My pet peeve this week is coaches who have zero patience with their line combinations and defensemen pairings. I know that NHL bench bosses are under enormous pressure to win, but give it a little time, fellas, before you scrap all the plans you made over the summer and during the pre-season.

I had someone write in last week complaining that Josef Vasicek was listed on our depth charts as the Islanders’ 4th line center. He played one game on the second line and was on the third line the next night. Poor Josef doesn’t even know what line he plays on.

Jacques Lemaire is one of the worst offenders in this regard. Minnesota’s first-line center is basically a five-headed monster; Lemaire not only changes who plays between Marian Gaborik and Pavol Demitra by the game, but often by the minute.

Don’t get me wrong. Mike, I and the rest of the Rotoworld hockey stuff love what we do. But in many cases it is extremely difficult to discern what teams’ line combinations and defensemen pairings are at any given moment, due to the penchant of coaches to shuffle them so freely.

That said, I think we do a pretty good job of sorting this out at Rotoworld. However, it’s kind of like playing cards with your little brother. Most of the time you win, but every once in a while he beats you.