ATD 2021 - Foster Hewitt Division First Round (4) Verafin Huskies v. (5) Philadelphia Phantoms

The Macho King

Back* to Back** World Champion
Jun 22, 2011
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VERAFIN HUSKIES

Coach: Ken Hitchcock
Captain: Eddie Gerard
Alternate: Chris Chelios
Alternate: Lester Patrick

Brendan Shanahan - Evgeni Malkin - Rick Middleton
Frank Foyston - Ryan Getzlaf - Babe Dye
Johnny Gottselig - Rod Brind'amour - Joe Pavelski
Clark Gillies - Gregg Sheppard - Blair Russell

Lester Patrick - Chris Chelios
Georges Boucher - Eddie Gerard
Ted Harris - Kris Letang

Dominik Hasek
Mike Liut

Konstantin Loktev, Hamby Shore, Jason Spezza

Brendan Shanahan
Babe Dye - Rick Middleton - Evgeni Malkin
Georges Boucher

Joe Pavelski
Ryan Getzlaf - Frank Foyston - Lester Patrick
Chris Chelios

Rod Brind'amour - Johnny Gottselig
Eddie Gerard - Chris Chelios

Gregg Sheppard - Blair Russell
Ted Harris - Georges Boucher


VERSUS

PHILADELPHIA PHANTOMS

Coach: Tommy Gorman
Captain: Denis Potvin
Alternates: Henrik Zetterberg, Patrice Bergeron

Cy Denneny - Frank Nighbor -Hooley Smith
Henrik Zetterberg -Milan Novy - Vaclav Nedomansky
John Madden -Patrice Bergeron - Claude Lemieux
Daniel Sedin - Henrik Sedin -Odie Cleghorn

Denis Potvin -Shea Weber
Alex Ragulin - Jan Suchy
Mark Giordano-Terry Harper

Bernie Parent
Vladimir Dzurilla

Extras:
Vsevolod Bobrov
Jack Darragh
Yury Lyapkin

PK-1: Madden-Bergeron-Giordano-Weber
PK1a: Nighbor-H. Smith-Potvin-Harper
Spare PKers: Zetterberg, Suchý, Ragulin

PP1: Denneny (Net Front)- Nighbor (Facilitator/Office Manager)- H. Smith (Half-Wall)
Suchý (QB)- Potvin (Trigger)

PP2: C. Lemieux (L Net-Front to Corners)- H. Sedin (Top of Circle to Slot)- D. Sedin (R Net-Front to Top of Circle) >> Weber (L Point)- Nový (R Point)
Spare PPers: Zetterberg, Nedomanský, O. Cleghorn, Giordano
 
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ChiTownPhilly

Not Too Soft
Feb 23, 2010
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Philadelphia Phantoms Special Teams didn't transfer, as Rosters above were imported from the Roster Thread. The Roster Post was started by someone else- therefore I had no editing control over that post. At any rate, for the sake of completeness...

PK-1: Madden-Bergeron-Giordano-Weber
PK1a: Nighbor-H. Smith-Potvin-Harper
Spare PKers: Zetterberg, Suchý, Ragulin

PP1: Denneny (Net Front)- Nighbor (Facilitator/Office Manager)- H. Smith (Half-Wall)
Suchý (QB)- Potvin (Trigger)

PP2: C. Lemieux (L Net-Front to Corners)- H. Sedin (Top of Circle to Slot)- D. Sedin (R Net-Front to Top of Circle) >> Weber (L Point)- Nový (R Point)
Spare PPers: Zetterberg, Nedomanský, O. Cleghorn, Giordano


 

ChiTownPhilly

Not Too Soft
Feb 23, 2010
2,095
1,382
AnyWorld/I'mWelcomeTo
Congratulations to @Johnny Engine on achieving home-ice advantage and impelling the latest version of the Delaware Valley Franchise to adopt the role of Road Warriors. I'll count on The Phantoms to embrace the slogan of the GM's Alma Mater: "One Way- The Hard Way."

Nothing easy about this- The Phantoms are facing podium-level Goaltending, and arguably the best Defensive Second-Pairing in the League. Making the presumption that both teams have at least reasonably fit-to-purpose chemistry and synergistic abilities, let's get started on drawing the direct comparisons & contrasts!

Coaching:
Tommy Gorman v Ken Hitchcock. Advantage Philadelphia
Leadership: C-Potvin As- Zetterberg-Bergeron v C-Gerard As- Chelios-L. Patrick.
Wash

First Line: Cy Denneny- Nighbor- Hooley Smith v Shanahan- Malkin- Middleton
Cy Denneny>Shanahan. Frank Nighbor>Malkin. Hooley Smith>Middleton. Better offensively. Better defensively. I owe it to @ted2019 for making this... well- not really close. It's Philadelphia's signature edge in the series.
BIG ADVANTAGE PHILADELPHIA

Second Line: Zetterberg- Nový- Nedomanský v Foyston- Getzlaf- Dye
Dye is a mainstream Hall-of-Famer- I'd say Nedomanský is, too... but understand that many might view him lower third. Foyston's also in the Hall- Zetterberg will get there soon- but Nový probably won't. Getzlaf has a shot... but Giroux DOES look like he's put his nose in front over the last few years. Four years ago, I didn't think I'd be typing that- but still, here's where the Rocksters pull back some of that gap from the previous comparison.
Zetterberg>Foyston. Getzlaf>Nový. Dye>Nedomanský. I'd say that the Nový-Nedomanský duo are better than the sum of their components- with their shared stylistic experience (although they're not actual contemporaries). Still, honesty compels me to cede-
ADVANTAGE VERAFIN

Third Line: Madden- Bergeron- Claude Lemieux v Gottselig- Brind'Amour- Pavelski
Gottselig>Madden. Bergeron>Brind'Amour- and Claude Lemieux, playing during the time of season that he LIVES for, > Pavelski.
Advantage Philadelphia

Fourth Line: Different kinds of lines constructed in this comparison. Philadelphia doesn't NEED Sedin-Sedin-O. Cleghorn to be a grit-line. We have enough of that elsewhere. Therefore, I don't think it's out-of-dish to compare these players talent-for-talent, as has been done with the other lines.
D. Sedin>Gillies. H. Sedin>>Sheppard. Odie Cleghorn>Blair Russell. The Sedins could be (and have been) criticized for coming up short in The Playoffs- but that was in situations where they had to be
the guys. Here, they don't have to be the guys. For Philly, they'll be another layer of skill and talent that'll have to be addressed. BIG ADVANTAGE PHILADELPHIA

First Defensive Pairing: α- Denis Potvin- β- Shea Weber v α- Chris Chelios- β- Lester Patrick
Chelios would grant an advantage in more than a dozen possible ATD match-ups. He doesn't grant an advantage here, though. Philly paid a dear price for Shea Weber- but Weber's continuing to burnish Mainstream Hall-of-Fame credentials, and has a suitable partner in Potvin, who brings The Playoff bona fides.
D. Potvin>Chelios. Shea Weber>L. Patrick
Advantage Philadelphia
Here, let the record reflect that when the respective squads' First Units are on-the-ice, Philadelphia holds the edge at every skating position. The late C1958 was fond of saying that in order to win, your best players have to be the best players.

Second Defensive Pairing: α Jan Suchý- β- Alexander Ragulin v α Eddie Gerard- β- Georges Boucher. Although Huskies fans (for the sake of their winning chances) would probably prefer not to think in these terms- I'd assert that THIS is Verafin's biggest edge in the series. I'm clear-eyed enough to know that I have one of my occasional bizarre outlier opinions re: Suchý. [Although when put the the eye-test, the likes of @Mike Farkas , when watching full-length footage of vintage Czechoslovakia games (i.e.: NOT highlights) came away saying "that #17... wow."] Still, I recognize that The Panel will conclude: Eddie Gerard>Suchý. Georges Boucher>Ragulin. BIG ADVANTAGE VERAFIN

Third Defensive Pairing: Offensive Supplement D Mark Giordano- Crease-Clearing D Harper v Offensive Supplement D- Kris Letang- Crease-Clearing D Ted Harris.
I like Giordano as an all-rounder more than Letang. That said, the Huskies have home-ice and will control more of the match-ups; allowing Letang to be used suitably. His strengths are stronger than Giordano's strengths. I acknowledge Letang's edge here. Conversely, Harper is superior as a stay-at-home guy. Therefore, I believe this to be
A WASH

Special Teams- Generally speaking, I don't think there's a lot to choose between the two Power Plays. I DO like my PP2 a bit more... and am grateful that 2, rather than 1, is where I have my one-D Unit. As far as Penalty-Kill, though... just as I think The Huskies are a candidate for best 2d D-pairing in-the-league, I think Philly's a candidate for best PK in-the-league. On that basis, I like The Phantoms' position a wee bit more.

This, of course, leaves Dominik Hašek v Bernie Parent. The entire Panel will judge an advantage for Hašek. However, we should keep in mind that this is PLAYOFF PARENT v PLAYOFF HASEK. I'll acknowledge Hašek has the better of it here. However (just as a thought-experiment), if one had to game-plan for Playoff Hašek, what kind of team would you want to bring to the fray? Would you want an Offensive Siege-Machine that ensures that Hašek remains continually engaged, or would you want a chance-suppressing Defensively-Oriented Squad that will happily embrace "Pitchers' Duels?" We respect Hašek. We DON'T fear him.

Equalizing for the "cancel-out" items:

Philly's Big Advantage in Line 1 & Verafin's Big Advantage on Second D Pairing
(although one could argue that the Line 1 advantage counts for more than the 2d D pair advantage).
Verafin's Advantage in Line 2 & Philly's Advantage in D-Pairing #1. (Though again, I'd say the plus on 1r-D counts for more than the 2d-Line plus.)

That leaves the following material, that we may present in "fulcrum" format:

Philly____________________________________________Verafin
4th line Big Edge____________________________Hašek>Parent
3rd Line Edge
Coaching Advantage
Special Teams (esp. PK) Plus

If we believe that the material on the left counts for more than the material on the right, then that would be grounds for concluding that The Phantoms will prevail in this match-up.







 

tabness

be a playa
Apr 4, 2014
1,998
3,525
Verafin probably built the stingiest team in this thing, and that defense group headed by Chelios has some meanness to it. Not the highest on the forward group but at least Malkin gets to be the man, he always seems to do his best with that.

I do love the Sedins together, hopefully they get a bit more playing time than a usual fourth line in this thing to make a bigger difference, they were considered soft by some but I paid that talk no mind, plus Philadelphia got a Cleghorn (less violent one) with them.
 

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