Fast and heavy?

As previously posted, Terry Murray talked about the way he organized his third and fourth lines in practice today (Richardson-Handzus-Simmonds and Ivanans-Halpern-Modin) and said he wasn’t sure whether the lines would like that way at the start of Game 1 on Thursday. One thing does seem certain, though, and that is Raitis Ivanans’ presence in the lineup for Game 1. If you remember back a few days, Murray talked about his belief that “heavy” players should be in the lineup for at least the first couple games of the season, and they don’t get any heavier — literally — than Ivanans. Here’s what Murray said today about having Ivanans in the lineup against the Canucks…

MURRAY: “We know they’re a pretty gritty hockey club. They’ve got some heavyweights. They have a team that plays pretty hard, and Raitis is a player who — I don’t know about neutralize it — he can respond to those situations that are coming our way. He’s well-respected. He has his presence established around the league. Everybody knows what his role is on the hockey club. In saying all that, we also know that you have to show composure. You have to be discipline. Retaliatory penalties are going to be watched very closely. As a veteran player, I hope he does the right thing. It’s going to be new territory for him also, but he’s an important guy in our lineup in the early part of the series.”

Also, here’s what Murray said about the possibility of a Richardson-Handzus-Simmonds third line, which most likely would be the one primarily charged with matching up against the Sedin line.

MURRAY: “I’ll take a look at it. I wanted to see the speed that maybe would be available on the left side with Simmer on the right side. I know that their wingers are pretty speedy guys, and it gives me another look at Modin and Raitis, two very big bodies, playing on the same line. I’ll see where that goes after I get away here today.”