2nd year fan here and still learning a lot about the game and I don’t understand what this graphic is supposed to be showing. I understand “shifts” and that there is a 1st line and 2nd line which I’m assuming is kinda like “top of the order” in baseball. But I’m not sure what this graphic is supposed to be outlining for me. Please and thank you! And GO KRAKEN!

19 comments

  1. Read each line across

    The top four rows of three are the forward lines.

    The bottom three pairs are the defensemen.

  2. The rows are your lines.

    First lines forwards: Eeli Tolvane, Matty Venier, Jordan Eberele for the forwards. There are are 4 forward lines

    First defnese: Vince Dunn, Adam Larson. There are 3 defense lines

  3. It’s showing all 4 lines and the 3 defensive pairings. They roll out the lines together in shifts throughout the game.

  4. It’s the lineup tolvanen beniers Eberle would be line one offense and Dunn larsson is line one defense. So four lines of offense and three lines of defense

  5. Meant to read left to right.. so for instance the first forward line is Matty at center with Tolvy and Ebs on the Wings. Defense pairings read left to right, too as far as I can tell

  6. Its just the lines that theyll be using for at least the first period (they may get shuffled between periods).

  8. The lines are in order, first line is the top line followed by three other forward lines. Right is the RW, middle is Center, left is LW. The bottom three lines are the defensive pairings. First of the three is the top line. Right name is the RD and the left name is the LD.

  9. The upper portion with three columns are the forwards and their lines, so #20, 10 and 7 are the first line etc.

    The lower portion are defencemen and their lines, so #29 and 6 are partners and do shifts together

  11. It’s a list of who’s expected to play shifts together! So Tolvanen, Beniers, and Eberle are on a line together, then Schwartz, Stephenson, and Kakko, and so on down the list. Groups of three are forwards and the pairs below (starting with Dunn and Larsson) are defensmen.

    Generally 1st line are the ‘best’ offensive players and get the most shifts but coach might strategically want to play, for example, a more defensively minded line depending on whats happening in the game.

  13. I’ll add one more wrinkle about hockey lines. The visiting team has to submit their starting line up to the refs before the game and the home gets a chance to review it before selecting their own starting line. If either team makes a mistake and plays someone else than who they listed, it’s a minor penalty.

  14. 6 guys on the ice at any given time. 1 goalie, and 5 skaters. Goalie generally plays the whole game, but skaters sub out every minute or so.

    The skaters sub in groups to keep themselves organized and keep them playing with the same group of guys, and are generally split up into two groups: 3 forwards (Left Wing, Right Wing, Center), and 2 defensemen (Left D, RIght D). Those groups are all referred to as “Lines”. Teams usually dress 4 forward lines, and 3 defensive lines. This is showing what those lines are.

    So you got:

    Upper 3 columns: Each row is a line of forwards

    Left column = Left Wing, Center column = Center, Right column = Right wing.

    So the 3rd row is the “3rd Line” Which is Mason Marchment at LW, Shane Wright at C, and Jani Nyman at RW. They will generally always be on the ice together.

    Lower 2 columns: Each row is a defense pair

    Left column = Left D, Right column = Right D

    So 2nd row is the 2nd D pair, Ryan Lindgren at Left D, and Brandon Montour at Right D.

    Generally the 1st forward line plays with the 1st D pair, 2nd with 2nd, etc. and then circles back around to the 4th line generally playing with the 1st D pain. But all that can vary depending on the situation and when players are able to sub.

    These are all for regular 5v5 play. Most of the time they “roll all 4 lines”, but the 1st and 2nd lines get preference in crunch time or close playoff games.

    There are also two full 5 man units for the Powerplay. Nowadays those are typically 4 forwards and 1 defenseman (Toronto even experimented with 5 forwards a couple seasons ago).

    There are also two 4 man units for the penalty kill, typically 2 forwards and 2 D.

  15. I am so proud and happy to come here late and see all the helpful answers. Kraken Reddit continues to be a kind and welcoming community

  17. usually a team rolls 4 lines of forwards and 3 pairs of defencemen

    you’ll see some coaches more than others “juggling” the lines by going off script to counter what the other team is doing or to spark the team. there is a lot of strategy here and you can counter opponents offense doing this too.

    it’s one of the games within the game that makes this sport so fascinating to watch. you’ll notice the brilliance of some coaches when you start to look for it.

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