Looking at the Line-Up Card
By Ryan Pike
10 years agoOne of the things we all learned this year is that the line-up card seems to matter, sometimes.
Mikael Backlund’s play (and confidence) found another gear when he found himself wearing the alternate captain’s A, and on several occasions Bob Hartley attempted to channel his team’s emotions by playing specific players to start the game.
Once it cost him $25,000.
On other occasions, it gave the team’s first few shifts a bit of a jump. Here’s a quick glance at how Calgary’s line-up card – the starters and listed captains – fared throughout the 2013-14 season.
STARTERS
Injuries, trades and recalls meant many, many players got the chance to be in the starting line-up. Here’s how many games they started.
FORWARDS
- Matt Stajan – 35
- Mike Cammalleri – 26
- Lee Stempniak – 24
- Curtis Glencross – 20
- T.J. Galiardi – 18
- Mikael Backlund – 18
- David Jones – 16
- Jiri Hudler – 16
- Joe Colborne – 13
- Lance Bouma – 12
- Brian McGrattan – 12
- Sean Monahan – 10
- Paul Byron – 8
- Kevin Westgarth – 4
- Ben Street – 3
- Sven Baertschi – 3
- Blair Jones – 2
- Markus Granlund – 2
- Bryce van Brabant – 2
- Kenny Agostino – 2
DEFENDERS
- T.J. Brodie – 49
- Mark Giordano – 35
- Chris Butler – 29
- Kris Russell – 25
- Ladislav Smid – 13
- Dennis Wideman – 7
- Shane O’Brien – 2
- Tyler Wotherspoon – 2
- Chris Breen – 1
- Mark Cundari – 1
GOALIES
- Karri Ramo – 37
- Reto Berra – 27
- Joni Ortio – 9
- Joey MacDonald – 9
More often than not, a veteran started for the team, or someone riding a hot streak. McGrattan started once before the January 18 melee in Vancouver, but ended up being the bodyguard for returning forwards – playing alongside Matt Stajan and Curtis Glencross when they returned from injury. And if you were making your NHL debut and/or playing in your hometown, you also probably started the game.
On the back-end, a huge gulf between the trusted top four and everybody else.
LETTERMEN
- Mark Giordano dressed for 64 games as captain.
- Mike Cammalleri dressed for 63 games as alternate captain.
- Matt Stajan dressed for 49 games as alternate captain.
- Curtis Glencross dressed for 38 games as alternate captain.
- Lee Stempniak dressed for 16 games as alternate captain.
- Mikael Backlund dressed for 14 games as alternate captain.
- Jiri Hudler dressed for 2 games as alternate captain.
Lots of injuries of the team’s leadership group means lots of turnover. The three “regular” captain/alternates (Giordano, Glencross and Cammalleri) played together for less than 30 games, so the various combinations of on-ice leaders likely kept everybody on their toes all year long.
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