Don‘t expect Ryan Huska to stop his juggling act anytime soon. After all, it‘s hard to argue with success.
Through 10 games in this spring‘s playoffs, the Rockets have an 8-2 record and two series victories, having dispatched the Kamloops Blazers in four games, then the Tri-City Americans in six. Against the Vancouver Giants in the Western Conference championship, only time will tell how the Rockets fare.
One thing that is certain, however, is Huska mixing, remixing, then mixing again his line combinations.
At times this post-season, Kelowna‘s head coach has disassembled his top line of Jamie Benn and Colin Long and reassembled it with Benn, Mikael Backlund and Cody Almond. The Rockets‘ second unit of Backlund, Almond and Ian Duval has also been a mixing pot, with various players, like third-line forward Stepan Novotny, being freely added, then subtracted.
“I‘m from the school of thought that if certain guys aren‘t working together, then we‘ll try to put someone else on the line to create a little spark,” said Huska. “I guess I‘m more of that philosophy than someone who‘ll stick with the line and hope they start clicking eventually.
“That‘s part of the reason why we juggle lines. Another reason is when we‘re at home or on the road, we‘ll split certain guys up to make it difficult for our opponents to decide who they‘re going to play against a certain line. I think our kids are used to it because we‘ve done it fairly regularly, so it‘s not something that‘s different for them.”
About the only line that‘s stayed intact has been the Rockets‘ energy line of Evan Bloodoff, Mitchell Callahan and Curt Gogol – a line that Wayne Moore of Castanet smartly called the Run EMC line because of how often they take big runs at opposing players. Yet, even that trio has been taken apart at times.
“Those three have played together fairly regularly,” said Huska. “They don‘t get split apart often because they bring a lot of energy all the time. And sometimes when other guys aren‘t going, we hate to break that line up because it might be the one that‘s bringing energy consistently.”
The downside to line juggling is that line chemistry is ruined and that egos get bruised. Neither concerns, though, seem to worry Huska.
“Our guys are good. They‘re mature kids and they understand why things are done,” said Huska. “They‘re here to win, just like we are. Chemistry, at this time of the season, there are certain guys that have it, like Colin and Jamie. When those two play together, they usually play very well. But, at times, when we move them or interject someone else on the line, they still play very well. So, really, it‘s another way of getting guys to play well.
“If everybody‘s going and we like the way everybody‘s playing, the lines stay the same. We use it more times than not in order to get new life if guys aren‘t playing the way we like to see them play.” Top of Page
