Training Camp Line Combinations

by Jonathan Willis on Sep 13, 2009 6:00 AM MDT in News

Glancing through the Oilers training camp line combinations, there's something almost a little too convenient about how things shake out.

Is it possible that Pat Quinn's tipping his hand with how he's thinking of running his lines this coming year?

The top line of each group is an interesting one, and could plausibly be a set line in the coming NHL season:

O'Sullivan - Horcoff - Hemsky
Penner - Gagner - Eberle
Moreau - Cogliano - Pisani

Meanwhile, the second lines on each group show nine other players who might be in contention for a fourth line role:

Jacques - Pouliot - Stortini
Nilsson - Brule - Minard
Reddox - Potulny - Fretter

Of interest is the fact that Mike Comrie will apparently start training camp on a line between Jamie Bates and Kip Brennan; it's not the most auspicious start for the recent signing. I'd suggest that it's possible Quinn wasn't certain Comrie would be at the camp until he'd already drawn up the rosters for the three practice groups.

The top pairings for each group support the idea that Quinn's running lines he thinks he might use in the NHL this year:

Souray - Visnovsky
Grebeshkov - Gilbert
Smid - Staios

I can get behind the idea of O'Sullivan on the top line, and I think I'm a fan of the Penner/Gagner combination. If Quinn does in fact run with trios similar to these, we might seem a very similar bench strategy to what Craig MacTavish ran with last year.

It should be an interesting camp.

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Eberle should actually flourish on the right side there. He’s good at getting space and getting open and he should have both with Penner and Gagner. I’d be much happier with Cogliano on the right side there, though.

Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.

by Derek Zona on Sep 13, 2009 7:17 AM MDT reply actions

Eberle

Might as well look and see what we’ve got. Burying the guy on a grunt line won’t tell us much. The projection is top 6, might as well give him training camp in such a situation and see if he fills the net. If he does, give him 9 games.

My own projection is that he’s not even among the top 6 smurfs on the squad at this point, but to increase both his opportunity and the expectations in his second camp seems prudent development. Cogs will get his chances, as will Nilsson, Comrie and the other returnees.

Writer for The Copper & Blue

by Bruce McCurdy on Sep 13, 2009 10:17 AM MDT up reply actions

The more time guys play together, the better, at least in my book. I don’t like Cogliano at 3C at all. Monkeying around and delaying his switch to the wing hurts everyone.

Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.

by Derek Zona on Sep 13, 2009 4:39 PM MDT up reply actions

At a guess...

I think Comrie gets a spot on the Gagner line, and the rest of them stay together to start the season, with Brule & Nilsson as the extra forwards and the Pouliot line sitting 4th in order.

The only thing I’m not a fan of is Cogliano at #3C

A posse ad esse.

Writer for The Copper & Blue and OilersNation.

by Jonathan Willis on Sep 13, 2009 11:44 AM MDT reply actions

The only time I saw Eberle was at the WJC, but he reminded me a lot of Comrie. Smallish guy, so-so skater, but always seems to be in the right place around the net for loose pucks.

I highly doubt Quinn is tipping his hand because I doubt he knows these guys yet.

by RiversQ on Sep 13, 2009 12:53 PM MDT via mobile reply actions

Maybe I’m off here, but I have a hard time seeing Quinn getting his read on all of these guys strictly from training camp.

As much as he talks about ‘not knowing’ these players, he must already have a good idea what they’re capable of.

A posse ad esse.

Writer for The Copper & Blue and OilersNation.

by Jonathan Willis on Sep 13, 2009 1:20 PM MDT up reply actions

Certainly, he’s had much of the summer to chat with management and watch game tape and get a feel for players’ strengths and weaknesses.

SNN Sports - A theoretical Oilers blog (i.e. theoretically, I write stuff there)

by Doogie2K on Sep 13, 2009 4:25 PM MDT up reply actions

But the “getting to know the guys” bit is still getting play, wouldn’t you agree?

Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.

by Derek Zona on Sep 13, 2009 4:38 PM MDT up reply actions

I haven’t really paid much attention to the media the first few days. Busy week getting back to school. Sounds like it, though.

SNN Sports - A theoretical Oilers blog (i.e. theoretically, I write stuff there)

by Doogie2K on Sep 14, 2009 6:48 PM MDT up reply actions

Quinn is old, but I’m quite sure he’s seen a VCR before.

Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.

by Derek Zona on Sep 15, 2009 7:28 AM MDT up reply actions

Having now heard his interviews, I think he’s playing it up a bit. I think he intentionally avoided watching game tape to avoid bias, but he’s talked to both his people and the Oilers’. He knows who’s who.

SNN Sports - A theoretical Oilers blog (i.e. theoretically, I write stuff there)

by Doogie2K on Sep 15, 2009 7:27 PM MDT up reply actions

RQ: I watched Eberle pretty closely in Leduc the other night, and he showed that sniper’s knack for finding the seams, not just in space but in time. He’d slip into a wrinkle at just the moment the puck had a chance of arriving. So-so skaters like Joe Mullen, Brett Hull, Pierre Turgeon, and Luc Robitaille excelled in the bigs cuz they had the same skill in spades and at NHL speed. Of course it’s way too early to compare Eberle to those guys except as role models, but he certainly shows some of those tendencies.

Writer for The Copper & Blue

by Bruce McCurdy on Sep 13, 2009 4:42 PM MDT up reply actions

Yeah, that sounds right and of course Eberle seems like more of a shooter too.

I really haven’t watched much of Comrie since he left but he definitely had some of this before. Especially in close where the small guys should have trouble getting to those areas of the ice. Comrie was always really useless without the puck though – he’s now 28 and hopefully more committed to winning battles.

by RiversQ on Sep 13, 2009 10:41 PM MDT via mobile up reply actions

Mullen???

Good sir, such comps aren’t good for an Oiler fan’s heart.

Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.

by Derek Zona on Sep 14, 2009 8:32 AM MDT up reply actions

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