Say what you will about the Islanders lacking a bona-fide scoring winger or the paucity of goals they’re likely to see from the personnel they’ve assembled for this season.
But you can never say they aren’t versatile.
Seven of the Islanders’ 12 forwards can or have played center. Alexei Yashin, Dave Scatchard, Shawn Bates, Oleg Kvasha, Jason Wiemer, Justin Mapletoft and Claude Lapointe are all natural centermen.
As a result, going into last night’s home game against Carolina, some players were finding themselves adapting to spots on the wings, and Peter Laviolette seemed to have created some nice chemistry in four sets of forwards that appear to play comfortably, anywhere on the ice.
The top line centers Yashin between Brad Isbister on the left and Kvasha, who played center during training camp, on the right. Bates, who last year flourished on Mike Peca’s left side, is now centering Raffi Torres and Mark Parrish. Scatchard, who can also play wing, is centering Jason Blake and Arron Asham, while the rookie Mapletoft has been between Wiemer and Lapointe.
Such versatility has not gone unappreciated by Laviolette. “Even a guy like Jason Wiemer – you put him on right wing, left wing, center. He kills penalties, so that’s a bonus when you have that,” he said. “It’s nice to have a lineup full of centermen who can play wing. It’s tough to be short on centermen. Claude Lapointe, same thing. Dave Scatchard, same thing. Olie Kvasha, same thing.”
Wiemer said that his line, which comprises three natural centers, has benefited from knowing each other’s assignments. At first it was a chore, he said, to synchronize their timing and avoid colliding in the neutral zone when they all instinctively skated to the same spot.
Bates was converted from center to left wing at Providence of the AHL when Laviolette, who was coaching there at the time, put him to the left of Randy Robitaille. Both played center, but someone had to sacrifice in order for the two to skate together on the Baby Bruins’ top line.
“It’s really, for anybody, the more things you can do for a team, the more you can do for an organization in different roles, the more dependable you are,” Laviolette said. “Somebody who can play all six positions, you look at him as an asset, you know what I mean? If someone is a center and a goalie, you say, ‘Holy Cow! He’s as good a goalie as he is a center. What a utility player he is!'”
Indeed, Bates has spent some time between the pipes.
“I did it in college on off-days,” said Bates, the Boston University product, of playing goalie. “But I don’t think they want me in net.”
No, playing either at center or the wing will do just fine.