ATD 8 Playoff Recap

[BlueBleeder]

Don Cherry Division

1st Round

#1 Aurora - Bye

#2 New Jersey - 4
#7 Toronto - 1

#3 Guelph - 4
#6 Dallas - 2

#4 Flin Flon - 3
#5 New York - 4

2nd Round

#1 Aurora - 4
#5 New York - 2

#2 New Jersey - 4
#3 Guelph - 3

Finals

#1 Aurora
#2 New Jersey

----------------------
Jim Robson Division

1st Round

#1 Montreal Canadians - bye

#2 Halifax - 4
#7 Regina - 2

#3 Sherbrooke - 2
#6 Seattle - 4

#4 New York - 4
#5 Portage - 3

2nd Round

#1 Montreal Can - 4
#6 Seattle - 2

#2 Halifax - 4
#4 New York - 2

Finals
#1 Montreal Can.
#2 Halifax

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

Foster Hewitt

1st Round

#1 Oakland - Bye

#2 Gwinette - 4
#7 St Louis - 3

#3 Victoria - 4
#6 Dartmouth - 2

#4 Ottawa - 3
#5 Dubai - 4

2nd Round

#1 Oakland - 4
#5 Dubai - 1

#2 Gwinnette - 2
#3 Victoria - 4

Finals

#1 Oakland
#3 Victoria

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

Bob Cole Division

1st Round

#1 Detroit - Bye

#2 Nanaimo - 4
#7 Edmonton - 2

#3 Boston - 4
#6 Winnepeg - 2

#4 Montreal W. - 4
#5 Calgary - 2

2nd Round

#1 Detroit - 4
#4 Montreal W. - 2

#2 Nanaimo - 4
#3 Boston - 3

Finals

#1 Detroit
#2 Nanaimo

Click to read more...

 

[VanIslander]

Memorable Moments of the First Round​

From the N.J.-T.O. series:

“ I never saw them coming. Good thing Scott (Niedermayer) bought me a mask, even if I would have done without those ridiculous apples on the cheeks†said Devils netminder after game one. Even if he faced them quite a few times during regular season, Lumley could just do nothing against four huge slappers – 2 from Chopper, 2 from Bossy

From the Guelph-Dallas series:

“That’s what Ted Kennedy does. That’s why he’s the captain,†said Badger Bob Johnson in the press conference after the game, “When the season’s on the line, his eyes get as big as dinner plates. If he hadn’t scored those two goals tonight, you’d all be talking about what a bad series he’d had because you don’t see all the little things he does, night after night, shift after shift. Give me twenty Ted Kennedies and I could conquer Russia.â€

From the NY-Flin Flon series:

Mark Recchi remains in critical condition in Flin Flon Memorial Veterinary Clinic, and many of the perpetrators of the already infamous Recchi Riot remain at large. There is much confusion for the league office to sort out in the wake of this incident, but for one team, the next round is all that matters. “All I care about is that we’re through,†said Claude Lemieux, “The press and the commissioner can talk all they want about dirty play, but at the end of the day, one team goes through and one team goes home.â€

From the Halifax-Regina series:

The hometown salt air lifted the RCAF early on as they came out flying with home crowd behind them. Cam Neely sent the crown into an even larger frenzy after hitting Marcel Dionne with a bonecrushing hit midway through the first.

From the Seattle-Sherbrooke series:

It would be a shot from the point that would ultimately be the deciding factor in this game, a Blake shot would kareem of a stick halfway to the goal and deflect into the face of Richard right above the eye. Despite his protests he was brought off the ice to get stitched up, and could only watch, blood dripping from his forehead as his rival Gordie Howe would notch the winner only a minute later

From the NY-Portage series:

The very next shift saw Stevens catch Sidney Crosby admiring a pass to Bun Cook. Stevens laid Crosby out and play was whistled down as the young star skated to the bench shaking his head. “Welcome to the All Time League, kid†Stevens said as he skated past the Portage bench.

From the Gwinnett-St. Louis series:

"We couldn't move the puck, we were a solo team," Eagles coach Jan Starsi said. "They beat us to all the pucks everywhere. We just got a good old-fashioned whipping."

From the Victoria-Dartmouth series:

"We were fortunate,'' Sather said. "A power play at that time of the game, when both teams are so very tired, it's definitely an advantage.''

The culprit was defenseman Al Iafrate, who hopped off the bench too soon and found the puck at his stick. It was a tough blow for a team that lost Game 3 -- when leading the series 2-0 -- on a 5-on-3 overtime power play.

"He just was a little too excited to get out there,'' Dartmouth coach Ted Nolan said. "The way this whole series went, I was sitting in the locker room shaking my head, thinking we found a way to beat ourselves in terms of allowing those calls to be made, I guess.

"When you look at the way we lost games, sometimes it's just not to be.''

From the Ottawa-Dubai series:

The crowd got wild the first time when Brad Park gave Ian Turnbull a perfect hip-check at the blueline. Some rough stuff was going on after this and Mike Keenan was screaming obsenities at the referee Don Koharski. Some players said it sounded like fat pig and donut.

From the Nanaimo-Edmonton series:

Day changes his strategy a bit, letting Lemaire get the match ups he wants against Orr and Charlie Conacher, but getting Nighbor out there against the Lysiak line and the Tinodi-Wilson pair. Nighbor responds immediately with a give and go with Lionel Conacher to beat Lysiak, Nighbor then flies full speed down the middle, blowing right past both defenders before either can take center ice, Nighbor dekes and lifts a light backhand just barely over Plante's pad.

From the Boston-Winnipeg series:

Winnipeg presses on, they start controlling the play, Smith, back to Housley, Housley pinches, Otto strips him of the puck, passes to Smith, Smith one on one with Savard, Savard strips him of the puck, but Metz levels him as soon as he does, Smith takes the puck again, passes back to Metz, one timer, GOAL!

From the Montreal-Calgary series:

Another whack, another, and the follow through clips Sawchuk in the mask, knocking him away. Fleury's down on one knee using his free leg to push Sawchuk away and Bucyk jams home the loose puck. Sawchuk is livid, he goes to throw a punch but Bouchard holds his arm back, Dunderdale gets between Fleury and Sawchuk. If I could read Sawchuk's lips, I'm sure I would be offended.

 

[Jungosi]

I looked for some highlights in the second round :

Nainamo vs. Boston

Geoffrion, the series top goal scorer gets a breakaway with seconds left, goes for the shot, fakes, left, right, shoots... STOPPED BY BENEDICT! THIS ONE'S GOING TO OVERTIME! Midway through overtime, Harvey goes for the pass to Geoffrion, Nighbor comes out of nowhere to intercept, Heller forces him to the outside, Heller and Harvey have him in a pinch. Wild pass. Orr comes out of nowhere! One timer! Orr...SCORES! NANAIMO WINS! NANAIMO WINS!

New York vs. Aurora

The series has been pretty tame through four games, but emotions boil over in Aurora as the Rangers are on the brink of elimination. Early in the first period Claude Lemieux cheapshots Kris Draper. Chelios is livid and comes after Lemieux who tries to skate away. Joe Hall steps up and decks Chelios and is then wrestled to the ground by Cashman. Esposito tries to get in on the action but neither Naslund or Forsberg are looking for dancing partners. Espo turns away disgustedly to play to the crowd and is surprised to see Billy Smith's blocker clock him.

Halifax vs. New York

The rest of the period would solve nothing and this one would head to overtime. After a heated first overtime that saw huge hits and chances on both sides, the game went into a 2nd extra frame with the RCAF finally ending it halfway through on a goal by George Armstrong. The RCAF are going home with the series tied up at two.

Montreal vs. Seattle

“Jack just told me to play my game so I went out and did it,” was all Gordie Howe had to say for his hat-trick after the game. Howe scored a goal in every period, set up a Roy Conacher score and pummeled Vic Hadfield in a fight as the Thunderbirds’ top line dominated play in their first home game of the series. With Montreal unable to match lines on visiting ice, Howe & Co. had the run of things on the night and doubled the offensive output of the entire Habs team, who got goals from Newsy Lalonde and Denis Potvin in the 3rd, but too little, too late.

Detroit vs. Montreal

The third saw a desperate Detroit club throwing everything they could at Sawchuk. With just over 8 minutes to play, and frustrated afer another missed opportunity, Dumart got his stick up in Larmer's face in a scrum in front of the Montreal goal. The crosscheck meant a major penalty and now Brimsek was called upon. He made 8 huge saves on the PK including an incredible low pad save off of Martin.

Gwinnett vs. Victoria

"This is (expletive) unacceptable," said an irritated Gladiators coach Bowman moments before cancelling the post-game press conference. "I can't say anything more without getting fined by the league." In addition to the non-calls, the home team took ten penalties, giving up powerplay goals by Yakushev in the first and Lafleur in the third. A fight between Tod Sloan and Babe Pratt ended with both getting ejected from the game late in the second period.

Oakland vs. Dubai

"That was intentional.That was goonery." ,an angry Anatoli Tarasov said after the game. "Horner took Sergei out the Canadian way." What lead Tarasov to this comment was a check by Red Horner in the early second period. Fedorov ,who had already scored a goal then,was tripped by Clancy and was on his knees when Horner drove him into the boards.Fedorov was unconcious for about 5 minutes and got carried of the ice on a stretcher. "He was clearly our best player until that moment. Just like Kharlamov in '72."

Horner got a major and and a misconduct. A suspension is pending. Dubai got a bit of a revenge when Mikhailov hi-sticked Federko , cutting him badly above the eye.

New Jersey vs. Guelph

Nonetheless, Brewer managed to "tap" Wentworth stick just enough to completely make him lose balance, sending Wentworth towards Lumley like a bullet. Nobody saw the little trick Brewer used, and Lumley lost control of the puck on the impact, who slowly made his way behind the red line. In spite of protests from the whole New Jersey bench (and even a few noises coming from the crowd!!!), the goal was allowed to Brewer, sending the game in OT.

In the 2nd OT, teams started to rely a bit more on their 3rd and 4th unit, due to fatigue. But not much done, until Kirk Muller to the puck away from Fleming MacKell, got in the Biltmore zone... tosses the puck to Rick MacLeish... Slapper... SCORES!!!

 

[VanIslander]

Early Playoff MVP Candidates​

Mario Lemieux, New Jersey Devils

First star in both series, with two game winners in a surprisingly easy five-game defeat of the Leafs, and a hat trick in game 2 of a seven-game decision over the Bitmores which saw Mario's line carry his team's scoring in all but one game.

Bobby Orr, Nanaimo Clippers

In the first round it took arguably the best player of all time to outdo Plante and the Oilers, with help from third star Nighbor. But in the next round it was all Bobby, as he was the only Clipper to outshine the Bruins Harvey and Geoffrion.

Raymond Bourque, Halifax RCAF

A star in both series, he was the best player on the ice in the first round with the Wildhearts, being a factor in five of the six games. In the second round he was his team's best player and only outdone in the spotlight by the goalie of the losing Raiders.

Guy Lafleur, Victoria Cougars

The Flower was his team's best player in the second round, outproducing all except Morenz of the Gladiators. There was no three-star report for the first round series but Lafleur rallied his team from a two-game deficit with two phenomenal performances at home to even the series and his fifth goal in triple OT of game 6 was the series clincher over the Subways.

Wayne Gretzky, Oakland Seals

While his team sat out the first round, The Great One started to make his playoff impact by dominating the Mighty Camels with eight goals and top star, alongside third star linemate Bathgate.

Note: It is still early in the playoffs, with just two of the five rounds completed. Some high impact players that were just outside three star voting could step it up as close series between two evenly matched teams often means a depth player becomes the hero, sometimes proving to be the difference. And the number one seeded teams are just warming up, as Chelios took second star honours for the Tigers in their ATD#8 playoff debut and both offensive centres Mikita and Schmidt starred for the Falcons, both defensive stars Potvin and Broda for the Habs.

 

[VanIslander]

Pattern Emerges in Playoff MVP Race​

Rule: Best of the Best at their Best
The three greatest skills in hockey history were their team's only star against a pair of opponent greats but all three finished first star on the winning team as Gretzky's Seals, Orr's Clippers and Lemieux's Devils advanced to the fourth round conference finals.

Exception: Balance at Being the Best
The only odd one of the bunch is the other conference finalist Canadiens whose first star goalie Broda was joined by third star centre Lalonde this round but whose defender Potvin was their best performer and second star in the previous round.

 

[BM67]

Top 5 Chuck Gardiner Memorial Trophy 3-star vote players by round:

Round 1: Mario Lemieux, Bobby Orr, Dominik Hasek, Bobby Hull, Doug Harvey

Round 2: Mario Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr, Gordie Howe, Doug Harvey

Round 3: Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Turk Broda, Milt Schmidt

 

[VanIslander]

Best Bets for Playoff MVP Award​

1. Bobby Orr, Clippers

The true frontrunner and only candidate likely to steal the award for a losing team, if it came to that. He truly has had a spectacular playoffs, the best performer in every series except for when he played a close second fiddle to Gretzky last round. Expect him to make an impact whatever the result for his team but against a team with stars up front, on the blueline and in net you never know.

2. Turk Broda, Canadiens

Turk outplayed Mario last round and topped Neely & co. the previous round after starting the playoffs as third star of the Jim Robson division's top seed's second round debut. The MVP award is his for the taking if he can emerge on top in the championship round.

3. Denis Potvin, Canadiens

He was the first star of the Habs first series, was overshadowed the next round by teammate series stars Broda and Lalonde but stepped it up again as third star and his team's top skater in a tight 7-game series last round. If the Habs captain shines brightest in the final and the two candidates ahead of him don't star then he's a shoo-in for MVP recognition.

4. Frank Nighbor, Clippers

The perrrenially underrated centre was third star of the first series as well as third star of the last, the top star of the series-deciding game against Gretzky. He is the underdog candidate for MVP honors and it'll take his best effort coupled with leaguewide recognition for him to have a chance, assuming those ahead of him in consideration are rendered ineffective in the finals.

5. Newsy Lalonde, Canadiens

The only other player with a realistic shot at garnering the playoffwide top individual honor is the darkhorse in this race. The Habs centre was his team's top skater and third star of the divisional finals, providing the clutch play up ice to back up Broda's brilliance in net. If he has a career series and the other candidates don't star then he might steal the trophy as the most valuable player of the ATD#8 playoffs.

 

[Spitfire11]

Gee, why couldn't Broda have played like this last draft??