Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - Monahan+Gaudreau - Gio+Brodie or Bennett+Gaudreau

Ryan Coke · 08-31-2015, 02:31 PM

I don't think you try to play lesser players more. If you've got 3 elite defencemen, you put together an excellent top 4 and play them at least 3/4 of the game.

Obviously you don't want to wear them out, but top dmen usually are very comfortable at 23-25 minutes a game. When you play them less their play can actually suffer.

Same thing up front....while you don't want to put your 3 dangerous players on one line, you also don't want to spread them out across 4 lines. You want your best players to get as much ice time as they can comfortably handle.

08-31-2015, 02:31 PM	#52
Ryan Coke #1 Goaltender Join Date: Feb 2003 Exp:	I don't think you try to play lesser players more. If you've got 3 elite defencemen, you put together an excellent top 4 and play them at least 3/4 of the game. Obviously you don't want to wear them out, but top dmen usually are very comfortable at 23-25 minutes a game. When you play them less their play can actually suffer. Same thing up front....while you don't want to put your 3 dangerous players on one line, you also don't want to spread them out across 4 lines. You want your best players to get as much ice time as they can comfortably handle.