Rumored line changes for the Canucks: Burrows promoted to Sedin Line

by Sean Zandberg on Feb 11, 2009 6:36 PM PST Comment 10 comments

A poster at Canucks.com mentioned that the Canucks were practicing with these lines today:

Sedin-Sedin-Burrows
Demitra-Sundin-Kesler
Pyatt-Wellwood-Bernier
Hansen-Johnson-Hordichuk

I haven't found a news link to back that up. However, do those combo's make you a little bit curious? Burrows on the top line? What was the last time that ever happened? He has earned that chance though. Inserting Wellwood makes sense because the 3rd line lost it's natural center when Ryan Kesler was promoted to line 2 with Sundin and Demitra. When are we going to stop calling that line 2? It's actually line 1, isn't it? That's where all the bling is.

Mason Raymond played only 9:11 against the Blues. He had no points, no shots and was a -1 in the victory. I guess that stats don't favor him right now. But we'll need Wellwood to chip in if this new look is true. He does have a better faceoff winning percentage than Johnson does. Maybe that's why Johnson is getting bumped back down to Line 4.

Having said all this, is there any reason why Alain Vigneault should be juggling the lines after 3 straight wins? I know there's always room for improvement, but this could be viewed as tampering with a winning combination. Was Pyatt all that bad with the Sedins? Besides being nicknamed Pylon and all, I didn't think he was playing all that poorly in recent games. Pyatt had 1 assist against the Blues and the Sedins had zero points. It's not like they didn't have chances.

On paper, I like the look of those lines. We'll see how they pan out. I may question Vigneault's motives here, yet I trust the guy.

Poll

Do you think it's wise for Alain Vigneault to be changing 3 of the 4 lines after the team has won 3 straight?

Yes. He's just trying to get everybody going, not just the Sundin line

25 votes

He's a damned fool! He shouldn't mess with what has been working for him

13 votes

38 votes | Poll has closed

0 recs | Comment 10 comments |

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Comments

Johnson’s hand is still hurting too, so maybe that factors in here. Losing Kes on the third line is tough. Wellwood slotted between two crash and bang guys seems like a bad idea. I’d rather see Hansen back up with the Sedins and leave Burrows on the third line. But as long as Hank doesn’t roof the puck when he has an open net, it doesn’t matter who their linemate will be.

'Nucks Misconduct - Housing Swedish Millionaires Since 2000.

by Yankee Canuck on Feb 11, 2009 6:46 PM PST reply actions

Well, whatever he’s been doing recently has been working, so why change it now?

by Linix129 on Feb 11, 2009 6:48 PM PST reply actions

Yankee: Good points. And yeah, Hanen to the 4th line makes no sense. He played so well against the Blues.

Linix: I’m a little torn on AV’s motives. But I’m so used to it.

by Sean Zandberg on Feb 11, 2009 6:51 PM PST reply actions

I don’t think the Burrows / Sedins combination will last long. There wasn’t much magic from what I saw of them playing together last night.

by Hockey Grinch on Feb 11, 2009 6:51 PM PST reply actions

I guess he could protect them, and kick whoevers ass that tries to mess with them.

by Linix129 on Feb 11, 2009 7:02 PM PST reply actions

That looks kind of interesting to me actually. But I would switch Hansen and Pyatt. I can’t believe Hansen is back on the 4th line after the game he had against the Blues! Shakes fist at AV

by Alix on Feb 11, 2009 8:21 PM PST reply actions

We’ll see who AV has with who during tomorrow’s practice.
I still think maybe Pyatt Riot should stay on the Sedin line for now. Yet I’m curious about Burrows in a scoring role. He produced somewhat consistently in Manitoba and the QMJHL in the past.
Maybe he’ll teach the Sedins better 2-way play on their line playing more minutes.
Actually, I watched a Penguins game with Cooke playing with Crosby and Malkin and that was an excellent combo for a while. Cooke crashed the net and did the dirty work.

by Sean Zandberg on Feb 11, 2009 9:03 PM PST reply actions

I'm pumped to see Burrows get some time there.

I’m always excited about the possibility of someone new and different playing with Hank and Dank. I like the comparison to the Cooke-Crosby-Malkin line. The Sedin line always starts playing really well when they get their forecheck going and Burrows may help that.

by borgy on Feb 12, 2009 8:07 AM PST up reply actions

I like that enough to already be anticipating my frustration when the coach switches it up when it doesn’t work after a period or too. Because really, shouldn’t your top six forwards be your best forwards? Those six have been the best, and probably by a fairly large margin over the rest. About the best you can say for Pyatt with the Sedins is that he hasn’t been as terrible as he’s been the rest of the season.

by headspacej on Feb 11, 2009 11:56 PM PST reply actions