I thought it might be interesting to do a bit of a retrospective on five "seasons" of ATD playoffs (correct me if I'm wrong, but ATD#6 was the first that featured a playof format, correct?). So, with no particular rhyme or reason, here are a few interesting ATD facts (from #6 to #10) for you all:
- Dean Prentice and Ed Litzenbeger now join Bobby Rousseau as the most successful ATD players to date. Playing his standard 3rd line left wing role, Prentice won the Milt Dunnell Cup in both ATD #6 and #10, and was on the losing team in the finals in ATD #8. Litzenberger is in his third consecutive finals, and second consecutive victory. He is thus far the only player to play in three straight finals. Prentice and Rousseau have played on the same line in two finals appearances, winning with Montreal in ATD#6 and losing with Nanaimo in ATD#8.
- Johnny Bucyk and Dean Prentice (who were teammates in real life in Boston for a while) have been teammates on two Milt Dunnell Cup winners, in ATD #6 and #10, once playing for Montreal and once against them.
- Joe Sakic and Doug Gilmour have squared off in the finals before: way back in ATD#6, when it was Gilmour's Canadiens who were victorious. Doug Gilmour is becoming synonymous with the Canadiens franchise.
- Hooley Smith has also competed in two Milt Dunnell Cups with Montreal, in ATD's #6 and #8, winning both times. He and Gilmour are, thus far, the defining players of the Canadiens' mini dynasty, which, when you consider the players, says a lot about that franchise, IMO.
- winning ATD goalies since the playoff format started: Bower, Hall, Broda, Rayner, Fuhr. Losing goalies thus far are Brodeur, Gardiner, Benedict, Brimsek and Hasek. No goalie has appeared in the finals more than once, and interestingly, the winning goalies are easily a weaker group than the losers.
- coaching seems to be nearly a constant thus far in the ATD. The following coaches have taken their teams to the finals: Day (3 times - 1 championship, two losses), Arbour (championship), Irvin (championship), Patrick (loss), Ivan (championship), Hart (championship), Nielson (loss), Green (loss). Of that group, the only one who I would place lower than the 3rd tier is Roger Nielson. I dunno if coaching is underrated in the ATD, but the teams that make it to the finals always seem to have at least a pretty good coach.
- Bryan Trottier has now lost in the Milt Dunnel Cup Finals twice, in ATD #7 and #10. Interesting how the real-life fortunes of men like Trottier and Prentice have reversed in the ATD.
- Ed Litzenberger (ATD #9 and #10) now joins Newsy Lalonde (ATD #7 and #8), Doug Risebrough (ATD #6 and #7), Bill Hajt (ATD #6 and #7) and Bobby Rousseau (ATD #6 and #7) as the only back-to-back Milt Dunnell Cup winners.
- amazingly, not one single defenseman has won the Milt Dunnel Cup more than once since the playoff format began. The Bills (White and Gadsby) have both won a Cup and lost once in the finals, and Vitaly Davydov has twice been on the losing end. Other than that, there are not even any defensemen who have appeared in the finals more than once. edit: Bill Hajt was a 3rd pairing guy for the winners of both ATD 6 and 7, and pit already pointed out that Ted Harris was a spare on both teams, as well.