Atd#7 Minor League Draft

[VanIslander]

Icebreakers end season prematurely

(ATD-ML) With so much more to accomplish, the expansion team rookie g.m. cottonking has to wait another season before testing his drafting and roster acumen against veteran team builders in the postseason. The Icebreakers of Omaha finish the season in the basement of the Atd#7 Minor League with a line-up of mostly 90's generation players. So it's of some irony that the team MVP is old school, the team's number one blueliner, HHOFer Dickie Boon, the speedy original poke checker. All three members of captain McPhee's top line have been singled out for praise but no team can survive on the excellence of one line and a defenseman, even with fine coaching by Berenson during Hitchcock's call-up to the pro club. Goaltending hasn't held up as expected even if by committee, despite occasional great play by Potvin and sometimes solid starts by Salo. Omaha alternate captain Buchburger is rumoured to be taking it pretty hard, and many say the career third and fourth liner was overused in an all-time context, handling regular third line and penalty kill duties, and as the character guy he is, is deflecting blame from elsewhere in the post-game press conference following their mathematical elimination. The team g.m. could not be contacted in time for this story but is expected to release a statement about the season.

 

[VanIslander]

Leafs experience season of highs and lows

(ATD-ML) Coach Pat Quinn left the microphone in disgust when questioned about his organization's commitment to winning following a loss which eliminates Nelson from playoff contention. Having only missed the playoffs twice in 19 years of coaching, the veteran coach is understandably upset. His line-up, half filled with 90s or later players, sported several bright lights, especially in forwards Dave Gagne and Anton Stastny and decent work of netminder Roloson. Team MVP Al Arbour was stellar as a defensive leader, team captain and playing assistant coach, but at times it seemed that only Marois shone along with him on the blueline. The Sedin twins disappeared by all indications and Russ Courtnall couldn't handle third line duties, thinking backcheck meant getting a special payment for the pretty goal he scored two or three games ago. This team needs to get older and more defensively responsible up front. The g.m. was unavailable for comment but is expected to make a press release in the coming days.

 

[VanIslander]

Anyang Halla spews lava hot, after lying dormant for too long

(ATD-ML) Despite a last season surge which saw the team try to close the gap with a five-game winning streak, Anyang came up short, missing the playoffs by just a couple of points, as the team they were chasing just refused to lose. Team Halla, named after the extinct volcano on Korea's largest island, was smoking at both the start and end of it all, but got burned with an extended losing streak in the middle of the season. Anyang iced a brilliant first line led by Halla captain and team MVP Shadrin, between Gustafsson and Zetterberg. The all-Soviet second line had its moments as well. The blueline was less impressive with its brightest light being 6'2 Stanley Cup-experienced second pairing guy Al Dewsbury. Goaltending wasn't a team strong suit and it may have been the difference in the close battle for the 8th and last playoff spot, though special teams may have been a factor, as the team just ahead of them in the standings finished the season with the league's best powerplay. Halla g.m. wisent is away in Europe (looking for another eight Soviet era players to draft presumably) but is expected to make a press release upon his return.

 

[VanIslander]

Atd#7 Minor League Special Team Awards


Best Powerplays

1st Vancouver Giants

How good must a team be with the man advantage for a second powerplay unit to sport the team's co-MVPs? The Giants are that team, with captain Pit Lepine sharing top honours with his right winger Rene Robert. The Koivu unit gets the lion's share of powerplay time, with contemporaries Kovalchuk and Demitra doing what they do best: score on the pp in the regular season. Stackhouse may have attitude, consistency and defensive concerns, but the man knows how to run a powerplay, and has steady Smith to cut down on shorthanded goals against. Kearns has made a career of his powerplay ability but has no place on this team's pp units. Instead, Paladiev plays the point and Douglas supports. Some teams may move the puck more on the point, and have deadlier shots from the rear, but no team has been as effective this season as these two units.

2nd Springfield Ice-o-Topes

Liapkin is the team MVP but his pairing partner on the top unit is the man in the term 'man advantage'. Rautakallio plays on both powerplay units, which doesn't help his already average speed, but the Finn version of Bobby Orr makes his bread and butter passing, shooting and quarterbacking the play. It helps that there are wingers like Real Cloutier and Ab McDonald to get the puck to. The only question will be which centre will sit out, Spezza or Allison, when Tumba Johansson returns from the pro club in time for the playoffs.


Best Penalty Kills

1st Estevan Strippers

No one stands head and shoulders over the others in Estevan, says team MVP Tony McKegney, who quickly attributes the team's success to linemate Rogers and to two lunchpail penalty kill units headlined by fourth liners Moreau and Burns, though Balon has attracted notice on the second unit and there are physical stay-at-home defensemen to clear the crease and keep play at the perimeter, even if the puck isn't cleared as fast as coach Kilrea would like. The Strippers top penalty killer is of course its goaltender. Meloche has turned some heads with his play this season and has been getting the job done when a man down. The penalty kill will only get better when Watson returns soon from being called up to the pro club for most of this season.

2nd Penticton Vees​

Scoring shorthanded goals have come thanks to two-way talents on both units. Krushelnyski and Mondou have curbed their offensive instincts to good effect over the course of their careers and have become effective penalty killers, here getting puck support on quick turnovers. Bowman once said that Bodger had excellent hockey sense and knew exactly where to be in any situation, and Yushkevich recently broke the Russian league record for scoring by a defenseman, so these guys know how to handle the puck. Vees captain and team MVP Pit Martin joins linemate Don Lever in backchecking in support of Odelein's toughness and Hannan's positioning. The team's top defenseman Seiling will return in time for the playoffs from call-up duty and should solidify the penalty kill even more. Goaltenders Hrudey and Lemelin have done a nice job holding the fort.

 

[VanIslander]

The playoff format was decided by a vote of 7-5 for the standard way.

The seedings will be announced today along with the team MVPs and league all-star team.

In the meantime, put the call-up players back in your rosters right away.

 

[VanIslander]

Vote Now
(pm me the name of one of the three finalists)

------------------------

Finalists for the Hart Trophy

as MVP for his team over the course of the regular season
(three-way tie at 6 votes apiece as their team's MVP)

Yuri Liapkin, defense
Springfield Ice-o-Topes

Corb Denneny, wing
Quebec Bulldogs

Pit Martin, centre
Penticton Vees

------------------------------​

Other teams' MVPs:
(in alphabetical order)

Nelson Leafs (Arbour)

Omaha Icebreakers (Boon)

Syracuse Bulldogs (Baker)

Vancouver Giants (TIE Lepine, Robert)

Estevan Strippers (McKegney)

Whitby Dunlops (Oliver)

Windsor Bulldogs (Pederson)

Anyang Halla (Shadrin)

 

[VanIslander]

tentative order of events

TODAY

- g.m.s put call-up players back onto rosters, adjust lines and special teams accordingly (or PM me the changes); vote on Hart trophy finalists

- seedings announced and match-ups set

THIS WEEKEND

- analysis of the match-ups, every g.m. ideally making at least ONE post, contributing a small piece of the picture, helping analysis

MONDAY to WEDNESDAY

- voting on round 1 (not before! please)

THURSDAY

- results of round one in story coverage (volunteers? there are four series, I'll do one or two, need at least two others covered)

FRIDAY

- semi-final round begins: analysis

SUNDAY and MONDAY

- voting

TUESDAY, JULY 31st

- championship round begins

 

[pitseleh]

I'm a little surprised that Anyang got eliminated, I thought with Tarasov behind the bench it would have given them a big enough edge to get them into the playoffs.

I'm assuming those of us with players in the run-off aren't voting? Or maybe we could make it so that you can't vote for your own players?

 

[God Bless Canada]

Strippers analysis

I'm not going to be around the computer for most of today and all day tomorrow and most of Sunday, so don't wait for my votes. I also won't be able to post any sort of analysis/insights/retorts, either, so I'm going to post my overall thoughts now. Here's my analysis of the Estevan Strippers hockey team.

OFFENCE: This team does have a lot of players capable of putting up points. Rogers is a three-time 100-point player. Bullard has seperate 50-goal and 100-point seasons. Apps is the son of an icon who had a 99-point season. The left wing might be as good as any in the draft. McKegney was named the team's MVP for his two-way play and goal-scoring potential. Dave Balon was likely the best LW available in the draft - a skilled offensive LW who could play a shutdown role. A two-time Cup champ who led the 1967 playoffs in assists. Brenden Morrow is going to be a fixture in the main draft in a couple of years. Blaine Stoughton, a former NHL goal scoring leader, is the top threat from the right side. Reuniting the Stoughton-Rogers duo that was so effective in the early 80s was a coup. Lorne Carr was a two-time first team all-star during the war years, and Shane Doan is a power forward with good offensive upside. A force in front of the net. The checkers are offensively capable, especially Pat Flatley. Herb Carnegie is an offensive threat in the 13th forward slot. John Van Boxmeer and Risto Siltanen will be responsible for much of the offensive production from the blue line.

DEFENCE: It doesn't get any easier from here, boys. The Strippers' defence is going to get even better with the return of top pick Joe Watson, who might be the best blue-liner in the draft. He would have been our MVP if he was available to us during the regular season. He'll form an effective tandem with Van Boxmeer or Siltanen. The Twin Towers of Beukeboom and Samuelsson will make life very difficult for any opposing forwards. Their size and reach, coupled with our cozy, Boston Garden-sized rink dimensions, will prove an imposing combo. On the road, they'll be split up. Rick Green is a top-notch defensive defenceman, too. The defence should get lots of help from their forwards. Charlie Burns is one of the top defensive centres in the draft. (I think we had him at No. 2 for defensive pivots). Patrick Flatley is a very smart defensive winger, and Ethan Moreau is a fine checker. Other forwards - McKegney, Balon, Morrow and Doan - are excellent defensively and will make strong penalty killers.

GOALTENDING: Meloche was near the top of our list. He can go save-for-save with anyone. McNeil's better, we won't argue that, but McNeil's edge over Meloche and a couple of others isn't THAT big. Gary Smith is a dependable back-up who had a knack for making the best of a bad situation. Jocelyn Thibault likely won't see the ice, but what would you expect from the 115th goalie selected?

SPECIAL TEAMS: The best PK in the league, and that was without our best PK defenceman. Watson's here now, and the PK just got that much better. He should also give our second PP unit a jolt, too. The forwards on the power play are strong. As long as Siltanen and Van Boxmeer do their job, we should score at a 20-25 per cent clip on the power play.

COACHING: You might not like the Kilrea pick, but name me one coach in the draft with over 1,000 wins. A deserved Hall of Famer who should have been inducted long before 2003. (There's another Canadian junior coach who's approaching 1,000 wins who needs to go in the HHOF soon. Bonus points if anyone can name him). Killer has a terrific mind for the game, and he's a master strategist and tactician. In terms of strategy and hockey IQ, Kilrea is as good of a coach as there is in this draft. Is he demanding? Yeah. But the boys smell championship. And they know that Killer is the man who will take them to glory.

Note: who do I send my votes to, in case voting starts before noon?

 

[raleh]

With Tumba's return Spezza will sit. Allison was chosen as a member of this team because of the chemistry he has with Ziggy and Deadmarsh. They give us what we think is the top second unit in the draft. At this point, when there are no Gordie Howes or the like to guarantee scoring, it is very rare and important to have lines that will work well together. Palffy-Allison-Deadmarsh is one of the only lines in the draft that is guaranteed to produced...especially since they made it out of the regular season in one piece!

Tumba will center Cloutier and Renberg. Renberg will have one goal in mind whenever he's on the ice...get the puck to Tumba.

Mcdonald and Gagne will play with Niedermayer on the third line. They will be the primary checking unit, but they will also be as explosive offensively as any of the lines.

The Sutters and Flemming will stay together and do exactly what they always do.

 

[VanIslander]

I'm assuming those of us with players in the run-off aren't voting? Or maybe we could make it so that you can't vote for your own players?

exactly

get your Hart trophy votes in today!

three (3) are already in

 

[VanIslander]

I'm not going to be around the computer for most of today and all day tomorrow and most of Sunday, so don't wait for my votes. I also won't be able to post any sort of analysis/insights/retorts, either, so I'm going to post my overall thoughts now.

Voting on round one match-ups won't BEGIN until Monday.

Posts of ANALYSIS will be this weekend, starting later today when the seedings are announced and match-ups set.

Hopefully some of the analysis will be match-up specific: about team A's powerplay vs. team B's penalty kill, scoring lines versus checking lines, goaltenders duel, etc.

 

[Nalyd Psycho]

I'm a little surprised that Anyang got eliminated, I thought with Tarasov behind the bench it would have given them a big enough edge to get them into the playoffs.

I'm assuming those of us with players in the run-off aren't voting? Or maybe we could make it so that you can't vote for your own players?

I'm shocked too, I voted them #1 because Tarasov is such a huge advantage. Coaching makes that much more of a difference when the talent isn't elite.

 

[VanIslander]

I'm shocked too, I voted them #1 because Tarasov is such a huge advantage. Coaching makes that much more of a difference when the talent isn't elite.

Yeah, your late vote was the exception. I referred to that metaphorically as 'the 5-game unbeaten streak' in the story, their one and only first place vote, which came late but just wasn't enough (came close to the 8th place team though). Most g.m.s voted for them to finish between 6th and 9th, resulting in the third lowest positioning of all the teams.

As for Tarasov, I expected him to get more than 1 or 2 call-up votes, and was surprised to see that Hitchcock easily outvoted him and Quinn did too. Let's just say, it takes some time to adjust to North American style hockey and this season isn't his best. (Besides, Scotty Bowman does not seem to win votes in the main draft either, his teams keep getting bounced in the first round.)

 

[VanIslander]

Atd#7-ML Regular Season Standings


1st Springfield Iceotopes

2nd Penticton Vees

3rd Syracuse Bulldogs

4th Quebec Bulldogs

5th Whitby Dunlops

6th Estevan Strippers

7th Windsor Bulldogs

8th Vancouver Giants

-------------------------​

 

[Spitfire11]

Strange, I had Estevan, Whitby, and Quebec 1,2,3 and I think I had Springfield out of the playoffs

 

[VanIslander]

Strange, I had Estevan, Whitby, and Quebec 1,2,3 and I think I had Springfield out of the playoffs

Estevan had three first place votes and several low votes. Dunlops had only one first place seeding but several top-half votes. Nobody voted for Springfield to be seeded lower than 8th and eight voters had them in the top half of the league. Windsor, however, was voted dead last by three g.m.s and in 8th place twice.

The voting tally was simple: 1st place vote=1 pt, 10th place vote=10 pts... add up all votes (and divide by number of g.m.s voting on the team) and the average seeding is determined, the least number of points is first, etc.

 

[VanIslander]

the regular season voting is just about first impressions

now we have two teams to process only: which one is better? which would win a 7-game series, and how?

time to think
(and POST your thoughts on the strengths and weaknesses of each team relative to their match-up)

voting does NOT begin until Monday

 

[Nalyd Psycho]

Yeah, your late vote was the exception. I referred to that metaphorically as 'the 5-game unbeaten streak' in the story, their one and only first place vote, which came late but just wasn't enough (came close to the 8th place team though). Most g.m.s voted for them to finish between 6th and 9th, resulting in the third lowest positioning of all the teams.

As for Tarasov, I expected him to get more than 1 or 2 call-up votes, and was surprised to see that Hitchcock easily outvoted him and Quinn did too. Let's just say, it takes some time to adjust to North American style hockey and this season isn't his best. (Besides, Scotty Bowman does not seem to win votes in the main draft either, his teams keep getting bounced in the first round.)

I've noted that coaching and coach synergy rarely get much concideration in this thing.

 

[pitseleh]

Strange, I had Estevan, Whitby, and Quebec 1,2,3 and I think I had Springfield out of the playoffs

Yeah, I believe I had Windsor, Penticton and Anyang as my top-3. I guess one out of three isn't bad. heh

 

[MXD]

First of all -- Gilles Gilbert is our starting netminder for the playoffs.
Gonna see for other tweak-ups on sunday.

 

[MXD]

Hummm... I had 2 out of 3 (and obviously couldn't vote for the 3rd) but I had Anyang comfortably in the playoffs, even considering Dafoe between the pipes.

 

[ck26]

Sorry to take so long ... it's been a rough week:

Icebreakers look to next season
(ATD-ML) The season has come mercifully to a close and while the rest of the Minor League is looking to the playoffs, Icebreaker management is already hard at work improving the roster for next season.
"It's frustrating to not have more success, but we didn't expect to win the title as an expansion team, so I can't say we're exactly suprised. We're chalking it up as a growing experience and we're looking forward to next season," said GM cottonking from the Icebreakers war room in Waterloo.
"Trying to find balance was a challenge. We knew Boon and Datsyuk would lead the way, and many of our veterans did their thing, but there were a number of disappointments from players who we thought would perform to a higher level than they were able."
Omaha management was non-comittal, suggesting some players could be back next season, but promising a roster overhaul, if not a philosophical one.
"We have faith in our system, our coaching staff, and in Icebreaker style hockey. The fans of Omaha have shown tremendous support for the team, and we're committed to ensuring our performance meets their expectations.
Team captains Mike McPhee and Dave Lowry both fielded questions from the media at the post-season press conference. McPhee praised the effort of his teammates but acknowledged the team had a lot of work to do before they were ready to make a serious playoff run.
Coach Hitchcock -- currently negotiating a contract extension with the 'breakers -- praised assistant coach Berenson for performing, quote, "pretty well given the circumstances," but has not let the early conclusion lower his personal expectations. Pressed for a prediction, he announced, "This team will improve. We WILL make the playoffs next season."

Thoughts about my team and the draft:
-Too committed to getting players who fit our system and not enough to getting the best players available.
-Very few of my players disappeared the first two rounds, so I was confident I'd get most of the guys I wanted. By round 3-6, everybody started poaching off my list, and I had to improvise because my long list wasn't long enough.
-The first round should go off quickly. Let's agree on a time and make it a 20 minute time limit for the first round, something like they do in real life. Gets the ball rolling quickly right off the blocks.
-Lost track of how many players I had tabbed to "take in the next round or two" that got stolen ... I'd like a do-over on a couple players I rated way too high and a bunch of others I rated a bit too low. We were drafting in uncharted territory so I'm sure this happened to everybody.
-I've caught some flack for picking so many modern players ... this is a product of picking in the 700's and 800's, and it's something that will change if I have a spot for atd 8.

 

[Spitfire11]

Yeah there always seems to be extra flak given to teams with a lot of active/modern players. One of the reasons I was so surprised Springfield finished in first.

I don't think Datsyuk gets near the credit he deserves, he is easily the best centre in this draft, imo. I had your PK in the top 2. The 2nd unit is a little weak but the 1st one is outstanding.

 

[MXD]

I think I had you in the playoffs, or just out of it. My main knack on your team was the wingers. Ray Sheppard was an awesome pick (where you picked him...) but I don't think he has remotely anything to do on a top line -- it's either a 2nd, or a an offensive 4th, as far as I'm concerned.