Beer League with 12 guys on your team...

[spy178 0]

This has come up a lot on my team. We have 12 guys per game, so this leaves us with 8 forwards and 4 D. My suggestion has always been to make 2 lines of 4 and have 1 person rotate through each line. Others on my team disagree and think it's better to go with 2 centers and 3 sets of wings. What do you guys think?

[eric42434224 1]

if chemistry or position isnt an issue, you could do the open-hockey method of one off one on

[Chadd 916]

Depends on your team talent level.

We have guys that seem to lose focus when we use a rotator and it just doesn't work for this particular team. We also have a couple guys that are significantly better, so we try to get them on the ice more often by putting them in the middle. From a personal standpoint, I don't feel any chemistry when one of the guys from the last shift is constantly sitting on the bench. We sit out centers on the PK to try and even out the ice time a bit and it seems to work for us as long as we don't have wingers or defenseman taking a ton of penalties. I have played on teams where we ran four on a line and had it work well, it just doesn't work well for this particular team.

[Bravada 442 0]

I think that a rotation through like that is tough for a team that doesn't play a ton together. Especially if guys play on other teams and are used to playing with a line for a whole game on that other team. I know for me, as a defenseman, I play every game on both my ice teams with a left handed D guy. If he's not there or we get screwed up, my passes are always off for a half a period or so until I get back into the groove of passing to a right handed D.

I would look at getting an extra guy and having 13 (9 F, 4 D) that seems to work the best, of if absolutely necessary, play 6 forwards 6 defensemen at least it will be even.

[eric42434224 1]

If you dont do rotation, I have found it is better to have 2 centers rotate.

More than 4 d isnt good.

Above poster is right. 13 is great...3 full lines of O and 2 lines of D

[Chadd 916]

We always shoot for three full lines but we adapt according to the number of guys that show

14:

9 forwards 5 D, rarely happens

13:

9 Forwards, 4 D

12:

8 Forwards 4 D, 6W/2C

11:

7 Forwards 4D, 4W/3C

10:

Two full units

9 or less, wing it.

[B19Kress 0]

Center's "should" be skating the hardest and covering the most ground...

I'd Roll 2LW 3C 2RW... then rotate 5 D. This way the wingers stay together. Centers can skate hard and get a break.

[tro 4]

On the 3 teams I play on, we double shift the 2 centers through the 3 lines when we are 1 short. On all 3 teams, the centers are our top players and also have the endurance to do this.

Besides giving the top guys more ice time, I think having the same 2 wingers stay with each other helps with chemistry and sticking to position.

I hate rotating a guy through, happens alot with 7 forwards. I can't stand it, almost wish the 7th didn't show.

[crazylegs_9 0]

In our leagues here we are normally short, when I captain a team with nine or less i go

9 - 3 on D 2 units up front

8 - 3 on D 2 Centers, Wingers rotate.

7 or less - 3D rest up front.

[B19Kress 0]

If the two centers have the conditioning that is ideal 3-2-3. But if you are on a poorly conditioned team i like 2-3-2 and sticking the guy in as 5th D like i said

[chippa13 1844]

We always try to stick to no more than 10 guys. Anything more than 2 full lines for us and it sucks.

[Chadd 916]

If the two centers have the conditioning that is ideal 3-2-3. But if you are on a poorly conditioned team i like 2-3-2 and sticking the guy in as 5th D like i said

Not true at all. It's just a matter of playing in a way that works well in conjunction with your roster. You just send your wingers hard on the forecheck and keep the center high in the offensive zone. If the center is down low in the zone, one of theother forwards simply has to cover for him defensively. The other area is that in this area it's hard finding enough guys that are capable on the blue line.

[spy178 0]

We always try to stick to no more than 10 guys. Anything more than 2 full lines for us and it sucks.

Yeah, I wish that was the case for my teams as well, but with the cost close to 5K per team for a season, it's not really possible.

[chippa13 1844]

One of the leagues that I am in is over $6k. The guy who runs it charges by ability to pay so we can keep guys around.

[B19Kress 0]

If the two centers have the conditioning that is ideal 3-2-3. But if you are on a poorly conditioned team i like 2-3-2 and sticking the guy in as 5th D like i said

Not true at all. It's just a matter of playing in a way that works well in conjunction with your roster. You just send your wingers hard on the forecheck and keep the center high in the offensive zone. If the center is down low in the zone, one of theother forwards simply has to cover for him defensively. The other area is that in this area it's hard finding enough guys that are capable on the blue line.

I see the topic going nowhere fast... pretty much whatever most of the guys on "YOUR" team agree on. No "rule" what to do with 12 guys

[Chadd 916]

If the two centers have the conditioning that is ideal 3-2-3. But if you are on a poorly conditioned team i like 2-3-2 and sticking the guy in as 5th D like i said

Not true at all. It's just a matter of playing in a way that works well in conjunction with your roster. You just send your wingers hard on the forecheck and keep the center high in the offensive zone. If the center is down low in the zone, one of theother forwards simply has to cover for him defensively. The other area is that in this area it's hard finding enough guys that are capable on the blue line.

I see the topic going nowhere fast... pretty much whatever most of the guys on "YOUR" team agree on. No "rule" what to do with 12 guys

I agree, my disagreement was in saying that conditioning should be the determining factor.

[B19Kress 0]

If the two centers have the conditioning that is ideal 3-2-3. But if you are on a poorly conditioned team i like 2-3-2 and sticking the guy in as 5th D like i said

Not true at all. It's just a matter of playing in a way that works well in conjunction with your roster. You just send your wingers hard on the forecheck and keep the center high in the offensive zone. If the center is down low in the zone, one of theother forwards simply has to cover for him defensively. The other area is that in this area it's hard finding enough guys that are capable on the blue line.

I see the topic going nowhere fast... pretty much whatever most of the guys on "YOUR" team agree on. No "rule" what to do with 12 guys

I agree, my disagreement was in saying that conditioning should be the determining factor.

Which is why my opinion may be biased, I play wing and am probably one of the two or three best conditioned guys on the team...

[fatwabbit 93]

does everyone ALWAYS turn up? We had 3 'lines' when I was back home playing competitively hockey, but we never got to play those lines as someone was always working or having exams.

[phunky_monkey 6]

Our team rotates the extra players through a line each rather than double shifting anyone.

Doesn't bother me as I'm on the blueline and there's always room for D!

[Chadd 916]

does everyone ALWAYS turn up? We had 3 'lines' when I was back home playing competitively hockey, but we never got to play those lines as someone was always working or having exams.

We carried 14 skaters and may have had one game all season (20 games) where everyone showed up.

[chk hrd 164]

I prefer 2 center, 3 pair of wings and 4 defense. we have the center sit out of PK's to give them a break. They run pretty short shifts. if they start getting tired we will swap them with a wing. This works good for us because it keeps the wings paired up.

[cityofwalrus 0]

My team we actually have too many d-men so we have 2 forward lines and 3 lines of D and its been working better.

[Chadd 916]

My team we actually have too many d-men so we have 2 forward lines and 3 lines of D and its been working better.

I need to move to Oklahoma so I don't have to play defense.