ZOMG Line Change!!!

Now this is the kind of hizzle I expect from DDCfoShizzle. Well done. But please change our tag line to “Less than outstanding.”

And by always I mean since it happened in the spring. But, I was on the subway and got to thinking, let’s back up a minute and think if this could be a good thing. I know you’re upset that Duchene is being moved but are there any good teams who have this kind of center depth that have done this before.

First, I thought “Ew Red Wings, the suck, but they have Datsyuk and Zetterberg”. Hey wait! They combined those two on one line before. In fact, they did it in the season opener which yielded a win. Huh, they won a cup, maybe it’s okay, but fuck the red wings, so I moved on.

Second, I thought “Pittsburg, they have 3 centers and run a bunch of lines”. Hey wait! They moved Malkin to Crosby’s wing a bunch of times and it worked okay. Huh, they won a cup, maybe it’s okay.

Third, I thought "Part of me is annoyed because I feel like it’s an insult to Duchene, but then again, if this mean Duchene is still the face of the franchise AND that means Stastny might likely stay AND that means that the addition to the team according to my model would be a defenseman instead of a winger. Huh, maybe it’s okay.

Last, I thought “It worries me that the super depth this team has at center would be mitigated but then again it can always be adjusted backwards. All that matters is taht Duchene is happy, he puts up points, he dazzles the world, and the Avalanche win. If Radar can anchor the 2nd line, so be it. Duchene is the future and franchise of this organization and it doesn’t matter where he plays.”

I am content, I am happy, and I am logically happy and excited about this. Tear this shit up Duchene. One of your best friends will be feeding you. Use that speed down the wing and dominate these teams.

Look, if it’s good enough for Forsberg then Duchene can suck it up and make it work. It’s not a failure on Duchene’s part that he’s going to wing really. The O’Reilly line is just too damn good at this point to spread those center minutes through three lines.

As a player Duchene presents a bit of a problem for a center. First, it’s great that he’s a center because he gets more touches and you want your most talented players to touch the puck as much as possible. As the opposition it’s near impossible to “shadow” a center and shut them down (ie the 90s). Also, he’s a pretty good faceoff guy. But as far as his problems are concerned the biggest is that Duchene just hasn’t improved a whole heck of a lot defensively. His effort in the back end is good, but his positioning and ability to win those battles is pretty poor. It also seems to me that when Duchene does battle down low in his own end or start a breakout low in his zone (a rare circumstance and a HUGE problem at that) he needs a line change pretty soon thereafter.

When you think about Duchene’s scoring chances and goals scored I think of a lot of transition opportunities. He does his best work on the rush. A center is almost never first man in to the offensive zone and Duchene is a great 1 v 1 player. At wing he’s going to get that early breakout high in the zone and he’s going to be able to push the defense off the blue line with this speed (think of all the times Stewart was first in to the zone 1 v 1). Once the offense is established in the O-zone there’s really no rule that says a LW can’t skate to the right side and play the entire ice surface in that zone. The only way a winger is restricted is defensively and how they start the breakout from their own zone.

Factor and Stastny (to a lesser degree) will generally take their breakout passes way lower in their own zone than Duchene does. That’s a real healthy habit for centermen because it supports the defense and creates a better gap with your wingers on the breakout as well. When EJ is skating up the boards and gives up that turnover it’s a really bad play, we all know that. However, why is there no player within 15 feet of him to support the breakout? Because all three forwards are racing up out of the zone looking for a 20 foot outlet pass. I lay that at the feet of coaching a lot but in many cases that’s where that center should be. Duncan Keith can skate the puck out and make a beautiful 30 foot outlet pass but a majority of the time that’s now how they start a successful breakout. Typically it’s a five foot, simple pass to his centerman. Those little pass plays set up the home run passes and defensemen rushes. It’s like using a jump shot to set up your drive to the basket or the run to set up the pass. Duchene (less so than Factor and Stats) doesn’t do this. He’s a greyhound and I think putting him out on the wing is just where he works best for now.