Although its place on the line sheet may be different at times, there is no question that the trio of Colin Greening, Blake Gallagher and Joe Devin has been the Cornell men's hockey team's top full-strength line this season.Yet that line, along with Cornell having the best power play in the country, has been masking the struggles of the wings playing on the second line alongside Riley Nash.Patrick Kennedy, Greg Miller, John Esposito, Locke Jillson and (to a much lesser extent) Joe Scali have all flanked Nash. To this point, their production has been very limited.
The point of Sweeney's column is that Schafer is having trouble finding qualified people to play on the second line alongside Riley Nash. Patrick Kennedy looked good earlier in the season but hasn't played as well after the injury at Yale. Miller has a couple of goals, but he's only a freshman. Esposito tries the same stupid moves every game which clearly worked in juniors but lead to neutral zone turnovers in college. Jillson scored that nice goal at MSG but hasn't done anything else all season (two points in twelve games).
With the success the top line has been having, Schafer can't justify breaking them up permanently. Still, especially when the team is behind, Schafer has tried putting Nash with Greening to generate more offense. This combination helped Cornell get some life on Tuesday in the third period against Colorado College. On Wednesday, Riley Nash scored his fourth goal of the season when Schafer put him out with Greening and Devin at the end of the first period against Princeton.
Here's the thing which Sweeney doesn't come out and say:
The problem isn't just the other guys; it's Riley Nash.
The implicit assumption here is that Riley is a great player who should be racking up the points, if only he had decent players on his line. He's a first-round NHL draft pick, after all.
Here's the truth: Riley Nash has simply been ineffective this season. He has four goals in thirteen games, but three of those have come when he's skating with Greening. In his assigned role, as the anchor of the second line, he's only put the puck in the net once. Sure, he's made some good moves, he handles the puck well, and he's gotten off some nice shots. But he's also blown two-on-ones, missed open nets, and has just seemed absent for large stretches of games.
Maybe it's mental. Maybe Nash is pissed that he's not on the top line and sees Miller et. al as inferior offensive players. Schafer has rotated through a bunch of combinations, so it's been tough for Nash to get settled.
But this doesn't excuse Nash's lack of discipline. He shares the team lead (with his brother Brendon, naturally) for penalties with 11 minors. Riley went to the box only 14 times last year. If you're an NHL scout monitoring his development, the combination of less offense with less discipline is not encouraging.
True, there isn't enough offensive talent on the Big Red to give Riley two top-notch line-mates. However, just as Colin Greening has brought out the best from Devin and Gallagher, Nash should be able to make his line better.
In Sweeney's column, Schafer seems unconcerned:
"That'll continue to be a big search," Schafer said. "Some guys that we have put there are showing flashes. We're only a third of a way through the schedule, so I'm not too concerned. It's not because of a lack of talent."
Perhaps Schafer is more concerned now, after his team scores four goals in two games to finish in last place at the Florida College Hockey Classic. It'll be interesting to see what the lines look like tomorrow at New Hampshire. But don't expect to see much from Nash unless he skates with Greening.
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