The 2015 C Draft (open/closed edition) - Draft is on and open to anyone.

[VanIslander]

The Terriers select left winger Dave Schultz, the enforcer of the Broad Street Bullies who recorded a staggering 222 PIM in 34 playoff games the two postseasons the Flyers won the Stanley Cup. The Hammer also scored twice in each championship run, 11 points over the two playoffs. He had four great seasons in Philadelphia and two more elsewhere, a force of nature from age 24 to 29. He averaged 13 goals a season over his four years in Philly and his best season was 20 goals the year they first won the cup (he had a plus-minus of +26 that season and +24 his last season in town, a plus player each season in Philly).

He epitomized the Broad Street Bullies - also known as the Philadelphia Flyers - during their reign of terror to the Stanley Cup in both 1974 and 1975. But hey, Hammer wasn't that bad of a guy! He was just doing his job. In fact, he was always troubled by hockey violence. After retiring from hockey he wrote in his autobiography ``I love hockey, and wish reckless violence wasn't part of it.'' He also criticized the Flyers style of play and resented having to fight Bobby Clarke's battles.

But Dave also proved he was a pretty decent hockey player for those who were willing to look past his penalty antics. He scored 20 goals in 1973-74 - the first year that the Flyers won the Stanley Cup. This despite sitting in the penalty box for a league high 348 minutes. He was also an effective defensive forward, although he was rarely given the chance to prove he could be more.

 

[seventieslord]

Weyburn selects Matt Cooke, LW, because I couldn't imagine these teams without him. I'd have taken him a few picks ago, but he's overkill next to Buchberger.

- Killed 36% of penalties for teams 8% better than average
- Earned a 9th in selke voting in 2003 under very dubious circumstances (3-0-0-0-1)
- A very respectable 398 points in 1046 games - only 24 of them on the PP
- 42 NHL Fights, 8-9-12 record
- only 43% offensive zone starts in the last 8 years of his career
- has been sold in the past as a three position forward, but I can't find any evidence he was ever regularly anything but LW.

 

[Rob Scuderi]

Weyburn could use some extra puck-moving from the backend so I'll grab Philippe Boucher

Study I did on scoring by defenders a few years ago, Boucher did not stand out as a PP option, but absolutely did as an ES scorer.

I agree Zidlicky was the best PP guy left when Dave picked him today. I looked at the five best seasons according to adjusted points of the puckmoving defensemen and he had the most PP points of anyone I looked at. Edited in the missing guys.

|GP|Points|ESP|PPP
Galley|363|247|125|122
Zidlicky|382|229|107|122
Niinimaa|393|219|112|107
Malakhov|316|220|114|106
Kearns|385|216|110|106
B. Mironov|347|193|100|93
Poti|386|200|107|93
Murphy|360|176|83|93
Bladon|387|201|110|91
Mantha|359|188|101|87
Hardy|388|161|77|84
D. Mironov|335|191|108|83
Picard|362|196|118|78
Martin|330|177|99|78
Lidster|368|158|83|75
Boucher|372|178|117|61
Brown|347|138|99|39

 

[seventieslord]

Weyburn could use some extra puck-moving from the backend so I'll grab Philippe Boucher

should probably replace Diduck, considering Flett's on the 3rd pairing.

Christ, I had to practically beg to get Gerry Hart on the team - same skillset as Diduck, but was a top-3 defenseman on three 100 point teams. Diduck only twice played over 20 minutes on a team that even made the playoffs. What's he got on Hart?

 

[VanIslander]

The Terriers 6'4 220 lbs., the 1431-NHL-games-played veteran NHL blueliner Luke Richardson, known for his nasty play.

Luke Richardson was selected 7th overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1987 NHL Entry Draft after two successful seasons with the Peterborough Petes of the OHL. Midway through his rookie NHL season, on January 6, 1988, Richardson was the victim of an infamous attack from Dino Ciccarelli of the Minnesota North Stars, who clubbed him over the head several times with his stick. Ciccarelli was later convicted of assault, serving one day in jail and paying a fine of $1000 (Canadian). However, the assault had no discernible effects on the play of Richardson.

Though not a great point producer, Richardson developed a reputation as an aggressive, stay-at-home blueliner. He would be consistent in that regard during stops with the Oilers, the Philadelphia Flyers and the Columbus Blue Jackets. It was with the Flyers that Richardson came the closest to a Stanley Cup appearance in 2000, when the Flyers lost 4–3 in the Eastern Conference Finals to the New Jersey Devils.

During the 2005–06 season, his last as captain of the Blue Jackets, Luke was traded back to Toronto on March 8, 2006.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luke_Richardson

 

[seventieslord]

There are five "sorta two way" centers who would all make good additions to this draft. They wouldn't quite make a scoring line here, and didn't have quite the defensive chops for a 3rd/4th line either, but all four are decent in both areas. I'll leave one out (haven't figured out which yet) but I'd like to see each of them have a home. I'm going to start with:

Mike Sillinger, C

I'm starting with Sillinger because:

- He has the notoriety of having played for so many teams - did no one want him? or did everyone want him?
- He killed more penalties than almost all of these other guys... a very respectable 31%, for teams just 4% worse than average on the PK. His teams were actually 15% worse than average at ES, so he definitely made an impact on special teams, with 50 career SHP
- He is one of the greatest faceoff specialists of all-time: http://www.arcticicehockey.com/2010/3/22/1382835/best-and-worst-faceoff-takers

other pertinent items:
- VsX scores of 59, 55, 52, 48, 45, 43, 41
- interestingly, had points on 35 of the 49 SHG he was on the ice for in his career

Sillinger has the unfortunate distinction of having played with more NHL franchises than anyone else. At 12, he has played for two more than anyone else, and 40% of the current NHL teams. Does this mean everyone wanted him, or no one wanted him?

The thing was, he was such a versatile and honest player, that you could put him just about anywhere and he would do a decent job. For one thing, he was an amazing faceoff man, one of the very best since the NHL began tracking when he was 27. He had a 57.5% average since then, not too far behind Joe Nieuwendyk's gold standard of 59.3%.

With 548 points, he definitely had a touch with the puck. And he killed 31% of his team's penalties along the way. His best offensive seasons came with the post-lockout NY Islanders, showing that he was the kind of guy who could be a "bad team scorer" or a "good team checking guy". With a total special teams usage% of 67%, he was in the top dozen among available forwards. Of the 11 ahead of him, 8 had 400-650 GP, while he did it for 1049.

Looking at Sillinger's career average icetime of 18:12 since tracking began, I am stunned at how much the guy was actually put on the ice. Joe Nieuwendyk, for example, played 16:11 per game over the same seasons. Sillinger was top-3 among forwards in icetime on his team 7 times since 2000: 1st twice, 2nd twice, and 3rd three times. Obviously being on mostly mediocre teams had something to do with this (23 playoff games in this time), but still.

talk about making the most of your chances... the human alarm clock was acquired in a trade designed to wake up the Flyers... one drawback is his size, but on this big team it's easy to hide a small, skilled player. Sillinger is not without his assets... he is a smart player with a knack for positioning himself in the attacking zone. He has a good shot with a quick release... good skater with speed and balance... plays well in traffic, using his sturdy form to protect the puck, and has sharp hand-eye coordination... he is a smart penalty killer and a shorthanded threat... small but burly... tough to budge from in front of the net beause of his low center of gravity...

energetic skater... ace on faceoffs... keeps himself in good condition and has missed very few games due to injuries... a special-teams specialist.... kills penalties and works the open ice on the PP... can fill in on the top two lines in a pinch... He is a grinder, a role player and a leader by example.

 

[VanIslander]

Flin Flon selects as an extra skater Viktor Shuvalov, the center who finished top-3 in Soviet scoring in the gold-medal winning world championships in 1954, the silver-medal world championships the following year and the 1956 Olympic gold-medal victory.

If the attack folded up, Shuvalov could be counted on to back up his partners, and he frequently functioned as an offensive defenseman. he had quickly become a skillful and versatile player.

Here is an old caricature of the great Bobrov-Shuvalov-Babich line.

See bios here, here & here.

 

[seventieslord]

I threw Cs and As on some guys who looked like they may have the best leadership resumes on their teams. If anyone has some suggestions on how to improve it, let me know.

Also, Mark Napier might get moved to be a spare. Some guys who would work better on a checking line without sacrificing too much offense are Floyd Smith, Keith McCreary, and Kevin Miller. Thoughts, anyone?

 

[seventieslord]

Ed Carpenter, D is too good to not be in this draft, so Flin Flon will select him to be a #7.

1911, 1912, 1913 first team all-star in lesser leagues. Won the cup once, played for it another time. 5 full seasons at the top levels, would have been seven if not for WW1. Never a PCHA all-star but played for the PCHA all-star team against the NHA stars in 1916.

we actually don't know what made Carpenter good, but he was considered a valuable enough and useful enough player to last at the top levels longer than most players available from that era, and we also know he was a 3-time first team all-star in lesser leagues.

edit: just dug this up:

A sensational skater and stickhandler...

so that's all we know at this time.

 

[VanIslander]

For the Beavers, instead of Jason Blake, give Brendan Witt a 'A' as he often was alternate captain, even co-captained the Caps one year. He was a hard-working heart and soul type of player.

 

[VanIslander]

The Millers select defenseman Frank Eddolls, the New York Rangers captain in 1950-51, the same year he played in the NHL all-star game, in the middle of five solid NHL seasons in The Big Apple. He won the Memorial Cup before going to war, and he was so well regarded that Ted Kennedy was traded to Toronto to get his rights, and Eddolls won the Stanley Cup in Montreal in 1946 before his best years as a NYR. Montreal lost in trading HOFer Kennedy for him and lost again in trading O'Connor and later-blooming Eddolls to NY for three duds in what are two of the worst Hab trades of the era.

According to Dick Irvin in his book Now Back to You Dick: Two Lifetimes in Hockey:

Eddolls is known as one of the very few defensemen that consistently succeeded in defending the legendary Maurice "Rocket" Richard

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Eddolls

According to Who's Who in Hockey:

Eddolls became one of the best defensemen in the NHL... Thanks to Eddolls, the Rangers made the playoffs in 1947-48 for the first time in six years... starred for the New Yorkers in the 1950 playoffs when the Rangers took the Red Wings to the seventh game of the finals

http://books.google.ca/books?id=wpb...0CDMQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=frank eddolls&f=false

Eddolls spent the last five NHL seasons of his playing career with the Broadway Blueshirts, one of the Rangers’ most popular and effective performers

http://ourhistory.canadiens.com/player/Frank-Eddolls

 

[seventieslord]

Appropriate that he goes in this draft, and appropriate that he does after Al MacNeil, too.

 

[seventieslord]

For the Beavers, instead of Jason Blake, give Brendan Witt a 'A' as he often was alternate captain, even co-captained the Caps one year. He was a hard-working heart and soul type of player.

done.

 

[seventieslord]

Yorkton selects the guy I thought was the best coach heading into this thing, and still do - Sid Abel.

Abel coached what would amount to 1129 games in an 82-game NHL, over the course of 24 years. Overall he had a win% of just .477 in the regular season and .421 in the playoffs, but:

- He's the most experienced NHL coach left on the board if we adjust for schedule length,
- He's got the most NHL wins left on the board (if we adjust for schedule length and lack of shootout)
- These things should be valued even higher considering they were achieved at a time when only 6 men could hold NHL jobs
- He's easily the most experienced playoff coach on the board, considering playoffs were half the length they are now (76 games in the O6 era)
- He went to four stanley cup finals, losing each time - yet, four SCF is untouchable by any coach on the board.

To quote TDMM:

Regular Season W-L-T: 382-427-155
Playoff W-L: 32-44
League Championship: 1964-1965
Playoff appearances: 1953, 1958, 1960-1961, 1963-1966, 1970
Stanley Cup Finals Appearances: 1961, 1963-1964, 1966

Yes, he ended up with a losing career record, but it's impossible to ignore that he coached against two mega-dynasties and managed to end up with two regular season titles and four Stanley Cup Finals appearances.

In 1957 Abel took over the coaching reins of the Red Wings; the third in a list of mild-mannered coaches (Tommy Ivan and Jimmy Skinner were the others) who played good cop to general manager Jack Adams’ bad cop. Abel (like Ivan and Skinner) supplied the healing balm whenever Jack Adams vented his spleen. Always popular, Abel provided a positive, relaxed atmosphere that allowed his players to express themselves on the ice.

 

[Hobnobs]

Weyburn takes Dainius Zubrus, F an excellent spare that can play in all positions on any line.

 

[seventieslord]

Weyburn also selects the next-most deserving coach, John Tortorella.

Torts has won a stanley cup, coached a very respectable 973 NHL games and 89 more in the playoffs, won a Jack Adams, and has also been a runner-up for the award.

Outside the NHL, Torts coached just two seasons in the ACHL and the AHL, but has a championship to show for each stint.

Most importantly, he has real assistant coaching experience, serving for nine seasons for Buffalo and Phoenix between 1989 and 2000.

Tortorella has been touted league-wide for his aggressive forechecking schemes and more open offensive system, one which injects high-energy and excitement into the game for fans and players alike. His 2003-04 team tallied a franchise all-time high 245 goals as many of his Lightning players established personal bests in goals, assists and points. He now has 121 wins with the Lightning, ranking him second on the team’s all-time wins list.

The 2003-04 Lightning team was 13 points better than the 2002-03 squad, which totalled 36 wins, 93 points, won its first-ever Southeast Division championship and made its first playoff berth in seven seasons. Tortorella finished second in voting for the Jack Adams Award after that banner campaign, which happened to be 24 points better than the 2001-02 Lightning.

A 14-year National Hockey League coaching veteran, Tortorella became the fourth head coach in team history when he was named to that position on January 6, 2001. Recognized as one of the top teaching coaches in the game, the Boston native joined the Lightning organization when he was hired on as an associate coach prior to the 2000-01 season. Now in charge of the Lightning for more than three full seasons, the 46-year old Tortorella immediately brought increased expectations and a new level of accountability to the Lightning locker room.

Tortorella began his playing career at Salem State College before transferring to the University of Maine. He spent three seasons with the Black Bears and was twice named an East Coast Athletic Conference All-Star. After playing in Sweden, Tortorella played in the Atlantic Coast Hockey League with Virginia, Hampton Roads, and Erie. He spent two seasons as the General Manager and Head Coach of the Virginia Lancers (Atlantic Coast Hockey League) from 1986-87 to 1987-88, where he garnered Coach of the Year honors during both campaigns while leading his ‘86-87 team to the league championship.

Tortorella got his first major break in 1988-89 when he was hired as an assistant coach with the New Haven Nighthawks of the American Hockey League. He became an assistant coach with the Buffalo Sabres the following season, and remained with the Sabres organization through the 1996-97 season. The Sabres recognized Tortorella's teaching abilities and named him the head coach of their AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans, prior to the 1995-96 season. His Rochester team won the Calder Cup in 1996 and followed that up with the best record in the AHL’s Northern Conference during the 1996-97 regular season.

Tortorella returned to the NHL in 1997 as an assistant with the Phoenix Coyotes, where he spent two seasons before joining the Rangers for 1999-2000. He served as the Rangers' interim head coach for the final four games of the '99-00 season before joining the Lightning staff.

 

[Hobnobs]

Yorkton selects a two-way center that ignited his career for Mora and then Oilers.

Shawn Horcoff, C

 

[seventieslord]

that post was made less than a minute after Hobnob's. it must have been meant for Yorkton. VI is here but not saying anything. I'm ready to call it a mispick, delete and move on.

 

[seventieslord]

Moose Jaw selects Red Berenson to back up Mike Buckna. Together they have a wealth of experience at a number of levels, including the NHL, where Berenson was a Jack Adams award winner.

Berenson's coaching career started as an assistant for St. Louis immediately after his retirement as a player. He reprised that role for Buffalo after being fired by St. Louis. In between those two stints, he was Blues' head coach for three seasons, putting up a .569 winning percentage, including a 2nd overall finish in 1981 and a well-deserved Jack Adams award.

Since his time in the NHL, he has been the coach of the University Of Michigan:

He returned to his Alma Mater as Head Coach in 1984 and has remained in the position ever since. Berenson has led the Wolverines to 11 Frozen Four appearances, and NCAA championships in 1996 and 1998. In CCHA competition, his teams have won 11 regular-season and 9 tournament titles. In addition, Berenson's squads qualified for the NCAA Tournament for 22 consecutive seasons from 1991 to 2012.[2] This is the longest streak ever in college hockey history. His all-time record as Michigan's Head Coach is 776–396–84, a record which currently places him 4th in NCAA history for career victories. The Wolverines have also won 13 Great Lakes Invitational titles under Berenson.

I wouldn't normally be too enthused about a College coach - there might be room for one or two of them by the time we get down to pick #1500. but in this case, he looks like a strong assistant because he's been an assistant coach, and his resume as a head coach includes successful NHL experience, not just college.

 

[Hobnobs]

Flin Flon picks Willy Lindström, RW to back up the team with a bit of both offense and defense. Proven winner and leadership.

 

[seventieslord]

Flin Flon also selects Randy Carlyle to coach along with Pulford.

Carlyle of course won a cup in his 2nd season in the NHL, and has now coached 700 NHL games. Perhaps most notably - he's the only man to get the Toronto Maple Leafs into the playoffs in what will soon be 12 years!

- Assistant Coach for IHL and NHL teams for 4 seasons spanning 1995-2004
- Head Coach in AHL/IHL for 6 seasons between 1997-2005 (record of 222-159-59, .572)
- NHL record of 364-264-80 (.574)
- NHL Playoff record of 39-30 (.565)
- Stanley Cup (2007)

 

[seventieslord]

Moose Jaw needs a good third spare. someone who will add some versatility, as we have a defenseman and a pure center. maybe a dual wing guy, or a F/D like coddy winters/benny woit?

gah, where's VI when you need him? Hobnobs, where did you go?

 

[VanIslander]

Moose Jaw selects center Claude Lapointe, a great face-off specialist and Bottom-6 role player. He was a three-time winner of the NYI's Bob Nystrom Award for best on team in terms of leadership, hustle, and dedication. At the 1999 World Championships, Lapointe led Team Canada in faceoff percentage with 64.44% of the draws won. Only Henrik Sedin had significantly higher (though Henrik only took 33, Claude 180). In 879 NHL games he scored 305 points and 17 short-handed goals.

a versatile player and team leader who could play with skill or grit depending on the situation

...a fan favorite for fearless hustle and faceoff prowess..."

the Islanders, who have Michael Peca and Claude Lapointe, two of the top face-off guys in hockey...

http://hockey-sport.net/index.php?players_id=FO%&cat=ms1999&lang=en

 

[seventieslord]

Moose Jaw selects center Claude Lapointe, a great face-off specialist and Bottom-6 role player. He was a three-time winner of the NYI's Bob Nystrom Award for best on team in terms of leadership, hustle, and dedication. At the 1999 World Championships, Lapointe led Team Canada in faceoff percentage with 64.44% of the draws won. Only Henrik Sedin had significantly higher (though Henrik only took 33, Claude 180). In 879 NHL games he scored 305 points and 17 short-handed goals.

http://hockey-sport.net/index.php?players_id=FO%&cat=ms1999&lang=en

What are you doing drafting a faceoff specialist spare center to a team that already has one?

This just reeks of cramming in your guy at any cost, despite what the team actually needs.

we'll keep drafting but consider redoing this one. It's pointless. It's not that he's mediocre - though he is - and he was even when you were talking him in the 1500s - but it's just that it was so unnecessary.

 

[Hobnobs]

Yorkton selects Floyd Smith, RW for some offfense, defense, leadership and grit.