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I’m sure many have their ideas on how the lines should be formed this season, as every season. I’d be interested to see how you all think we should go this term.

One thing that was evident from Coxy’s time with the Hornets is that he doesn’t really go with lines 1, 2 and 3 in the same way that Claude did last season. You are unlikely to see Pinc and Cesky logging up 40 minutes per game, with Calvert getting 5 minutes per game. It will be a bit more even. Personally, I would like to see 2 scoring lines and a checking line, rather than a 1st, 2nd and 3rd line and I would arrange them as follows…

1st Scoring Line
Pinc/Tribe/Cesky
Randall/Moore

Yes, I know most people would expect to see Watty remain with Pinc and Cesky. More on the reasons for that move below, when talking of the 2nd scoring line. Craig Tribe is a very intelligent player. We often saw Pinc having a go at Watty because he wasn’t doing what Pinc expected him to do. Tribe is very good positionally and I honestly think Pinc and Cesky would enjoy playing with him, in the same way that Jasik and Heitekangas did with Dan Davies. I also think Tribe would get close to the same goal tally as Watty did last season, if playing with these two.



2nd Scoring line
Jasik/Watt/Barker/Duggan
Pelikovsky/Avery

Last season, the second line lacked real offensive threat. Jasik will be a major upgrade on Claude in that respect. Moving Watt onto this line will give him a good senior Brit, who can score goals. I would then rotate A-Bar and Duggy with them. Both will be willing workers and both will chip in with a few goals along the way. Both are very offensive players. I think Avery will benefit from playing alongside Pelikovsky. Avery is very cool and good in possession of the puck and will IMHO, be able to start moves from the back.



Checking line
Miles/Calvert/Galazzi
Johnson/Waller

I know many will see it as a 3rd line and will be unhappy with the idea of Calvert on this line. I think we all agree that he deserved better last year. This year, I think the squad is slightly better and I think he is more suited to the style of a line like this. This line will almost certainly log a lot more ice time than last season’s 3rd line. All three of these guys will give 110%. Gazza offers a bit of toughness and I think they will offer more in the way of goal output than last season’s 3rd line. If you do view it as a 3rd line, it would be one of the best in the league IMHO. Most 3rd lines are willing kids. All three of these are senior players. I think BJ will surprise a few in defence. He has become a leader with the Hornets and I think he will carry this into the Bees and be a big improvement over the BJ we saw before. I think young Sam Waller will benefit from BJ’s leadership



Thoughts…

i agree with your 1st line, however id put calvert and watt with jasik on the 2nd and miles barker duggan and galazzi rotating on the 3rd. Think that spreads the scoring a bit, and i believe Tribey has the makings of a dan davies type player in him. what have we got to loose? if it doesnt pan out we can revert back to last seasons 1st line or try one of the other forwards with pinky and jaro.

I think it would be a very brave call to move Nicky from his excellent partnership with Cesky and Pinc but one that may prove to make the Bees a more balanced team with an additional offensive threat. It also gives the Bees a more balanced threat across all 3 lines.

I didn't respond immediately when I saw this post as I wanted to think about the options Buzz has proposed, once again his arguments are well thought out and what I like is that his reasons are explained in full.

I especially liked the arguments concerning Ashley Calvert who on the back of a standout year probably deserves a more prominent role this year. But the reason behind the "Checking" line are difficult to argue against in terms of the teams balance.

Having seen Craig Tribe for a number of years now I am a massive fan of his ability and I have been amazed that his "call up" to the Bees has probably taken far too long. His vision and stick handling will imo make him an excellent option to play alongside Cesky and Pinc.

Jasik and Watt on the 2nd line would also be a mustard partnership in the making.

The defensive partnerships are far less of an issue and look straight forward to me.

Overall I'd have to say Buzz 10/10 for a very reasoned and persuasive argument.

However, it's down to the man that counts - Coxy, whatever he chooses the balance of this teams looks much better than last year.

Bring on September - I cannot wait.

One slight concern.

We don't appear to have much scope should players be injured, banned or taking too many penalties. Here's hoping that our "final signing?" fills that void nicely. Assuming we have one more to come that is.

I am happy with our team now but I think we may need a bit more depth as it will be needed during the season.

Checking Line - Buzz's comments are spot on. Look how important it was to MK last year the Wales / McPherson etc line played a major factor in there success especially when up against opponents 3rd line.

I think the standout 3rd line will be Plant Towe Potts at g'ford.

I think the lines will end up as have been suggested. Tribe will be a good additional to Cesky and Pinc and i think Watty will be far more valuable playing with Jasik to give some secondary scoring. Calvert or Duggan on the second can both be effective so i would imagine it will come now to what works the best in training.

Dont think Barker should be playing 3rd line though if its going to be a checking line

I actually also like the lines Buzz has used and his reasons for doing so and the more I look at them the more I think they could work. I'd still be a little unsure about taking Watty off the top line as they had a good understanding between the three of them which doesn't need working on.

Still we'll have to see who Coxy wants to play where and I suppose it might be a case of tinkering in the pre season games to get the right mix. The D lines look pretty well set and I can't see those not being any different to those Buzz listed.

I agree with Gareth in that it would be nice to have an extra player in to cover for inury/suspension etc as even with a couple of two ways those players might not always be available to call upon. I suppose a lot depends on who is out there and who would be a good fit for the team.

To be fair, 10 forwards is about right. If one gets injured, you still have 3 lines. If 2 get injured, you play with the lines a little. If you have 11 forwards, you end up either having one sitting on the bench (Greg Martyn?) or so may players rotating shifts that they are not getting the ice time they should (Ash Calvert?) which leads to players being unhappy.

6 defencemen is the norm. Generally, they can cover for injuries within. Playing for 4 or 5 d-men isn’t really a major problem usually.

We have an 18 man full-time squad, 20 if you include Grant and Lacky. That’s a decent enough sized squad. I’d be happy enough with that. That’s what we had the past 2 seasons as well

Valid point Buzz but I was hoping any "additional player" would be more of a versatile player who is experianced and can muck in where required.

Without stating the obvious, but I will, the $64,000 question is I guess it all depends which player is missing as if its Cesky, Pinc, Jasik or Watt that would obviously have more of an impact on the side overall.

Here's hoping we keep everyone fit and on the ice.

other than either local guys or junior talent i cant imagine there will be any more additions as i cant imagine there would be any budget to support it.

I think they go with what theyve got and see what happens. I think its an upgrade on last year and i think that the upgrades are in the key areas as well, i.e. secondary scoring and a bit more experience

Not sure where the "bit more experience" comes from Pucky -
Jasik for Dumas*
Pelikovsky for Bomber
no Bicknell
4 guys with little or no EPL experience.

*Mind you, the only player with more experience than Claude is Steve "Pensionbook" Moria

In Jasik though it should give us a good upgrade in additional firepower.

My chief concern is defense. We were poor there last season and I'm not sure we've made much of an upgrade there. Even if we have improved it reasonably well, will that be enough to cope with the firepower carried by Flickers and Slow?

I thought Cox was trying to get a two way player signed up?


Anyways, a very different view to me on how the lines should look, and I cant fault your logic at all, I'd be interested buzz to see your penalty kill and powerplay lines. My standard lines would be:

Cesky Watt Pinc
Randall Moore


Miles Tribe Jasik
Pelikovsky Avery

Calvert/Galazzi/Barker/Duggan
Waller Johnson

Frankly I dont mind how the lines shape up, as long as we have firepower and agression on each line. Every line can put points up and not be pushed around. Not having seen Tribe play at all, Id be slightly concerned if he were on the first line, not about putting the points up, becuase lets be honest any player could be there with Pinc and Cesky. But I'd be worried that could Tribe protect Pinc and Cesky?

People have said it would be brave/risky/whatever to mix up the lines and whatnot, but I'd welcome a coach who isnt afriad of mixing things up and taking chances. I dont thing Dumas did that at all, he seemed to just whack the first line out if we were in trouble.

I'm a person like a few others that is slightly worried about the amount of young players, also by the fact that Ive never seen a few of them play, I would have liked to have seen at least one or two more seasoned EPL players, but I guess the budget only allows for the team that we have. But saying that I'm looking forward to this season more than this one

When i say experience, i was talking really of the third line. Last year i saw it as A strong 1st, a 2nd that didnt contribute enough and a 3rd that conceded too many. I think now, the first is the same, the second will provide more scoring and the third should be stronger.

The big question really is defensively, i guess we just hope Peli is a Nick Lidstrom

There were also a lot of games where teams stopped that top line from scoring... Bringing something slightly different might just do the trick, OR rotating Nicky with a.n.other over time, may also prove worth it, in certain games.

Watty has to stay on the top line for me, both as protection and the bond they already have.

As for Guildford's 3rd line, don't think you'll see Towe on it. He is far too good to drop from 2nd line Elite to 3rd line EPL.

I think that I would prefer to stick with Buzz's options, after thinking about it the only possible change I would consider would be the possible option of swapping Tribe with Duggan but I think Craig's extra size on the top line swings it in his favour imo.