By Mike Cadarette (Contributor) – Email
Every team faces injuries during the course of a grueling 76 game AHL season. It’s the nature of the game. But during a season when the NHL is locked down, AHL teams face a deepening pool of roster depth. Not that they’d complain, of course, but the newly discovered depth could create roster dilemmas for coaches across the league.
The Abbotsford Heat are no different. On a team carrying 25 players and three goalies, deciding which 18 players will play each night must be a daunting task for Heat head coach Troy Ward. So far, Ward hasn’t had to make that type of decision yet since a sizable chunk of his players haven’t been able to play due to injury.
Players who have been injured this year for the Heat include Lance Bouma, Paul Byron, Greg Nemisz, Ben Walter, David Eddy, Akim Aliu, Michael Ferland and Sven Baertschi.
It’s unfortunate to have so many strong players healing as they look on from the loge section of the AESC. Paul Byron and Greg Nemisz have since returned to the Heat lineup, but the team is now without Ben Walter and Sven Baertschi after both were unable to finish Friday night’s game versus the Hamilton Bulldogs due to injury.
David Eddy, Akim Aliu and Lance Bouma have been injured almost since the start of the season while Michael Ferland has been out of the lineup for the last few games.
You can’t tell the Heat are missing so many key players considering they’re currently the best team in the AHL with an imposing 13-3-2-2 record.
The interesting part arises when players start to recover from their ailments. Players will have to be inserted into the lineup. Some will have to be taken out. Lines will change and players will have to adjust.
That’s why head coach Troy Ward gets paid the big bucks. It’s those types of decisions that are difficult to make. Since I don’t get paid the big bucks and really have nothing to lose, I’ll take a stab at what Ward might face in the coming months.
Assuming all of the players will be healthy at some point (a lofty prediction in itself), the first line will likely consist of Sven Baertschi, Ben Walter and Roman Horak. This line has worked fairly well together, showing an all around ability to score goals in bunches. The next line is a relatively simple one to assemble. Let’s take Heat captain Quintin Laing, Ben Street, and Brett Olson who have been the Heat’s offensive catalysts for the last several weeks.
The third line gets a little trickier. Typically a third line consists of good two-way forwards who are able to shut down the other team’s top line all while chipping in the occasional goal. In that case, let’s put Greg Nemisz and Akim Aliu on a line with Max Reinhart. This line gives the team three good two-way players with some offensive prowess.
The fourth line generally consists of gritty, tough players who are responsible in all three zones on the ice. I’ll put Michael Ferland, Carter Bancks, and Lance Bouma together for the fourth line. All three players are rugged and play with a chip on their shoulder. They can simultaneously act as pests to disturb the other team and get them off their game.
The defensive corps is a much easier group to assemble compared to the forwards. On defense, Ward has seven defensemen who have been rotated in and out of the lineup. In fact, carrying seven defensemen is typical of your average team, so they’re fairly easy to amass.
Let’s see. That leaves us with Krys Kolanos, Paul Byron, Dustin Sylvester, Adam Estoclet, David Eddy, and Tyler Reugsegger sitting and eating popcorn.
Due to AHL rules, only a certain number of veterans are allowed in the lineup. There are six players considered veterans on the Heat (Walter, McCarthy, Piskula, Callahan, Laing and Kolanos), so one of those players must rotate out of the lineup each night. Therefore, Kolanos is accounted for so he can rotate with the other veterans on the Heat.
Paul Byron and Dustin Sylvester shouldn’t be left out of the lineup because they bring an element of speed and offense that is unique to the team. The catch is that they cannot play in the bottom six portion of lineup due to their diminutive size and inability to match the ruggedness of other team’s grinders.
That leaves us with Adam Estoclet, David Eddy, and Tyler Reugsegger unaccounted for. Estoclet can easily slot in anywhere in the lineup. He’s a versatile player who brings tenacity and aggressiveness, but can chip in the odd goal as well. Eddy and Reugsegger, on the other hand, are best suited for fourth line duties due to their gritty style of play.
When it’s all said and done, Troy Ward is left with a numbers game best likened to one of those brainteaser games doctors’ offices sometimes have. It’s a game best played with patience and understanding because, while there are no wrong decisions with a lineup this deep, some players will be left sitting while their peers are playing.
One thing is definitive, however: when the time comes for injured players to start playing again, no one will be offering to wear the head coach’s shoes.
