Quick Hits: The 4th Line Edition

Jeff Hancock

• 1 min read Front Page

In Red Wings Land

Red Wings get a boost from ‘big, strong, heavy’ fourth line | Detroit News

The way the de la Rose line plays, with a strong emphasis on forechecking, physical play and a strong work ethic, should be sustainable, and not be prone to slumps.

“They understand how they’re going to be successful,” Blashill said. “They’re a group that wants to put pucks behind people, want to forecheck hard, and they want to be physical, get to the net.

“It’s repeatable and that line can be a successful line for us.”

If Darren Helm, Jacob de la Rose and Justin Abdelkader can keep it rolling as a trio for the Red Wings, that’s fantastic. It’s probably a safe bet that I’m not the only one who had very, very low expectations for these three, but I’d love to be wrong about them. A consistent, solid, strong 4th line will go a long way to help the depth of this team. If they can help out Tyler Bertuzzi, Dylan Larkin and Anthony Mantha with the scoring, then it buys the Wings a little bit of time to get the 2nd and 3rd lines going.

Around the League

Petr Cech marks hockey debut with winning shootout save | NBC Sports

Legendary soccer goalkeeper Petr Cech traded in soccer cleats for ice skates this week after joining up with the Guildford Phoenix of the United Kingdom’s National Ice Hockey League.

The 37-year-old made his debut on Sunday, leading the Phoenix to a 3-2 win over the Swindon Wildcats after a shootout.

Not too shabby.