Energy Line

ENERGY LINE (4th):

Daniel Paille (6-7-13 +8 $1.075M)  -  Now I'll be the first person to admit, I am not a huge Danny Paille fan.  His NHL career has been a bit of a disappointment considering he is a former 1st round draft pick (20th overall by Buffalo). You normally don't expect someone drafted that high to be just an energy line player.  He seems to find himself on the most break-aways than anyone on the team, but then does his best Luis Mendoza impression and botches it.  Disregarding where he was drafted, he did a real nice job on the 4th line with consistent play and he teamed up with Campbell to form a shut down penalty killing unit.  Unfortunately for him, I believe he's the most at risk of losing his job if one of the Baby B's comes in and has a stellar camp (considering Jordan Caron took his spot last fall before going back to Providence).

It's hard to find a good Paille highlight, here's a goal but it's more a 4th line highlight.

Gregory Campbell (13-16-29 +11 $1.1M)  -  Is it mean if I say that I initially was not a fan solely because he's Colin Campbell's son?  Come on!  I can't be the only one.  His father sucks, but my view on his son were  quickly reversed as the season rolled on.  Night in and night out he played hard, didn't hesitate to fight (11 fighting majors), and like I mentioned above, was a stonewall on the penalty kill.  He's like the Mikey Lowell of the Horton for Wideman trade.  He was a bit of an after thought of that deal, but man has he fit in perfectly.  I'd say he's been a nice upgrade over either Begin or Yelle.

My favorite Campbell moment was his part in the Montreal brawl.  I'll show that video when I talk about the Habs.  Here's a different Campbell fight and shorty (don't you miss Jack Edwards!).

Shawn Thornton (10-10-20 +8 $0.812M)  -  Thornton has become one of the most beloved players on this team here in Boston.  Even though he's from Canada, he looks like he was plucked out of Southie and thrown out on the ice.  Offensively, he had his best year.  In all honesty, that's just an added bonus.  His real importance to this team is his willingness to fight any player or goon the other team has to offer (14 fighting majors).  It actually would not surprise me one bit if they gave him the "A" that use to belong to Recchi since he's grown into one of the leaders of this team as well.

Just go to youtube.com or hockeyfights.com and you could spend a whole afternoon looking at Shawn Thornton fights.  Here's his against the Stars.

OUTLOOK:  I expect to see much of the same from this line.  Maybe not as many points as they scored this year, but just a consistent effort.  Finish their checks, possess the puck with a good cycle down low, and take the shot when it's there.  Nothing fancy, just fundamental hockey.  It's good to see that all three of these guys were a plus in the +/- category, meaning they weren't an enormous liability.  Having a good fourth line is huge as it allows your top offensive players more time to rest and be fresher at the end of the game. Any offense out of this line is always just added bonus.


- Dome