Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Too Much Ice Time For Top Players In Vancouver?

10/29/2013 at 6:05pm EDT

from Ken Campbell of The Hockey News,

Tortorella has historically leaned heavily on his star players, playing the living daylights out of them, while Vigneault has traditionally been a guy who likes to roll four lines. And that couldn’t be more evident in the way the two are using their top forwards this season.

There appears to be real concern that if Tortorella keeps this up, Ryan Kesler and the Sedin twins will be burned out before the playoffs even start. Take Monday night’s 3-2 win over the Washington Capitals for example. It was a close game, another come from behind victory for the Canucks and Tortorella kept throwing Kesler and the Sedins over the boards. Kesler played a total of 23:53, Henrik played 23:15 and Daniel played 23:13. That’s more than any player on either team, including defensemen, played in the game.

To put their ice time into perspective, there were 10 teams in action Monday night for a total of 180 players. Of those 180, only six, all defensemen, logged more ice time than Kesler and the Sedins did. And it worked to perfection. Kesler scored the tying goal assisted by Daniel, who also scored the game-winner, assisted by his twin brother. The three were the best players on the ice, which is why they swept the three stars of the game.

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.

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