Cole Division Consolation Round: Montreal AAA vs Toronto Maple Leafs

[Theokritos]

MONTREAL "AAA"

Coach: Scotty Bowman


Joe Malone - Mark Messier (A) - Didier Pitre
Veniamin Aleksandrov - Pat Lafontaine - Paul Henderson
Ken Hodge - Niklas Backstrom - Gordie Drillon
Bob Gainey (A) - Jonathan Toews - Terry O'Reilly
Camille Henry
Charlie Simmer

Denis Potvin (C) - Doug Wilson
Jean Guy Talbot - Albert Leduc
Craig Hartsburg - Bert Corbeau
Vasili Pervukhin
Reijo Ruotsalainen

Ken Dryden
Normie Smith




PP1:
Messier
Backstrom-Malone-Wilson
Potvin

PP2:
Drillon
Lafontaine-Simmer-Aleksandrov
Talbot

PK1: Toews-Gainey-Potvin-Wilson
PK2: Henderson-Lafontaine/Messier-Talbot-Leduc​

*Bowman, of course, would be double-shifting his top guys occcasionally, so Malone, Messier, Lafontaine would get more 5-on-5 ice. Potvin would get TONS of ice time, and he would have Wilson and Talbot out there quite a bit. Lafontaine would likely play the point on the powerplay as he did in Buffalo (which is why I went with an umbrella for PP2).

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[Theokritos]

Coach: Barry Trotz
Captain Orr
Assistants Schmidt Chara

Alex Delvecchio-Milt Schmidt - Bryan Hextall Sr
Pete Mahovlich - Adam Oates- Peter Bondra
Daniel Sedin -Henrik Sedin-Tod Sloan
Harry Watson -Joel Otto -Dirk Graham
Dan Bain - Kent Nilsson -Bob Nystrom

Bobby Orr - Zdeno Chara
Jimmy Thomson -Gus Mortson
Rob Ramage- Wally Stanowski
Victor Hedman

Turk Broda, G
Roberto Louongo, G


Power Play

PP Unit 1

Delvecchio-Schmidt - Hextall
Orr Chara

PP Unit 2

Sedin-Sedin- Bondra
Stanowski- Oates

Penalty Kill

PK Unit1

Otto -Graham
Orr -Chara

PK Unit 2

Delvecchio-Schmidt
Thomson- Mortson

 

[jarek]

I would assume Bobby Orr gets moved to the right side in this series - Alexandrov and Malone would both give Chara fits with their speed.

Chara himself is a good match for Messier when the play goes to the boards too.

The real issue for TML is that they have fairly low scoring from the forwards, and really anyone outside of Bobby Orr, and they have to try to score on Dryden.

 

[tinyzombies]

I would assume Bobby Orr gets moved to the right side in this series - Alexandrov and Malone would both give Chara fits with their speed.

Chara himself is a good match for Messier when the play goes to the boards too.

The real issue for TML is that they have fairly low scoring from the forwards, and really anyone outside of Bobby Orr, and they have to try to score on Dryden.

If you height adjust Pitre and Drillon, they match up well with Chara size-wise as well. And Pitre was considered one of the fastest skaters of his time. That's why I drafted them partially. I hate my defense tho.

 

[seventieslord]

I wouldn't say 6'5", 208 or 6'4", 225 really matches up all that well to Chara. Not many do.

 

[BraveCanadian]

I would assume Bobby Orr gets moved to the right side in this series

Orr should always be right side.

 

[jarek]

Not only that, but wasn't Pitre a softie?

- Montreal boss George Kennedy told a story of a game against the Montreal Wanderers, in which the star winger was being checked by Gordie Roberts. Roberts was tripping and butt-ending Pitre, sending him falling to the ice.
Kennedy screamed at Pitre, ''Are you afraid of Roberts?''
''No, sure not,'' was Pitre's surprised response.
''Well, why don't you hit him back?'' Kennedy snapped.
''How can I hit back?'' Pitre asked. ''Roberts, he is very polite, very nice. Each time I fall, he helps me get up and apologizes and says it is an accident ... can I hit a man who is apologizing to me? No, never, it is not done.''

Maybe he's just the most gullible and nice player ever, but I've never really read accounts of his physicality being a thing.

To be honest though, Pitre vs. Chara isn't really the highlight of this series. I think TML simply might get overrun by the all out attack of Montreal. On top of that, they are far better coached and have much better goaltending. Orr is obviously amazing, but I'm not sure that even he can help overcome these things.

 

[Leaf Lander]

Malone wasn't considered fast . He played during era of loafers. When Moreno was a rookie. Malone noted his time in the game was coming to a need because he couldn't keep up.


I'm sure the top defender of all time could handle the attack of the triple A top trio. When it comes to pick possession I think Bobby got this and if you have the puck you win.

 

[jarek]

Malone wasn't fast? Are you serious?

Deceptively quick, Malone was the fastest player in the pros and possessed a lethal instinct around the net.

You are indeed correct that Orr is going to have the puck quite a large percentage of the time. During that time your team is likely to dictate the play. What are you going to do when Orr isn't on the ice?

 

[tinyzombies]

Malone wasn't considered fast . He played during era of loafers. When Moreno was a rookie. Malone noted his time in the game was coming to a need because he couldn't keep up.


I'm sure the top defender of all time could handle the attack of the triple A top trio. When it comes to pick possession I think Bobby got this and if you have the puck you win.

Era of loafers, sure, but they were on the ice the entire game.

Broda was a bigtime playoff goalie, so not sure what yardstick you guys are using for these comparisons. Dryden was as well, of course. At least in '71. They didn't need him much after that. Broda probably could have stepped in for that team quite easily - transposed to a different era of course.

 

[Leaf Lander]

Malone wasn't fast? Are you serious?



You are indeed correct that Orr is going to have the puck quite a large percentage of the time. During that time your team is likely to dictate the play. What are you going to do when Orr isn't on the ice?

Nice quote about Malone do you actually have a source for it

I believe oate's and bondra know how to run the puck around the ice
My 2nd pairing is vastly superior to my opponents team
If I were u I would worry about lafontaine health since his career was cut short.
Orielly seems out of place in he smaller atd.

Have 6 former #1 defenceman on my team should curb any attack
Making brodas job easier

 

[jarek]

Nice quote about Malone do you actually have a source for it

Yeah, Legends of Hockey..

 

[Leaf Lander]

There's no denying the defensive tactic of the gladiators of the Malone era were far removed from the smooth precision of the ultra moderns," wrote DeGeer. "Rinks had poorer lighting. The pace was slower and squads smaller. And about the only time a regular campaigner like Joe hit the sidelines was to get a fresh cudgel."

"We had a lot of ice time," Malone told DeGeer, "but I'll tell you we didn't go up and down the rink like they do today. We'd hustle when opportunities presented and then we'd loaf. At least I did. It was the only way you could go the 60 minutes

Joe Malone legends of hockey

 

[jarek]

There's no denying the defensive tactic of the gladiators of the Malone era were far removed from the smooth precision of the ultra moderns," wrote DeGeer. "Rinks had poorer lighting. The pace was slower and squads smaller. And about the only time a regular campaigner like Joe hit the sidelines was to get a fresh cudgel."

"We had a lot of ice time," Malone told DeGeer, "but I'll tell you we didn't go up and down the rink like they do today. We'd hustle when opportunities presented and then we'd loaf. At least I did. It was the only way you could go the 60 minutes

Joe Malone legends of hockey

Right. He loafed a bit. So did everyone else. I don't see anything here that suggests he wasn't fast when he was hustling.

 

[tinyzombies]

Nice quote about Malone do you actually have a source for it

I believe oate's and bondra know how to run the puck around the ice
My 2md months vastly superior to there team
I worry about lafontaine health sin e his career was cut short.
Orielly seems out of place in he smaller atd.

Have 6 former #1 defenceman on my team should curb any attck
Making broads job eaaier

I would draft better next time. I now have a handle on the depth at each position for an all-time draft for this many teams. I screwed up my D.

 

[tinyzombies]

Right. He loafed a bit. So did everyone else. I don't see anything here that suggests he wasn't fast when he was hustling.

More stuff on Malone:

Last two paragraphs describe him as "the Frankie Boucher type," "tall," and "rugged," with a "fine pokecheck," and was a "potent defensive unit." And: "he and Odie Cleghorn were probably the outstanding stickhandlers of their day. But unlike Odie who used a short stick and nursed the puck ... Malone swept through the opposition with long swinging strides."

https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=nEswAAAAIBAJ&sjid=XKgFAAAAIBAJ&pg=7005,2898429&hl=en

 

[tinyzombies]

Not only that, but wasn't Pitre a softie?



Maybe he's just the most gullible and nice player ever, but I've never really read accounts of his physicality being a thing.

To be honest though, Pitre vs. Chara isn't really the highlight of this series. I think TML simply might get overrun by the all out attack of Montreal. On top of that, they are far better coached and have much better goaltending. Orr is obviously amazing, but I'm not sure that even he can help overcome these things.

Pitre's nickname was Cannonball (because of his speed) and he was a large man for his day. Was he a softie or did he just not play the game like Lalonde? There's a difference. Also, he was a capable dman apparently, so likely had a solid defensive game up front? Malone was also a gentlemanly player - probably because he always had the puck. But he's also described as an excellent defensive player in the article I just posted. Articles are prone to exaggeration, I'm sure, so...

All I know is that Malone-Lalonde-Pitre tore the league apart, and I've replaced Lalonde with Messier, which is a very close prototype, and Mess has more size, even if adjusted.