saneopinion

"Keep the opinions sane and well thought out."

Canada, AB • Canada •

The Center puzzle

A month from the start of training camp all of the articles on who fits with who on what line are starting to come up. As opposed to previous years Calgary is in a dilema with center...they have too many! Langkow seems to be the obvious fit with Iginla and Tanguay, that line at times last year gave flames fans something they hadn't seen in years, tick-tac-toe passing plays resulting goals. Long since gone are the days when Jeff shantz was the number one center (shudder) and now a legitimate 80 point center now patrols for the flames.
After that though the log jam piles up, who is the number 2? Conroy could make a case as being the guy last year that switched between #1 and #2 however Lombardi made a splash at the worlds and made the brass pay attention to his speed and skill. On top of that Taratukhin comes into camp being a threat for that position as well, Keenen is likely to love this guy for his work ethic, defensive capability and slick passing. The last issue is when do you allow your talented young guys to make a leap, iron mike is known for limiting his rookies but it's hard to ignore Boyd, the guy was the number 1 at the world juniors and coming right behind him is Daniel Ryder, younger brother to Micheal Ryder, who was ohl playoff mvp and voted best center by the coach's of the ohl.
Not to mention Yelle, one of the best faceoff men in the league, a guy who will sacrifice it all to block a shot...sutter will probably be buried with yelle in his coffin. In addition to that Calgary has a number of "centers" that are interchangable with the wing as well.
It's a great problem for a new coach to have, it's at least better than shantz!

Leave a Comment

You must be logged in to leave a comment.