Nah - strategy is to role 4-line depth to outlast the opposition. A valid argument can be made the Habs 3rd & 4th lines are head & shoulders better than any other CDN team in the divisionI think Bergeron is going for it without elite first line talent. Might be on the hot seat.
I suspect there will be lots of injuries due to condensed schedule this season and deeper teams - ie. able to roll 4-lines game in game out + having NHL depth on the taxi squad to come in to spell a player for a game here & there will be quite significant not only for qualifying for the playoffs but also to have a relatively fresh team one in the playoffs.I don't care if our 3rd/4th lines are better than Toronto's if our top-6 isn't.
3rd/4th liners don't win you games, the top end guys do.
Toronto's got the best top-6 of anyone in the division. Edmonton is probably second. A toss up between Vancouver/Calgary/Montreal for third-fourth-fifth place, but I don't think there's a world of difference.
I thought there were a slew of 3-games in 4-nights and back-to-backsSchedule isn’t condensed. They’re actually playing 56 games on more days than in a regular season.
I suspect there will be lots of injuries due to condensed schedule this season and deeper teams - ie. able to roll 4-lines game in game out + having NHL depth on the taxi squad to come in to spell a player for a game here & there will be quite significant not only for qualifying for the playoffs but also to have a relatively fresh team one in the playoffs.
Yeah. You can see Julien wants a heavy team like he had in Boston. Tire out the opponent. If the top line can keep opponents top lines in check then our other lines need to be better than theirs.Well obviously, it'd be nice to roll elite lines to keep up with the Leafs and the Bolts of the world.....but it's not to accumulate that type of high end talent.
But you try to get an edge where you can -- and if you can outplay the opposition for those 20 mins where lines 3 and 4 are on, you will be rewarded with a win some of the time.