The Evolution of Our Teams

[hungryhungryhippy]

*first try* ATD 2 at Leafscentral (20 teams)

Cuban Commies

coach Frank Boucher

Joe Malone - Frank Boucher - Cam Neely (A)
Syd Howe - Peter Stastny - Mike Gartner
Craig Ramsay - Guy Carbonneau (A) - Eric Nesterenko
Al Secord - Dale Hunter - Theo Fleury
Owan Nolan, Brian Bellows

Nicklas Lidstrom (C) - Black Jack Stewart
Brad Park - Leo Boivin
Neil Colville - Craig Hartsburgh

Grant Fuhr
Tiny Thompson

RESULT: 5th out of 10 teams in division, lost to Jareklajkosz's 4th seeded team in the first round (game 7, triple OT)

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

*second try* ATD 2010 at HFBoards (30 teams)

Vancouver Maroons

coach Jacques Lemaire

Ace Bailey - Milt Schmidt (C) - Pavel Bure
Theo Fleury - Doug Gilmour (A) - Bobby Bauer
Joe Klukay - Don Luce - Gary Dornhoefer
Tomas Holmstrom - Dale Hunter - Duane Sutter
Craig Simpson, Corb Denneny

Guy Lapointe - Herb Gardiner
Harry Howell (A) - Paul Reinhart
Kevin Hatcher - Gary Bergman
Dion Phaneuf

Patrick Roy
Ron Hextall

RESULT: 3rd out of 8 teams in division, lost to TDMM's champion team in the Milt Dunnel Cup Final (6 games)

 

[Hedberg]

A history of my teams:

ATD4: Phoenix Coyotes (no playoffs)

Newsy Lalonde - Howie Morenz - Cam Neely
Denis Savard - Marcel Dionne - Dino Ciccarelli
Markus Naslund - Ron Ellis - John Leclair
Kirk Muller - Brent Sutter - Trevor Linden
Kent Nilsson

Tim Horton - Doug Wilson
Phil Housley - Harry Howell
Al Iafrate - Craig Hartsburg
Petr Svoboda

Patrick Roy
Rogie Vachon
Andy Moog

Coach: Glen Sather

Thoughts:
- I clearly wasn't paying attention to forward positioning
- A very offensive minded defence
- Very modern team (except Lalonde and Morenz)
- Overall a very weak, disorganized entry.


ATD5: Manitoba Moose (no playoffs)

Jari Kurri - Joe Malone - Valeri Kharlamov
Luc Robitaille - Mats Sundin - Jacques Lemaire
Dave Andreychuk - Dale Hunter - Alexander Mogilny
Ken Linseman - Ron Ellis - Stan Smyl
Adam Graves

Scott Niedermayer - Sprague Cleghorn
Adam Foote - Jan Suchy
Teppo Numminen - Brian Engblom
Mattias Ohlund

Patrick Roy
Mike Vernon
Artus Irbe

Coach: Pat Quinn

Thought:
- Random Ohlund and Irbe selections
- I used to really like Roy
- Again, no real attention paid to forward positions
- I love the top pairing; 06-07 Ducks-like.
- Bizarre third line

ATD6: Victoria Salmon Kings (ranked 5th out of 5 teams in the division; lost 4-1 in the play-in series)

Luc Robitaille - Sergei Fedorov - Brett Hull
Sid Abel - Joe Nieuwendyk - Mike Gartner
Bill Mosienko - Anders Hedberg - Joe Mullen
Kevin Stevens - Vladimir Martinec - Ulf Nilsson
Pete Mahovlich

Scott Niedermayer - Brian Leetch
Lars-Erik Sjoberg - Teppo Numminen
Mattias Ohlund - Mark Tinordi
Ken Daneyko

Patrick Roy
Pelle Lindbergh
Olaf Kolzig

Coach: Pat Quinn

Thoughts:
- Ohlund in the starting lineup?
- Roy is back again
- Absurdly modern team, but at least I paid more attention to positions this time
- Hedberg on my team . Should have had Nilsson with him though
- Really weak defence, but a nice offence

ATD7: I took a break because I wasn't putting the effort into the ATD it deserves.

ATD8: Same as ATD7

ATD9: Victoria Salmon Kings (ranked 6th of 8 teams in the division, lost in 7 games in the first round)
Vic Hadfield - Denis Savard - Mike Bossy
Rod Brind'amour - Sid Abel - Reggie Leach
Tomas Holmstrom - Chris Drury - Larry Aurie
Dirk Graham - Bobby Carpenter - Terry O'Reilly
Ron Sutter

Bill Gadsby - Harry Howell
Sergei Zubov - Teppo Numminen
Jiri Bubla - Brian Engblom
Kenny Jonsson

Billy Smith
Roberto Luongo
Olaf Kolzig

Thoughts:
- Weak team; no real depth
- The third line lacked purposed
- Teppo Numminen back for the third time

ATD10: Victoria Salmon Kings (ranked 7 out of 7 teams in the division, lost in the first round in 6 games)

Bill Barber - Darryl Sittler - Maurice Richard
Paul Kariya - Joe Thornton - Brett Hull
John Ferguson - Walt Tkaczuk - Stan Smyl
Tiger Williams - Edgar Laprade - Mike Keane
Owen Nolan - Pierre Turgeon

Lionel Conacher - Art Ross
Vladimir Lutchenko - Ulf Samuelsson
Craig Ludwig - Brian Rafalski
Dollard St. Laurent

Bill Durnan
Roberto Luongo

Thoughts:
- I started taking this a bit more seriously
- I think I was going for a "tough" team, but all that resulted in was two below average forth lines
- The defence lacks a star, but it was solid overall.

ATD 11: Victoria Salmon Kings (ranked 6 out of 7 teams, lost in 6 games in the first round)
Coach: Lester Patrick
Brendan Shanahan - Max Bentley - Didier Pitre
Gary Roberts - Igor Larionov - Rod Gilbert
Pete Mahovlich - Cooney Weiland - Pat Verbeek
Marcel Bonin - Brent Sutter - Murray Balfour
Dubbie Bowie - Barney Stanley

King Clancy - Jack Stewart
Cy Wenworth - Paul Reinhart
Terry Harper - Brian Rafalski
Art Duncan

Martin Brodeur
Paddy Moran

Coach: Lester Patrick

Thoughts:
- My first team after I did a MLD/AAA/AA, and I think the increased research and effort I started putting into the ATD shows
- Screwed up big time picking Broduer instead of Hasek
- I though that this team deserved better than 6th in the division

ATD12: Tidewater Sharks (ranked 1st in the division, won in 5 games the first round, in 6 games in the second round, in 7 games in the division finals, in 7 games in the conference finals, and lost the final in 7 games.)
Michel Goulet - Alex Delvecchio (C) - Jaromir Jagr
Mats Naslund - Pave Datsyuk - Rick Tocchet
Bob Gainey (A) - Pit Lepine - Jerry Toppazzini
Venjamin Alexandrov - Alexander Almetov - Konstantin Loktev
Kris Draper - Bill Guerin

Chris Chelios (A) - Marcel Pronovost
Herb Gardiner - Terry Harper
Graham Drinkwater - Moose Goheen
Bobby Rowe

Tony Esposito
Viktor Konovalenko

Coach: Arkady Chernyshev

Thoughts:
- My finalist team.
- It was also the first time I had ever got past round 1.
- By far the best team I constructed, it's too bad EB constructed one of the best ever ATD teams that draft as I had no chance in the final.
- Only regret is I didn't get a better 2nd line.

ATD2010: Tidewater Sharks (ranked 2 in the division. Won the first round in six games and lost the second in 6 games)
Thoughts:
- First team with a co-GM
- Demonstrates that there is some luck in where you select in the draft because the BPAs at our picks didn't always fit our positional needs, which is partially why the forward group is disjointed.

Sid Smith - Peter Forsberg - Jarome Iginla (A)
Ilya Kovalchuk - Mats Sundin (A) - Harry Hyland
Dave Balon - Cooney Weiland - Bruce Stuart
Bobby Holik - Doug Jarvis - John MacLean
Sven "Tumba" Johansson - Chalie Burns

Doug Harvey - Ebbie Goodfellow
King Clancy (C) - Lloyd Cook
Harry Mummery - Alexander Gusev
Hobey Baker

Grant Fuhr
Mike Liut

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

MLD11: Trenton Devils

Coach: Marc Crawford

Herb Cain - Barry Pederson - Todd Bertuzzi
Stephane Richer - Scott Gomez - Tony Amonte
Jay Pandolfo - Cully Dahlstrom - Doug Brown
Tony McKegney - Mike Richards(A) - Nikolai Drozdetsky
Extras - Johan Frazen, Darren McCarty

Glen Wesley(C) - Robert Svehla
Dick Redmond - Jeff Beukeboom(A)
Dave Lewis - Ed Jovanovski
Extra - Doug Young

Olaf Kolzig
Felix Potvin

PP 1: Cain-Pederson-Bertuzzi-Redmond-Richer
PP 2: McKegney-Gomez-Amonte-Wesley-Jovanovski

PK 1: Pandolfo-Dahlstrom-Lewis-Beukeboom
PK 2: Brown-Richards-Wesley-Svehla
PK 3: McKegney-Amonte-Lewis-Beukeboom

Result: 6th of 7 teams in the division, out in the first round.

Comments:
-I was on vacation for half of this MLD and really didn't put in much research.
-First line is actually pretty good by MLD standards.
-Defense is good and well balanced.
-The less said about the 2nd-4th lines the better. The 2nd line is a candidate for softest line ever in one of these things and the 3rd and 4th lines are just jumbles of players.
-Kolzig is an average MLD starter, but there was absolutely no reason to draft him in the first round.

ATD12: New Jersey Swamp Devils

Coach:"Badger" Bob Johnson

Paul Kariya - Joe Malone (A) - Jarome Iginla
Markus Naslund - Aleksandr Maltsev - Ken Hodge, Sr.
Herbie Lewis - Ken Mosdell - Shane Doan
Ryan Walter - Clint Smith - John "Pie" McKenzie
Mel Bridgman - Vladimir Vikulov

Serge Savard (C) - Bobby Orr
Bob Goldham - Art Ross (A)
Viktor Kuzkin (A) - George McNamara
Robyn Regehr

Ed Belfour
Gerry McNeil

Powerplay 1: Paul Kariya - Joe Malone - Jarome Iginla - Aleksandr Maltsev - Bobby Orr
Powerplay 2: Markus Naslund - Clint Smith - John McKenzie - Viktor Kuzkin - Art Ross
Penalty Kill 1: Ken Mosdell - Herbie Lewis - Serge Savard - Bobby Orr
Penalty Kill 2: Ryan Walter - Shane Doan - Bob Goldham - George McNamara

Callups:
F: Sergei Brylin, Scott Gomez, Tony Amonte
D: Zinetula Bilyaletdinov, Jason Smith
G: Kirk McLean

Result: 2nd of 8 in the division, won the division in the playoffs. Lost to Hedberg's Tidewater Sharks in the Conference Finals.

Comments:
-I did a hell of a lot better than MLD11 and also put in a lot more effort.
-After being traumatized by how soft my 2nd line in MLD11 was, I made sure to have a physical guy on every line and every defense pair.
-I surprised a lot of GMs by drafting Savard after already having Orr, but I think having "the best defensive pair in ATD history" was a huge asset in my first foray into this for real.
-The defense as a whole is awesome. In ATD2010, Kuzkin and McNamara, and Ross all went a lot higher than I drafted them.
-I got tremendous value on Kariya and Naslund
-First line lacks a natural playmaker, but I thought Orr could handle the job.
-Biggest weakness is lack of defensive ability from my forwards. It forced me to give Shane Doan more minutes than he really deserves. My biggest mistake was drafting Pie McKenzie for the Boston connection before drafting a RW who could play defensively.
-I really didn't put much thought into the callups, redrafting both Gomez and Amonte from my MLD team.
-I still think I should have beaten Hedberg.

ATD2010: New Jersey Swamp Devils

Busher Jackson - Sid Abel(C) - Gordie Howe*
Keith Tkachuk - Denis Savard - Vladimir Martinec
Don Marshall - Pit Lepine - Dirk Graham(A)
Jiri Holik - Murray Oliver - Wilf Paiement*
Extra: Ray Getliffe

Börje Salming - Rob Blake
Babe Siebert(A) - Ted Green
Brian Engblom - Albert Leduc
Extras: Yuri Liapkin*, Marty McSorley

Charlie Gardiner
Charlie Hodge

PP1: Busher Jackson - Sid Abel - Gordie Howe - Börje Salming - Rob Blake
PP2: Keith Tkachuk - Denis Savard - Vladimir Martinec - Babe Siebert - Albert Leduc*

PK1: Pit Lepine - Don Marshall - Babe Siebert - Ted Green
PK2: Sid Abel - Gordie Howe - Börje Salming - Rob Blake
PK3: Murray Oliver - Dirk Graham - Babe Siebert - Ted Green

Result: 2nd of 7 in the "Best ATD Division Ever," Milt Dunnell Cup Champion

Comments:
-First Bobby Orr, then Gordie Howe? I've proven I can make great teams with Top 4 picks. We'll see what I can do in ATD2011 without one.
-I'm really proud of the fact that I constructed this team without drafting a single player from my ATD 12 team (though I considered drafting Belfour and would have drafted Mosdell if arrbez didn't snag him first).
-I love my first line and defense.
-Biggest weakness is a lack of defense from my second line - a trend carried over from my previous team (though I don't have any liabilities like Naslund this time).
-Average goaltending like my first ATD team. I really think there's a big drop in goaltending quality after the Gardiner/Belfour/etc tier, and both times I tried to snag a guy near the end of that tier.
-I got tremendous value in selecting Rob Blake in the 160s, Martinec in the 270s and Jiri Holik late in the 400s. There's definitely an aspect of luck in the ATD, but you need to realize when a guy is falling and snag him even if it totally changes your plans (the pick I used to get Martinec was supposed to be to start my checking line).
-My strategy from the beginning was to have clear strengths and no real weaknesses. My strengths ended up being the dominating 1st line and the physical nastiness of my defensemen. I don't think any part of my team could be called worse than average. Even the 2nd line which had no real defensive ability had no real liabilities either.

 

[VanIslander]

UPDATE:

2010 In Review: The Year of Divisional Finals

In ATD 2010 I iced the third of my concept teams (the first revolved around Shero, the second around the Silver Seven, this one around Old Poison). It was ranked second and made it to the divisional finals:

Smith's Falls Fusiliers

coach Dick Irvin, Sr.

Syd Howe - Nels Stewart - Rod Gilbert
Patrik Elias - Bryan Trottier (A) - Didier Pitre
Johnny Gottselig (A) - Bob Pulford - Floyd Curry
Rabbit McVeigh - Troy Murray - Boris Mayorov
Ulf Nilsson , Milan Hejduk

Brian Leetch (C) - Lionel Conacher
Vladimir Lutchenko - Gennady Tsygankov
Dollard St. Laurent - Sandis Ozolinsh
Clem Loughlin

Johnny Bower
Bouse Hutton​

In MLD 2010 I selected an all-star voted third line as well as star-studded blueline. The general opinion was the offense wasn't elite and the squad was eliminated in the divisional finals:

Texas Brahmas

coach Bryan Murray

Jim Riley - Don Smith - Andrei Khomutov
Thomas Vanek - Normie Himes - Art Farrell (C)
Jack Marks - Billy Reay - Mike Keane (A)
Joe Juneau - Terry Ruskowski - Jim Peplinski
Harry Meeking, Billy Harris

Jamie Macoun (A) - Randy Gregg
Alexei Gusarov - Dave Babych
Karel Gut - Doug Young
Roland Stoltz

Ryan Miller
Viktor Zinger​

In AAA 2010 my team sported a great first line and solid two-way play throughout the forward core. The blueline pairings had chemistry and defensive skill but their puck-moving ability was questioned for the transition game and powerplay. Backed by good goaltending, another squad of mine advanced as far as the divisional finals once again:

Queen's University Golden Gaels

coach Jacques Martin

Sergei Shepelev - Billy Barlow - Mac Colville
Nick Libett (A) - Vladimir Golikov - Ulf Dahlen
Randy Burridge - Michal Pivonka - Wildor Larochelle
Dan Maloney - Patrick Sharp - Ken Schinkel
Ron Murphy, Mickey Roach

Chris Phillips (A) - Anton Volchenkov
Sergei Starikov - Igor Stelnov
Frank Eddolls (C) - Igor Romishevsky
Bugsy Watson

Pekka Lindmark
Don Beaupre​

In the 2010 Double-A draft the team again had a strong first line and some bottom-6 talents, with some great coaching, but the defense I think was underappreciated and the goaltending unexceptional but worthy. There were four WHA players in the lineup, including the last two undrafteds from the league's hall of fame, and so the success of this team rests squarely on the shoulders of the seven non-NHLers in the starting lineup. I believe it a worthy finals squad, though no playoffs have been set for this level of competition.

Johns Hopkins Blue Jays

coaches Bob Hartley, Tom Watt

Martin Rucinsky - Viktor Yakushev - Sergei Svetlov
Aaron Broten (A) - Don Gallinger - Wayne Connelly
John Marks - Billy Breen (A) - Tom Webster
Stephane Matteau - Rudy Migay - Mark Hunter
Don Metz

Al MacNeil (C) - Dmitri Mironov
Ron Plumb - Walter Buswell
Alex Levinsky - Bingo Kampman
Toni Lydman

Ernie Wakely
Don Simmons​

 

[seventieslord]

pfffft. navel gazing.

 

[monster_bertuzzi]

added my teams as well on page one:

there was no roster threads early on in the draft so either we kept track of our own teams or we made a post to see how the team was forming.


ATD 9 Roster Thread
http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=493213

ATD 8 Roster Thread
http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=417189

ATD 7 Roster Thread
http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=359526

ATD 6 Roster Thread
http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=288151

ATD 5 Roster Thread
http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=238427

ATD 5B Thread
http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=259206

ATD 4B Thread
http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=209409

ATD 4 Thread
http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=174452

ATD 3 Thread
http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=133670

ATD 2 Thread
http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=67338

ATD 1 Thread
http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=13418
http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=185

Crosby actually went higher in ATD back in 2003 than he does in most of the recent ones....unbelievable.

 

[Hockey Outsider]

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS

I'm not a very creative GM. All of my teams are quite formulaic. My vision has remained essentially unchanged for my last five drafts; it was essentially a matter of picking the right type of player to "fill in the blanks". I'm not sure if this is a good or bad quality.

My overriding principle as a GM is to minimize my team's weaknesses, rather than to maximize their strengths.

ATD #3 - SASKATOON BLUES (15 teams)

Coach: Lester Patrick

Valery Kharlamov - Marcel Dionne - Gordie Howe
Cy Denneny - Frank Boucher - Babe Dye
Doug Bentley - Joe Primeau - Charlie Simmer
Craig Ramsay - Bob Pulford - Steve Thomas
Gordie Drillon

Paul Coffey - Bill Gadsby
King Clancy - Ken Reardon
Jim Thomson - Gus Mortson
Sylvio Mantha

Tony Esposito
Ed Belfour
Alec Connell

• I took over this team from another GM after the fourth or fifth round. Howe, Dionne, Coffey, Hawerchuk and possibly Belfour had already been selected.
• I traded Hawerchuk and pick 213 to another team for Kharlamov and pick 221 - that would be vetoed instantly these days!
• The Blues boast some serious offensive firepower. Seven of my top nine forwards either won, or were at least reasonable contenders for, the Art Ross trophy (and Kharlamov surely would have been had he played in the NHL). However, the forwards were fairly poor group defensively, due to being terribly slow (Dye, Denneny, Simmer) or simply not caring about defense (Kharlamov, Dionne, Drillon). When you consider that the team has two of the great rushing defensemen ever (Coffey, Clancy), this is a very high-risk, high-reward team.
• If I re-did this roster today, Belfour would be my starting goalie. If Esposito was better during the regular season, it was by a small margin, and I'd definitely prefer The Eagle in the playoffs.
• According to the HOH Top 100 players list (the original, completed edition) this team features 9 of the top hundred players of all-time. Then again, in a 15-team draft, you'd expect an average team to have 7 of the top hundred players.
• This was an old-time team; only three players (Coffey, Belfour, Thomas) played as recently as 1990! Back in the day you could build a good team simply by loading up on pre-WWII players that nobody had heard of.

ATD #5 - MONTREAL CANADIENS (17 teams)

Coach: Al Arbour

Clark Gillies - Newsy Lalonde - Maurice Richard
Sweeney Schriner - Nels Stewart - Mark Recchi
Woody Dumart - Ted Kennedy - Steve Thomas
Vincent Damphousse - Mike Peca - Claude Lemieux
Anton Stastny

Pierre Pilote - Bill Quackenbush
Scott Stevens - Stefan Persson
Zdeno Chara - Ken Daneyko
Sergei Gonchar

Glenn Hall
Gump Worsley
Lorne Chabot

• This is the first team that I had complete control over and it featured the "Hockey Outsider formula": a consensus top seven goalie, three elite defensemen with a big drop-off to the others, two talented scoring lines (cheating a bit by miscasting one (sometimes two) forwards), two gritty, defensive-minded but low-scoring forward lines, and a very good (usually top five) coach.
• This is the toughest, meanest squad I've assembled. It's not the best, but it's probably the team I'd be least willing to play against.
• I love the deep and balanced defense corps. Granted, this was a 17-team draft.
• I'm not sure if there's enough puck to go around on my top line. Richard and Lalonde were both notoriously shoot-first players; Gillies was great at winning pucks along the board, but I wouldn't describe him as a particularly skilled playmaker. Same problem on the second line - Stewart was a shoot-first centre, though having Recchi on the wing mitigates this a bit.

ATD #6 - MONTREAL CANADIENS (20 teams)

Coach: Tommy Ivan

Paul Kariya - Adam Oates - Gordie Howe
Johnny Bucyk - Doug Gilmour - Peter Bondra
Dean Prentice - Hooley Smith - Bobby Rousseau
Ryan Smyth - Doug Risebrough - Stan Smyl
Brad Richards

Sprague Cleghorn - Brad Park
Chris Chelios - Jim Schoenfeld
Stefan Persson - Charlie Huddy
Ted Harris

Johnny Bower
Gump Worsley
Mike Liut

• This is my favourite team. On paper, the roster didn't have better players than any of the other teams. However, the ATD 6 Canadiens epitomized my philosophy of having no weaknesses. The team didn't have overwhelming strength in any area, but they had no obvious flaws.
• In contrast to ATD 3, this team is surprisingly modern, particularly up front. Seven of my thirteen forwards were active in the 1990's. Five of my seven defensemen were active in the 1980's.
• I essentially traded John Bucyk for Andy Bathgate (plus two minor changes in future draft picks). Bathgate is almost certainly the better player, but I knew that Bucyk gave my team some much needed scoring ability on the left wing. It's not about which players you draft; it's all about how they fit together as a team.
• I traded Glenn Anderson and pick #243 for Sprague Cleghorn and pick #314. Would this traded have been vetoed today? (Probably). Would I have won the draft without this trade? (Probably not).

ATD #7 - MONTREAL CANADIENS (28 teams)

Coach: Jack Adams

Sid Smith - Stan Mikita - Ken Wharram
Gary Roberts - Sid Abel - Babe Dye
Tomas Holmstrom - Ken Mosdell - George Armstrong
Tony Leswick- Glen Skov - Ed Westfall
Jim Peplinski

Brad Park - Pat Stapleton
Guy Lapointe - Keith Magnuson
Barry Beck - Barry Ashbee
Marty McSorely

Ken Dryden
Roger Crozier
Rollie Melanson

• The ATD7 Canadiens were clearly my weakest offensive team. Only six players on the roster managed to place in the top ten in scoring even once, and I'd consider two of them (Smith and Wharram) complimentary players, rather than catalysts. This is somewhat offset by the fact that my top three defensemen can all make significant contributions offensively.
• My second and third lines were both quite slow.
• I traded picks #5 and #108 for picks #22 and #35. I think fifth overall is the worst pick in the draft, because there's such a clear drop-off in talent from the Big Four, yet you have to wait almost as long to pick again.
• Only three regulars (Roberts, Holmstrom, Beck) and my two extra skaters (Peplinski, McSorely) were active as late as 1990.

ATD #8 - MONTREAL CANADIENS (28 teams)

Coach: Al Arbour

Charlie Simmer - Newsy Lalonde - Yvan Cournoyer
Vic Hadfield - Jean Ratelle - Hooley Smith
Don Marcotte - Doug Jarvis - Pit Martin
Marcel Bonin - Troy Murray - Eddie Shack
Pierre Turgeon

Denis Potvin - Harry Howell
Marcel Pronovost - Rob Ramage
Bill Hajt - Bill Barilko
Lloyd Cook

Turk Broda
Roger Crozier
Rollie Melanson

• I was hesitant taking Potvin at #14, since Lidstrom, who I rank as a better defenseman, was available. I went with Potvin because he almost certainly had a higher peak, which is more important than consistency/longevity in the ATD. This draft was done in November and December 2007; if I had the same choice now (February 2011) I probably would have gone with Lidstrom. (I still think Potvin clearly had a higher peak, but Lidstrom has continued to add to his playoff resume post-Yzerman).
• This team is seriously lacking in offensive depth on the bottom two lines. If I had to re-do the lineup, the third line would probably be Murray-Turgeon-Martin (solid playmaking ability, with the wings covering for Turgeon's inability to backcheck), and the fourth line would be Marcotte-Jarvis-Shack (tough with strong defensive abilities).
• Only two regulars (Murray and Ramage) and two depth players (Melanson and Turgeon) were active as late as 1990.

ATD #10 - MONTREAL CANADIENS (28 teams)

Coach: Hap Day

Sid Smith - Bryan Trottier - Pavel Bure
Esa Tikkanen - Doug Gilmour - Bill Mosienko
George Hay - Dick Irvin, Sr. - B-A Gustafsson
Don Marcotte - Derek Sanderson - Ed Westfall
Don Lever - Tomas Sandstrom

Valeri Vasiliev - Vitali Davydov
Mark Howe - Zdeno Chara
Bill Hajt - Bobby Rowe
Sandis Ozolinsh

Dominik Hasek
Gerry McNeil

• This was a good team, though I'm surprised it went as far as it did (losing in the Milt Dunnell Cup final). There simply wasn't enough offensive firepower.
• I hoped to convince everybody that Irvin & Hay made a fairly high-scoring duo on my third line, but I don't think I persuaded many people.
• Two of my top four defensemen played in the Soviet league; I don't think that anybody questioned Vasiliev's credentials as a #1 defenseman but Davydov came under a lot scrutiny. He's somewhere between Adam Foote and Ken Daneyko in an ATD context (I realize that's a big range).
• I paid a premium to re-unit the checking line from Orr's Bruins - was it worth it? Any two of Marcotte, Sanderson and Westfall with a competent two-way forward (even Don Lever, my 13th forward) would have been a great defensive line anyway, and I could used the extra pick to get some much-needed scoring depth.
• It only took me three drafts to figure out that a 3rd string goalie has minimal value. (Then again, not sure how much value Sandstrom has as a 14th forward).
• Only three players peaked before WWII (Hay, Irvin, Rowe).

BEST PICKS

• ATD 3: Bill Gadsby at #123 was an absolute steal. His toughness and strong defensive play made him a good fit with Paul Coffey on the top pair. This shows how things have improved in the ATD - the days when Gadsby goes after Rob Blake, Doug Wilson and Al Iafrate (!) are long gone.
• ATD 5: Newsy Lalonde at #75 was an exceptional steal. It allowed me to pair Lalonde with Richard on a very tough, high-scoring first line. Much has changed - it's hard to believe that Lalonde was taken after Ron Francis, Brett Hull, and Gilbert Perreault.
• ATD 6: Hooley Smith at #384. Smith went around 250 spots later than he should have. Without this pick, I wouldn't have won the draft. Smith gave me exceptional depth up the middle, which allowed me to compete with teams with superior top-end forwards.
• ATD 7: Stan Mikita at #22. I'm struggling to find a steal in this draft. I went with Mikita, as he shouldn't be the 7th centre selected.
• ATD 8: Newsy Lalonde at #70. I hate to repeat myself, but Lalonde was criminally underrated once again. Lalonde is closer to Maurice Richard territory than to Henri Richard (where he was once again drafted).
• ATD 10: Bill Mosienko at #362. Although there was extensive debate about how impressive Mosienko's scoring exploits truly were, I'm confident saying that there weren't any comparable talents available so late in the draft.

WORST PICKS

• ATD 3: Charlie Simmer at #238. This is at least 100 spots too early. Did I really draft Simmer over Norm Ullman, Syd Howe, Jacques Lemaire and Hooley Smith?!
• ATD 5: Clark Gillies at #143. A few dozen spots too early. Gillies didn't bring any skills to the team that weren't already present. Patrik Elias, who would have provided some much-needed playmaking and defensive abilities to the top line, was taken immediately after I drafted this controversial Hall of Famer.
• ATD 6: Peter Bondra at #238. A few dozen spots too early; Bondra is quite one-dimensional and didn't really fit into my vision for my team. Frank Nighbor (!), Syd Howe and Roy Conacher were all available.
• ATD 7: Barry Beck at #284. This is at least 100 spots too early. Beck had all the tools to be a great defenseman, he just couldn't put it together consistently. He was mis-cast on my second defense pair; Lionel Hitchman and Vladimir Lutchenko were two of many superior defensemen still available.
• ATD 8: Rob Ramage at #294. I repeated the mistake I made in the previous draft. Desperate for a #4 defenseman, I took Ramage around 100 spots earlier than he should have been taken. Comparable defensemen were still around for many rounds after this.
• ATD 10: Esa Tikkanen at #194. Objectively this isn't a bad pick, but I eventually realized that my team would have trouble offensively when Tikkanen was my 4th forward.

FAVOURITE PLAYERS

During my six ATDs, I made 144 selections. In total, I selected 126 different players/coaches; eighteen players/coaches were selected in two drafts. I haven't picked anybody three (or more) times.

ALL-TIME HOCKEY OUTSIDER TEAM

Coach: Al Arbour

Sid Smith - Newsy Lalonde - Gordie Howe
Charlie Simmer - Doug Gilmour - Babe Dye
Don Marcotte - Hooley Smith - Ed Westfall
Steve Thomas

Brad Park - Zdeno Chara
Bill Hajt - Steffan Persson

Gump Worsley
Rogier Crozier
Rollie Melanson

Not a bad start to a club in a 28-team draft!

 

[seventieslord]

HO, that was awesome. I wasnt going to do an analysis of my own squads, but I'm going to have to now.

 

[Velociraptor]

ATD 2010 (30 teams) - California Golden Seals - Divisional finish: 7th of 8 teams, Post-season result: Division quarter-finals - eliminated in six games by the Smiths Falls Fusiliers.

Valery Kharlamov - Jean Béliveau (C) - Tod Sloan
Doug Bentley - Dale Hawerchuk (A) - Mike Gartner
Brian Bellows - Orland Kurtenbach - Alexander Mogilny
Shayne Corson - Ken Linseman - Jean Pronovost
Vyacheslav Bykov

Rod Langway (A) - Jean-Guy Talbot
Lars-Erik Sjoberg - Red Horner (A)
Behn Wilson - Lennart Svedberg
Mathieu Schneider

Ed Belfour
Nikolai Khabibulin

Coaches: Don Cherry, Jaroslav Pitner

Thoughts: First ATD entry, as you can tell a lot of these players didn't have a spot on this team, chemistry was all over the place and there was definitely some holes. Not enough grit on the top two lines, and not enough offense on the back-end resulted in some disasters for this team.

ATD 2011 (40 teams) - Cleveland Barons - Divisional finish: 3rd of 5 teams, Post-season result: Division semi-finals - eliminated in five games by the Philadelphia Firebirds.

Vic Hadfield - Phil Esposito - HÃ¥kan Loob
Luc Robitaille - Alexander Maltsev - Cam Neely
Brenden Morrow - Bob Pulford (C) - Bill Goldsworthy
Cully Dahlstrom - Ryan Walter - Duane Sutter
Dennis Maruk, Patrick Kane

Alexander Ragulin (A) - Sprague Cleghorn (A)
Barclay Plager - Barry Beck
Ian Turnbull - Barry Ashbee
Niklas Kronwall, Oleg Tverdosvky

Tiny Thompson
Pete Peeters

Coach: Mike Keenan

Thoughts: I thought I built a much better team this time around, I spent a lot of time on research contrary to my rookie year. And thought this team could compete well in the post-season, I was ousted by another sophomore GM's work in BiLLY_ShOE1721's entry, who did a fantastic job this year. Too bad we couldn't see what kind of damage this team could've done in a more favorable matchup.

ATD 2012 (32 teams) - Australia Mighty Roos - Divisional finish: 3rd of 8 teams, Post-season result: Division semi-finals - eliminated in seven games by the Inglewood Jacks. (eventual champions)

Steve Shutt - Ron Francis (A) - Charlie Conacher (A)
Herbie Lewis - Sergei Fedorov - Reggie Leach
Yvon Lambert - Bobby Holik - George Armstrong (C)
Louis Berlinguette - Derek Sanderson - Leo Labine
Pierre Mondou, Paul MacLean

Denis Potvin (A) - Bob Baun
Doug Mohns - Randy Carlyle
Albert Leduc - Ken Morrow
Glen Wesley, Normand Rochefort

Bernie Parent
Percy LeSueur

Coach: Ken Hitchcock

Thoughts: By far my best submission, did a lot more research this time around and took a lot into consideration when selecting. A very strong defensive team that was also offensively sufficient. My first time building around a defenseman, I think I could've waited on a left winger for the first line when I drafted Shutt and instead focused on drafting a stronger #2 defenseman. Potvin is a phenomenal #1, but Bob Baun/Doug Mohns ring in at servicable #3's. I was very pleased with this result, and even more impressed this team was able to go seven games with the powerhouse arrbez had constructed. Could not be disappointed by the outcome whatsoever.

ATD 2013 (32 teams) - Trail Smoke Eaters - Divisional finish: 1st of 5 teams, Post-season result: Conference semi-finals - eliminated in seven games by the Montreal Canadiens. (eventual champions)

Michel Goulet - Wayne Gretzky (C) - Bernie Geoffrion
Paul Kariya (A) - Bobby Smith - Mike Gartner
Marty Pavelich - Phil Goyette - Cecil Dillon
Ab McDonald - Craig MacTavish - Bruce MacGregor
Tumba Johansson, Al MacAdam

Bill Quackenbush - Georges Boucher (A)
Allan Stanley - Glen Harmon
Jack Portland - Dollard St-Laurent
Clem Loughlin

Gump Worsley
Gerry Cheevers

Coach: Pat Quinn
Assistant Coach: Emile Francis

Thoughts: A fast, high-powered offensive squad that focused on more of a run-and-gun approach instead of a defensive system. Gretzky was flanked by two dynamic offensive wingers which might have been one of the more potent first lines in the draft. Bobby Smith was not well-received as a second-line centre, which I'm not sure I completely agreed with either. Bottom-6 had a two-way approach, which fit in with the style the team played with four capable offensive lines. Defense was good, although not great and lacked a true identity. Quackenbush was a lower-end #1, and the rest of the corps were unspectacular albeit a steady corps. Goaltending was certainly the downfall of this team, Worsley needed a better defensive corps to be more of a factor as he was exploited more against teams with similar offensive mentalities. Cheevers, I learned after I selected him that he was really not all that impressive besides his playoff resume. Lost to a well-built team that went on to win, it came down to who had more flaws and it was the Smoke Eaters. Overall solid entry in my opinion.

 

[Sturminator]

I guess I'll do one of these. ATD#8:

Your 2007 Oakland Seals:

GMs: Nalyd Psycho & Sturminator
Coach: Cecil Hart
Assistant Coach: Tom Gorman
Captain: Wayne Gretzky
Alternate Captains: Valeri Vasiliev & Bruce Stuart

#8 Syd Howe - #99 "The Great One" Wayne Gretzky (C) - #9 Andy Bathgate
#90! Paul Kariya - #24 Bernie Federko - #11! Bruce Stuart (A)
#20 Jiri Holik - #10 Edgar Laprade - #18! Frank Finnigan
#4! Tom Phillips - #19! Jack Adams - #15! Cecil Dillon

#6 Valeri Vasiliev (A) - #7 King Clancy
#3! Si Griffis - #22! Red Horner
#14 Mattias Norstrom - #12! Harry Cameron

#2 Jiri Holocek
#1 Normie Smith

This one I co-GMed with Nalyd, and it was more his team than mine. Nalyd was a fantastic mentor and allowed me to participate a lot more in the decision making than I had expected. This team went out in the conference finals to a very strong Nanaimo team, though to be honest, I still think these Seals were maybe the best team in that draft. At that time, however, no one had any respect for Tom Phillips, and our original second line of Kariya - Federko - Dillon was deemed too soft, which it may have been. Moving Stuart up was a last-ditch effort which failed; we'd have been better off moving up Phillips if he'd gotten any respect. We missed on Marty Barry by a single pick much later than he should have gone, and had to settle for Federko as our second line center. Had we snagged Barry, I think it's likely we'd have won that ATD, but it was not to be. The first line was quite unfairly criticized for having too much playmaking and not enough goalscoring, and I still think Gretzky / Bathgate would be a ridiculous combination. At any rate, this one was a great learning experience for me, though it was ultimately mostly Nalyd's team.


ATD#9:

The Springfield Isotopes
GMs: Rick Middleton & Sturminator
Home Ice: Duff Stadium
Coach: Mike Keenan
Captain: Sylvio Mantha
Assistant Captains: Bill Barber, Walt Tkaczuk

#77 Bill Barber (a) - #7 Norm Ullman - #9 Andy Bathgate
#3 Baldy Northcott - #81 Bobby Smith - #8 Teemu Selanne
#4 Hec Kilrea - #18 Walt Tkaczuk (a) - #15 John MacLean
#88 Curt Fraser - #71 Pit Martin - #88 Jim Pappin
#21 Camille Henry - #25 John Ogrodnick

#22 Brad Park - #2 Sylvio Mantha (c)
#33 Zdeno Chara - #1 Hod Stuart
#26 Dave Burrows - #10 Gilles Marotte
#44 Fredrik Olausson

#29 Ken Dryden
#41 Sean Burke

A team that I had largely forgotten. This was my first attempt as the primary builder of a team and I made a couple of mistakes along the way. We reached for Walt Tkaczuk (a homer pick on my part) with the intention of making him our second line center, and backed off of that plan after pointed criticism (mostly from Nalyd's co-GM Fission Fire, who I couldn't stand). Selanne was also fairly well raked over the coals for his postseason record in this draft, though I still think there's nothing wrong with Teemu's playoff record other than that the Ducks were crappy during his prime. Got dinged for taking Chara where we did, as well, which was ridiculous in retrospect, but I guess the image of Chara getting burned by Plekanec was still fresh in everyone's minds. This team finished second in the division, but managed to make it rather surprisingly to the conference finals before eventually succumbing. A fairly forgettable team, all-in-all, and my second draft in the row on the business end of a second line which didn't quite work. I learned an awful lot from this draft, as well - mostly about what not to do in team building.

ATD#10:

Your 2008 San Francisco Spiders
GMs: Transplanted Caper & Sturminator
Coach: Cecil Hart
Captain: Joe Sakic
Assistant Captains: Johnny Bucyk, Nicklas Lidstrom

#9 Johnny Bucyk (a) - #19 Joe Sakic (c) - #11 Aleksandr Maltsev
#10 Frank Foyston - #18 Denis Savard - #12 Ed Litzenberger
#17 Dean Prentice - #20 Don McKenney - #6 Ron Ellis
#7 Bruce Stuart - #15 Jack Adams - #33 Dirk Graham

extra: #8 Fred Stanfield, Vladimir Vikulov #21

#4 Bill Gadsby - #5 Nicklas Lidstrom (a)
#1 Hod Stuart - #2 Cy Wentworth
#26 Phil Russell - #3 Bert Corbeau

extra: #16 Rod Seiling

#31 Grant Fuhr
#13 Dave Kerr

My first championship team. I traded up in the third round to snatch Bill Gadsby from a long line of GMs who were queued up to take him, and everything was downhill from there. Got Frank Foyston way late before the full extent of his postseason greatness was well-known, and stole Don McKenney as the lynchpin of what was an excellent two-way third line. Took some rather heavy criticism right at the start of the draft for taking Nicklas Lidstrom where we did (pick #18, IIRC), but was vindicated in the end. Probably pulled a fast one with Ed Litzenberger as primary puckwinner on the second line, but at any rate I managed to build a scary second line for the first time, and that strength was very important to the team's overall success. Got a gift when seventies decided he didn't need Dirk Graham and traded him to me for a pick that was nearly on the clock a couple of rounds after he'd originally selected Graham. This team narrowly got out of the divisional playoffs, beating and MXD and Wisent team that had Lemieux and Neely on the first line by the slimmest of margins (a single vote, I believe), before cruising into the finals and taking down two-time champ Canadiens in seven games. This may be the most offensively-inclined ATD champ that we've seen yet. No one said so at the time (I guess because Lidstrom was our #1 pick), but this was effectively a run-and-gun team with a strong defensive top pairing.

ATD#11:

Boston Bruins

GMs: Evil Speaker and Sturminator
Coach: Al Arbour

Alex Delvecchio - Frank Nighbor - Bill Cook (C)
John LeClair - Peter Stastny (A) - Vladimir Martinec
J.P. Parise - Don McKenney - Harry Hyland
Ed Sandford - Dick Irvin Sr. - Jim Pappin
Reggie Fleming - Charlie Burns

Doug Harvey - Hap Day (A)
Jim Neilson - Jan Suchý
Graham Drinkwater - Red Dutton
Gilles Marotte

Grant Fuhr
Dave Kerr

The team of which I am most proud, because I think it was my best team and because it made me the only back-to-back ATD winner. Fairly stole Frank Nighbor in the third round somewhere and built a top unit that was a two-way terror. Continuing my infatuation with great second units, this one was pretty frightening, I think, centered around the great Czechoslovak troika of Stastny - Martinec - Suchy. Arguably the best second unit in ATD history relative to the league at the time. Stole Suchy later than he's ever gone since - before many GMs realized the extent of his greatness. Very narrowly beat an excellent Spitfire team in the conference semifinals, but had a relatively easy time of it in the conference and ATD finals. The composition of the forward lines was pretty much my doing, but Evil Speaker's input was very helpful in putting together the defense. He was probably the most knowledgeable GM in the draft when it came to defensemen, and with my predilection for sharp, attacking forward lines, we made a pretty good team. Don McKenney and the Fuhr/Kerr tandem became an interesting footnote in the ATD - becoming the only players to win the Milt Dunnell Cup back-to-back while skating for the same franchise (insofar as the teams were mine, which they mostly were).

ATD#12:

PORTLAND ROSEBUDS

GMs: Nalyd Psycho & Sturminator
Coach: Lester Patrick

Sid Abel (C) - Phil Esposito - Mickey MacKay
Paul Thompson - Bernie Federko - Odie Cleghorn
Bruce Stuart (A) - Bobby Smith - Jim Pappin
Camille Henry - Red Sullivan - Pud Glass
Charlie Burns - Dennis Hextall

J.C. Tremblay - Art Coulter (A)
Leo Boivin - Jim Neilson
Carol Vadnais - Yuri Liapkin
Phil Russell

Ken Dryden
Nikolai Khabibulin

My last entry before this one. Nalyd and I teamed up once again, this time with lesser results. Lost in the second round to the eventual champion Devils. I was debating whether or not I wanted to participate in this ATD, at all, but thought it would be rather cheap to retire the champ. My heart wasn't fully in this one and Nalyd and I didn't see eye-to-eye on every pick (I remember specifically not wanting Abel where we took him), though I think the final product was still quite good and would have gone farther if not for meeting the eventual champ in the second round. We took the risk of starting the blueline with a weak #1 (which was unthinkable at the time - I had always built my teams from the defense out), and paid for it. Still, a strong team, which I honestly thought would be my last.

 

[Stoneberg]

Halifax Mooseheads

ATD #12
Coach: Glen Sather
Assistant coach: Eddie Gerard

Bill Barber-Gilbert Perreault-Punch Broadbent
Wendel Clark-Joe Nieuwendyk(A)-Pat Verbeek
J.P. Parise-Steve Kasper-Dirk Graham (A)
Gerrard Gallant-Bernie Nicholls-Jamie Langenbrunner

Bill Gadsby(C)-Babe Pratt
Tom Johnson(A)-Dallas Smith
Paul Reinhart-Andre Dupont

Patrick Roy
John Vanbiesbrouck

First ever ATD was certainly a disaster. Started with Roy and Gadsby and really failed to build around them properly. The second line was a disaster taking childhood favorites Clark, Nieuwendyk, and Verbeek too early. Add to that a below average first line, checking line and mediocre 4th line and you end up with a poor group up front in a 32 team draft. I think I actually did alright on the defense, although there was certainly some better options available at most of my picks. Sather didn't really fit the team all that well either.

Result was last place in my division and being ousted by EB's championship team easily in round 1.

ATD 2010
Halifax Mooseheads

coach Jacques Demers

Sweeney Schriner - Frank Boucher - Rick Middleton
Rick Martin - Henri Richard (C) - Hooley Smith (A)
Ryan Walter - Dave Poulin - Mike Foligno
Yvon Lambert - Red Sullivan - Terry O'Reilly
Rejean Houle, Bronco Horvath

Fern Flaman (A) - Bobby Orr
Vladimir Konstantinov - Gus Mortson
Jiri Bubla - Dave Langevin
Weldy Young

Tony Esposito
Vladimir Dzurilla

Was lucky enough to end up with the first overall pick in ATD 2010 and grabbed Bobby. Followed that up getting pretty good value on my 1-2 center punch down the middle at the end of the second round. My second line (and primary checking line) was arguably better than my first but both were strong two way lines, although I had to give up my best third liner in Bob Bourne in a deal to get Martin to try and plug the lack of goalscoring hole. This made my checking line (beyond pk duty) fairly useless. A big factor in this draft was the excellent value I picked up Tony O at. Took Flaman early but he was the perfect partner for Orr. Made another trade for Konstantinov to form a rough shut down pair with Mortson. Mediocre bottom pairing, would have been better had I done more work on Bubla and my spare Weldy Young at the time.

Result was much better the second time around, with a 1st place finish in my division and a trip to the conference finals. I still think had I been able to argue more at the time I could have beaten HHH's trapping team, but he presented great arguments and convinced our fellow GMs Roy and a trapping team with Bure on the top line could handle Orr and my 1-2 punch down the middle...which I still don't buy and wish I had time to rebut. I would have been beaten by TDMM in the finals regardless so I didn't lose much sleep over it.

ATD 2011: 1st in division again, playoff results TBD.

 

[seventieslord]

Sturm, you did get a gift when I decided I didn't need Graham. I don't regret it though - the guy I ended up taking for that 4th line role was Martin St. Louis. I like Graham as a purely defensive RW for a 3rd line better than almost anyone. But I liked St. Louis better as an "energy" type guy on a 4th line with some real scoring potential. We both did really well there.

 

[BillyShoe1721]

2010ATD, 30 team draft:

-7th in René Lecavalier division voting
-Lost in 1st round to eventual champions New Jersey Swamp Devils

Malmo Redhawks
Head Coach: Arkady Chernyshev

Luc Robitaille-Norm Ullman-Guy Lafleur
Vsevolod Bobrov-Pat LaFontaine-Rick Tocchet
Red Berenson-Vladimir Shadrin-Don Marcotte
Wendel Clark-Brent Sutter-Kevin Dineen
Tomas Sandstrom, Alexei Guryshev

Valery Vasiliev-Tom Johnson
Babe Pratt-Barclay Plager
Reijo Ruotsalainen-Bob Turner
Kimmo Timonen

Ken Dryden
Chris Osgood

Comments:

-This team had some definite holes. 1st line doesn't really fully utilize Lafleur's abilities. 2nd line is terrible defensively.
-My bottom 6 actually was pretty solid, but that's because I botched previous picks and then stuck them in my bottom 6.
-Defense's top 4 looks solid, bottom pairing a little shaky.
-Overall, chemistry issues really doomed this team. But for a first entry, I don't think it was that bad.

2011ATD, 40 team draft:

-2nd in Regular Season Division Voting
-Jim Robson Division Champions(defeated Cleveland Barons and Kimberley Dynamiters)
-Lost in Conference Semifinals to McGuire's Monsters

Philadelphia Firebirds

Coach: Viktor Tikhonov
Assistant Coach: Father David Bauer
Captain: Jean Beliveau
Assistant Captain: Rod Langway
Assistant Captain: Brian Sutter

Dick Duff-Jean Beliveau(C)-Jari Kurri
Fred "Smokey" Harris-Frank McGee-Ken Hodge
Brian Sutter(A)-Pit Lepine-Johnny Peirson
Don Maloney-Bill Thoms-Goldie Prodgers
Herb Jordan, Murray Balfour

Rod Langway(A)-Eduard Ivanov
Harry Howell-Sergei Gonchar
Frantisek Tikal-George Owen
Jay Bouwmeester

Jiri Holecek
Charlie Hodge

Comments:

-A significantly better entry here. I think I built a solid team top to bottom with no real big holes.
-Dynamite top line and built a solid 2nd line around a difficult guy to build around. I also really like the versatility of my bottom 6.
-Defense was OK, but nothing great. I'm shocked that people let me get away with Sergei Gonchar in my top 4 without giving me hell for it.
-I'm now a big fan of Jiri Holecek.
-Overall, I think my draft could have been significantly better and I think I'd have gone even further if I would've changed two picks, McGee and Gonchar. I was enamored by all of the fantastic quotes about Frank but failed to look at his stats and lack of longevity until after I'd drafted him. If I would have picked Duke Keats instead, I think it could have gone a long way. Although Sergei served me well as a PPQB and offensive defenseman, I wasn't aware of his awful reputation when I picked him, hence the "decent in his own end" comment I got assaulted for. Kind of wish I would've picked Babe Pratt instead. If I could have had Pratt and put him on my top pairing with Langway and picked Ivanov and played him with Howell, I'd have been very confident in my top 4.

 

[MadArcand]

Interesting that you'd want to change the McGee pick, to me the Beliveau-McGee axis down the middle was the major reason for making your team good.

 

[BillyShoe1721]

Interesting that you'd want to change the McGee pick, to me the Beliveau-McGee axis down the middle was the major reason for making your team good.

I'm still a fan of his, and I like him as a player, but he had such a short career(although it was quite dominant). He was a phenomenal player. Maybe it's just me, but I like having a statistical backing of all my picks(along with anecdotes), and in terms of stats he didn't stack up well to most 2nd line centers.

 

[Velociraptor]

I'm still a fan of his, and I like him as a player, but he had such a short career(although it was quite dominant). He was a phenomenal player. Maybe it's just me, but I like having a statistical backing of all my picks(along with anecdotes), and in terms of stats he didn't stack up well to most 2nd line centers.

I thought McGee consolidated your line-up tremendously, and I liked his placing there more than I would've liked Keats. It was hard for me to come up with an argument to stop your top two lines which arguably had great centers.

 

[overpass]

Looking back on my teams, since I'm not going to be in the upcoming ATD.

ATD12 - Renfrew Millionaires
32 team draft. 6th of 8 teams in Lecavalier Division voting, lost to the eventual champions (EagleBelfour's team) in the division finals.

(Like every team that loses to the eventual champ, I like to think I would have won it all if not for them.)

Coach: Billy Reay

Valeri Kharlamov - Sergei Fedorov - Rod Gilbert
Patrick Elias - Sidney Crosby - Ziggy Palffy
Bob Bourne - Keith Primeau - George Armstrong
Simon Gagne - Vladimir Shadrin - Owen Nolan
Alf Skinner, Bruce MacGregor

Mark Howe - Alexei Kasatonov
Si Griffis - Pat Egan
Mike Ramsey - Teppo Numminen
Fredrik Olausson

Dominik Hasek
Jean-Sebastien Giguere

The Plan
When I saw I was drafting #20, I knew I wanted Dominik Hasek if I could get him. I viewed him as a possible game-changer in a way that few other players in history have been.

Once Hasek was in the fold, I wanted a skilled, puck-possession team that could match the other team shot for shot, and count on Hasek to win the goaltending battle.

What went right?

• The first few rounds went almost perfectly according to plan. High-scoring winger - check. Mark Howe - check. Two-way centre - check. (Bonus points for getting a steal in Fedorov who was a perfect fit with Kharlamov.) Big, physical, skilled partner for Howe - check.
• I was happy with most of my picks from that point on, and I think I succeeded with my plan. I had a strong identity with my first and third lines in particular, and tons of skill and two-way ability up and down my lineup. I had an embarrassment of riches when it came to guys who could play on the penalty kill, both at forward and defence.
• I really liked my defence corps. They could move the puck effectively (Mark Howe could do it at an elite level) and also had the size and physicality to defend and give Hasek space to see the shooter.

What could I have done better?

• Physicality/puckwinning in the top six. I knew all along I should get a winger for that, and was considering playing Armstrong in the top six for that reason, but ended up picking Palffy in the 18th and putting Armstrong on the third line.
• My power play wasn't very well-designed. I had the perimeter skill, but no net presence and no elite defencemen at the point. (Howe was much better at ES than on the PP.) I was aware it could be an issue but didn't make it enough of a priority.
• I didn't make coaching a priority. I figured there were a lot of good coaches out there and it wouldn't make that much difference. While Reay wasn't a bad fit, in hindsight, I should have drafted a coach earlier.
• I didn't really look at leadership in the first few rounds either. Then, in Round 8, I realized that I didn't have anyone who was captain material, and had at least a couple of guys who had had issues with teammates in the past. The selection of Cup-winning captains Griffis and Armstrong in Rounds 8 and 9 shored up my leadership corps, but ideally you'd have some more leadership from your star players.
• I should have drafted a better backup than Giguere, since there's always a chance Hasek flakes on the team.

ATD 2011 - Ottawa Senators
40 team draft. Lost in the finals to the champions, seventieslord's Regina Pats.

Coach: Dick Irvin

Doug Bentley - Henrik Zetterberg - Jaromir Jagr
Johnny Gottselig - Mike Modano - Claude Provost
Rick Nash - Dan Bain - Paul Henderson
Camille Henry - Bill Hay - Jim Peplinski
Art Gagne, Martin Straka

Eddie Gerard - Chris Pronger
Gary Bergman - Joe Simpson
Alexei Gusarov - Kjell Samuelsson
Pekka Rautakallio, Adrian Aucoin

Curtis Joseph
Vladimir Dzurilla

The Plan

• I knew I didn't want to draft a goalie in the first round again. I didn't think I'd get the value at defence I wanted at #30, so I was pretty locked into going with a forward.
• I was considering a few guys at #30. A couple of them went right before my pick, and I ended up taking Jagr in a close pick over Nighbor. (Obviously that made a huge difference to the direction my team would take.)
• From that point on, I knew I had to build the rest of my top 6 around Jagr. I also wanted a top defence pairing and a top coach. And I figured I could wait for value on a goaltender.

What went right?

• I think my top 6 worked out really well. I was thinking of Doug Bentley all along as a possible linemate for Jagr. I knew I could wait for value on Jagr's centre, and I wanted someone with a two-way game and a proven ability as a playoff beast who could match up with anyone. I was thinking Phil Watson for a bit, ended up going with Zetterberg.
• Since Jagr's line would focus on offence, I knew I wanted my second line to be able to match up against top lines. I based Modano/Provost was based on Richard/Provost and Modano/Lehtinen. This line was an idea I had before the draft, and it worked out.
• I think my top defensive pairing was outstanding. Eddie Gerard in the fourth round was a huge pick for me. An obvious choice as captain and a great player. And among the best possible picks for Pronger, in making sure we got "Good Pronger" and not "Bad Pronger."

What could I have done better?

• I think Dick Irvin was a great coach, and I was happy to have him. But I really wanted Toe Blake. IMO he's one of the few coaches who could have handled the Jagr line and the Modano line correctly. (Irvin may not be able to provide the defensive structure that Modano needs.)
• Although I was very happy with my first pairing of Pronger-Gerard, I probably should have taken King Clancy or Sprague Cleghorn instead of Pronger. Either one would have fit well with Gerard. But I like big defencemen, and Cleghorn's crazy made me nervous.
• I drafted three LW in the first 11 rounds, and they weighed less than 150 pounds on average. Even after drafting Rick Nash, I would have been in tough against Gordie Howe or another top RW power forward.
• I like the pieces and the value on my third line, but I really should have had a playmaker for Rick Nash.
• I should have done better on my bottom pairing. I was planning all along to wait and get a couple of defense-first guys to play a defensive role, but may have waited too long. Really I should have pulled the trigger on Jamie Macoun before BraveCanadian stole him - IMO he was a steal where he went. My starting six D ended up with a bit of a durability issue, although I don't think anyone called me on it.

 

[BraveCanadian]

ATD 2011

Guelph Platers
1986 Memorial Cup Champions

Home Rink: Guelph Memorial Gardens (1948)
GM: BraveCanadian
Coach: Al Arbour
Captain: Dave Poulin
Alternates: Clark Gillies, Bryan Trottier
Player Development Consultant: Gary Roberts

Clark Gillies - Bryan Trottier - Rick Middleton
John Ogrodnick - Rick MacLeish - Rene Robert
Mike McPhee - Dave Poulin - Yuri Lebedev
Martin Gelinas - Jason Arnott - Rick Vaive

Mike Ramsey - Guy Lapointe
Steve Smith - Eric Desjardins
Jamie Macoun - Reijo Ruotsalainen

Walter "Turk" Broda
Felix "the Cat" Potvin

Reserves
Craig Simpson - Sylvain Lefebvre - Dmitri Khristich

Powerplay:
PP1: Rick Middleton - Bryan Trottier - Rick Vaive - Guy Lapointe - Eric Desjardins
PP2: John Ogrodnick - Rick MacLeish - Rene Robert - Steve Smith - Reijo Ruotsalainen

Penalty Kill:
PK1: Dave Poulin - Rick MacLeish - Mike Ramsey - Guy Lapointe
PK2: Bryan Trottier - Rick Middleton - Steve Smith - Eric Desjardins

Spare PK Jamie Macoun if any of the top stringers are logging too many minutes in the game
​

This was my first entry into the ATD.

I was in a very tight division with some strong entries but we ended up the second seed.

In the playoffs we managed to win our division by eliminating the 3rd seed Jokerit Helsinki in 6 games and the 5th seed Cincinnati Fireworks in 7 games.

In the semis we lost to TDMM's New Jersey Swamp Devils in 5.


How the team came about

I was originally considering going with Roy and building from the net out because that is a common team constructing method and at the time I didn't realize how undervalued goaltenders are in the ATD.

When Roy was taken, I bumped Trottier up a couple of picks from the previous draft because 1) I am a big fan of his and, 2) for the reason that a complete player like Trottier lets you build however you like from then on.. so basically I punted to the next pick to decide how I was going to go.

The second pick I chose Guy Lapointe, again for his all around ability and elite special teams skill. There was a horrendous run on defensemen and I didn't want to get left out in the cold completely.

The third pick I returned to my original plan somewhat by picking a big time money goalie in Turk Broda.

I then pretty much proceeded with the idea I was going to get Al Arbour and that with a good all around C and D as well as a great goalie, I would focus more on players who were not afraid to get their nose dirty and who would pay the price in the playoffs.

Unfortunately I made a couple of mistakes that cost me offensive ability on my wings. I needed a bigger gun for Trottier instead of a two-way Middleton (or give up physicality for a better offensive threat than Gillies), and had a lack of a standout playmaker on line 2 and I think that was my undoing. Robert was a good playmaker and puckwinner but we just didn't have enough offense overall in our lineup.


The Good

I think our team must have been hell to play against. We are loaded with gritty/two-way/defensive players and backstopped by a great goalie. We tried to go power on power because there were very few first lines that matched up against our first line physically or defensively.

Trottier. He is a horse in this format because of his elite all around ability. He carried our team by playing awesome in all situations.

Desjardins was a good pick where I got him. I think that his awards etc. somewhat undervalue his solid steady play and all around ability.

Macoun was a great pick where I got him and he was an awesome fit with Ruotsalainen. They are like two parts of a whole.

Al Arbour - he's just plain awesome. Ditto Dave Poulin.

I think our powerplay was pretty good but as I think TDMM pointed out, lacking that big gun that would have made Trottier even more effective, and our penalty killing was great - maybe the best in the whole draft.


The Bad

Clark Gillies - I knew I was paying a premium getting him to play with Trottier but I really should have waited longer because although Gillies - Trottier makes a fearsome physical first line, once I added Middleton I ended up with a line that was amazing physically and defensively and only good overall offensively. If Trottier had a little more help in that department I think we could have gone farther. Middleton is a little underrated here, I think, but Gillies just didn't bring enough offense along with his physicality and defense.

Yuri Lebedev - I didn't have enough time to flesh out properly as an offensive player and I think that cost me because people weren't convinced he fit on that grinding third line I was constructing.

I needed them to add a little more than they did because Poulin was actually a fairly talented offensive player and he needed more help than McPhee.


The Ugly

People killed me for the lack of a pure playmaker on my second line, and I think in my zest to add notable playoff performers who were defensive and gritty guys for my Al Arbour team I did shortchange my offense overall.

Gary Roberts was a joke pick and while I don't think it cost me anything, it may have.

I was a bit too hesitant about what I was going to do, and drafted in a reactionary manner when the run on defensemen started. All in all I am pretty happy with the team I constructed the first time out but in the current ATD2012 I trying to shake things up a little and construct a different kind of team to avoid paying premiums on players.


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

ATD 2012

Coaches: Pat Quinn, John Muckler
Captain: Joe Sakic
Alternates: Art Coulter, Si Griffis

Johnny Bucyk - Joe Sakic -Brett Hull
Jack Adams - Marty Barry - Bill Mosienko
Jere Lehtinen - Brad Richards - Marian Gaborik
John Madden - Mel Bridgman - Bobby Gould

Paul Coffey - Art Coulter
Gennady Tsygankov - Si Griffis
Bill Hajt - Hobey Baker

Grant Fuhr
Chris Osgood

Reserves
Adrian Aucoin - Bob Probert - Michal Handzus

Powerplay:
PP1: Johnny Bucyk - Joe Sakic - Brett Hull - Paul Coffey - Si Griffis
PP2: Jack Adams - Marty Barry - Bill Mosienko - Paul Coffey - Brad Richards

Penalty Kill:
PK1: Jere Lehtinen- John Madden - Bill Hajt - Art Coulter
PK2: Bobby Gould - Mel Bridgman - Gennady Tsygankov - Si Griffis

​

I was picking 32nd in the 32 team draft and while Sakic was an easy choice as a top two-way player to build around, I then had narrowed my choice down to Park or Coffey as my #1 defenseman.

Considering the run on defensemen every draft I really wanted one since I had to wait so long between picks.

I decided to go with Coffey so that I wouldn't get stuck in the usual team build. I built what I thought was a very specialized and cohesive team around him with tons of skating and offensive ability backed up by what I would call strong special teams, a decent defense, and one of history's ideal goaltenders for that type of team.

Very disappointed I didn't get far.. I was much happier with this team than 2011.

 

[BM67]

ATD11 was my debut and I was very happy with it, though it finished lowly ranked and was bounced in the first round:

This looks really strange with the name VanIslander attached to it.

 

[Sturminator]

Slow day at work, so here is my all-time team, ordered by the number of times I have owned certain players, and then by their significance to my success (blue players I have owned twice - red three times):

Frank Foyston - Frank Nighbor - Andy Bathgate
John Leclair - Bernie Federko - Alexander Maltsev
Dean Prentice - Don McKenney - Ron Ellis
Bruce Stuart - Jack Adams - Jim Pappin

Bill Gadsby - Nicklas Lidstrom
Hod Stuart - Jan Suchy
Dave Burrows - Red Dutton

Grant Fuhr
Dave Kerr​

Amazingly, Jim Pappin is my most oft-drafted player. I had forgotten, myself, how many times I have owned Pappin.

 

[seventieslord]

Slow day at work, so here is my all-time team, ordered by the number of times I have owned certain players, and then by their significance to my success (blue players I have owned twice - red three times):

Frank Foyston - Frank Nighbor - Andy Bathgate
John Leclair - Bernie Federko - Alexander Maltsev
Dean Prentice - Don McKenney - Ron Ellis
Bruce Stuart - Jack Adams - Jim Pappin

Bill Gadsby - Nicklas Lidstrom
Hod Stuart - Jan Suchy
Dave Burrows - Red Dutton

Grant Fuhr
Dave Kerr​

Amazingly, Jim Pappin is my most oft-drafted player. I had forgotten, myself, how many times I have owned Pappin.

I've had Wade Redden four times, but three of them were in the MLD. I think he is my only four-time selection. But with the MLDs and AAAs considered I could probably almost fill a team with my three-time selections.

 

[Sturminator]

When I look back at my old teams, I think the scoringlines from ATD#11 were my opus as a GM.

Delvecchio - Nighbor - Cook
Leclair - Stastny - Martinec

...was such a stupid top 6.

 

[seventieslord]

When I look back at my old teams, I think the scoringlines from ATD#11 were my opus as a GM.

Delvecchio - Nighbor - Cook
Leclair - Stastny - Martinec

...was such a stupid top 6.

Why? Nighbor is the only one who stands out as average in his role. LeClair is not too far above. The others are all excellent.

maybe the 2nd line lacks a defensive presence and maybe LeClair should be the 2nd strongest physical player on a line ideally, but it's loaded with offensive skill, too.

 

[Sturminator]

Why? Nighbor is the only one who stands out as average in his role. LeClair is not too far above. The others are all excellent.

maybe the 2nd line lacks a defensive presence and maybe LeClair should be the 2nd strongest physical player on a line ideally, but it's loaded with offensive skill, too.

I meant it stupid in a good way. Between Leclair and Stastny, there was more than enough puckwinning on the second line, and although it wasn't much defensively, it could win the puck, and was offensively terrifying for most 2nd pairings in the league, especially backed by Jan Suchy. My second unit that draft was one of the few examples in the "defense wins championships" ATD where a unit was so strong offensively relative to the competition that no one even thought to question their defensive performance. I was also proud of the Czech troika of Stastny - Martinec - Suchy on that second unit, and I think a couple GMs gave me extra credit for that.

And Frank Nighbor is way better than the 14th-15th best center of all time. Honestly, after Stan Mikita, I think Nighbor immediately enters the discussion for best center. Anyway, I have always been rather inclined towards forwards (my drafting of defensemen is really rather uninspired. I think Suchy is the only defensemen I ever really researched much), and that ATD#11 team was my best work as far as forward lines are concerned, though Prentice - McKenney - Ellis was my best 3rd line. 4th lines I have never given much of a **** about.

 

[seventieslord]

I meant it stupid in a good way. Between Leclair and Stastny, there was more than enough puckwinning on the second line, and although it wasn't much defensively, it could win the puck, and was offensively terrifying for most 2nd pairings in the league, especially backed by Jan Suchy. My second unit that draft was one of the few examples in the "defense wins championships" ATD where a unit was so strong offensively relative to the competition that no one even thought to question their defensive performance. I was also proud of the Czech troika of Stastny - Martinec - Suchy on that second unit, and I think a couple GMs gave me extra credit for that.

And Frank Nighbor is way better than the 14th-15th best center of all time. Honestly, after Stan Mikita, I think Nighbor immediately enters the discussion for best center. Anyway, I have always been rather inclined towards forwards (my drafting of defensemen is really rather uninspired. I think Suchy is the only defensemen I ever really researched much), and that ATD#11 team was my best work as far as forward lines are concerned, though Prentice - McKenney - Ellis was my best 3rd line. 4th lines I have never given much of a **** about.

oh, Stupid in a good way. that makes sense, then. That's also a stupid 3rd line then, while we're at it.

Assuming we call Cyclone Taylor a center, I think Nighbor's 11th at best, and I'm probably one of his top-3 fans. That's in the average "range", anyways.