ATD 2011 Draft Thread III

[BillyShoe1721]

With their next selection, the Philadelphia Firebirds are happy to select a goalie some believe was better than Tretiak, an underrated goaltender, Jiri Holecek.

5x Best Goalie at World Championships(all time record among goalies, tied for most among all players with Fetisov)
5x World Championships All Star Team(most among all goaltenders)
3x World Championships Gold Medalist
1x Golden Hockey Stick Award Winner for best player in Czechoslovakia
6x Ceske Budejovice Champion
1x Olympic Silver Medalist
1x Olympic Bronze Medalist
IIHF Hockey Hall of Fame Member

JIRI HOLECEK (2) is easily one of the most accomplished goaltenders in the history of international hockey. Holecek captured three titles ('72, '76, '77) at the annual IIHF World Championships for Czechoslovakia and was chosen to the media All-Star team five times ('71, '72, '73, '76, '78).

Forty-seven shots in all Suomi fired at their opponent’s goal. Unfortunately for the Finns, standing in front of the Czechoslovak net was none other than JIRI HOLECEK. The 31-year-old veteran international was already a three-time winner (’71, ‘73, ‘75) of the IIHF Directorate’s award for Best Goalie at the annual World Championships. Xxx was the only Finn who would manage to put a puck past the Sparta Prague goaltender.

Holecek handled the other 46 shots effectively...

Holecek handed in a clean sheet for Czechoslovakia’s next match, a 5-0 defeat of the United States, to follow up. That would turn out to be the only shutout registered by any of the six teams in the final round-robin at the 1976 Winter Olympic Games.

“Holecek is the best goalie in the world – better than (Vladislav) Tretiak, (Ken) Dryden or (Bernie) Parent.” — BOBBY HULL at the 1976 Canada Cup

http://www.goironpigs.com/?p=3919

One of the best elite goalies in world hockey history. One of the living legends of Czech hockey. Was exceptionally reliable, well prepared mentally and technically for any game he had to play.

http://www.chidlovski.com/personal/1972/misc/cssrbiod.htm

But many consider him being a better goaltender than Tretiak. In his homeland (Czech Republic) Holecek was called "Kouzelnik" (The Magician), for his acrobatic style of play. He was equally good and fast with his blocker as he was with his glove hand. He also had very quick feet and tried to emulate the style of his childhood idol, xxx. Another strength was that Holecek always used to be cool under pressure. Many say that if Holecek had got the same exposure as Tretiak did when he faced the NHLers then he would be regarded as the best European goalie ever.

Holecek was born on March 18, 1944 in Prague. He started playing as a little kid on a pond at Zizkov in Prague. Then in 1956 he played for Tatra Smichov as a forward. As a 13-year old he became a goalie just by coincidence when he failed to make the Bohemians Prague team in 1957-58 as a forward. He found out that the rival club Slavia Prague was looking for a goaltender. So Holecek tried out as a goalie and made the team. He played there until 1963 before he was picked up by the Slovakian club Dukla Kosice (1963-67) / VSZ Kosice (1967-73).

In 1973 he returned to Prague where he played for Sparta Prague between 1973-78. He played a total of 488 games in the league and won the "Golden Stick" award as the player of the year in 1974. After his domestic career was over he went on to play in Germany for EHC Münich 70 (1978-80) and then EHC Essen (1980-81).

On the national team Holecek represented Czechoslovakia 164 times (a record for Czech goalies). He was a three time World Champion (1972, 1976 and 1977). Holecek was voted as the best goalie five times (1971, 1973, 1975, 1976 and 19 78) , more than any other goaltender. He was also a five time All-Star.

Holecek always played at his best when he faced the Soviets.

"I loved to play against them because our team didn't have anything to lose in those games. Everybody expected us to lose and if we won we became national heroes. I usually liked to skate out a bit to face the shooters but against them I stood on the goal line. Trying to skate out of your crease to cut the angles against the Russians would have been suicide" Holecek said.

He also never considered Tretiak to be one of the greatest goalies.

"No, Tretiak wasn't anything special. We had at least ten goalies back home who were better than him and the same goes for Sweden. The Russians had such a good team that it wasn't very hard to be in goal for them."

Holecek was a "ghost" for many opponents and must be regarded as one of the three best goalies ever in European hockey history.

http://internationalhockeylegends.blogspot.com/2007/10/jiri-holecek.html

The credit for this was also one of the best goalies in the history of Czechoslovak hockey Jiri Holecek

http://www.sienslavy.sk/historia

Jiri Holecek was their key player, turning aside 46 shots in a 2-1 win over Finland followed by the tournament's only shutout

http://www.greatesthockeylegends.com/2010/02/1976-olympics-at-innsbruck-austria.html

Jiri Holecek, former star goalie for Czechoslovakia...

http://books.google.com/books?id=dX...=0CEoQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=jiri holecek&f=false

Czech legend Jiri Holecek...

http://books.google.com/books?id=k3...=0CFUQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=jiri holecek&f=false

xxx tallied in the first and third periods for Czechoslovakia, whose goalie, Jiri Holecek was brilliant.

http://books.google.com/books?id=9m...k_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CD0Q6AEwBjgU

The goaltending of xxx and Jiri Holecek was brilliant.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAAIBAJ&pg=6954,5350892&dq=jiří+holeček&hl=en

In the scoreless third period, the Soviets repeatedly sailed into the Czech zone, only to be stymied by Jiri Holecek.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAAIBAJ&pg=3054,3009479&dq=jiří+holeček&hl=en

Jiri Holecek played yet another heroic game in the Czechslovak goal...

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAAIBAJ&pg=2957,4728358&dq=jiří+holeček&hl=en

Czech goalie Jiri Holecek, brilliant throughout the afternoon, led an unrelenting defense that continually denied the Americans' offense.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAAIBAJ&pg=1140,2810980&dq=jiří+holeček&hl=en

Czech aces in goalie Jiri Holecek and xxx...

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAAIBAJ&pg=1077,4447006&dq=jiří+holeček&hl=en

The Czechs opened up a 2-0 lead in the first period as goaltender Jiri Holecek made several brilliant saves.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAAIBAJ&pg=3006,6473277&dq=jiří+holeček&hl=en

...the peerless goalie Jiri Holecek...

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAAAIBAJ&pg=4768,950725&dq=jiří+holeček&hl=en

 

[Velociraptor]

With the selection of Holocek, via proxy list, the Chicago Steelers will go with the next goaltender on their list, Grant Fuhr

Next manager notified.

 

[monster_bertuzzi]

We should be able to get a nice run up to about pick 180 by midnight tonight, lots of GM's on deck who frequent the ATD thread...

And thanks boys, was thinkin about going goalie next round - decision is a lot easier now.

 

[BenchBrawl]

Is TDMM around?

 

[jarek]

TDMM picks Art Coulter, D.

 

[BenchBrawl]

Montreal Canadiens are proud to select Denis Savard

 

[monster_bertuzzi]

Montreal Canadiens are proud to select Denis Savard

Gretzky-Savard down the middle, two magical playmaker. Nice work.

 

[Velociraptor]

Reen has definitely done a formidable job of assembling his roster so far. That is a great 1-2 punch to have, those two centers could work well with any winger, whether it's Wade Belak or Paul Bisonnette.

 

[BenchBrawl]

Reen has definitely done a formidable job of assembling his roster so far. That is a great 1-2 punch to have, those two centers could work well with any winger, whether it's Wade Belak or Paul Bisonnette.

The hard part is coming for me , don't have a lot of picks in the next section.

 

[seventieslord]

I always get Reg Noble and Babe Dye confused...

They couldn't be more different.

Good profile otherwise, but is stuff like the bolded really necessary? Is it supposed to be somehow more impressive that Chara's single 4th place vote for the Hart in 2010 somehow landed him in "15th place" vs 2004, when his single 4th place vote landed him in "25th place?"

Agree. Pointless.

It's ridiculous how far Babe Siebert fell. Edit: And Georges Boucher.

As for Ching Johnson, definitely a great defensemen, but he fact that every profile of him talks about how he was the master of the subtle clutch and grab to compensate for his lack of speed scares a lot of GMs away. (I mean, the man's pnep nickname was the Holding Corporation!) Still, despite that, he was 2nd in Hart voting once.

What is ridiculous is that they fell so far despite the massive runs on defensemen that took place.

I'm just curious how seriously we should take praise of him when it comes right after he died.

I would say not very seriously, as a few others have said already. That's basically what you'd expect them to say of any recently (and tragically) deceased player.

MacKay seems to fall into the "very good" category of early defensive forwards with guys like Frank Boucher and Aurel Joliat.

Agree.

Posting From His I-Phone

Exactly, and you guys can expect me to do the same at least a few times during this draft, and especially the MLD as I'll be overseas for a part of it.

Jokerit selects C Jacques Lemaire.

one of the top support C's in history. i think he will fit well with bobby hull for several reasons. very good defensively, very good skater, played often with a W who liked to have the puck (guy lafleur) and also played with goalscoring W's (frank mahovlich, yvan cournoyer, guy lafleur). lemaire was also very smart player who knew when to let his linemates play their game, and when to join or lead the attack himself. also played the point on the PP.

also played LW regularly in his early career, and got several AS votes at LW.

Well done. I don't know if there's a better low-key compelentary center out there.

zubov was another player i thought a lot about picking. especially b/c he was great on PP, but was also a good defensive player in dallas.

i have thought for a long time that zubov's norris and AS record is not as good as he was. when i looked back through the all star and award thread, i noticed that one of his (undrafted) contemporaries often had better votes, but was clearly not as good.

pronger vs niedermayer is a similar case. imo, pronger was clearly a superior player in both regular season and playoffs, but niedermayer has more 1st AS and a smythe.

You are right about the undrafted player. Also on Niedermayer and Pronger. But I don't see when Zubov should have got more votes than another player who got more than him.

Yeah he tends to go late. Another player in the Blake tier, though, as far as I'm concerned.

What? no way. Blake was talked about as a future norris winner from Day 1. Zubov was considered just an offensive guy for about his first 5 years.

 

[BillyShoe1721]

Jiri Holecek's completed bio:

http://hfboards.com/showpost.php?p=30872163&postcount=980

Harry Howell's completed bio:

http://hfboards.com/showpost.php?p=30859554&postcount=934

 

[BenchBrawl]

I considered taking a Goalie , but Savard sitting there was too tempting to pass.
I felt like the gap between goalies will be lesser than the gap between Savard and the other centers I could have drafted at 238th.

 

[seventieslord]

Someone who is around often can feel free to start draft thread 4. Please follow the same titling format as usual.

 

[EagleBelfour]

Good profile otherwise, but is stuff like the bolded really necessary? Is it supposed to be somehow more impressive that Chara's single 4th place vote for the Hart in 2010 somehow landed him in "15th place" vs 2004, when his single 4th place vote landed him in "25th place?"

Damn, I feel like I'm answering this question again and again and again with my profile: I am not trying to sell Zdeno Chara, but to paint a complete picture and putting the most information I can on him. OBVIOUSLY, these 15th and 19th position are worth absolutely nothing, but that his why I put the results beside them to not confuse anyone of the signification of these results. You read this, you go 'heh!' and you move on.

I'm having trouble making sense out of the "most important goal" statement, and it's not because of "Matteau, Matteau!"

By the way, Eagle, do you know if the Bouchers were Francophones? Strangely, and not by design, I have drafted very, very few Francophone players (I seem to prefer Europeans) as an ATD GM until this draft, but my team would be pretty French at this point if the Bouchers are that kind of Ontarian.

- Bah, first or second, it's still one of the most important goal in the NYR history. It's not because it happened 70 years ago that it's less important than something that happened 15 years ago.

- From what I know, the only thing Boucher has that his French it's his family name. I never read a thing about him having French relative or speak french.

 

[monster_bertuzzi]

Kariya is kind of a puzzling pick so early but then again he was a top LW for a good 5 years straight in the 90's.

 

[EagleBelfour]

Before we close this thread, heres what I think his a fantastic picture of Fern Flaman and Terry Sawchuk among others:

You think it's an highstick?

 

[nik jr]

can someone tell me the french canadian word for hairpiece? i forgot the word.

Jiri Holecek's completed bio:

http://hfboards.com/showpost.php?p=30872163&postcount=980

Harry Howell's completed bio:

http://hfboards.com/showpost.php?p=30859554&postcount=934

i read a column from 1956 a couple of weeks ago in which NYR's GM said that harry howell, not gadsby, was the key player on their blueline, and said that howell was "the solid guy."

the columnist said that this GM makes it sound like he doesn't want any stars on his team. gadsby was considered "a cinch for the AS team." this GM also said his goalie could play better, even after acknowledging the goalie could be a contender for the hart. also was sparse in his praise for bathgate.

You are right about the undrafted player. Also on Niedermayer and Pronger. But I don't see when Zubov should have got more votes than another player who got more than him.

switching their votes gives a better idea of how good they were, imo.

but i cannot really say zubov deserved more norris/AS votes in 2001 than some other player, b/c i did not see enough of the 2 players to have a firm idea and it was often not a big difference and it was 10 years ago.

 

[EagleBelfour]

can someone tell me the french canadian word for hairpiece? i forgot the word.

I don't even know what hairpiece means in English!

 

[nik jr]

I don't even know what hairpiece means in English!

fake hair to cover baldness

 

[EagleBelfour]

fake hair to cover baldness

Oh, like a wig? If so, 'perruque'

 

[Sturminator]

- Bah, first or second, it's still one of the most important goal in the NYR history. It's not because it happened 70 years ago that it's less important than something that happened 15 years ago.

- From what I know, the only thing Boucher has that his French it's his family name. I never read a thing about him having French relative or speak french.

I was specifically not referring to the Matteau goal. I was thinking of Bill Cook's overtime Cup winner in 1933 or of three Frank Boucher goals in 1928, all of which were vital to bringing the Cup to New York for the first time.

I had always assumed that the Bouchers were about as French as Patrick Marleau, which is to say hardly, but I got to wondering when I realized that Georges Bouchers first name is also spelled in the French way.

 

[nik jr]

Oh, like a wig? If so, 'perruque'

that's it. thanks


i asked b/c jacques lemaire's teammates called him la perruque.

or is it le perruque?

 

[seventieslord]

I could have sworn the word you were looking for was "toupee".

anyone want to create that new thread? nik, you offered to do the first one, but Bugg did it before you could. Maybe you'd like to do this one?

 

[Sturminator]

I don't consider Zubov to be on Blake's level. Zubie is one of those guys who was very good for a long time, but almost never among the elite, which Blake absolutely was for a few seasons. Both have their defensive issues. Blake also has that big hammer of a right handed point shot, which gives him extra value in the ATD.

 

[Sturminator]

I could have sworn the word you were looking for was "toupee".

anyone want to create that new thread? nik, you offered to do the first one, but Bugg did it before you could. Maybe you'd like to do this one?

I'll do it.