Colorado Avalanche: Sakic and Roy’s Plans for the Team

Forward Lines

Head coach Patrick Roy likes fluidity in his forward lines — beyond going on the rush. Roy has become infamous for changing up his forward lines.

Coach Roy has remarked that he thinks the players like the change to keep from getting stagnant. What’s more, in a different The Fan interview, he talked about how changing his lines keeps the other teams on their toes.

Roy has also talked about what he wants his line combinations to look like. More than once in the past seasons he’s outlined the ideal forward combination — power forward, skill player, shooter. While discussing line combinations, Roy went into more detail with The Fan:

"“Dutchy loves to have the puck. You cannot have three players who want the puck. Someone has to go to the net. We like to bring the puck quickly to the net.”"

You need a power forward to open up the lanes, a skilled puckhandler to get to the net and a shooter to finish the play.

When it comes to line combinations, it’s all about creating a scoring spark. And if that means shuffling lines around, coach Roy is going to do it.

Next: Defensive Pairings