ATD 2021 Team Appreciation Thread
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VanIslander
A 19-year ATDer on HfBoards
The Wild Coyotes of Arizona
This squad is unconventional but consistently so, with the coaching and goaltending to, at times, pull it off.
That 2nd line is the cat's meow: Tommy Smith, Newsy Lalonde, Mickey MacKay are all deserving HHOFers who battled a tough era of hockey. The hard work, grit and puckhounding ability is great. You don't need a modern backchecker when you have guys who chase the play in all three zones.
Patrick Roy in net covers for odd-man rushes when Jackson-Taylor-Alfie are caught deep in the offensive zone on a turnover.
Exciting it would be to see a powerplay-like duo of Goodfellow-Clapper together on a regular pairing. It's untraditional, but with Cyclone and Newsy zipping up and back on every play, it'll be a Vegas like gamble that could pay off, especially against slowfooted dmen and big forwards. Remember: coach Tarasov designed a style where the centers came back deep and a dman was greenlighted to rush like a forward.
The powerplay units are unpredictable, with Clapper returning to forward for the unit, and Taylor and Alfie at the point. I am intrigued. I certainly can see traditional defensive schemes having fits against this club.
This squad is unconventional but consistently so, with the coaching and goaltending to, at times, pull it off.
That 2nd line is the cat's meow: Tommy Smith, Newsy Lalonde, Mickey MacKay are all deserving HHOFers who battled a tough era of hockey. The hard work, grit and puckhounding ability is great. You don't need a modern backchecker when you have guys who chase the play in all three zones.
Patrick Roy in net covers for odd-man rushes when Jackson-Taylor-Alfie are caught deep in the offensive zone on a turnover.
Exciting it would be to see a powerplay-like duo of Goodfellow-Clapper together on a regular pairing. It's untraditional, but with Cyclone and Newsy zipping up and back on every play, it'll be a Vegas like gamble that could pay off, especially against slowfooted dmen and big forwards. Remember: coach Tarasov designed a style where the centers came back deep and a dman was greenlighted to rush like a forward.
The powerplay units are unpredictable, with Clapper returning to forward for the unit, and Taylor and Alfie at the point. I am intrigued. I certainly can see traditional defensive schemes having fits against this club.
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VanIslander
A 19-year ATDer on HfBoards
Engineered Shamrocks of Chicago
A well-planned out defensive plan that coach Burns would spearhead with a line-up of low-penalized, hard-working leaders who eschew rough play and fighting in favor of responsible, focused puck play.
The 1st line's passing magic between Kariya and Boucher would be a sight to behold, the opposing defense unsure whether Kariya will eventually shoot or Iginla to receive a sweet pass or tip in at the crease. No great need for a backchecker on this line as long as Harvey and Gardiner are on the ice or the occasional shamrock is in hand.
Henri Richard is the centerpiece of this squad, playing crucial roles offensively and defensively. While Laprade would not appreciate being replaced on any defensive shift - because "Beaver" was a defensively-renowned workhorse - replacing slowfooted Keats on defensive faceoffs is wise.
Keats' physicality and Perry's nastiness will agitate the opposition and generate offense.
Bullet Joe on the 1st powerplay unit heralds the usually underrated HHOFer whom Lalonde once called the greatest living hockey player. Paired with Doug Harvey gives Simpson the greenlight to be "Corkscrew" and come in from the point, beat a check and score in close.
Having a 2nd penalty-killing pairing of Lowe and Quackenbush is solid as both were leaders in responsible play.
A well-planned out defensive plan that coach Burns would spearhead with a line-up of low-penalized, hard-working leaders who eschew rough play and fighting in favor of responsible, focused puck play.
The 1st line's passing magic between Kariya and Boucher would be a sight to behold, the opposing defense unsure whether Kariya will eventually shoot or Iginla to receive a sweet pass or tip in at the crease. No great need for a backchecker on this line as long as Harvey and Gardiner are on the ice or the occasional shamrock is in hand.
Henri Richard is the centerpiece of this squad, playing crucial roles offensively and defensively. While Laprade would not appreciate being replaced on any defensive shift - because "Beaver" was a defensively-renowned workhorse - replacing slowfooted Keats on defensive faceoffs is wise.
Keats' physicality and Perry's nastiness will agitate the opposition and generate offense.
Bullet Joe on the 1st powerplay unit heralds the usually underrated HHOFer whom Lalonde once called the greatest living hockey player. Paired with Doug Harvey gives Simpson the greenlight to be "Corkscrew" and come in from the point, beat a check and score in close.
Having a 2nd penalty-killing pairing of Lowe and Quackenbush is solid as both were leaders in responsible play.
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VanIslander
A 19-year ATDer on HfBoards
Speedy, Steely Pittsburgh HC
A remarkably balanced squad without risky flashiness or fight-drawing agitation (other than Stevens' open-ice hits). All the flash needed is provided by the Bobby Orr, with Hollett and Malone contributing.
Then again, Malone dancing with a Martinec praised for his ridiculous creativity and finesse should be a joy to watch, though the Czech right winger will see more pucks when he isn't on the ice at the same time as right-side rushing Orr.
Hawerchuk and Anderson seem like a natural duo, providing more offense than a usual 3rd line, with Rusty Crawford one of the fastest skaters and most determined checkers.
In fact, Rusty was the fastest player on the ice many times, as was the Roadrunner and Orr. And speed kills.
Each line has cornerwork grit in Bucyk, Lemaire, Crawford, Metz.
Good for Bower, the 2nd pairing of Laperriere with Seibert is an elite shutdown duo of big, mobile guys: Lappy a premier shotblocker and skilled pokechecker and Seibert a mirror image but with more juice in terms of "bruising" hits and "cyclonic" skating. Seibert was a 1st or 2nd team all star for ten consecutive seasons and is consistently one of the most undervalued ATD picks, given where he always drops to.
Coach Green won mostly based on kitty-bar-the-door defense and goaltending, but he has been known to bust out a "cyclonic" attack, and this team is built to do both from time to time.
A remarkably balanced squad without risky flashiness or fight-drawing agitation (other than Stevens' open-ice hits). All the flash needed is provided by the Bobby Orr, with Hollett and Malone contributing.
Then again, Malone dancing with a Martinec praised for his ridiculous creativity and finesse should be a joy to watch, though the Czech right winger will see more pucks when he isn't on the ice at the same time as right-side rushing Orr.
Hawerchuk and Anderson seem like a natural duo, providing more offense than a usual 3rd line, with Rusty Crawford one of the fastest skaters and most determined checkers.
In fact, Rusty was the fastest player on the ice many times, as was the Roadrunner and Orr. And speed kills.
Each line has cornerwork grit in Bucyk, Lemaire, Crawford, Metz.
Good for Bower, the 2nd pairing of Laperriere with Seibert is an elite shutdown duo of big, mobile guys: Lappy a premier shotblocker and skilled pokechecker and Seibert a mirror image but with more juice in terms of "bruising" hits and "cyclonic" skating. Seibert was a 1st or 2nd team all star for ten consecutive seasons and is consistently one of the most undervalued ATD picks, given where he always drops to.
Coach Green won mostly based on kitty-bar-the-door defense and goaltending, but he has been known to bust out a "cyclonic" attack, and this team is built to do both from time to time.
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VanIslander
A 19-year ATDer on HfBoards
Ottawa Sens go Up, Down, In
This team is built more on north-south play than forward passing, "combination play" as the old era guys used to say. Savard likes to surge up ice, as does on each pairing: Kelly, Gonchar, Carlson. Any of them could shoot, or pass to Bossy.
Toews can feed Hossa, though Bowman has been known to shake up lines, so don't be surprised if, at some point, Larionov centers Hossa while Toews works with Fedorov.
"Big Bill" Durnan will holler at the rushing defender to get back on the transition, though Fedorov and Toews ought to be better positioned to help out Goldham or Kasatonov.
The unpredictability of Wendel Clark could swing close games. His center tough "Turk" Sanderson could defend as well as he could score; the highest paid hockey player in the world at one point played some left wing, so Scotty could skybox Clark and pivot to Hlinka. In any event, Ron Ellis is on the line to backcheck like a demon and provide decent secondary scoring at even strength.
It is a team that could live on a quick-strike attack and/or a dump-and-chase style, as both Moore and Kapustin were masters at getting pucks out of corners.
This team is built more on north-south play than forward passing, "combination play" as the old era guys used to say. Savard likes to surge up ice, as does on each pairing: Kelly, Gonchar, Carlson. Any of them could shoot, or pass to Bossy.
Toews can feed Hossa, though Bowman has been known to shake up lines, so don't be surprised if, at some point, Larionov centers Hossa while Toews works with Fedorov.
"Big Bill" Durnan will holler at the rushing defender to get back on the transition, though Fedorov and Toews ought to be better positioned to help out Goldham or Kasatonov.
The unpredictability of Wendel Clark could swing close games. His center tough "Turk" Sanderson could defend as well as he could score; the highest paid hockey player in the world at one point played some left wing, so Scotty could skybox Clark and pivot to Hlinka. In any event, Ron Ellis is on the line to backcheck like a demon and provide decent secondary scoring at even strength.
It is a team that could live on a quick-strike attack and/or a dump-and-chase style, as both Moore and Kapustin were masters at getting pucks out of corners.
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VanIslander
A 19-year ATDer on HfBoards
Who Dat? Gallifrey TARDIS
You'd need a doctorate in hockey history to answer all the questions surrounding this squad. Some of them are quite flattering.
Who can stop the Lindsay, Francis, M.Richard line? The Selke pivot and playoff-leading passer can play his three-Lady-Byngs style of dish-off and defend hockey and let Terrible Ted and the Rocket do the nasty. All three are 100% effort leaders. They WILL score.
Who can stop two locomotives at the same time? Perreault's top skill was end-to-end surges, beating guys one on one. His right winger here is Balderis, nicknamed "The Electric Train", a lightning fast give-and-go rusher. It could work at times, as Perreault scored a lot more assists than goals, the opposition commenting on how he might pass instead of shoot on rushes of The French Connection line. Balderis has the wheels to keep up.
Their linemate Noble, one of the toughest players ever, could score goals as well as he could pokecheck, so while he may be the third man in on the attack, he is adept at converting passes, known to have great positional instincts.
All-time great greenhorn McDavid could be a kid wonder with sheltered minutes, able to spark secondary scoring, sweetly feeding Bondra, the skate and shoot specialist.
This team's 4th line right winger Pit Martin will likely get to show his face-off skills on the pk as the 2nd pk unit's Dale Hunter is as likely to be in the box as the rest of the squad combined.
Who can outphysical the first pairing of Gadsby and Vasiliev? Gadsby is often identified as one of the hardest to play against and Vasiliev was a rock on his skates and dished it out. They can play shutdown hockey when leading and Gadsby can rush when trailing, he retiring as then the highest-scoring blueliner in NHL history.
Who better to coach a three-line offensive push than Dick Irvin? He will love the peppy motor of Gilbert, Helmuts, Connor and Peter. As Dick has said, "you have to be able to skate to win. Personally, I'll take a young pair of legs over an old head anytime."
You'd need a doctorate in hockey history to answer all the questions surrounding this squad. Some of them are quite flattering.
Who can stop the Lindsay, Francis, M.Richard line? The Selke pivot and playoff-leading passer can play his three-Lady-Byngs style of dish-off and defend hockey and let Terrible Ted and the Rocket do the nasty. All three are 100% effort leaders. They WILL score.
Who can stop two locomotives at the same time? Perreault's top skill was end-to-end surges, beating guys one on one. His right winger here is Balderis, nicknamed "The Electric Train", a lightning fast give-and-go rusher. It could work at times, as Perreault scored a lot more assists than goals, the opposition commenting on how he might pass instead of shoot on rushes of The French Connection line. Balderis has the wheels to keep up.
Their linemate Noble, one of the toughest players ever, could score goals as well as he could pokecheck, so while he may be the third man in on the attack, he is adept at converting passes, known to have great positional instincts.
All-time great greenhorn McDavid could be a kid wonder with sheltered minutes, able to spark secondary scoring, sweetly feeding Bondra, the skate and shoot specialist.
This team's 4th line right winger Pit Martin will likely get to show his face-off skills on the pk as the 2nd pk unit's Dale Hunter is as likely to be in the box as the rest of the squad combined.
Who can outphysical the first pairing of Gadsby and Vasiliev? Gadsby is often identified as one of the hardest to play against and Vasiliev was a rock on his skates and dished it out. They can play shutdown hockey when leading and Gadsby can rush when trailing, he retiring as then the highest-scoring blueliner in NHL history.
Who better to coach a three-line offensive push than Dick Irvin? He will love the peppy motor of Gilbert, Helmuts, Connor and Peter. As Dick has said, "you have to be able to skate to win. Personally, I'll take a young pair of legs over an old head anytime."
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VanIslander
A 19-year ATDer on HfBoards
A Maroon Wall in Montreal
Offense plays offense and defense plays defense, a weird partitioning that a genius like coach Shero might like.
Shero likes tough and rough play, and the blueline delivers. Hitchman was defensive minded - paired historically with Eddie Shore - but here he is part of a stop-the-puck pairing with Black Jack Stewart, one of the roughest, most effective clean bodycheckers. Together they will break up many a rush against, and if an odd-man rush lets one guy through, Sawchuk is in net.
The second pairing is equally capable of putting up a wall with Conacher and Horner. Lionel was an athletic beast who would shotblock eagerly and check consistently. Red loved to bodycheck and was a great policeman, fighting for any teammate when play turned dirty.
The blueline's best skater and passer seems to be on the 3rd pairing in Jim Neilson. 6'2 "Chief" was agile with offensive instincts and yet had a good pokecheck and gave a hard bodycheck. His partner Red Dutton is a physical defender who plays the body instead of the puck.
Ozolinsh as the 7th defenseman may be dressed to join Neilson on the powerplay, at least.
That said, most of the forwards here are from eras when most defensemen didn't rush. It's entirely possible to imagine a stout blueline blocking attackers and then forwards like the following to take up the charge.
For example, it's easy to see Morenz zipping in to scoop up the loose puck and lead the counterattack, with Joliat the playmaker on his left bringing historical chemistry, and Brett Hull on his right ready to bury a pass.
As well, "Tank" Krutov taking passes from Cowley, assuming someone gets the puck to Bill in the first place, perhaps Neilson or Sawchuk as this line's best puck providers.
Exceptionally, the third line IS built to come back and recover the rubber. "Puck chaser" Fredrickson has the stickhandling and speed to scoop up pucks and lead the transition, and his right winger Bernie Morris has been argued to be the 2nd best playmaker in PCHA history. Two-way George Hay backchecks well and stickhandles at the highest level.
Offense plays offense and defense plays defense, a weird partitioning that a genius like coach Shero might like.
Shero likes tough and rough play, and the blueline delivers. Hitchman was defensive minded - paired historically with Eddie Shore - but here he is part of a stop-the-puck pairing with Black Jack Stewart, one of the roughest, most effective clean bodycheckers. Together they will break up many a rush against, and if an odd-man rush lets one guy through, Sawchuk is in net.
The second pairing is equally capable of putting up a wall with Conacher and Horner. Lionel was an athletic beast who would shotblock eagerly and check consistently. Red loved to bodycheck and was a great policeman, fighting for any teammate when play turned dirty.
The blueline's best skater and passer seems to be on the 3rd pairing in Jim Neilson. 6'2 "Chief" was agile with offensive instincts and yet had a good pokecheck and gave a hard bodycheck. His partner Red Dutton is a physical defender who plays the body instead of the puck.
Ozolinsh as the 7th defenseman may be dressed to join Neilson on the powerplay, at least.
That said, most of the forwards here are from eras when most defensemen didn't rush. It's entirely possible to imagine a stout blueline blocking attackers and then forwards like the following to take up the charge.
For example, it's easy to see Morenz zipping in to scoop up the loose puck and lead the counterattack, with Joliat the playmaker on his left bringing historical chemistry, and Brett Hull on his right ready to bury a pass.
As well, "Tank" Krutov taking passes from Cowley, assuming someone gets the puck to Bill in the first place, perhaps Neilson or Sawchuk as this line's best puck providers.
Exceptionally, the third line IS built to come back and recover the rubber. "Puck chaser" Fredrickson has the stickhandling and speed to scoop up pucks and lead the transition, and his right winger Bernie Morris has been argued to be the 2nd best playmaker in PCHA history. Two-way George Hay backchecks well and stickhandles at the highest level.
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VanIslander
A 19-year ATDer on HfBoards
The Jim Robson division is done.
Thanks to the few who appreciated my effort.
Thanks to the few who appreciated my effort.
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