Line Predictions 09/10

Here is how F Block Blog thinks the Excel Hull Stingrays will line for their first game of the 09/10 season in a pre-season matchup with the Tilburg Trappers (Saturday 29 August).

Forwards

Line 1
#93 Huppe-#83 Cloutier-#19 Kalmikov


Line 2
#11 Reynolds-#9 Glowa-#74 Koulikov


Line 3
#20 Mitchell-#73 Thompson- #17 Esders


Rotating/replacing
#Davies

Coach Sylvain Cloutier has already expressed a desire to ice alongside fellow former AHLer Konstantin Kalmikov and long term team mate Curtis Huppe, and the season will most likely kick off with those three standing at centre ice.

The Ukrainian's skill combined with Cloutier's playmaking ability and gritty determination and Huppe's pinpoint accuracy and quick release on the shot will leave Stingrays fans dreaming of that opening 09/10 weekend.

As with last summer, last season's first line has been replaced by a, near enough, brand new first line giving the team options offensively.

A successful line last season that showed plenty of chemistry, the second line contains the Stingrays two highest pointscorers from last season (Reynolds and Glowa) with Slava Koulikov, who, despite playing just 39 games last year, recorded 30 points. The key to this line will be getting Koulikov to work hard and help out the evergreen Glowa, although last season proved that these three can work together to good effect.

The all British line of Mitchell, Thompson and Esders has plenty of junior international caps to work from, as well as an impressive combined total of 94 points from last season and a good work ethic which should stand them in good stead.

Hometown forward Matty Davies may be forced to primarily ride the pine early in the season due to his lack of experience at the top level, however injuries, form and possibly suspensions will undoubtedly play their part in handing the youngster his chance.

This third line is the only line that creates doubt as to whether Cloutier will go for the predicted lines above.

It is possibly far more likely that he plumps for experience right throughout the squad, spreading imports with Brits from lines 1 through 3, however, he has already indicated that he wants to maximise firepower by playing on a line with Huppe and Kalmikov, and as such the above may just prove to be near correct.

He has also suggested he believes that the team has the strongest lineup of centres in the league, with himself, Glowa and Reynolds, suggesting that those three could be set for the centre spot on each line and that he may spread the team's strength throughout the lines.

Defencemen

Line 1
#52 Burns -#44 Jorde


Line 2
#40 Gomenyuk-#27 Hutchinson


Line 3
#47 Knight-#13Mitchell

Again, the main decision is whether Cloutier goes for strength on all three defensive lines by separating Gomenyuk, Burns, Hutchinson and/or Jorde on all three lines, or whether he puts those four on the first two lines and leaves the supposedly weaker Knight and Mitchell on their own on the third line.

A strong first and second defensive pairing, whom ice more frequently than the third pairing, especially if Knight is to be the team's primary enforcer, is debatably the more likely choice for Cloutier.

The defensive lineups are certainly more interchangeable considering each of the six defencemen are of a similar standard defensively, the only certain thing is that Gomenyuk will need to replicate his form going forward if the team is to hope for any substantial offensive presence from defence.

Netminders

Starter
#42 Sandahl


Backup
#33 Jaszcyzk

Easy enough, Sandahl will begin his first ever season outside of Sweden in his first ever full time starting job. There is a fair amount of pressure on the Scandinavian, however his pedigree in the Swedish second tier should be more than enough to succeed at Elite League level.

Andrew Jaszczyk will start his sophomore season as Rays backup and should continue to learn from both Sandahl and the experience of Sylvain Cloutier, whose brother Dan is a former NHL netminder.