Thunder Bay Twins review...
*Yes, you did fulfill your promise from ATD 10: a trade-free draft. It was better this way, wasn't it. I was skeptical - hey, I'm a reporter, I'm supposed to be skeptical when I think I smell baloney - but you did it.
*And it helps when you have HO as your tag team partner. I once referred to pitseleh as (paraphrase) "As that kid in science class who everyone wants to work with, because you know you'll get an A. He does all the work. You share the grade." (I was the guy leaning on the smart kid). Anyways, HO also fits the really smart kid in science class mantra.
*Anyways, on to the review...
*Did Conacher and Cowley play together in Boston? I'm guessing they did. Cowley the dynamic playmaker and Conacher the young goal-scorer. Don't buy into baloney that Cowley is a product of the war years. And if Cowley falters, Maltsev's a heck of a playmaker, too.
*Conacher's one of the players that the veteran's committee got right. If you can led the NHL in goals once, and finish second four times, you should be in the HHOF. Remarkably, he was inducted in the Veteran's commitee's final year. He also became a pretty nifty playmaker late in his career while playing alongside Doug Bentley in Chicago.
*The second line is dangerous, too. The speed of Kariya and Modano will be very tough to contain. Kariya + Modano on a 2-on-1 would mean a panic attack for opposing defencemen. Alfredsson brings a good scorer's touch, an excellent work ethic and an ability to work the boards.
*If I have a concern, it's a lack of toughness on the first two lines. There isn't a really strong physical presence on either line. A guy like Alfredsson will muck along the boards and finish his checks. But against a tandem like Harvey-Day, or Robinson-Pratt - pairings with toughness and the ability to keep up with the speed - there could be some problems.
*The third line definitely has a physical presence with Adam Graves. Rousseau and Goyette are very smart, very fast, two-way players.
*I'd actually be tempted to go with Goyette on the fourth line, and move Madden up to the third. For one, I think Madden is the better defensive player. For another, I'm not certain how much production you'll get from that fourth line. Madden doesn't have much of a track record offensively. Neither does Berlinquette. (Sorry, but those top 10 seasons in assists don't do it for me. For a variety of reasons). Put Goyette on that fourth line, and lean on Berlinquette to open up room, that line has excellent offensive ability for a fourth line, while not compromising their defensive coverage.
*The first pairing is one of the most terrifying in the draft. Call it the Naughty and Nice pairing. They're also two of the defining players of their generation. That means a lot to me. Every scout will spend the next 10-20 years looking for the next Lidstrom or the next Pronger. You hear a scout foolishly label a defenceman the next Pronger each draft. And then it doesn't materialize. People can't allow their personal feelings of Pronger cloud their judgements of him. As for Lidstrom, I don't think anyone has anything negative to say about him as a player or as a person.
*I actually think Pronger at his best (1999-2000 season, 2006 and 2007 playoffs) was actually better than Lidstrom at his best. It's just we've seen so much more of Lidstrom at his best than Pronger at his best. Of all of Lidstrom's strengths, durability and consistency might be the biggest. Two No. 1 defencemen. You can't beat that.
*I think Suter's better than Zubov. A better all-round defenceman. Zubov's better offensively, and he's one of the best ever at keeping the puck in at the point. But Suter's all-round game is what separates them. If we didn't get Mohns in eight, we would have gone with Suter.
*Very solid third pairing. Samuelsson's another guy who receives clouded judgements. When he wasn't playing dirty, and when he wasn't finishing what he started (which actually bugs me more than the dirty play), he was one of the best defensive defencemen in the league. But nobody gives him credit for it because he was dirty and he turtled. Hajt's steady. Absolutely nothing flashy about him. But you can put him out there against the oppostion's best, on a somewhat consistent basis, and he'll be fine.
*In terms of personnel, this is as good as any defence in the draft. I'd say it's better than LL's, and LL went defence with five of his first seven picks.
*My only concern is with your No. 7. Steve Duchesne. For a couple reasons. One, he's redundent. With the skill you have on your blue-line, you don't need a guy like Duchesne. And if you wanted a puck-mover, there were some out there who brought more to the table than Duchesne. The other is character. For most of his career, he was a malcontent. He played on several teams who couldn't wait to get rid of him. That's not the guy I want as a No. 7.
*Goaltending's terrific. One of the best 1-2 punches in the league. I feel bad for Andy Moog: he deserves better than the limited back-up work load he'll get playing behind VanI's boyhood hockey hero. (As I said before, you can't put a price on that).
*Quote time from the funniest man alive (Dennis Hull): "Billy Reay was the only coach I ever played for. I had other coaches, but I didn't play for them." You guys got lucky. Reay should have been picked before some of the other coaches. (Jacques Demers, anyone?) Good second-tier coach.
*It's an excellent entry. There isn't anybody out of place. There isn't a second line winger who should be on the fourth line, a No. 2 defenceman who should be a No. 3 or a No. 4. Only concerns I have are a lack of a physical presence on the top two lines, and the No. 7 defenceman issue.
I did it GBC, a tradeless draft as promised, with help from a co-GM to keep me on the straight and narrow.
Thunder Bay Twins
GMs: VanIslander & Hockey Outsider
Coach: Billy Reay
Roy Conacher - Bill Cowley - Alexander Maltsev
Paul Kariya - Mike Modano - Daniel Alfredsson
Adam Graves - Phil Goyette - Bobby Rousseau
Louis Berlinquette - John Madden - Martin St. Louis
Milan Novy, Tumba Johansson
Chris Pronger - Nicklas Lidstrom
Sergei Zubov - Gary Suter
Ulf Samuelsson - Bill Hajt
Steve Duchesne
Ken Dryden
Andy Moog