and I’ll lay out the lines for you.
Vigneault’s philosophy about lines is that he always kept at least two players (duos) that were familiar with each other on the same line. After watching Ryan Kesler’s line play, you don’t go messing with what has become the Canucks number one line. So we move on to line number two.
Henrik Sedin centres Alex Burrows on one side and Jannik Hansen on the other side. Without Daniel to pass to, this forces Henrik to shoot when he has opportunities, instead of looking for Daniel.
If you recall two seasons ago, when Daniel was out with the injury that kept him out for 19-20 games, Henrik ended up that season with 29 goals, the Art Ross and Hart Trophy year. Since Burrows and Hansen are grit type players, they can create the space that Henrik needs to operate, and Henrik will be forced to use those two for play-making.
Burrows has proven that he can score and who knows how Hansen will do, but at least he can supply a fore-check and back-check on that line. This line will not, I repeat NOT, be trapped in their own zone because of an inability to get the puck out or be hard on the puck carrier.
Photo courtesy of Yahoo Sports - Daniel Sedin's winning goal
Line three would have Maxim Lapierre at centre between Raffi Torres and Daniel Sedin. In that line you have a mixture of grit, sandpaper and scoring possibilities in Daniel.
Definitely Lapierre and Torres can create space for Daniel with their checking, and they can also be defensively responsible. This also forces Daniel to be more of a shooter, and he will have to play in the interior because of the way Lapierre and Torres play, instead of the perimeter player he and Henrik have been.
Without contributions from the Sedins in this play-off, as I wrote in the previous article, and also at the beginning of this one, I do not believe the Canucks can advance beyond round three.
That’s if they get past round two against Pekka Rinne and the Predators.
Photo Credits – AP, Getty Images and Yahoo Sports!
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Henrik Sedin and Alex Burrows in Celebration
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Filed under: Vancouver Canucks
I agree 100% but I don’t know about Danny playing on a third line…our third line has always been known to be as physical as the 4th line, sometimes more physical, as well as create scoring opportunities. Here is what I was thinking and let me know if I am right in some way lol I was thinking Henrik could play with Burrows and Raymond on the 1st line, Raymond can use his speed to create more open-ice for Henrik and Burrows can do the same, giving Henrik more opportunities to score. The thing with that line is that it adds a certain element of danger to the opposition because any one of those players can score. As for Daniel. I think he would flourish with Kesler and Higgins. Higgins has clearly demonstrated that he can score and has taken over Raymond’s spot on the second line because of his stellar play. Kesler is a born leader, we can all see that so he will definitely carry that line. The pressure is off for Daniel to be constantly aware of his brother and ready to accept a pass at any given moment. Now he has the option of carrying the puck in and shooting from where ever he likes or passing it to either Kesler or Higgins who can finish also or receiving passes from those two as well. The thing I like about this line is that it has the top 2 scorers on your team on one line as well as one of your top playoff performers in Higgins. That, along with the Raymond, Henrik, Burrows line, is sure to kick-start the offense and be a massive problem for the opposition; they can’t contain all of them so chances are one of these guys on either lines are going to score.
I like it. The reason I didn’t split the Kesler line up is because of it’s current success. As they say, if it ain’t broke, then don’t fix it.
Agreed! AV is definitely not going to touch the Kesler line! I understand now why you put Sedin on the third line (strange how I didn’t see the logic in that until game 3 when Kesler started to build on his epic tear). I have faith that the twins will break out and return to their regular season dominance in Round 3 because of the shifts we saw in Game 5 and their efforts today which led to a Daniel Sedin goal and a Henrik Sedin assist.