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2024-25 Canes Miscellaneous Thread

andyt

Canes Moderator
Staff member
Training camp is over, the roster is submitted (but almost certainly not final), time for the real thing.
 
Speaking of Coke ... are we still stuck with Pepsi products in the arena concession stands this season?
 
So ... if they do insert Blake, what do we think? Is somebody in the top 6 banged up or are they looking to shift somebody out? Surely they wouldn't keep him on the big roster to sit, and given the makeup of the bottom 6 I don't see a role that makes sense there.
 
I definitely agree with you JB. If Blake is on the roster, Blake should be playing. There is zero reason for him to be on the roster if he is not in the lineup.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that he is going into the top 6 to start. I could envision this Game 1 lineup:

Roslovic-Aho-Jarvis
Svech-KK-Necas
Martinook-Staal-Carrier
Robinson-Drury-Blake

Jost and Lemieux the extra forwards

Then your PP units:

Svech-Aho-Jarvis-Necas-Gostisbehere

Roslovic-KK-Drury-Blake-Burns (or even KK-Drury-Blake-Orlov/Walker-Burns

I think the big concern that is keeping Blake on the roster is the PP 2 unit. Without Blake in the lineup, unless you are going to steal someone from the #1 unit, icing Roslovic-KK-Drury-Orlov/Walker-Burns isn't very inspiring at all. I definitely hope they absolutely do NOT put Orlov on PP#2. like ever! I would rather have Sean Walker on PP2, either to replace Burns if he is not available OR as the 2nd Dman on that unit.

It's also possible that Blake drops Roslovic down the lineup, but I'm not seeing that to start.
 
Yeah, I guess that could work. Looks a lot like the approach to the 4th line that Brindy had the last two seasons, but the off season roster moves had me convinced that he was heading in a different direction with the bottom 6. All forecheck, all the time. Maybe not. We'll see. I'm not a huge fan of the mixed 4th line ... a heavy forechecker, a positional center and a creative wing. We've been there before and it doesn't really move the needle much. But hey, maybe it is all about PP2.

Also, let me go ahead and blaspheme here, but I'm about ready for Staal's unit to be the 4th line. If you shifted Roslovic down with Drury and Carrier or even Drury and Blake, then you could maybe generate some offensive push out of the third unit. Aho's gonna go strength to strength most of the time anyway. Give him the big line with Svech and Jarvis and he's probably winning most of those match ups. Blake with KK and Necas would be weird, but would certainly unsettle a lot of the more traditional checking units. And I'm not so sure that Staal centering Martinook and Robinson (or Jost or Lemieux) wouldn't be just fine. It would be a 4th line you wouldn't need to hide AND they'd be heavy enough not to get shoved around by teams that feature an all caveman fourth line. Yeah, it's not gonna happen but sooner or later Brindy is gonna have to accept that his Captain is a one way player now ... and that locking that many minutes up with a line that can't score regularly is making everything a little bit wonky.
 
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Blake is on the ice in a bottom 6 white jersey. Lemieux isn’t on the ice, Stillman is still in a yellow jersey.

Jarvis – Aho – Roslovic
Svechnikov – Kotkaniemi – Necas
Martinook – Staal – Carrier
Robinson – Drury – Blake (Jost)

Slavin – Burns
Gostisbehere – Walker
Orlov – Chatfield
Stillman

PP1:
Gostisbehere
Svechnikov Aho Necas
Jarvis

PP2:
Burns
Kotkaniemi Drury Roslovic
Blake
 
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So ... if they do insert Blake, what do we think? Is somebody in the top 6 banged up or are they looking to shift somebody out? Surely they wouldn't keep him on the big roster to sit, and given the makeup of the bottom 6 I don't see a role that makes sense there.
Robinson, Jost, Lemieux...are you getting anything offensively from any of those journeymen taking up "three" roster spots...I like the upside with Blake, great shot, some real offensive skill to his game...giving the kid a chance looks like a real possibility now more than ever. I agree with you JB, you do not keep Blake up to sit or waste away on the fourth line.
 
We won’t have to worry about Lemieux for a while. RBA said he was banged up in the last game and will be out a little while.
 
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