Quote:
Originally Posted by Erick Estrada
Flames have had some pretty bad head coaches over the years and Gulutzan for example was maddening with his square peg in round hole approach. Meanwhile Sutter is one of the best coaches the organization has had but this whole Lucic thing is maybe the most bizarre player usage of any Flames head coach ever. There's no rational explanation for him playing nearly every game let alone averaging over 11 minutes in every game this season save for a stretch of three games when sanity prevailed.
|
Teams play about 48 minute per game at 5v5 and looking at the ice time breakdown I think this is generally the split (except for McDavid and Huberdeau who play 16 minutes per game)
Line 1: 14 Minutes
Line 2: 12 Minutes
Line 3: 12 Minutes
Line 4: 10 Minutes
The Flames at 5v5 (using a guy on each line as a proxy):
Kadri: 13:16
Backlund: 13:11
Lindholm: 12:19
Lewis: 10:08
So really I'm not sure how much of it is that the 4th line plays too much in general, I think more of the problem is the situational usage of our 4th line.
Offensive zone face off after an icing, in the last 5 minutes of a game when trailing, right after a goal, etc.