If you’re reading this, chances are you’ve done this.

Grabbed a pen, a scrap of paper and started jotting down numbers.

13 – 23 – 19

Stop. Wonder. Scratch out 19.

13 – 23 – 28

Pause. Contemplate. Scratch out 28.

13 – 23 – 18

Wait. Ponder. Approving nod.

It’s the addictive exercise of formulating the lines for your favourite NHL team. Part art, part science and completely fun, it’s a popular pastime for the impassioned hockey fan.

Middle of the summer or middle of the season, winning streak or losing skid, any time is a good time to examine, or re-examine, the myriad of possibilities of how your team could or should deploy its forwards.

It’s not an exercise limited to armchair coaches, either.

“Oh, only about 2,000 times over the course of my coaching career,” quips new Flames coach Bill Peters, when asked if he has ever just grabbed a pen and started spitballing line combinations. “As coaches, we all obsess over it to a certain degree.”

The best part? As the stereotype suggests, sometimes that scribbling of numbers really does happen on a napkin.

“If the boys go out and have a pop and somebody suggests a line, you go ‘Okay, well let’s build the rest of the roster around that line.’ Once you put one line together, that impacts things. Now you’ve got to fill out three more.”

What’s made things extra intriguing this off-season is the sheer volume of changes up front for Calgary. It’s not inconceivable that half of the forwards in uniform on Oct. 3 in Vancouver will be different from opening night 2017.

Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, Mikael Backlund, Matthew Tkachuk, Michael Frolik and Sam Bennett. That’s it. Those are the only six from last year’s 3-0 loss in Edmonton that, barring injury, are assured of playing in this year’s season-opener. From the 2017-18 team, you can also safely pencil in Mark Jankowski, who began in the minors but came up for good in late October. Beyond that, there will be plenty of new faces.

Gone from that starting dozen a year ago are Kris Versteeg (Russia), Matt Stajan (Germany), Tanner Glass (France), Troy Brouwer (Florida) and Micheal Ferland (Carolina), who have all exited the organization. Garnet Hathaway remains but will face stiff competition to dress on opening night.

Incoming forwards are James Neal, Elias Lindholm, Derek Ryan and accomplished AHL sniper Austin Czarnik, 25, whose two-year, one-way deal suggests he’s also got a spot locked up. Spencer Foo, Andrew Mangiapane and Dillon Dube are among the club’s homegrown prospects that will be vying for a job. Recently acquired Kerby Rychel is another guy to watch. Curtis Lazar is also in the mix.

One area of focus for general manager Brad Treliving this off-season was building out Calgary’s forward depth. He’s done that and, in doing so, has brought in a bunch of players capable of playing multiple positions.

For example, Lindholm, Ryan and Czarnik can all play centre or wing. As right-hand shots, their ability to take — and more importantly, win — draws, gives Calgary a whole new dimension.

“We’ve got multiple options now with the guys that we’ve either traded for or signed,” says Peters. “That gives us much more versatility.”

While Lindholm and Ryan may be new to the organization, the skill sets possessed by the former Hurricanes are not new to Peters. Lindholm played the last four seasons under Peters. Ryan’s two-plus seasons in the NHL have been spent under Peters. Ryan also played two years of major junior for Peters when both were in Spokane in the WHL.

“Let’s just say in theory if Lindholm plays with Backlund, I’ve got a left-handed centre in Backlund and a right-handed centre in Lindy,” says the new coach. “If I elect to play Lindholm with Monahan then again I’ve got a left-handed and right-handed centre.”

Ryan will slot somewhere in the bottom six. Even if he ends up on right wing, he will still be tasked with taking critical faceoffs in the offensive or defensive zone that fall on his strong side.

“Ryan is an elite face-off guy on the right side. He’s a top-10 NHL faceoff guy, so he’s a guy who’s going to take a lot of important draws,” Peters says.

The biggest question though — and it’s been an annual point of consternation for several seasons now — is who is going to play right wing on the club’s No. 1 line? You can count on longtime linemates and off-ice pals Gaudreau and Monahan to form two-thirds of that top unit.

“There are combinations that have unbelievable chemistry, and the example that we have, obviously, is Gaudreau and Monahan,” explains Peters. “Very seldom would they be split. They’re probably going to play 95 per cent, if not more together. Now the question is, who is going to run shotgun on that wing?”

There are a few candidates.

“Everybody’s always curious who’s going to play with who. We’re going to let the chemistry happen. Is it going to be Lindholm? Is it going to be Tkachuk on the off wing? Is it going to be Neal? Those are all options that we have available to us, and we’ll play with during the preseason and in-season a little bit.”

Perhaps the answer will end up being all of the above. After all, Peters does confess to being more of a pairings guy.

“You watch when coaches go to the blender and they change their lines, it’s never really wholesale changes where it’s all three guys playing with somebody new, there are usually pairs,” Peters says. “What happens with lines, as good as they are, and there are dominant lines in the league, is at some point it goes stale. Then when you shake it up a little bit, it gives them a little jolt, and then when you put them back together, it’s refreshing.”

Peters says he will take various factors into consideration when deciding who lines up beside No. 13 and No. 23.

One is the other team’s personnel and what Calgary’s anticipated match-ups would be.

Another is the make-up of the Flames special teams. In particular, the personnel on his power-play units.

“I want to make sure at least one of my forward groups is a power-play unit so I know I’m putting a fresh unit out there when it’s their time to go. For example, if it’s Gaudreau, Monahan and Neal, and they’ve had a 45-50 second shift and they’re gassed, then obviously a different unit can go out and then I can come back with that unit.”

Peters says analytics can also play a role in influencing who plays with who.

“What analytics does is provoke thought and thought is good because then you look at things in a different light or you come up with fresh ideas,” says Peters. “So if someone comes and says ‘Hey, you know what, this is going to work,’ I’ll say ‘Okay, let’s build it out from there.’ All of a sudden, the next thing you know, you might have something.”

But it doesn’t always work. Chemistry is an interesting beast in that regard. What looks great on paper doesn’t always translate.

“One time, analytically, there was a group of three that people thought was going to work, and I said I’ve played those three together and it’s never worked good.”

But he agreed to give it another try the next game. The results? Just as he had witnessed before.

“Through 40 minutes, the group was minus-3 and we’re getting pummeled in Corsi and we’re getting pummeled in chances for and we lost the hockey game,” Peters says. “I said guys I know this group doesn’t work together. For whatever reason, it just doesn’t work. There’s no chemistry. It’s just one of those things. I can’t explain it, but once you’ve lived it often enough as a coach, you know.”

However the lines shake out, whoever ends up skating beside Gaudreau and Monahan, Peters is excited to get it going. You can feel the energy in his voice.

“I just think we have unbelievable flexibility in our lineup right now. We’ve got a lot of young players who are going to continue to get better and we’ve got proven, older guys that are going to come in and solidify and lead the way, also. I’m excited about our roster and I can’t wait to get over to Shenzhen and get on the ice with our group.”

While on that 12-hour flight to China that departs on Sept. 11, don’t be surprised if Peters gets out a pen and goes through a few more line iterations. Hope the plane has plenty of napkins.

Overview of the Forward Group

Line No. 1

Locked: Gaudreau (LW), Monahan (C)

Unknown Piece: RW

Leading RW Candidate: Neal

Other Candidates: Lindholm, Tkachuk

Longshots: Czarnik, Bennett, Foo



Line No. 2

Locked: Backlund (C)

Near-Locked: Tkachuk (LW)

Unknown Piece: RW

Leading RW Candidate: Lindholm

Other Candidates: Neal, Frolik

Longshots: Bennett, Ryan

Line No. 3

Locked: Nobody

Unknown Pieces: LW, C, RW

Leading LW, C, RW Candidates: Ryan, Frolik

Other Candidates: Jankowski, Bennett, Czarnik

Longshots: Lindholm, Mangiapane, Foo

Line No. 4

Locked: Nobody

Unknown Pieces: LW, C, RW

Leading LW, C, RW Candidates: Jankowski, Czarnik

Other Candidates: Ryan, Foo, Mangiapane, Lazar, Bennett, Rychel

Longshots: Frolik, Dube, Robinson, Quine, Klimchuk

How I got here and why you should come along, too

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