Revolving Door Syndrome: The Vancouver Canucks Fourth Line
Canucks Coach - Alain Vigneault
Written by: Larry “The Nucks IceMan” Johnson
I’ve got a bone to pick with Coach Alain Vigneault and his reluctance to give the fourth line players enough ice time to establish themselves. Look at it this way, if you gave any of the Canuck top line players seven to nine minutes a night, would they be able to demonstrate their scoring prowess?
Remember, there was a time when Ryan Kesler and Alex Burrows played on the fourth line when they first joined the Canucks from the Manitoba Moose.
Since the start of the season the fourth line has been like a long line-up for a Boxing Day Sale. The only player that has remained has been Tanner Glass. He has played with Jeff Tambellini, Jannik Hansen, Peter Schaeffer, Guillaume Desbiens, Alex Bolduc, Rick Rypien, Mario Bliznak, Joel Perrault, Jonas Andersson and now Aaron Volpatti. That’s ten, and counting.
One of Canucks GM Mike Gillis’ off season priorities was to rebuild the third and fourth line, so that they could spread the scoring around. He has been successful in rebuilding a third line but the fourth line is a mess. Sure the fourth line is supposed to supply energy and grit, but the Canucks wanted some scoring from it also.
So far the full extent of the fourth line scoring is Glass with his three goals and Bliznak (back in Manitoba) with one. It’s not as if these players I listed were not goal scorers before they became professional hockey players and suddenly forgot how to produce. Yes, their roles have changed but the ability has not, just the amount of ice time in which to score.
Tanner Glass
Even when injured Mason Raymond returns the ripple down effect will not solidify that fourth line. It will only create another player movement, most likely down to Manitoba. So how do the Canucks manage this badly needed and important part? Yes, important part.
The minutes that are gobbled up by the fourth line allow the other lines rest time. They provide the energy and grit when the team is lethargic, and can turn around the flow of a game with one or two shifts. They are usually the players that answer the bell when the other team’s enforcer is running around trying to impart his will on their team.
Surely there must be a combination that Vigneault could put together and roll them out for a number of games (10) to allow them to gel?
Canucks - Alex Bolduc and Oilers - Gilbert Brule
Before Bolduc and Desbiens got injured there seemed to be a possibility of them and Glass being the answer. Bolduc and Desbiens returned recently from the IR but Desbiens is now back in Manitoba. So here we are again back to square one, only this time Volpatti replaces Desbiens.
The other part of this problem is the ongoing line matching that usually dictates how much time the fourth line will receive. That’s because the other team does not want its fourth line up against the opposition first or second. What’s more, penalties, power plays and the score also factor into this time allotment.
There are nights when some of the fourth line players only see four or five minutes, hardly enough to work up a sweat.
The Canucks have something like 21 games over the next 40 days and will need all four lines rolling in order to get through it without running out of gas and also to escape injuries. Let’s hope that Vigneault finds a way of guiding the team through it by letting the crash and bang guys play.
To catch all the news, updates and new articles as they occur, along with the Canucks farm team the Manitoba Moose, you can follow me @twitter.com/nucksiceman.com and @communities.canada.com/VANCOUVERSUN/blogs/fanattic/default.aspx
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