DU's Projected Lineup On Opening Night

We've tweeked the potential opening day lineup again this week. Offseason newspaper articles out of Boston said that Joe Colborne is going to spend more time at center this season. But if he plays wing it opens up a spot for Drew Shore at center. Hard choices will have to be made.

All these offensive changes could enable the Ostrow brothers to play together which would be exciting to watch.

Chambers' glowing article on incoming Freshman Matt Donovan makes us think that he may have a great future, so we've moved him up with Wiercioch.

Forwards
Rakhshani (15g, 22a) - Ruegsegger (15g, 11a) - Maiani (11g, 30a)
Salazar (15g, 10a) - Martin (10g, 13a) - Colborne (10g, 21a)
K. Ostrow (14g, 14a) - Shore (Fr.) - S. Ostrow (Fr.)
Gifford (4g, 8a) - Glasser (4g, 3a) - Jackson (3g, 9a)
[Vossberg (4g, 2a), Dewhurst (0g, 1a), Knowlton (Fr.)]

Defensemen
Wiercioch (12g, 23a) - Donovan (Fr.)
Brookwell (0g, 3a) - Wrenn (Fr.)
Lee (0g, 5a) - Phillips (Fr.)
[Nutini (0g, 3a), Ryder (0g, 6a), Cook (0g, 0a), Brehm (0g, 0a)]

Goaltenders
Chevy (2.34 gaa, .921 sv%)
[Murray (Fr.), Paulgaard (1.61, .917 sv%)]

1st PP
Rakhshani, Colborne, Maiani
Wiercioch, Ruegsegger

2nd PP
K. Ostrow, Martin, Shore
Donovan, Wrenn

1st PK
Colborne, K. Ostrow
Wiercioch, Donovan

2nd PK
Martin, S. Ostrow
Wrenn, Lee

13 comments:

pessimisticfan said...

DG,

Like the changes to the forwards as Colborne is a natural wing and Shore is a natural centre. The only disagreements I have is on D. The only reason is that Wiercioch is a left defenseman, and so is Donovan. And Brookwell is a right defenseman, and so is Wrenn. So it only makes sense to have Wiercioch (LD) play with Wrenn (RD) and Brookwell (RD) play with Donovan (LD). third line is perfect though, bc Lee is a RD and Phillips a LD. Sorry for the confusion, and I see the logic.

Twister said...

I think John Lee is a servicable d-man, but overall, he never wowed me. I think Ryder and Nutini have more to offer, at least based on what I saw last season, especially Ryder. We all know Ryder is a fiesty guy who can lay the lumber and doesn't back down from anyone. DU needs that kind of physical presence. Ryder won't win any scoring titles, but he seemed to get better in the offensive zone as the season progressed. And I like Nutini's overall versatility.

I hope Glasser, the hardest working Pioneer, gets more time on the PP.

vizoroo said...

Pairings I like:

#1 Rakhshani & Ruegsegger--can they read each other's mind?

Colborne & Salazar--they are just so cute together

Gifford & Glasser--the year to shine and score,okay?

The Ostrow Brothers--this could be great?

Don't mean to downplay Maiani & Martin ( more alliteration here :-]) or Shore or anyone else for that matter.

Impact Player in waiting--Ryder--bring it on!

Anonymous said...

Vossberg is a MUCH better penalty killer than Colborne and he deserves a spot in the opening day lineup. Shut Dusty Jackson down for at least the first few games -- he had a good portion of minutes last year and didn't do all that much with 'em. Vossberg is a very good penalty killer and hustles back on defense.

Anonymous said...

Lee is being seriously short changed here...

Anonymous said...

For the rehersal game on Oct 4th I assume they'll rotate Marc, Lars & Adam? Sure Marc has to be ready for Vermont just 5 days later; but I hope we get to see Lars & Adam guarding the crease for a little while, too. We're less than 60 days away from starting down the yellow brick road to Detroit!

Eric J. Burton said...

Three freshman defenseman on defense. Holy Cow!!! I didn't realize that P.W. had that many points from the blue line. I bet Wisconsin is regretting that move eh?

Anonymous said...

One really good possible line up would see the Ostrow brothers playing with Colborne. With Kyle playing with Joe last year and I'm sure Shawn has played with Joe coming from the same junior team and being of the same age and playing hockey in Calgary together. Just a thought!

dggoddard said...

A lot of good ideas on the line here. I'll try and incorporate as many of them as possible later today.

Anonymous said...

LOL....

2 Frosh defensemen on the blueline at the same time on the PP????? I know it's the 2nd unit, but really? You really believe that will happen?

How often has George even played 2 d-men on the PP? Rarely. He generally goes with at least 4 forwards on the PP. Didn't we see Jesse Martin play on the point on the 2nd unit for much of the 2nd half of last season?

I'm sure we are much more likely to see an upperclassman who has been there start the season in that role. That would put Shore at C on the 2nd unit with Salazar (a leading goal scorer) on a wing. Why would one of the team's leading goal scorers (Salazar tied for the team lead in goals) not even be on the PP???

dggoddard said...

All valid points.

Needless to say with three incoming Freshmen defensemen, all of whom were drafted by NHL teams, Gwozdecky is going to be under pressure to find time for them on special teams to develop their games.

Anonymous said...

Just a question, why doesn't Steve Cunningham show up on the roster?

dggoddard said...

Cunningham is no longer on the team.

Not sure if it was his choice or the coaches, but there's a pretty big logjam at forward.

Hopefully he is still at DU and will get his degree.