Some Quick Thoughts on Detroit’s Forward Lineup
It’s clear that the top line is one of the best if not the best in hockey. The third line is also looking pretty solid right now. The tinkering needs to be focused on the second line. It continued last night by playing Tomas Kopecky on that line. Here are the first period shifts he played with Valtteri Filppula and Mikael Samuelsson.
First Period
8:14
17:03
19:25
Mike Babcock obviously liked what he saw so he increased their ice time together - it could also be due to Detroit being on the PK a fair amount in the first period. Here are the shifts for the rest of the contest.
Second Period
0:57
2:23
5:21
5:33
8:26
Third Period
2:14
4:46
8:21
Kopy didn’t play much after that - two more shifts - as the Wings were trying to salt away the game. Kopecky was pretty solid. He can forecheck, he can cycle the puck, and he can get to the front of the net. Those are all things Mike Babcock values, so if he keeps playing the way he played last night he’s going to continue to get solid ice time.
So what does this mean when Johan Franzen returns in about a week or so? My guess is Babcock does one of two things: he either breaks up the top line [bad move in my opinion] or the Mule and Kopy both get plenty of ice time to earn a spot on that second line. So that’s what I’d like to see. Here are some combos that could be used to try and kickstart the second line.
Kopy-Fil-Samuelsson
Franzen-Fil-Samuelsson
Franzen-Fil-Kopy
I really thought Jiri Hudler would get more ice time when the Wings returned home but only Aaron Downey had less ice time than Hudler. It obviously doesn’t bode well for him. He’s gotten decent time on the power play - outside of the ZDH line only Dan Cleary has more power play minutes than Hudler - but hasn’t registered a point while playing with the man advantage. He does have a shootout goal win in the opening game against Anaheim but he just hasn’t contributed in the one area he’s expected to be a force.
So the thing I’m looking forward to is seeing how Kopecky and Franzen are utilized by Babcock. They will likely both get time on a scoring line, with Jiri Hudler probably continuing to see his minutes drop. The best thing Hudler can probably do is start to make some noise while playing with the man advantage. He’s still getting solid PP time when there are significant minutes to divvy up - he generally gets 2:30 on the power play. He’s got to make the most of those minutes.
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