So it looks, and has looked for the past couple of days, something like:
F: Bellows-Hitchcock-Bernier
C.Bourque-St. Denis-Sislo
Dal Colle – Jones – Ho-Sang
R.Bourque-Eansor-Koivula
Turcotte-Kubiak-B.Holmstrom
D: Toews-Burroughs
Helgeson-Vande Sompel
Aho-Wotherspoon
Casto-Rathgeb
G: Gibson
Smith
Which has led, finally, to that question other teams always had to ask: On a team with six veterans, who sits out? From that array, from the way guys have been used, it looks like that fifth line is out, and that’d be the captain.
“I’ve never been on a team that had (the veteran problem) before,” Holmstrom said. “I know a couple of the other guys have been on teams that have. They’ve seen it before. They know how it goes. We’ll see what happens.”
Brent Thompson wasn’t committing to tomorrow’s lineup today. It is probably This Space’s unofficial motto that Any Crazy Thing Can Happen; maybe something changes tomorrow, maybe somebody tweaks something in the morning skate, maybe they rearrange some things, maybe aliens invade. Who knows. But that’s how it looked, which would end the streak at 228 games if it sticks.
There is no good answer. They all fill a role.
“We have great depth, from our oldest to our youngest guy, the guys down in the East Coast League,” Thompson said. “There’s going to be some great players who have to sit out because of numbers. That’s strictly it, and the rules that allow a certain number of veterans.
“When we have three-in-threes, it’s an opportunity to have the strength of our lineup in there. There may be days people you wouldn’t think would be sitting, will sit. For me right now it’s definitely a positive to have that kind of depth.”
(Not around to complicate the matter right now is Jan Kovar.)
Thompson said he’ll go game-to-game on his goaltending.
Matt Gaudreau and Ivan Kosorenkov remain here, rehabbing.
So they’re on the bus for Allentown (as could be Anthony Stolarz), with tremendous optimism and a good few weeks together. See where it takes them. More from the Lehigh Valley.