I'm on a train right now. I had net access just long enough to load up the ATD section of the site and post a couple of comments. By the time I got to this page, it was time to board. At least I have the page loaded so I can read, and write up a reply in a notepad file, and post it later. Sorry if my comments are out of date when I get the chance to submit them
It's an honour to be here with you guys, and I find it really difficult to really pick the lineup apart and find question marks. As I posted earlier in the MLD thread, your team has the most former Regina players (4), aside from Regina.
- Dickie Boon was Regina's #1 D-man in MLD9 (it was a shallower draft at the top end) so it's no secret I like him.
- JRR was Regina's backup goalie in ATD8 and ATD9 and he absolutely should be an ATD backup. A whole career full of being the 4th-6th best goalie in hockey as well as a couple brief flashes of greatness, sounds like a Lumley/Rayner kind of level to me.
- Richer was our top line RW in MLD8, he can work, the problem was we just had too many flakes in the top-6. Kozlov was the biggest intangible guy on those two lines, followed by... Rick Nash! yikes. So what I'm trying to say is Richer can work, it's a matter of not having too many flaky guys like him.
- Malecek was our 2nd line center in MLD9. Considering this draft was deeper than MLD9 at the top end of the draft, did we have an embarrassment of riches at center, or did Oxford reach for their first liner?
Short notes on topics already mentioned:
- Coaching: We're proud of our coach. But it's hard to say he'll provide a significant advantage over Tikhonov. His level of success is undeniable, it's really just the potential of clashes with players that keeps him falling in these things, isn't it?
- Interesting to hear you were after Prodger. he and Coutu would have been one scory pairing. Also, surprised to hear anyone was after Svehla. He just flies under every radar, for whatever reason. I've had him before; never heard a word about the pick, good or bad. He was an ATD regular and I never saw his name really discussed. We were just letting him fall and fall until we couldn't stand it anymore. I had a feeling you were Gardner fans (hope I did an OK job on the bio to do him justice!) and Skrudland was someone we could have easily assumed was already taken if we weren't careful. Nilsson by making it to the MLD at all, was a late pick, IMO. With Rolston being active I'm not surprised that opinions on him can differ a lot. We also let him slide pretty far - VCL can attest to this, he pushed for this pick about 8 times in a row before we finally went ahead with it! He had the best Selke record at the time we took him, as well as significant offensive production - though never anything elite.
- Boon, Arnott, Houle, and Gelinas were all potential Regina picks. Coutu should have been on our list too. You did a great job selling Houle; I was never really sold on his defensive play until this draft. Both your goalies were on our radar too. Roach was in out "big 5" that we established early on in our scouting talks, and Edwards is easily the best backup in the draft.
- Thanks for the compliment on the checking line. We feel Rolston is an important part of it. He can be dangerous on the PK and has speed to burn so he gives the line an element that it otherwise wouldn't have had if we just put a third "pure shutdown" player there. Peters is in his third stint as a Regina minor leaguer; hopefully he's made a name for himself now, and gets taken by someone else next time around. As for who it will play against, it's safe to say that we would like it up against either of the top-2 lines. (I'd call those two lines 1A and 1B; one doesn't appear too much better than the other.)
- As for championship playoff goalscoring, it is there. Skinner was a goalscoring machine in two finals, one of which he won. (don't feel bad about overlooking him, he's been overlooked hundreds of time now; this is only his second time being selected and the first time was by Regina, too. I tried to call attention to him in a thread in the HOH section before then too, but no one listened! Haynes is unproven only if you are referring to goalscoring in particular. Don't let the raw numbers fool you: He was top-5 in playoff assists twice, and his career PPG drops 16% even though playoff scoring dropped an average of 20% in the years he made the playoffs. Amonte's playoff record isn't great, but has he ever had a playmaker like Haynes in the playoffs? Failing that combination clicking, he's got a guy on the other side with a solid record of clutch scoring in Kozlov. Slava has a pair of cups in three finals, and leads the Red Wings in playoff game winners all-time, even though Howe, Yzerman, Fedorov, Delvecchio and Ullman played on the wings a lot longer than him. We think Amonte can pull his weight now that he has a center who can skate with him, but dishing off to Kozlov isn't a bad plan B for Haynesey. You are right on Nilsson and Payne (besides the part my protege corrected you on) but that doesn't concern us. We don't need everyone on the line to be a proven playoff goalscorer. Balance is the key. Babich is a passer, Payne a scorer, and Nilsson can do both, although as you alluded to, he doesn't have a history of being the last one to touch the puck before it goes in, in playoff contests.
- Re: Probert - he may not have much use in this series. It's very likely that Krusher will take his place on the 4th line. I've had 24 hours to daydream about this matchup and it makes the most sense, I think. Also, to get Nilsson more grit and playoff scoring on his unit, Skinner might get switched with Babich. babich has the mindset to play a 4th-line role effectively, and Skinner's championship scoring experience becomes more crucial in a finals matchup against an opponent with plenty of their own to speak of. He needs first line minutes to really shine and get those 4-5 goals he's due for - he won't get that many from the 4th.
- I have to echo my co-GM's comments, since finding some sort of Oxford weakness will be crucial to winning. First, although you have a solid lineup throughout, none of the four lines jump out at me as a "shutdown" unit. They're gonna want to try trading goals with us, and that's fine by us. Skrudland/Rolston/Peters have what it takes to shutdown the line they match up with, but will any Oxford line make a significant impact on a Regina scoring unit?
- VI sounds ready to tout his playoff clutch goalscoring that can be found throughout the lineup. If I were him I'd do the same. I can think of at least a couple of big goals scored by each of the bottom-six forwards, except Houle, but considering he was a Dynasty Hab, I'm sure he had a few big ones. However, where are the playmakers? Who's going to pass to them to get these goals? There's no Nilsson, Haynes, or even Apps, in this lineup. I know none of them have made the top-10 before, but beyond that, what is the career single-season high for assists out of Deadmarsh, Arnott, Houle, Koivu, Gelinas, and Sykora? 45? Boon will move the puck well and find the forwards, but that is not a unique advantage as Regina has Jeff Brown to do the same.
- Re: goaltending and coaching. In net, both teams ended up with one of our pre-draft "big 5" - I'm not prepared to declare either goalie as an advantage over the other. I think both should be ATD backups. As for coaching, same thing. Tikhonov, as VCL would concur, is a guy we considered taking too. These are potentially two of the top 3 or 4 coaches in the draft, depending on how you feel about Pilous and Boucher. And both coaches are well-suited to their teams, too.