ATD #9 Bob Cole Quarterfinal: #2 Glace Bay Miners vs. #7 Montreal Maroons

[FissionFire]

The Glace Bay Miners
Coach: Ken Hitchcock
Assistant Coach: Al MacNeil
Captain: Bob Gainey
Alternates: Phil Esposito, Chris Chelios

Wayne Cashman - Phil Esposito - Anders Hedberg
Marty Pavelich - Billy Burch - Ron Ellis
Bob Gainey - Doug Riseborough - Mario Tremblay
Fred Stanfield - Art Chapman - Eddie Oatman
Bronco Horvath

Chris Chelios - Guy Lapointe
Allan Stanley - Reed Larson
Jerry Korab - Harvey Pulford
Pekka Rautakallio

Gump Worsley
Paddy Moran

PP#1
???

PP#2
???

PK#1
???

PK#2
???



Montreal Maroons
Coach: Fred Shero
Captain: Ron Francis
Alternates: Howie Morenz, Wendel Clark

#17 Wendel Clark - #7 Howie Morenz - #11 Mike Gartner
#14 Dave Andreychuk - #10 Ron Francis - #9 Charlie Conacher
#27 Don McKenney - #16 Derek Sanderson - #19! Wilf Paiement
#4! Geoff Courtnall - #25 Thomas Steen - #8 Bobby Schmautz
#22! Jay Pandolfo, #26 Samuel Pahlsson

#21 Borje Salming - #3 Joe Hall
#20 Gary Suter - #33! Behn Wilson
#23 Mathieu Schneider - #6 Jack Crawford
#2! George McNamara

#30! Ed Belfour
#60 Jose Theodore


Powerplay
Unit 1: Andreychuk - Morenz - Conacher - Suter - Crawford
Unit 2: Clark - Francis - Gartner - Schneider - Salming

Penalty Kill
Unit 1: Sanderson - McKenney - Suter - Hall
Unit 2: Francis - Paiement - Wilson - Salming​

Click to read more...

 

[The Mighty Duck Man]

Well, being a 7th seed is never fun, but I actually do have some faith in this match-up. Glace Bay has a definite advantage in terms of defense, but I would say we have a significant offensive advantage, a pretty big coaching advantage and an advantage in net as well. I'll go into more detail later on including the game-plan and whatnot, but I do have a feeling we can do er. We have three solid scoring lines and I think we might have the offensive talent able to do it.

Also, I think we're allowed to make line-up changes for these rounds. If so, the only change is Paiement being switched with Schmautz to give us more offense on the 4th line and more defense on the 3rd.

 

[nik jr]

my rankings were quite different from the final rankings, but this is the biggest surprise for me. i had the maroons 1st or 2nd in the division. very surprised to see them in 7th.

 

[Transplanted Caper]

Second place! Thanks folks. I was quite proud of my team and felt it should be in the top half of my division. Didn't want to wish, or expect anything more than that, so 2nd is a very nice thing too see, especially after my last team in ATD #6!


Goaltending: I think Worsely deserves some credit. He's a four time Cup champion, and took home two Vezinas. Ed Belfour is a great goaltender to be sure, but Worsely shoud not be underrated. Behind the Miners team defense, Worsely won't have to be a world beater, he'll be able to shutdown almost everything, because of combination of his own talent and clutch play as well as the excellent Miners team defense.

Edge: Even

Defense: The difference maker in the series. An edge to the Miners. Not only is the Miners defense an solid unit from top to bottom, as well as an elite Top 3, but the forwards can all play a responsible defensive game as well. The 2nd and 3rd lines are elite checking units. Scoring against Glace Bay is going to be very, very difficult.

Edge: Glace Bay

Offense: The weakest part of the Miners to be sure. Not going to try and argue otherwise. But the Miners team isn't made up of a bunch of hacks either. Esposito is an elite player, and his chemistry with Cashman will carry over to Glace Bay, and Hedber is no slouch offensively either. Our offense will also come, from our defensive awareness. Puck possession will be a key cog in out attack, and the solid two way players who make up the Miners from to bottom will get their chances, and will only have to convert a couple times a game for the team to be succesful, something they're capable of.

Edge: Montreal

Coaching: In a vacumn, an edge to Montreal. However, this Glace Bay squad is a perfect fit for Hitchcock. Hitch is a former Cup champion, and his desire for hardworking, defensively smart players is excellent for the Miners. A team like this, coached by Ken Hitchcock won't be underachieving. Add Hitchcock's own penchant for tactical smarts and the gap between Shero and Hitchcock isn't that big.

Edge: Montreal in a vacumn. Very close in this context.

 

[God Bless Canada]

This match-up surprised me more than any other. I actually had the Maroons ahead of Glace Bay. I just had some concerns about Glace Bay's composition, although I will admit that I thought Glace Bay was built better for the playoffs.

Here is the bottom line on this series: can Glace Bay score enough goals to win a best-of-seven series? If you don't think their lack of goal-scoring is an issue, then vote for them. If you think it's a big deal, pick Montreal.

Glace Bay has three rock-solid checking lines. The Burch line is solid. The Risebrough line will be a very tough nut to crack. And it's great to see the underrated Art Chapman make his way into the draft. The Chapman/Horvath swap was a good move. Glace Bay's team defence is among the best in the draft.

Montreal has a real edge on offence. Now they have to crack the tough shell of Glace Bay's defence. No easy task. The Maroons have two excellent scoring lines, and the fourth line can score, too, no matter who is the RW, Schmautz or Paiement. But the swap makes perfect sense. Schmautz is a cut above Paiement defensively, and he bring a pit bull mentality to the fourth line.

The Chelios-Lapointe is one of the best duos in the draft. Both guys can beat you in any way possible.

Goaltending is a wash. I think I had Belfour and Worsley separated by one or two spots. Don't expect a lot of shots on either; Worsley because of the team in front of him; and Belfour because of the team he'll be facing.

I'll give Montreal a definite edge behind the bench. But both guys have teams well-suited to their demands; Hitchcock has a team loaded with character defensive players; Shero has a team loaded with character tough players. And they can score.

 

[The Mighty Duck Man]

Well, they say defense wins championships, and if that were all it is, we wouldn't have a shot in this one, nor would probably any team. But there's more to winning than just defense, and that's why I think the Maroons can win.

As amazing as his checking lines are, and as amazing as his defense is, I don't think you can actually shut down Morenz and Gartner, or Francis and Conacher. Yeah, you can definitely slow them down, but eventually these guys will beat you. Morenz and Gartner is going to be especially hard to contain, seeing as they're two of the fastest skaters in the whole thing. With Wendel opening up room for them, it'll only make it that much harder. With the second line, they might not have the speed, but they have the toughness and the offensive prowess to be able to score in any situation. The fourth line has a ton of offensive talent as well, and the third line isn't that offensively inept.

I can't really comment on what will happen in Glace Bay, as they'll be able to get their matchups, but I imagine Risebrough's line will go up against Morenz while Burch's line will go up against Francis. Not much we can do about that, but I imagine we'll still get our chances. Due to both not really having much for offensive talent, Schneider and Crawford will likely get a fair bit of icetime with one of these two units, while Suter and Wilson may see quite a bit of time with the checking line, and maybe a Salming-Suter duo, as that line will face Esposito's line unless he changes something up. In Montreal, though, expect Esposito's line to see alot of Morenz's line. While it is risky to take the checking line off their only offensive line, we feel Morenz can slow him down well enough, and take advantage of the lack of defensive awareness whenever that unit's on the ice. Espo is one of the team's only defensive liabilities, and unless we're up in the series coming home, a sign that everything is going well, we're probably going to have to try and exploit that weakness.

While scoring is going to be an issue for us, it's going to be an issue for them as well. They're not going to win games 0-0, and considering the bevy of offensive talent we have, they're probably going to have to score 2-3 goals a game to win, and we believe this is a harder task for them than it is for us, even with their defensive prowess.

 

[Hockey Outsider]

Why Glace Bay will win

- Shutting down Conacher. The Blonde Bomber has the misfortune of facing probably the two greatest defensive left-wingers ever (Gainey and Pavelich). Conacher has an excellent blend of speed, skill and toughness, but how much damage could any forward do if he's facing the two greatest defensive LWs for virtually the entire series?

- Will Belfour lose his cool? Goaltending is close, with a small edge to Glace Bay. However, personalities play a role here. By all accounts, Worsley was a mellow, laid-back individual. The Eagle isn't quite as nutty as Hextall or Smith, but he's lost his cool on several occasions and has a penchant for bad penalties. How will he react with Esposito planted in his crease 25+ minutes per game?

- Discipline. The Maroons have quite a few high penalized, dirty players (Hall, Clark, Paiement, Sanderson, Suter) which puts them at a disadvantage. I realize that Shero suits this type of team well, but I think Hitchcock has a lot of qualities that make him a bad matchup for a Shero-coached team. The hallmarks of Hitchcock team are calm, disciplined, positional play, which will allow them to stay out of the box.

Why Montreal will win

- Speed. The Miners are a fairly fast team, but the Morenz/Gartner duo is probably the speediest pairing in the division. Salming can either make great breakout passes or join the rush himself, so the Maroons have the potential for a great transition game. Outside of Lapointe, none of the Miners' key defensive players are especially fast.

- Second-line centres. These teams are fairly similar in style, but Francis vs. Burch is the single largest mismatch in the series. Surprisingly, Burch comes close to matching Francis's peak (Hart trophy, four top-ten scoring finishes) but it's safe to say he lacks Francis's consistency, defensive play, and post-season record.

- Scoring depth. I said earlier that Gainey/Pavelich is a bad matchup for Conacher. While that's true, this will likely open up a lot of space for 700-goal-scorer Mike Gartner. Similarly, Riseborough is the only elite defensive centre on the Miners; he can't shut down both Morenz and Francis.

 

[The Mighty Duck Man]

Anyone else wish to comment? It doesn't seem like this is one of the more talked-about series'.

 

[Transplanted Caper]

Wayne Cashman - Phil Esposito - Anders Hedberg
Chris Chelios - Reed Larson

Fred Stanfield - Billy Burch - Ron Ellis
Jerry Korab - Harvey Pulford

Bob Gainey - Doug Riseborough
Allan Stanley - Guy Lapointe


Marty Pavelich - Mario Tremblay
Chris Chelios - Jerry Korab

 

[Transplanted Caper]

Discipline is an important one to note, if Montreal is in the box a lot, they're not scoring. Given the team discipline to be expected in Glace Bay, they won't get a ton of PP chances, so even if my PP doesn't connect a ton (and it score a decent amount), it keeps their best offensive players off the ice.

 

[Nalyd Psycho]

Yin vs Yang. Unstoppable force vs immovable object. One of the best defensive teams against one of the best offensive teams.

Biggest questions. Who is going to stop Morenz? Can Esposito be physically intimidated?

Staying out of the penalty box will be critical.

 

[monster_bertuzzi]

I voted for the Maroons to upset here. I love their top 2 lines - Morenz, Conacher, and Francis are all studs - Gartner and Andreychuck are reAlly underappreciated. Awesome top 2 lines. And I like Belfour over Worsley by a lot.

 

[Diving Pokecheck*]

I think an advantage to Glace Bay is their excellent defensive forwards:
Gainey, Pavelich, Jarvis.
Conacher and Gartner are going to have a hard time going up against Gainey and Pavelich on the other wing, as well as Chelios and LaPointe.

 

[chaosrevolver]

Writeups coming soon..

 

[chaosrevolver]

Game 1

Morenz' Effort Comes up Short for Maroons​

Despite Howie Morenz' 4 goal effort, the Montreal Maroons would come up short in a intense and fast paced first game.

First Period
Just .23 seconds into the game, Phil "Espo" Esposito, flew over the blueline with jets like an F-18 on steroids, and a slapshot that would knock down the Berlin Wall, to put the Glace Bay Miners ahead 1-0. The Miners didn't stop there as Ron Ellis would find a rebound off of a Allan Stanley shot, and slide the disc into the back of the net, to make it 2-0 Miners. The Maroons would cut the Miners' lead in half when Morenz would skate through both defenders and wrister one on the blocker side. The period would end 2-1 and was just a preview of what was still left to be played, not only in this game, but within this entire series.

Second Period
Both Ed Belfour and Gump Worsley would steal the show in this period. They would combine to make 39 saves in the period alone while giving up only one goal. That goal would be off the stick of Maroons star player, Howie Morenz. Off of a point shot by Jack Crawford, Howie was able to fight through traffic to pick up the rebound and slide the puck between the legs of Mr. Worsley to even up the score at 2. Eddie "The Eagle" Belfour stood on his head in the period stopping all 23 shots he faced, including 2 breakaways. Safe to say, after 2 wild periods, this game was going to go right down to the wire.

Third Period
Howie Morenz would give the Maroons the 3-2 lead just 1:12 into the period and then would add his fourth goal of the game just 3 minutes later to give his Maroons what looked like a pretty safe 4-2 lead. But then....the Glace Bay Miners, lead by Phil Esposito and Chris Chelios, would storm there way back into it. Phil would place his name back onto the scoring sheet, by wristing one off of a pass by Chelios, to make it 4-3. Then, with just 6 minutes remaining....Espo would spring Anders Hedberg on a breakaway with a slick pass that drew a "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHH" from the crowd. Hedberg went in and deked the goalie right out of his jock strap to tie it up, 4-4. It looked as if the game would be going to overtime, but Joe Hall would take a penalty to put the Miners on the powerplay with just 2:04 remaining in the third period. From there, Chelios would send it over to Lapointe, who would fire it on the net. It looked as if Belfour had covered the puck, but little did he know that it was free to the side of his pad where Phil Esposito would score his third goal of the game to win game 1 for Glace Bay by a score of 5-4.


Glace Bay Miners Lead Series 1-0.

End of Game Press Conference
"It was unlike we have ever seen before. Howie was just unstoppable tonight, and we were lucky that Phil was his equal aswell. It was very unlike our team to give up 4 goals, but we were pleasently surprised to find out that our team had enough tonight to top the Maroons offensive performance."
- Ken Hitchcock

"Neither team was on there game tonight. They are much better than that defensively, and we are much better offensively. Other than Howie, our team just wasn't firing on all cylinders. Hopefully we are better next game, and can atleast play an all-around much more solid game."
- Fred Shero

Phil Esposito lead the Miners to a game 1 victory by contributing 3 goals and an assist.​

 

[chaosrevolver]

Maroons Take OT Thriller!​

First Period
Bob Gainey is known for his amazing defensive abilities. Well, at the 5:34 mark of the first period he would add some offence to that reputation. Gainey fought his way past defender Gary Suter to bury a backhand past the right left pad of Ed Belfour. With just .43 seconds remaning in the period, Mike Gartner would tie it up on a cross-ice pass from his linemate, Wendel Clark. Period would end with only 12 shots fired on goal and a 1-1 score.

Second Period
In certainly a much more eventful period, the Miners decided to take the advantage in this matchup. After only 4 shots being fired on net within the first 8 minutes of the second period, Marty Pavelich would receive a pass from Reed Larson, and split the defenseman to fire a low wrister through the five-hole to give the team from Glace Bay, the 2-1 lead. The period turned into a shooting gallery from the goal on. As defense translated into offence for the Miners. They would fire another 14 shots including a breakaway and two 2-on-1's, only to be set aside by "The Eagle" to keep his team alive in the game. It could be 6-1 right now, however, because of the great goaltending by Eddie Belfour, the score is only 2-1 going into the third period.

Third Period
The start of the third period was very similar to the end of the second. A 3-on-1 just .56 seconds into the third period almost gave the Glace Bay Miners the 3-1 lead. However, once again, Belfour would turn aside the scoring opportunity. The Miners continued to turn it on, as they fired another 10 shots in the next 3 and a half minutes. That's when the great coaching of Fred Shero and the great leadership of Ron Francis came into play. Knowing his team was quickly digging themselves a grave, Fred decided that it was time to put hockey sticks in their hands and get rid of those shovels. Shero would tell them that this was it. Asking them if "you really want to give them a 2-0 lead in this series? You really want to kill your chances at a championship? You really want to let your team and more importantly, yourselves down?" The Maroons would respond as they would turn that offensive juggernaut of there's on, led by captain Ron Francis. Ron would immediatly gain the puck and the attention of the Miners defense. However, there was nothing they could do to stop the determination of Francis, as he would plow his way through the Miners players and score to tie it up. Fred just gave a small smile. A smile that met alot to his team. You could tell Fred was pleased...not only cause his team just responded with the tying goal but also because it came from the one guy he hoped it would come from. The leader. The captain. Ron Francis. That goal would send game 2 into overtime.

Overtime
We have seen in the past how overtimes can last for a long time. We have seen 2 and even 3 periods of overtime. This game...well...wasn't like those. Actually, the overtime only lasted .36 seconds. Right off the faceoff, you could tell that the message Fred Shero sent to his team earlier was still ringing in their ears as they would gain the puck immediatly. Right-winger Charlie Conacher would gain the puck off of a cross-ice pass from defenseman, Allan Stanley. Conacher would skate over the blueline and then slow the game down by stopping around the hashmarks and started using his spidey senses as he sent a pass through two players legs, to the trailer, the captain, the leader....Ron Francis. Ronnie would one-time it past Gump Worsley to give his team the 3-2 victory!


Series tied at 1-1.

End of Game Press Conference
"Tough loss. That's really all I can say. We deserved alot better. When you fire a total of 58 shots at a goaltender, you usually win games. Ed was just unbeatable tonight. We played a better defensive game, unforteunatly we couldn't beat their goaltender."
- Ken Hitchcock

"I can't get over how well we responded to that shooting gallery. They were all over us, and then we just picked up 2 goals and won the game. Im so proud of Ronnie for scoring those goals. It meant alot. He is such an amazing player and person. Im really happy that he responded with such passion and determination."
- Fred Shero

"It meant alot. He is such an amazing player and person. Im really happy that he responded with such passion and determination."
- Coach Fred Shero on Ron Francis​

 

[chaosrevolver]

Chelios, Esposito Stand Tall in Game 3 Win​

Chris Chelios set the game's pace with his hardhitting and solid defensive play. Esposito would have another multiple goal effort leading the Miners to a 3-1 victory.

First Period
Chris Chelios' nickname should be "The Great Wall of China" after his first period performance in game 3. He and Bob Gainey would hold the offensively strong Maroons to just 6 shots and 0 scoring chances. The Miners were pretty strong offensively in the first. Wayne Cashman would score off of a turnover at the Montreal blueline. Less than a minute later, Phil Esposito would pot a goal off of a third rebound to make the score 2-0 after the first period.

Second Period
A quiet period for the most part. Most of the play was in the neutral zone with just 11 shots fired between the two teams on goal. The main play in the second period was a huge hit by Chris Chelios on Geoff Courtnall who was coming over center ice with his head down. Geoff would be fine but was shaken up. The score stayed 2-0 after two periods of play.

Third Period
The Miners would keep up their very solid defensive play as they only allowed 2 shots in the first 12 minutes of the third period. This was before Howie Morenz would fire a rocket from the hashmarks to cut the Glace Bay lead in half. With .45 seconds remaining and the goalie pulled, Esposito would fire one from his own blueline, into the vacated net to give his team the 3-1 win and the 2-1 series lead.


Glace Bay Miners Lead Series 2-1.

End of Game Press Conference
"Good game. Strong defensive performance. Not much to say. We have to keep it up to win this series."
- Ken Hitchcock

"No comment. I don't feel like answering stupid questions."
- Fred Shero

He was tough, physical, and just damn irritating in a 3-1 win for Glace Bay.​

 

[chaosrevolver]

I have to go to bed so ill keep these a little shorter.

The Glace Bay Miners would take Game 4 in convincing fashion, 3-0. Wayne Cashman, Phil Esposito and Charlie Conacher would all score goals. Gump Worsley made 28 saves in the shutout victory. Howie Morenz was shutdown completely by Gainey as he only had 1 shot on net. After the game, Hitchcock stated that "this is the best defensive team I have ever coached. Bob just is amazing at what he does. As is Chris. But we know this isnt over yet. We have to keep this same effort until this series is over."

Glace Bay leads series 3-1.

 

[chaosrevolver]

The Montreal Maroons would shock the Glace Bay crowd by scoring 6 goals on that defense that shut them down so well in the past few games. Leading this attack was Howie Morenz. Morenz scored 2 goals and also assisted on 3 goals to give his team the win. Other goalscorers included Mike Gartner, Wendel Clark, Derek Sanderson and Don McKenney. The Miners scored one goal which was by Billy Burch. Ed Belfour stopped 20 of 21 shots in the win. Gump Worsley was slid into on a breakaway 7 minutes into the game. Gump would be taken off with a sore back and would not return. Paddy Moran would go on and let 6 goals in on 31 shots.

Glace Bay leads series 3-2.

 

[chaosrevolver]

Gump was back and would record a shutout in a 1-0 win for Glace Bay. Phil Esposito would score the only goal of the game, which was off of a pass from Chris Chelios. The Maroons just couldn't get anything by Gump and the strong defensive force of the Miners. Only getting 19 shots on net. Morenz, Gartner and Clark combined for 2 shots which basically told the whole story of the game.

Glace Bay wins series 4-2.

3 Stars
1. Howie Morenz (7 Goals, 4 Assists, 11 Points)
2. Phil Esposito (7 Goals, 2 Assists, 9 Points)
3. Chris Chelios (5 Assists, +8, 31 Hits)

Congratulations to the Glace Bay Miners on the victory and also to the Montreal Maroons on a hardfought series.

 

[seventieslord]

Nice job, chaos. Kudos on the generated fantasy stats!

I thought Conacher would score that OT goal, assisted by Francis, the way you described it, but I digress....

 

[Transplanted Caper]

Thanks for the writeups chaos, and thanks to McLovin for a good series. Nice to be moving onto Round Two for the first time in an ATD.