hmmmm, the addition of Leino leaves Cleary, Drapes, Maltby, and Kopecky on the 4th line. 

Leino is starting in the AHL.

Posted by Todzilla on 08/20/08 at 02:56 PM ET

“Some teams won’t shy away from going with four forwards on the PP, but a defensively responsible squad like this seems more likely to continue to generally use two defencemen on the point just in case.”

Realllllllllly.  You mean I imagined Sammy missing the net all those times??

Posted by moore00 on 08/20/08 at 03:11 PM ET

Nichols jumped the shark A LOT with most of those line combos. His idea of Chicago’s lines is just flat out strange, especially since Savard has gone public with how he envisions the lines to look.

And Hudler doesn’t play center. He just doesn’t. Babcock would never put him there. Period.

Posted by dakka from sweden on 08/20/08 at 03:59 PM ET

I’ve been mulling Wings lines in my head since the Hossa signing and I still don’t have an answer. I think we’re just as likely to see the lines being pretty fluid.

Dats/Z/Homer, Mule/Fil/Hossa or Mule/Z/Hossa, Fil/Dats/Homer...whichever works that nite, whichever suits Uncle Mike at the time. I wouldn’t be surprised to see each of those line combos given equal time.

3/4th lines can work similarly, but Hudler and Kopy are probably getting less ice. I’d agree that Leino doesn’t start the season in the NHL.

When half of your forwards are natural centers, its pretty easy to mash up lines. And on the PP, it just gets ridiculous. Someone who deserves the time is going to get shafted. I just hope its the top 4 Dmen on the point, and not Sammy.

Posted by Nate A from metro Detroit on 08/21/08 at 12:02 AM ET