ATD 2024 1st round: Cleveland Barons vs. Regina Capitals

[VanIslander]

Bob Cole division:


Cleveland Barons

coach Ken Hitchcock

Brad Marchand - Syl Apps (C) - Mike Gartner
Ilya Kovalchuk - Pavel Datsyuk - Alf Smith
Bob Gainey (A) - Ryan O'Reilly - Claude Provost
Gabriel Landeskog - Jeremy Roenick - Bob Nevin
Tommy Dunderdale, Sebastian Aho

Ivan "Ching" Johnson - Brad Park
Duncan Keith - Jack Crawford (A)
Mark Tinordi - Bobby Baun
Bucko McDonald

Dominik Hasek
Gump Worsley


vs.


Regina Capitals

coach Dick Irvin

Tommy Phillips - Stan Mikita - Lanny McDonald (C)
Markus Naslund - Evgeni Malkin - Rick Middleton
Dave Andreychuk (A) - Cooney Weiland - Ace Bailey
Brian Sutter - Butch Goring - Jerry Toppazzini
Rat Westwick, Bob McDougall

Börje Salming (A) - Alexei Kasatonov
Weldy Young- Joe Hall
Vitaly Davydov - Cale Makar
Viktor Kuzkin

Patrick Roy
Jiri Holeček

​

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[VanIslander]

Add special teams and what have you (w.h.y.).

 

[jigglysquishy]

I would have had a strong goalie lead over every other team in the tournament except the Barons.

 

[Boreal01]

I would have had a strong goalie lead over every other team in the tournament except the Barons.

My selection of Hasek kicked off quite the goaltending arms race within the Bob Cole, Plante or Brodeur would be top starters in other divisions and yet one will be relegated to 4th best in our own

Even as someone who ranks Hasek above Roy overall, there is no denying that Roy is an exceptional playoff performer (perhaps even #1 over Gretzky depending on who you ask) and Hasek is on the back foot here

That being said, I still prefer Hasek/Worsley as a tandem over Roy/Holecek, owing mainly to Worsley's immense playoff success and reliability as a backup

Holecek has talent in equal measure to Worsley but the question becomes whether he could provide a stabilizing presence; I look to the 1976 CC Final where he hung in adequately in Game 1 before immediately crumbling in Game 2 and can’t say for certain either way

But those are just some preliminary musings for one aspect of this series, I’m sure we’ll go into greater detail and hopefully hear from other GMs as well

I’ll aim to put up my special teams when I get home tonight and then we can dive into a more comprehensive analysis
Looking forward to a good series!

 

[VanIslander]

Two points:

1. Forget tandems come playoffs.
The backup goalie is only relevant in the long regular season.

2. Hasek was impressive as a Czechoslovakian against Canada in the 1980s; he stonewalled Canada in the Olympics; he took Peca and otherwise a pathetic line-up to the Stanley Cup Finals. Roy has met his match.
Goaltending in this series is a wash.

 

[Boreal01]

Two points:

1. Forget tandems come playoffs.
The backup goalie is only relevant in the long regular season.

Starters are of course the key here and should receive the majority of our consideration, however, to completely disregard the backups feels like an analytical shortfall

Goalies are not immune to injuries and while the loss of a starter is never ideal, the severity of that loss can range from "inconvenience" to "catastrophic" depending on the performance of your backup

And when Hasek/Roy have historically been so closely ranked together (a virtual 1A/1B to many), I believe it's worthwhile to consider the netminders behind them if people find themselves unable to lean one way or another

2. Hasek was impressive as a Czechoslovakian against Canada in the 1980s; he stonewalled Canada in the Olympics; he took Peca and otherwise a pathetic line-up to the Stanley Cup Finals. Roy has met his match.
Goaltending in this series is a wash.

Hasek's 1998 performance personally solidifies him over Roy all time and while Roy may be considered the superior playoff performer, I'm still taking Hasek in a "winner take all" scenario

 

[VanIslander]

To be clear: backup goalies are of value in a long regular season (unless you have a Hall, Brodeur). But subbing goalies during the playoffs isn't often, and when it happens, it's rarely a success.

 

[Boreal01]

Power Play #1

Marchand - Apps - Smith
Kovalchuk - Park

Power Play #2

Landeskog - Roenick - Datsyuk
Keith - Gartner

Penalty Kill #1

Gainey - O'Reilly
Johnson - Crawford

Penalty Kill #2

Datsyuk - Nevin
Keith - Baun

 

[jigglysquishy]

PP1

Tommy Phillips - Stan Mikita - Lanny McDonald
Börje Salming - Alexei Kasatonov

PP2
Dave Andreychuk - Evgeni Malkin - Rick Middleton
Weldy Young - Cale Makar

PK1
Cooney Weiland - Ace Bailey
Börje Salming - Alexei Kasatonov

PK2
Butch Goring - Jerry Toppazzini
Weldy Young- Joe Hall

While Apps and Datsyuk are great centres with strong two-way games, I do think Mikita and Malkin provide enough additional firepower to create some separation.

 

[VanIslander]

My co-GM voted for us this round but i make no apologies for ranking centers Mikita, Malkin CLEARLY over Apps, Datsyuk (not a Howe or Linsay in sight; Kovy & Gartner don't compare).

And Roy over Hasek? Flip a coin.
Neither should have the edge. They are 1A, 1B all time, no one else in their tier.