Flyers coach juggling players to keep lines centered

Lost in the shuffle of the Flyers' superb first half - if grades were handed out, most players would receive an "A" - is the way coach Peter Laviolette has expertly handled a potentially sticky situation.

Laviolette feels he has four players - Mike Richards, Danny Briere, Jeff Carter, and Claude Giroux - who are good enough to center the first two lines.

Four does not fit into two, but Laviolette has made it work.

"We've got four guys who need the top two spots," Laviolette said the other day, "so we're just doing our best to manage it."

Briere (21 goals), Giroux (16), Carter (16), and Richards (13) have combined for 66 goals - or just six fewer than New Jersey's entire team.

Laviolette has had three players from that group centering the first three lines, and one player moving to the wing. He has juggled it so that all four have spent some time at center, and several have rotated at wing.

"I don't want to lose anybody," Laviolette said, referring to their mental approach. "I think it's important they all get back and play some games once in a while" at center.

Earlier this season, Laviolette had Giroux centering a line with Carter at right wing. Lately, the two have flip-flopped positions.

"We just keep moving it around and the guys have been good with it," said Laviolette, whose Eastern Conference-leading team plays in Buffalo on Tuesday. "They're all best in the middle of the ice; they all want the middle of the ice. We'll make it work."

At times, Richards has had Carter, Giroux, or Briere as his right wing.

In the last few games, Richards has centered James van Riemsdyk and Andreas Nodl; Briere has centered the Flyers' most stable line, with wingers Scott Hartnell and Ville Leino; Carter has centered Giroux and Darroll Powe; and Blair Betts has centered a sandpaper line with Dan Carcillo and Jody Shelley.

The players have not complained about moving to different positions, Laviolette said.

"Nobody has sat there and been ticked off because they're on the wing," he said. "They're all working with it; they understand what we have. It's a positive thing - you'd rather have four (topflight centers) instead of two."

Laviolette's honor. By virtue of having the East's highest-points percentage (.695) after Saturday's games, Laviolette will be co-coaching the Jan. 30 All-Star Game in Raleigh, N.C., along with Vancouver's Alain Vigneault, whose Canucks (27-8-5) had the highest percentage (.738) in the West.

The Flyers (26-10-5) have their second-best record at the midway point in the last 25 seasons.

"[Laviolette] has played a huge part in it," van Riemsdyk said. "When things start to go wrong, he nips it in the bud. He has done a great job and put a great system in place for us."

Richards, the team's captain, agreed.

"Last year it took us a little bit to get used to it," he said of Laviolette's attacking system and left-wing lock, "but once we did it, it was extremely effective. He deserves to be [at the All-Star Game]. He's a heck of a coach and the leader of our team."

Said Laviolette: "I've never been to one before, so it will be fun. More than anything, I think my spot there is the reflection of the organization and the players and their commitment to being successful. I'm grateful for that."

Because of this year's new format, Laviolette could actually end up coaching against some Flyers. The NHL has replaced the traditional conference vs. conference all-star format. The fans have already picked the first six players, but the NHL will name 36 more players on Tuesday.

The players will then choose captains, who on Jan. 28 will draft the respective teams - like a fantasy league or a pickup game on a pond. That means several regular-season teammates figure to oppose each other.

Joel Quenneville, who directed Chicago to last year's Stanley Cup, will coach the other all-star team.