cmccomb

...Did we resign Johnson, he's a UFA this summer too, we only have 2 centers on contract. With that said though Hodgson and Schroeder won't play 4th line so if they both make the team one of them will have to play wing. Considering Schroeder has a history of being able to switch to the wing, it'll probably be him. Drafting smaller players is always a gamble. I'm fully aware of the ones that make it but the reality is most of them don't. The upside for Schroeder is that he's built well so I'll have some confidence, plus his success in the AHL is a good sign.

I'm sorry but at the end of the day if we go back to the last half of last season to now, Wellwood is beyond under producing. Bernier is too valuable with his physicality and net presence to give 4th line minutes. Grabner is back and he's still playing in Manitoba, he's not coming right now. AV is also know for tinkering lines when he needs too. With the deadline approaching we need to know where Demitra fits in, they're going to have to put him on both the 2nd and 3rd lines if they want to figure it out. Placing Samuelsson on the 3rd line for a few games isn't going to just break the chemistry of that 2nd line, lets not forget the outcry we had when we broke up Kesler and Burrows and looked how well that worked out. Personally I think Wellwood is gone or at least he should sit a few games and lets see a 3rd line of Bernier Demitra Samuelsson and either call Grabner back up or give Hansen that 2nd line wing spot. I'd like to see what Wellwood can do as a winger maybe he gets a shot at 2nd line wing. These line combinations would give us the ability to roll 3 solid lines that would be hard to check and a threat to score. The fact is Wellwood is too small to center a 3rd line and if we don't change that we will loose in the post season much like we did last season. While we are excellent in many areas, physicality is an area we don't excel at. This is why we would be incredibly stupid in placing a bang and crash guy like Bernier on the 4th line.

Well we are going to have to back it up with some wins, but yeah good to break the streak. With the skills competition and a win and with some rest, we should be pretty loose going into Edmonton, hopefully that's what we need to get back on track. I'm not surprised we beat an Eastern team, they've been awful against the West all year.