I never heard of Jiri Lala before this draft, but he seems like a definite first line player in the AAA draft. His stats and exploit are conclusive to a certain extent, but it would be nice to find some quotes on him and his style of play. At this point in time, he definitely deserve his spot. I really like the overall feel of the Bandits first line, a well constructed line.
As an O6 ERA fan, I always tried to find a spot for Lewicki in the MLD, but without success. I am unsure of Bullard's speed, but both wings on this line will fly down and gonna be exciting to watch.
I really like the Petterson - Handzus duo at this level. I imagine they will also kill penalties together. I am unsure of Skvortsov on the right side. I'll be honest that I know as much on him as TDMM bio, but I don't see his role on this line. I would move Patterson on that right side if you intend to use your 3rd line as a defensive minded line.
Randy McKay as to be an elite 4th liner in this draft. Jokinen stats are good for a AAA draft, but I wouldn't like him getting any ice-time.
Trapp is an amazing first pairing defenseman in this draft. I thought I had read some stuff on him in the Trail of the Stanley Cup book, someone should dig it up.
Traub seem like a nice player. The ''He's getting AS nod without racking up points so he must be good defensively'' argument his enticing, but I would love to see one or two quotes on that. We have some good newspaper digger in the ATD! I'm surprise too see Mark Streit with the captaincy. I'm not saying he's not a good leader, but part of him being the Switz captain his because he's clearly the best player on his team. Again, the Bandits isn't a team full a leadership and McKay might not play enough minutes to warrant the C.
Arthur Moore look like an amazing fifth defenseman. Those newspaper clips makes me think that his short career his the only reason he could not play the same role he do on the Bandits in the MLD.
Lemelin is a fantastic goaltender at the AAA level, that should backup a team in the MLD instead of being stuck in the AAA. Backstrom is a competent backup. I really like what I saw of him in the last couple of years and this warrant his selection.
And to top it off, ''The Cat'' as the coach! I havn't followed the AAA draft, but it's no surprise to see such a strong team in the final. Kudos to TDMM.
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Why I'm not surprise to see 70's as the other finalist? Move on ...
Martin Havlat is definitely a player that has the offensive instinct to play on a AAA top-2 line. However, I don't see him bringing much else. Jason Allison is the Clint Smith/Kent Nilsson of the AAA draft: not good enough to play on an offensive line in the higher level, but an All-Star at his level. Allison is always regarded as the best offensive player of the AAA and for good reason. Scott Mellanby is the RW this line needed. It's not a very fast line. Havlat is a competent two-way player, but I wonder if his speed, his best skill to create offensive chances, will hurt him playing with two notable slew footed. But the Mellanby-Allison is deadly to say the least.
I only knew Carson by name, but 70's bio is tremendous to say the least. He's definitely a competent player on a 2nd line. Golikov is an offensive juggernaut, while Craven can play both side of the ice. Well constructed 2nd line. Kudos!
Tippett - Zezel - Murphy is a typical ATD 3rd line. Murphy is definitely captain material. Zezel is definitely strong enough to contribute offensively once in a while.
That 4th line is elite as much as 4th line can be. Dutch Hiller is an elite 3rd liner in the AAA draft, let alone 4th line (Hiller in the MLD anyone?) He's a tremendous skater with good defensive instinct and he's as tough and strong as anyone in this draft. That's not all: Stemkowski is another elite 4th liner. Big, strong two way-player. It's the guy you want in the faceoff circle with a minute left in the game, either on the offensive or defensive zone. And last but not least Howie Meeker. Another rugged forward, not afraid of anything or anyone. Easily my favourite line in this duel.
All and all, the Canadiens are extremely strong down the middle.
I think Jack Ruttan should of been the captain of this team. Anyway, 70's chose wisely the letters for his team. I'm unsure as to Ruttan being a number1 defenseman in this draft, my explanation is simple: information? I know he's an HHOF as a player, but Ruttan was so highly regarded as a person that it probably affected the outcome of the voting . It definitely stray away from previous thing I've say, but we have found SO much information in the last few drafts about hundreds of players, maybe I feel there's should be some information somewhere on an HHOF like Ruttan. If you decide to go with Ruttan on your team, Manery is definitely a nice partner for him.
I'm surprise to see Bob Plager available in the AAA, he's definitely the type of defenseman I would love to have on my third pair in the MLD. Someone who can log big minutes, decent on both hand on the ice and someone you seldom mess around with. Paladiev is a bit in the same mold as Plager. I really like that 2nd pairing.
And if Plager and Paladiev was not enough to rock your world, you add Bill Juzda into the mix. I'm not sure he was anything more than a extremely hard hitter, but in that department he was elite. As for Malakhov, I have to express my disdain since am I am a Montreal Canadiens fan. A marvelous talent who should of ended up in the ATD when it was all said and done, but when a player shows up one every 7 games, you end up as a number6 defenseman in the AAA draft. I can always understand having head cases when they play a prominent role on your team, but as far as Vladimir Malakhov goes, I would of let him alone. Let him log big minutes in the AA and feel like a star. Actually, Sargent would be tremendous with Juzda.
I like the case 70's put up for Jirà KrálÃk. He's definitely an elite goaltender at this level, just like Lemelin. I would of like to read on his style, how he played his position. I don't like when a player is only stats on a sheet, but I understand it's sometime hard to find info like that. Potvin is definitely no slouch as a backup goaltender. in my mind, both team have a very strong goaltending group, let's call it a draw.
I like Muckler as an assistant, I never been a fan of him being THE coach on a team, but I think Crisp - Muckler is a very fine duo.
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So that's it for my view on this matchup. It's been very fun taking a couple of hours to write about hockey, when the only thing Aussie have in mind is cricket (I'm really starting to like this sport, am I starting to lose my mind?)
Good luck to both TDMM and 70's