From the Rampage Desk: Let’s Play 3

After playing 3 games in 2 weeks the beloved Rampage switch things up and play 3 games in 48 hours. All against Texas to boot. Some new players have joined the club this week so expect different lines and pairs, maybe every night.

News

– The Avs have finally demoted defenseman Andrei Mironov who hasn’t been seen since struggling through opening night. Since the Avs seem intent on not staying healthy he might not be around long.

– Tage Thompson replaces Sammy Blais in the Blues’ third of the lineup. The big winger joined the team in San Antonio upon their return from California.

– AJ Greer is healthy and getting back in to game shape. We’ll probably see him at some point this weekend. Dominic Toninato is also all set after missing the California trip with an undisclosed injury from opening night.

– David Warsofsky left last Saturday’s game halfway through and didn’t return. Wasn’t practicing with the team this week so he’s out. Shawn St-Amant was spotted practicing on his own for the first time since the rookie showcase when he suffered a hand injury.

– The Avs had several injuries vs the Blues Thursday. JT Compher broke his thumb and will be out for a while. Tyson Jost and Patrik Nemeth had LBIs to unknown extents. No games until Tuesday so I’d say we have a gong show this weekend for some NHL time.

– For a deeper look at the Rampage’s 2-1 start, check out Breaking Down from earlier this week

Preview: Texas x 3

The Stars lead the Pacific Division at 3-1 and in true fashion have an average of 4 goals a game, both for and against. The Rampage have been super stingy with SOG in their 2 wins, less than 20 in each. Should be an interesting matchup, a team that plays wide open vs EV trying to grind them to dust.

Lines from Practice Thursday (thanks to SunnyDknight27):

Ranford – Aggz – Rocco
Thompson – Colborne – Kostin
Bourque – Girard – Vogelhuber
Musil – Toninato – Petryk
Greer – Belzile – Nantel (scratches?)

The D was the 6 healthy ones: Duncan, Mason, Graham, Meloche, Schmaltz & Butler

Mironov should be around at some point, perhaps even tonight. I expect with the 3-in-3 that every D will play at least 2 games. It’s anyone’s guess what the staff will do with the forwards. The trend has been to play the most experienced guys whenever possible on the Avs side.

I have to admit I hate these lines and don’t see them working for long. Top line is three small wings, 2nd line is three gigantic wings, no playmakers or centers to be seen. The 3rd line is defensively sound but has little scoring ability, again all 3 guys basically the same player. I’m not sure Coach Veilleux could make three more 1-dimensional lines out of this roster if he wanted to, it’s actually pretty funny when you look at it. Could be a major train wreck vs the Stars speed and skill.

If the plan is to straight up alternate goalies then Husso should start Friday/Sunday and Marty takes Saturday’s game.

Schedule

Friday at Texas 8:30pm ET
Saturday at Texas 8pm ET
Sunday vs Texas 4pm ET

Links

– Ticket760 has the radio call for all Rampage games

– Topher, JP and Nate logged another edition of RWtH Live this week

– For chat and discussion during games hop on the RWtH discord server

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San Antonio returns to action next weekend at home vs San Jose/San Diego

Thanks to the San Antonio Rampage for the feature photo and to SunnyDknight27 for the practice info yesterday.