What kind of lineup do the Bolts need to go all the way??

[sandalskate]

There is a line of thought out there....that the Bolts can get by and go all the way with small fast guys that play faster than big moderate- tempo players. I believe when Yzerman came in as GM, he subscribed to "the fastest smartest player over all else" mentality. I believe in general this is not a successful formula, because come playoff time, grit/ sandpaper is an overriding factor in long term success. Look at the Kings for example. Tons of skill, yes. BUT...they also smashed their way to the cup, physically running over anyone between them and the puck. Size and physicality make a huge difference in June when the ice surface shrinks to two steps and a pass....
There is a place for dynamic speed and dazzling puck handling oh yes! But it must be complimented by grit and sandiness, big boys in bad moods when they get to the wall or the corner...Bringing up Nacho Libro and bringing Crombeen are moves I'm very comfortable with- I don't like to see Matt Cook cross check the SS Lightning ( Steven Stamkos) seven times in the head any more than Stevie Y does....!!!

[Top Shelf]

As an example the best defenseman who ever lived was average sized by today's standards but extremely fast and smart -- so much that he became an undying legend for puck movement rather than for people and teeth movement One of SFY's former teammates is one of the best Dmen ever, maybe second place, and he's smaller, also fast and extremely smart. SFY's never been a proponent of overpowering physicality as a key element, so it's no surprise he values the smaller, quicker, smarter players. It can work, but the players have to be on every night, stay healthy and absolutely must think and function as a single unit. Like the Bolts making the playoffs, I'm not sure that's realistic to expect at this point, but certainly something to hope and root for

[sandalskate]

the forward lines look something like:
Ryan Malone - Steven Stamkos - Martin St. Louis
Cory Conacher - Vincent Lecavalier - Teddy Purcell
Benoit Pouliot - Tom Pyatt - B.J. Crombeen
Adam Hall - Nate Thompson - Dana Tyrell
P.C. Labrie
Defense should be Matt Carle - Sami Salo
Eric Brewer - Victor Hedman
Brian Lee - Brendan Mikkelson
Keith Aulie - Marc-Andre Bergeron
And goaltending
Anders Lindback
Mathieu Garon

[Donnie D]

Yesterday one of the papers said that Hedman and Salo were together along with Brewer and Carle.

But that could have changed by now.

[RSchmitz]

Like it, surprised to not see Connolly though

[thefly]

I hope that victor will get more pp-time than last season. think he is changing spots with bergeron on the 2nd unit

[jason_haas]

You need depth scoring. Everyone's top 6 is usually a wash -- look at the last two years...guys like Brown, Nolan, King, and Stoll for the Kings...Kelly specifically for the Bruins.

Nick Lidstrom wasn't tiny at 6' 2", but he was not a burly dude. He just always had himself in the right position and was economical with his movements - I'm quite certain he missed less than 50 games over his career.

[pete]

Our d-corps is 3,000,000 x more mobile than last year. Unfortunately, we may not see the benefits of that in full for several weeks while Boucher installs his system.

[Kowalski]

I think the Lightning are quickly building towards SFY's vision of a cup contender. Those Red Wings teams that were always in contention were never physical. Neither were the Blackhawks or Penguins when they won recently. The Kings and Bruins were both tough, physical teams, but obviously skating and skill are valued more in today's NHL. If the Lightning have a D-corps that can quickly get the puck out of the defensive zone up to our skilled forwards, we don't have to worry as much about a big, physical team. The Lightning just have to win by outskating their opponents and being tenacious on the forecheck.

[KyleFreadrich43]

Originally Posted by Kowalski

Those Red Wings teams that were always in contention were never physical. Neither were the Blackhawks

Really? I know they came across that way in the regular season, but come playoff time....different story.

Red Wings.

96/97 - Shanahan, McCarty, Konstantinov, Lapointe, Draper, Rouse, Pushor, Holmstrom, Maltby, Ward, Kocur

97/98 - Shanahan, McCarty, Lapointe, Draper, Rouse, Holmstrom, Maltby, Ward, Kocur

01/02 - Shanahan, Chelios, Holmstrom, Maltby, McCarty. Though this team also had close to 10 current and potential HOF'ers.


Blackhawks

09/10 - Byfuglien, Hjalmarsson, Eager, Bolland, Sopel not as many as the Red Wings, but they had the guys that could stop it before it got out of hand, and the guys that could agitate the shit outta the other teams.