GM: Dennis Sullo
Coach: Mike Sullivan
Last season: 21st overall. Did not make playoffs.
Ins and Outs
(Season 12 to Season 13)
In: Justin Faulk (free agent), Cam Atkinson (free agent), Teuvo Teravainen (waiver), Tomas Nosek (free agent), Mikey Anderson (season 13 draft), Vitek Vanecek (season 13 draft) Trent Frederic (season 13 draft), Nikolai Knyzhov (season 13 draft)
Out: Jakub Voracek (free agent), Ryan Gunderson (free agent), J.T. Miller (free agent), Pavel Buchnevich (waiver), Elvis Merzlikins (free agent), Jason Dickinson (waiver), Alexey Toropchenko (waiver)
Potential Lineup
Alexander Polunin/Ryan Strome/Tyler Toffoli
Jake Debrusk/Brayden Point/Nikita Kucherov
Cam Atkinson/Patrice Bergeron/Teuvo Teravainen
Oscar Lindblom/Joel Eriksson Ek/Anthony Duclair
Jacob Trouba/Charlie McAvoy
Justin Faulk/Quinn Hughes
Neal Pionk/Rasmus Andersson
John Gibson/Vitek Vanecek
Three Questions
1. Will the Lions roar this year? Frankly, we don’t see how it’s possible that Zurich won’t do really well this year. They seem to have all the bases covered. Of course, we have said similar things about this team before and been surprised in a bad way. Still, how can you not go far with skilled skaters on four forward lines, really talented defensemen every where you look, a good blend of young and old, and John Gibson in goal? Zurich’s top three centers are Ryan Strome, Brayden Point and Patrice Bergeron. What more do you want? A really good offensive defenseman who has won the Cup 4 times? Oh, they picked one of those up in free agency.
2. How do the defense pairs look? We don’t want to overhype these guys, but look at them! Four of the six can join the offensive rush in a split second and really create havoc for the other team. Coach Mike Sullivan has young speedster Quinn Hughes paired with Justin Faulk, who has 4 EURO Cups to his name. What a great move for Hughes. You might as well redo Faulk’s business cards and add “On-Ice Tutor” next to “Defenseman.” Jacob Trouba has grown into a real impact player on defense for Zurich and he will be teamed with talented Charlie McAvoy, who like Hughes, still has some learning to do. And Neal Pionk is on the third duo with Rasmus Andersson. Both are classified as two-way defenseman, which is a nice balance to have on a tandem and Pionk is, well, he would be at least on the second pair on most teams. Trouba and Faulk are going to be called upon for a lot of special teams work, mainly because they can do the job, so check them for signs of wear later in the season. True, there are four guys back there who aren’t very experienced, but we don’t know how else to say this other than Zurich has an enviable blueline corps.
3. What are the forwards missing? Zurich has put together some interesting forward lines this season. Ryan Strome as center of the top line? Really? How does he get that spot? If you paid attention to Season 12, then you know the answers to those questions and they are, in order, “Oh yeah baby,” “Yes, really” and “He is the best center on the team and one of the best in the entire conference.” Strome scored 32 goals and had 55 assists last season for 87 points while being one of the league’s best defensive forwards. He was third among all EURO forwards in shot blocks and fifth in takeaways. He will have Tyler Toffoli and Alexander Polunin on his wings and that line should be as good as any in the Southern Conference. Polunin is small, but otherwise gifted as an offensive player. At age 25, he is on the edge of superstardom. Placing aging veteran Patrice Bergeron between new-to-the-team speedsters Cam Atkinson and Teuvo Teravainen also seems like a good move by coach Mike Sullivan. Even the fourth line could do some damage. Anthony Duclair is a wing on that line and as a 79 OV player, he is probably the most talented fourth-liner in the league. All in all, this is a good group. We worry about their size a bit, which in turn makes us worry about injuries, but Lions fans should be looking forward to games this season.
Rose’s Focus
My sister Bernice has lived in Zurich for the last 31 years and she is a Lions fans, so I felt bad for her when I would watch their games last season. Zurich let in way too many goals. The Lions’ 3.83 goals against average was third worst in the league. They were 13th in the league in shots against average, which isn’t terrible, but I hesitate to blame the goalie. American John Gibson has been the starter in Zurich for two seasons now. Bernice loves him. She wears her Gibson jersey to Mass some Sundays. Under her winter coat, so the priest can’t see, of course. His performance last year wasn’t terrible – Gibson’s I mean; not the priest’s – and he says some beautiful things – the priest I mean; not Gibson. The backup goalies’ numbers didn’t seem too terrible either, and the team defense wasn’t terrible but somehow the Lions were third worst in goals against. It’s hard to explain. I will be watching to see if coach Mike Sullivan changes his strategies if things start going south again this season. If he doesn’t, I know Bernice will ask her priest for some extra powerful prayer.
