Green playing ‘What’s My Line?’
The only way to earn ice time is to convince the new boss you deserve it
ST. PAUL, Minn — It would be the most difficult game on Luminosity.
Name the Canucks’ top line, or their fourth unit. I’ll wait. Maybe not. It could take all week. Coach Travis Green deploys his lines like the rest of us choose lunch. Some days it’s soup. Other days it’s a sandwich. And sometimes it’s both with a side of fries.
Green isn’t the first coach to claim he doesn’t have a first line. But there haven’t been many NHL coaches who would give you reason to spend hours arguing over it.
But don’t worry. Some are doing just that.
There are those who claim the Sedins are the Canucks No. 1 line because they’re sill the players the coach leans on late when the team is down by a goal.
They also traditionally take the first rush in warm-ups, but that’s a status thing. They were the fourth line to see the ice on Sunday in Detroit and, on multiple occasions, Henrik hasn’t played even 13 minutes a game.
Some say Bo Horvat’s line is the top unit because he’s the up-and-coming star at centre. There have been several games where his line has led the Canucks in ice time.
But then there’s Brandon Sutter, the presumed leader of the fourth line to start the season. The thing is, fourth line centres don’t play 16 minutes a game, as he often has been.
Sutter is the key to Green’s matchup plan, so he’s always playing. His line is scoring, too. Anyone heard about Derek Dorsett recently?
This is Sutter’s 10th season in the NHL. Also, he’s a Sutter. He’s been around the NHL his whole life. Can he remember a team with a situation like this one?
“No, not at all,” Sutter said. “We’re pretty balanced through all four (lines). We know we don’t have superstars. We know we don’t have a 100-point guy, unless Dorsett keeps up this pace.
“We’re a team that can rely on 12 forwards every night. That’s something we haven’t had. At least, not since I’ve been here.”
There are several reasons for this and it starts with talent.
The fact the Canucks lack stars has been discussed often. The Sedins are still good, but only shadows of what they once were. They can’t play 18 minutes a night anymore.
But this isn’t just about personnel. A lot of this is about Green. It’s about the way he wants his team to play.
“I do believe, with the way the game is played, that I want guys to be fresh every shift,” Green said.
“I don’t believe we have a team with 20-plus minute guys up front. We want to play a fast, hard aggressive game and that takes a lot of energy.
“Is it always going to be the same every night? No. We’ve seen that. Sometimes it depends if we’re matching hard at home. We’ve had nights where Sutter got into 17, 18 and 19 minutes. But (Sunday), I liked how all four lines were playing, so it made it a more balanced night.”
In Vancouver, we’re not used to a coach who thinks the game on this level. There’s another reason for Green’s approach, and it may be the best one. A significant part of his approach is rewarding and motivating players.
Play well and you’re the first at the lunch buffet, with first pick at the choicest cuts of meat.
A good example is how the coach handled Jake Virtanen. He has a great game, he’s on the ice for a third period power play.
“As a player, if you’re playing good, you’re going to play,” Green said. “We’ve talked to our group and I’ve told them I don’t see a one, two, three and four. There are teams where they know where the minutes are going to be slotted on most nights. I think it can change with our group. Any line can play more than the others. If they’re all playing well, they’re all going to play.”
Dorsett called his Canucks “a very deep team.”
“From one to four, we’re really balanced. And one of the things I’ve noticed is that everyone is buying into this plan,” Dorsett said.
That’s what usually happens in the first few months with a new coach. We’ll see what happens when things get tougher in the second half of the season.