Was hoping this would at least wait another round to happen
Oh well, it is what it is, best of luck to you Tony.
This is one of the few teams I would say has an edge over my own in net. Brimsek is arguably the best of his era, and IMO is a top 10 goalie of all time. But Hall is arguably one of the top 5 of all time at the position. Let's face it, neither goalie is going to cost their team this series, talk about a strength for both teams.
Coaching I think Shero is the better of the two, but Sather is dang solid in his own right and both teams have been constructed very well around their coaches styles of play. Shero gives me a slight edge here, but not a huge one.
Defensively, I'd say I probably have an edge here. Two very different units though, as Seibert's the more physical two-way presence while Tremblay fits in nicely with the wide open Sather style. Pospisil vs Mantha is probably a good comparison actually, and a slight edge Pospisil I'd say. He was twice named the WC's best dman and played against some serious competition (Suchy, Vasiliev, Sjoberg, etc) and was twice named the best player in all of Czechoslovakia at the height of their status as a hockey nation. But Mantha does have a 4th place finish in Hart voting in his favor. Just a damn close comparison with two dmen that probably should get more respect then they do in an all time sense.
Second pairings are oddly similar in build. Gonchar and Harper for offense and defense vs Simpson and Neilson for the same. Neither pairing has one truly dominant player. I do think a bit of modern bias is going to work against Gonchar though. His offensive exploits are well known while his defensive deficiencies are also well noted. Simpson is also noted for his scoring but his defense is less so. In other words, the eye test can't be used against him to determine his quality as a dman in his own zone. Gonchar certainly improved post lockout in that regard, but just how well regarded is he overall.
The third pairing and spares probably won't have overly much to say in this one as it's likely that the top two units will be going out against eachothers top 2 offensive units. But both are built similarly, with Awrey playing the stay at home guy to the free wheeling Laviolette, and Machac and Mcnamara being a solid pairing in their own right. If needed both sets of spares are quite good as well, with the offensive oriented Anderson probably being the best of the bunch. Neither team will be lacking though.
Needless to say, it's a fairly even matchup on D, but Seibert is probably the difference between the two groups. He'll need to be, Moose is going to be an absolute beast to handle if need be, and I have little doubt it'll happen.
A line with Messier and Dumart isn't your typical strictly offense oriented first line, so it'll be an interesting matchup against the Clarke line. Both will do their damage but frankly this part of the matchup may be decided by line chemistry and which top defensive pairing is best able to contain the other teams first line attack. I think Seibert-Pospisil gives me a slight edge there compared to the Clarke line going head to head against Tremblay-Mantha. Forward for forward it's almost as if the two lines are built to try and neutralize eachother: Balon vs Cournoyer, Clarke vs Moose, Hossa vs Dumart. Possession and defense are going to be all important here.
The real difference though will be made with the second lines. It may be a touch of arrogance for me to say it, but Joliat-Hawerchuk-Recchi is going to be hard for anyone to stop with their only perceived weakness being a lack of size (and Recchi plays like he's 6'3 anyway so that's not a huge issue). It will be interesting to see which line you decide to put up against them, as Damphousse-Sundin-Larmer is one of my favorite second lines in its own right and capable either way. I'm not sure the Luce line would be able to keep pace, but likewise Pandolfo-Kasper-Klukay might not be able to entirely shut down the Sundin line. That said, between the two matchups I'd say Kasper line vs Sundin line would fare a hair better then the Luce line would vs the Hawerchuk line.
Fourth lines both have some quality players. Crawford, Ronty, and Glass are dang solid scorers. Staal, Getzlaf, and Bertuzzi likewise. I do think the Getzlaf line may do a better job of imposing their will physically, but neither line will be relied on heavily here. In anything these players will have more an impact on the special teams situation, whether they play on the PP unit, or as an energy line to put out after the PP does its thing in order to maintain energy and possession.
Special teams I'll take a look at later. I may make some minor tweaks to mine in order to optimize what I can put on the ice for matchups against Tony's team.
I get a feeling that this matchup will come down to which 2nd line is better able to dictate their play against their opponent offensively and which of the two between Messier and Seibert are best able to dictate who will physically dictate the play in my end. It really is too bad that this series had to happen this early and that it would be impossible to see this one play out in person, would be one of the most entertaining matchups of the first round to say the least.
