Twins could use more ice, but won’t lobby
GAME PLAN: Coach Desjardins playing the Sedins on shorter shifts in the playoffs to keep them fresh
Less is more.
Even at the fork in the playoff road, Willie Desjardins is convinced there’s a method to the perceived madness of reducing the playoff ice time of Henrik and Daniel Sedin.
In Willie’s World, it’s quality over quantity, freshness over fatigue and staying the course when it would be easy to veer in another direction. Especially when Calgary Flames centre Matt Stajan labelled the Sedins two of the best NHL players in the last decade.
And even though the Vancouver Canucks could increase the twins’ minutes in Game 4 of the Western Conference quarter-final Tuesday to try and erase a 2-1 deficit, don’t bet on it. Henrik averaged 18:36 during the regular season and has logged 17:29, 16:01 and 17:04 in the best-ofseven series. Daniel averaged 18:21 and has played 16:14, 17:59 and just 15:05, which is particularly shocking for a 20-goal producer. He has a goal and a dozen shots in the series while Henrik has but one assist and three shots.
Desjardins rationalized the postseason deployment by pointing to the 25 shifts for Henrik and Daniel in a 4-2 loss Sunday at the Saddledome.
“They had the most shifts of any of the forwards, they’re just keeping them short,” said Desjardins, who may consider double-shifting the Sedins. “It’s not how much we’re putting them out there, it’s how much they’re staying. They play their best when their shifts are short and that’s a real good sign for us. It’s everybody on the outside that’s really concerned about that. I’m not worried about it.
“There’s nobody in our dressing room that’s concerned about it. It (four-line balance) has been a strength of our game and now everybody wants us to change and be something else. We’re not. That’s who we are and how we play.”
The unusually long explanation by Desjardins speaks to the short margin for error. The Canucks have allowed a young and impressionable team to turn hope into belief and the Flames will be a tough out, even though the Canucks had the league’s fifth-best road record in the regular season at 24-14-3.
That doesn’t mean much now because getting the most out of the Sedins, kick-starting a 1-for-10 power play and the struggling Radim Vrbata are crucial elements. The winger has an empty-net goal and an assist in the series and many of his 11 shots have been from long distance. Reuniting him with the Sedins is one possibility.
One that isn’t is the Sedins doing what Vrbata did earlier this season by going to the coach to lobby and getting more ice time.
“We would love that, but they (coaches) “It’s been successful and it’s why we are where we are, but in the playoffs there are times when they could use us more (icetime) — maybe for offensive zone faceoffs. You pretty much know how much you played and we always want to play as much as we can, if we’re up a goal or down a goal.
“It’s something you think about after the game that it might have made a difference. And it hurts more when you lose a game. But they (coaches) have a plan and I don’t think it’s going to change. We have to make the most of it.”
For Daniel, it’s the same refrain. There are hopes and wishes and the reality of the system.
“We always trust the coach to do what’s best for the team — we would never do that (lobby),” he stressed. “We’ll keep our shifts short to keep fresh but there are times after losses where you feel you could have done more.”
Stajan has combined with Michael Ferland and David Jones to do a credible job when matched up against the Sedins.
“It’s a challenge and you want that,” said Stajan. “If we can keep those guys off the scoresheet, it increases our chances quite a bit. You give them time and space and they’re going to make you pay. They’re world-class players and we have to stay on our toes.”
Vrbata just wants to get back on the scoresheet. He’s been too quiet and the knock of disappearing in the post-season — he has seven goals in 39 career playoff games — needs to be addressed. His shot release is too quick and accurate for him to not be a series factor.
“It’s the way they play and get on us to make it difficult for us to create anything,” said Vrbata. “We’re not quite making that last play, that pass or chip off the wall that creates a 3-on-2.”
A relentless forecheck seemed to freeze Vrbata and his linemates Sunday and led to a T.J. Brodie goal.
“If it starts going like that, take an icing and just regroup,” said the winger, whose countryman Jiri Hudler doesn’t have a point for the Flames and just three series shots. “Don’t try to make a perfect play. If you feel like the s--- is going sideways, just kill it.”
Perhaps being reunited with the Sedins could get Vrbata going.
“We’ll see,” he said. “It’s up to (the coach) and I don’t know how to answer that.”