2019 OPPF Divisional Final series: Parry Sound Shamrocks vs. Chicago Cougars
- Thread starter VanIslander
- Start date
VanIslander
A 19-year ATDer on HfBoards
Parry Sound
PP1: Firsov - Lalonde - Selanne - Moose - Blake
PP2: Abel - Gilmour - Bathgate - Clapper - Burns
PK1: Nighbor - Gilmour - Moose - Stevens - Hasek
PK2: Toews - Tikkanen - McCrimmon - Clapper - Hasek
vs.
Cougars
PP1: Schriner - Lindros - Jagr - Sakic - Gadsby
PP2: Bucyk - H. Richard - Mikhailov - Seibert - Cleghorn
PK1: Tonelli - Peca - Pospisil - Seibert - Sawchuk
PK2: H. Richard - Broadbent - Cleghorn - Pietrangelo - Sawchuk
PP1: Firsov - Lalonde - Selanne - Moose - Blake
PP2: Abel - Gilmour - Bathgate - Clapper - Burns
PK1: Nighbor - Gilmour - Moose - Stevens - Hasek
PK2: Toews - Tikkanen - McCrimmon - Clapper - Hasek
vs.
Cougars
PP1: Schriner - Lindros - Jagr - Sakic - Gadsby
PP2: Bucyk - H. Richard - Mikhailov - Seibert - Cleghorn
PK1: Tonelli - Peca - Pospisil - Seibert - Sawchuk
PK2: H. Richard - Broadbent - Cleghorn - Pietrangelo - Sawchuk
Hawkey Town 18
Registered User
I've been extremely busy the last week, so I won't have time for an in depth line by line or pair by pair comparisons, but here are some of my thoughts on the series...
1. Dominik Hasek is an elite goaltender, who is very difficult to beat when he's seeing shots. However, Chicago is well equipped to beat Hasek as Chicago has several forwards who have both the size, toughness, and hands to screen Hasek, create deflections, and put away rebounds:
- Johnny Bucyk, a beast in the corners and in front of the net, quote from bio: "Chief will never hurt anybody with shot. But in their close to the net, chief is deadly. During the 1971 season he had the most accurate shot, percentage-wise of shots taken in goals scored, in the entire NHL. On the power play he's always in there waiting for the right moment around the net"
- Boris Mikhailov bio quote: "Mikhailov, who symbolized the evil empire for a lot of Canadians with his style of play, was atypical of the Russian players in his desire to set himself in front of the net, take the hits, get the garbage goals."
- Eric Lindros, I believe we're all familiar with this modern player, say what you want about him getting caught in open ice, but in front of the net and in the corners he was an absolute beast
I'm not going to do a list or anything, but IMO those are 3 of the best net front guys in the draft, especially when you're not just talking about hands in close, but also being immovable/tough for screening purposes. Currently Lindros is on the 1st PP unit and both Bucyk and Mikhailov on the 2nd, but Day will have the option to move one of those guys to the top unit if necessary to get even more traffic in front of Hasek, which would result in Schriner moving to the second unit.
2. While Parry Sound doesn't have the net front type of guys up and down the lineup like Chicago does, they do have one of the best net front guys in the draft in Newsy Lalonde, who is likely Parry Sound's best offensive player. Shutting down Lalonde is another big part of being able to defeat Parry Sound, and fortunately, Chicago has size and strength throughout its blueline. Earl Seibert, in particular is one of the biggest/strongest Dmen in the draft fully capable of handling the large Lalonde. Seibert will not be intimated by Lalonde's nastiness either, I'm sure by now everyone has seen the quote stating that Seibert was the only player in the NHL that Eddie Shore was afraid to fight. Chicago's top pair with Seibert will mostly be matched up against the Lalonde line.
3. Frank Nighbor is a player with the ability to have a large defensive impact on a series, however, Chicago's scoring lines are set up to mitigate that impact. As a center, Nighbor is most effective in shutting down other centers, but the best offensive player on Chicago's top 2 lines is a winger (Jagr + Schriner). Further, while I do think Nighbor will be effective defensively when on the ice against Henri Richard, I believe Richards's own incredible speed and defensive acumen will really lessen Nighbor's offensive impact. If those two cancel each other out, it's a win for Chicago.
4. Parry Sound's biggest weakness is their blueline. It seems fairly clear to me that Chicago has the advantage on every pair. Also, outside of Brent Burns on a bottom pairing, I don't see any very strong even strength puckmovers on Parry Sound's blueline (and Burns has plenty of defensive weaknesses without the puck, which can be exposed). Chicago is a team loaded with strong forecheckers (Bucyk, Mikhailov, Lindros, Punch Broadbent, and the entire 4th line). Considering the above, and the fact that Hasek is a fairly weak puck-handler, I believe Chicago will have success in pinning Parry Sound in their own end.
5. Because of their real-life history, I feel I should touch on Stevens vs. Lindros. Lindros is a 3rd line center, Stevens is on Parry Sound's top line, so I doubt they'll be on the ice together much. If Parry Sound wants to put their top pair against my 3rd line, I'll happily accept that for the mismatch my top line will receive. As for the PP, Lindros isn't going to be playing the role of puck carrier where he'd be susceptible to one of those infamous/famous open ice hits, his job will be to go retrieve the puck from the corners when necessary and primarily be a net-front presence.
That's all for now. If I have time I may post more later.
1. Dominik Hasek is an elite goaltender, who is very difficult to beat when he's seeing shots. However, Chicago is well equipped to beat Hasek as Chicago has several forwards who have both the size, toughness, and hands to screen Hasek, create deflections, and put away rebounds:
- Johnny Bucyk, a beast in the corners and in front of the net, quote from bio: "Chief will never hurt anybody with shot. But in their close to the net, chief is deadly. During the 1971 season he had the most accurate shot, percentage-wise of shots taken in goals scored, in the entire NHL. On the power play he's always in there waiting for the right moment around the net"
- Boris Mikhailov bio quote: "Mikhailov, who symbolized the evil empire for a lot of Canadians with his style of play, was atypical of the Russian players in his desire to set himself in front of the net, take the hits, get the garbage goals."
- Eric Lindros, I believe we're all familiar with this modern player, say what you want about him getting caught in open ice, but in front of the net and in the corners he was an absolute beast
I'm not going to do a list or anything, but IMO those are 3 of the best net front guys in the draft, especially when you're not just talking about hands in close, but also being immovable/tough for screening purposes. Currently Lindros is on the 1st PP unit and both Bucyk and Mikhailov on the 2nd, but Day will have the option to move one of those guys to the top unit if necessary to get even more traffic in front of Hasek, which would result in Schriner moving to the second unit.
2. While Parry Sound doesn't have the net front type of guys up and down the lineup like Chicago does, they do have one of the best net front guys in the draft in Newsy Lalonde, who is likely Parry Sound's best offensive player. Shutting down Lalonde is another big part of being able to defeat Parry Sound, and fortunately, Chicago has size and strength throughout its blueline. Earl Seibert, in particular is one of the biggest/strongest Dmen in the draft fully capable of handling the large Lalonde. Seibert will not be intimated by Lalonde's nastiness either, I'm sure by now everyone has seen the quote stating that Seibert was the only player in the NHL that Eddie Shore was afraid to fight. Chicago's top pair with Seibert will mostly be matched up against the Lalonde line.
3. Frank Nighbor is a player with the ability to have a large defensive impact on a series, however, Chicago's scoring lines are set up to mitigate that impact. As a center, Nighbor is most effective in shutting down other centers, but the best offensive player on Chicago's top 2 lines is a winger (Jagr + Schriner). Further, while I do think Nighbor will be effective defensively when on the ice against Henri Richard, I believe Richards's own incredible speed and defensive acumen will really lessen Nighbor's offensive impact. If those two cancel each other out, it's a win for Chicago.
4. Parry Sound's biggest weakness is their blueline. It seems fairly clear to me that Chicago has the advantage on every pair. Also, outside of Brent Burns on a bottom pairing, I don't see any very strong even strength puckmovers on Parry Sound's blueline (and Burns has plenty of defensive weaknesses without the puck, which can be exposed). Chicago is a team loaded with strong forecheckers (Bucyk, Mikhailov, Lindros, Punch Broadbent, and the entire 4th line). Considering the above, and the fact that Hasek is a fairly weak puck-handler, I believe Chicago will have success in pinning Parry Sound in their own end.
5. Because of their real-life history, I feel I should touch on Stevens vs. Lindros. Lindros is a 3rd line center, Stevens is on Parry Sound's top line, so I doubt they'll be on the ice together much. If Parry Sound wants to put their top pair against my 3rd line, I'll happily accept that for the mismatch my top line will receive. As for the PP, Lindros isn't going to be playing the role of puck carrier where he'd be susceptible to one of those infamous/famous open ice hits, his job will be to go retrieve the puck from the corners when necessary and primarily be a net-front presence.
That's all for now. If I have time I may post more later.
ChiTownPhilly
Not Too Soft
When I saw this match-up, I thought "shame someone has to lose this one." I don't think there's really a 'wrong' answer here.
If I can give one plaudit to the winner- I was really impressed with the Regular Season Estimated Time-on-Ice chart constructed by @Hawkey Town 18 ... which was a very intellectually honest contribution.
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