Broken Lines

This update from Working The Corners gives us some idea of the lines McLellan might be running tomorrow. My best guess:

Marleau - Thornton - Setoguchi
Clowe - Pavelski - Michalek
Moen - Plihal - Cheechoo
Shelley - Some Worcester Scrub - Some Other Worceter Scrub/Semenov

Yeesh, that's fucking garbage. On second thought, I think we'll see Patty move down a few lines just to shore up the damage and give Some Worcester Scrub the opportunity to play with Joe. Lemieux, as you've probably noticed, seems more or less out the door at this point.

So San Jose has 4 forwards on IR in various states of disrepair - Goc, Grier, Mitchell, and Roenick. I can't even fathom who will be back when and in what condition they'll be. This doesn't look good.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Over the past few weeks most of the "big trade" speculation in San Jose centered around Jonathan Cheechoo. A lot of fans were apparently frustrated with his lack of scoring and hoped Doug Wilson could swing a 2-way "change of scenery" deal for someone like Ryan Whitney (pre-Anaheim deal).

I, for one, am extremely happy Cheechoo stayed in San Jose. There's no doubt his pure production has dropped off in the past few years and is probably overpaid by quite a bit. However, after a tough stretch dating back to last year, #14 has been playing like a pure 3rd liner and making an impact on the ice. He's throwing his body around and working hard on the forecheck. As a fan, I always get a slight boost from seeing our former Rocket Richard winner out there finishing his checks and driving guys to the ice. He might not be a goal scoring machine any more, but he's still fun as hell to watch.

If there was any team out there looking to overpay for who they thought was an offensive powerhouse, sure DW, go ahead and deal him. That wasn't the case, so I'm just as happy standing pat with our 3rd line grinder from Moose Factory, Ontario.