Reply To: Choosing Forward lines and D partners for your team.

[Tom Molloy]

Kevin we spent the first half of the season mixing the lines up and trying players at various positions. I went with the idea of putting two players together.

A few weeks ago we went with our 6 offensive players on two lines and a checking line. Our goals for has gone up by two a game and our GA by one a game. These combo's can go out on the pplay without me mixing all of the lines up. We have 9 F and 6 D and are playing with three five man units. We have two great skating tenacious D playing with the checking line and a puck mover defensive defense pair playing with each of the offensive lines.

There is no rule saying the checking line can't score and they chip in a few goals.

The problem with having offensive players on the same line with checkers is that the checkers tend to dump the puck in and dump the puck out instead of making plays and this results in a lot of puck chasing instead of puck possession.

So I think it is better to keep puck movers together and defensive forwards together so they can contribute what they are good at. The offensive players create scoring chances and the more defensive players gain zones and keep the puck in front of them.

'The Game is the Greatest Coach'
'Enjoy the Game'