William H Bonney
Registered User
I think it depends on whether the team shows up for games they should win or if they no show like they did against Great Britain. If they show up ready to play, they should put Denmark away early and allow Blashill to spread out the ice time. It's probably less likely that they'll put away Germany early but as long as they're leading that one, he should be able to keep the ice time more evenly distributed. Part of the issue too is that they have 6 centers, so sometimes Hughes misses a shift here or there because Blashill will often (and understandably when you're dealing with a 17/18 year old) put out another center (Ryan, Glendening, White) on that line when it's a defensive zone start.
I think the Hughes line has looked less effective lately because it's the worst line combination on the team. JVR is not a fit for that line. He can't keep up with the play regardless of his linemates, let alone someone that skates like Hughes or Larkin or Eichel, and he's not much more than a net front presence on any line on big ice. Hughes and Keller are both water bugs and they need someone that can keep up but also do the dirty work as well, and JVR isn't any good at that either. I'd rather see a line like Kreider - Hughes - Vatrano, which I think would be really effective, but Blashill has seemed pretty content with his lines, so we'll see.
Other than more appropriate linemates, I think Hughes just needs one of his chances to fall because he's pressing a bit right now. He's had some bad luck (he's hit 1 or 2 posts, been robbed a couple of times, had one roll under the goalie and through the crease, and he's set up JVR for at least 3 tap in goals that he's missed, among other quality chances for his teammates and none have gone in), so getting something to fall would probably get the confidence going again.
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Sadly I think they normally do this even in elemination rounds.
