ATD #9 Foster Hewitt Quarterfinal: #2 Minnesota Fighting Saints vs. #7 Montreal Saras

[FissionFire]

The Minnesota Fighting Saints
Coach: Pat Burns
Captain: Jean Beliveau
Alternate Captains: Earl Seibert & Rod Langway

#7 Rick Martin - #4 Jean Beliveau - #18 Danny Gare
#9 Adam Graves - #8 Syd Howe - #10 Pavel Bure
#11! Nick Metz - #16 Bobby Holik - #28 Anders Kallur
#21! Bob Errey - #27! George "Red" Sullivan - #12 Bill Ezinicki

#5 Rod Langway - #17 Earl Seibert
#15! Alex Ragulin - #3! Eduard Ivanov
#55! Carol Vadnais - #20 Dallas Smith

#31! Harry "Hap" Holmes
#1 Mike Liut

Spares: #4! Hobey Baker; #2 Sylvain Lefebvre

Power Play Units
Graves - Beliveau - Bure
Vadnais - Seibert

Martin - Holik - Gare
Ragulin - Ivanov

Penalty Kill Units
Holik - Metz
Langway - Seibert

Sullivan - Kallur
Ragulin - Smith



Montreal Sarasaurusrex
Coach: Lester Patrick
Captain: Jack Stewart
Assistant Captain: Bobby Hull
Assistant Captain: Craig MacTavish

#9 Bobby Hull - #13 Mickey MacKay - #17 Jari Kurri
#91 Paul Kariya - #19 Butch Goring - #8 Cecil "Babe" Dye
#27 Harry Watson - #14 Craig MacTavish - #20 Cliff Koroll
#12 Stan Jonathan - #26 Mel Bridgman - #11 Duane Sutter
#18 Dave "The Hammer" Schultz - #24 Erich Kühnhackl

#5 Jack "Blackjack" Stewart - #7 Alexei Kasatonov
#3 Ching Johnson - #6 Stefan Persson
#25 Petr Svoboda - #4 Kevin Hatcher
#44 Mike Milbury

#35 Tony Esposito
#1 Chico Resch

Power Play #1:
Bobby Hull- Mickey MacKay - Cecil Dye
Jack Stewart - Stefan Persson

Power Play #2:
Paul Kariya - Butch Goring - Jari Kurri
Alexei Kasatonov- Kevin Hatcher

Penalty Kill #1:
Butch Goring - Cliff Koroll
Jack Stewart - Alexei Kasatonov

Penalty Kill #2:
Craig MacTavish - Duane Sutter
Ching Johnson - Petr Svoboda​

Click to read more...

 

[Nalyd Psycho]

Before the gloves come off, I just want to say, you two did a very good job, I look forward to some healthy debate and, well, I intend to win.

 

[chaosrevolver]

Same to you my friend.

Ill start doing some writing up tommorow...have homework.

 

[chaosrevolver]

City: Montreal, Quebec
Home Rink: The Montreal Arena
General Managers: Chaosrevolver and Nate the Great
Coach: Lester Patrick
Captain: Jack Stewart
Assistant Captain: Bobby Hull
Assistant Captain: Craig MacTavish

#9 Bobby Hull - #13 Mickey MacKay - #17 Jari Kurri
#91 Paul Kariya - #19 Butch Goring - #8 Cecil "Babe" Dye
#27 Harry Watson - #14 Craig MacTavish - #20 Cliff Koroll
#12 Stan Jonathan - #26 Mel Bridgman - #11 Duane Sutter
#18 Dave "The Hammer" Schultz - #24 Erich Kühnhackl

#5 Jack "Blackjack" Stewart - #7 Alexei Kasatonov
#3 Ching Johnson - #6 Stefan Persson
#25 Petr Svoboda - #4 Kevin Hatcher
#44 Mike Milbury

#35 Tony Esposito
#1 Chico Resch

Power Play #1:
Bobby Hull- Mickey MacKay - Cecil Dye
Jack Stewart - Stefan Persson

Power Play #2:
Paul Kariya - Butch Goring - Jari Kurri
Alexei Kasatonov- Kevin Hatcher

Penalty Kill #1:
Butch Goring - Cliff Koroll
Jack Stewart - Alexei Kasatonov

Penalty Kill #2:
Craig MacTavish - Duane Sutter
Ching Johnson - Petr Svoboda

 

[God Bless Canada]

Bobby Hull should have some fun in this series. As I've said before, I think there are some real mobility issues on the Minnesota defence, and Rod Langway's playoff record is middling at best. I watched his play tail off a lot on those playoff underachieving Washington teams of the 1980s. He wasn't the biggest reason they lost, but he didn't elevate his play, either. Hull will have a lot of fun against Langway. My guess is Minnesota will try to get the Russian tandem out against Hull.

Much like our series with St. Louis, one team (Montreal) would have the edge in goal in the regular season. While the edge for the playoffs doesn't swing as much for Cheevers/Thompson, there isn't much to choose between Holmes and Esposito, and you can make an argument that Holmes has the edge in the playoffs.

One edge for Montreal is behind the bench. Patrick is brilliant. Burns is a tremendous coach, but he's a notch or two below Patrick. But even if Patrick is at his best, he'll be in tough trying to overcome the other edges that Minnesota has.

The Fighting Saints third and fourth lines are among the best in the draft. Don't know how the ultimate sportsman, Hobey Baker, will respond to someone like Ezinicki on his team (that's a potential locker room powderkeg, possibly even bigger than Bure/Burns), but those two bottom lines are extremely tough to play against. Don't know how they'll do against the Hull/Kurri tandem, but they shouldn't have much trouble against Kariya's line. Babe Dye is one guy who won't be able to capitalize on Minnesota's mobility problems.

 

[FissionFire]

Bobby Hull is a LW. Rod Langway is a LD. The only time they should be matched up regularly is during a defensive breakdown by the Saints, which considering Langway's partner is very unlikely. Pretty much the entire series Hull will have to beat Seibert, which is a far more daunting task. Seibert has the physical skills to match Hull's strength and is an excellent positional player with a long reach that will prevent Hull from speeding around him. Neither player is going to dominate that matchup.

Langway will most often see Jari Kurri, but Kurri is also on our LW side, meaning he will be routinely checked by a premier defensive player in Nick Metz. If Metz can contain Gordie Howe, he should at least be able to hold his own against Jari Kurri when Langway is back helping out as necessary.

Hull certainly isn't in for anything easy this series. Our top defensive line and top2 defenseman I feel match up almost perfectly against them so it should be a war at the very least. This is all assuming that's how the matchups will be. NP is the final call on that.

I also don't see how Holmes is on par with Esposito come playoff time. Holmes won 4 Cups with 4 different teams and beat many of the top goaltenders of his era in the playoffs to win those Cups. He's certainly proven far more in the playoff pressure cooker than Esposito has. I'd even go so far as to call that one of Minnesota's advantages.

On your lockerroom issues, I'd say that's grasping for straws. If Burns/Bure and Ezinicki/Baker were able to survive an 82-game season and finish 2nd in their division I think that shows they learned to work together. Bure's never been a slacker in the playoffs and I see nothing in his playoff past to hint that he'd tank or sulk intentionally.

 

[chaosrevolver]

Tony Esposito's Playoff Problems.

Tony O for sure had his problems in the playoffs : this said, I can't think of a year where he had the best team of the league ahead of him as well. He also played pretty good in the Summit Series.

I wasn't around to see how well Esposito played, but I noticed that he had basically no support from his offense. In the losses his team scored:

0 goals - 3
1 goal - 7
2 goals - 4
3 goals - 2
4+ goals - 0

Esposito had no chance of winning unless he posted shutouts in 10 of 16 games. So, looking at the numbers, it looks like Esposito was doomed for four years, regardless of how well or poorly he played.

I saw him and thought none of it was his fault. He got no help from his team. He didn't have all the awards, because he couldn't play.

Calder Memorial Trophy (1970)
First All-Star Team Goalie (1970, 1972, 1980)
Second All-Star Team Goalie (1973, 1974)
Vezina Trophy (1970, 1972, 1974)

I personally never watched Tony Esposito play. Ive seen a few games on NHL Classic's but that is about it. Ive done a little searching through past posts on here and other sites on the internet and I found one common theme:

Yes, Esposito does not have a great playoff record. However, alot of the blame should be put on the offensive and defensive cast in front of him. The offence couldn't score goals forcing Espo to give up no more than 2 goals a game basically. The defense seemed to be inconsistent and somewhat lazy making the job even harder for Esposito.

Im not arguing the fact that he hasn't proved much if anything at all in the playoffs. I think the statistics say for themselves. But shouldn't the team in front of him count for something? This is probably the same argument every GM who has had him has given. But at the same time, im just going to bring the facts up. These are the facts.

 

[chaosrevolver]

Anyway. I think that Nalyd might have the edge in offence mainly due to his great 3rd/4th lines. They will definetly play a major role in this series.

I like our defense much more than Nalyd's. Though I am biased. We wanted to build a pretty tough (physical) defense core and I think we did that pretty well. Granted, some of the players on his team can take that physical punishment so that should be an interesting matchup.

Goaltending wise. Holmes is alright. And he has proven more than Espo in the playoffs. But imo, hands down...Esposito is the better goalie. Read my post above addressing his playoff problems for more details.

Coaching I would say we have the win in this department. Burns, like GBC said, is a great coach but not quite up to Patrick's level.

Overall, I think that this series should be closer than the rankings determine. Good luck NP, and may the best team win.

 

[MXD]

Geez, the Saras were at some point my 1st place team in this div...

Edit : They were my 1st, actually.

 

[pitseleh]

Geez, the Saras were at some point my 1st place team in this div...

For what it's worth, I think Montreal is quite a strong 7th seed and I had them finishing higher than they did.

 

[chaosrevolver]

I honestly thought we would finish higher. But it is a really tough division and idk whether people took the fact that Espo is a fantastic regular season goalie. But meh..no biggie..we are having fun!

 

[John Flyers Fan]

I personally never watched Tony Esposito play. Ive seen a few games on NHL Classic's but that is about it. Ive done a little searching through past posts on here and other sites on the internet and I found one common theme:

Yes, Esposito does not have a great playoff record. However, alot of the blame should be put on the offensive and defensive cast in front of him. The offence couldn't score goals forcing Espo to give up no more than 2 goals a game basically. The defense seemed to be inconsistent and somewhat lazy making the job even harder for Esposito.

Im not arguing the fact that he hasn't proved much if anything at all in the playoffs. I think the statistics say for themselves. But shouldn't the team in front of him count for something? This is probably the same argument every GM who has had him has given. But at the same time, im just going to bring the facts up. These are the facts.

Goalies elevate their play come the postseason. When Parent and Espo tied for the Vezina in 1974 .... they both faced the Bruins in the playoffs. Espo in the semi's, where the Blackhawks scored 20 goals for him in 6 games .. 4, 6, 4, 2, 2, and 2. Parent's team scored 15 goals for him in 6 games .. 2, 3, 4, 4, 1, 1. Parent got it done with less goal support, that's what the great ones do in the playoffs.

 

[FissionFire]

Exactly JFF. Esposito is a better goalie that Holmes in the REGULAR SEASON. Once the playoffs start I don't think Holmes is at any disadvatage. I'd be more confident with a 4-time Cup champion who was part of one of the most memorable games in Cup history over a guy who's never been able to seal the deal.

 

[chaosrevolver]

I suppose..just trying to put a legitimate argument together.

 

[Nalyd Psycho]

Some thoughts:
-I don't see how defensive mobility is an issue for us. Three of our defensemen would be considered mobile, two of our defenseman are merely average. Only Ragulin lacks mobility and he is very capable of moving the puck and predicting opponent movements.
-Regular season or playoffs, doesn't matter, Hap Holmes is better than Tony Esposito. Why? Consistency, Holmes is one of the most consistent goalies ever and was consistently one of the best goalies in the world for about 15 years. And with the consistency builds a more cohesive and confident team in front of him.
-I think Minnesota is a very bad match-up for Montreal because we are very prepared to take on Hull. He'll still score, but, the double team of Kallur and Seibert will be very effective. Seibert's combination of size, strength, mobility and defensive awareness make him one of the best defensemen ever for containing Hull. He'll be especially effective once Montreal is set-up in the offensive zone, eliminating the freight-train advantage. Speaking of which, that's where Kallur comes in. Trying to physically take on a speeding Hull is a foolish effort, one Kallur won't make, he's quick, graceful and skillful and will get at least one chance each rush to disrupt it, and he'll tenaciously go for the stick and puck, the only way to stop Hull at full speed.

-I think Minnesota has the more cohesive line units. The strong commitment to team defense and a focussed and diverse offensive game that can match the talent of Montreal, but exceed the effect.

-Oh, and GBC, I'm not worried about "powder kegs" Baker/dirty play and Bure/Burns are the only situations that could get bad. But, we've got the best captain ever, no way is that too much for him to resolve, especially not with a strong leadership core backing him up in the form of Howe, Graves, Sullivan, Errey, Langway, Seibert, Ragulin and Holmes.

 

[chaosrevolver]

Geez, the Saras were at some point my 1st place team in this div...

Edit : They were my 1st, actually.

Thanks man. Holy...#1? Nice to be respected.

 

[Transplanted Caper]

Writeups coming this afternoon/evening.

 

[Transplanted Caper]

Beliveau Leads Minnesota To Game One Win

A big night from captain Jean Beliveau propelled the Minnesota Fighting Saints to a Game One win in their best of 7 quarterfinal with Montreal last night. Beliveau opened the scoring midway through the first period when he snapped a shot past Tony Esposito to give Minnesota a 1-0 lead. Bobby Hull would tie things up for the Saras late in the frame when he fired a huge slapshot past Hap Holmes, leaving things all squared up going into the 2nd period. Pavel Bure would bring the fans to their feet with a great end to end rush that culminated in Esposito being beaten glove side on a phenomenal deak. Jari Kurri however, ensured his team wouldn`t be down for long putting a puck off the post and in, tying the game at two. In the 3rd, Beliveau took over. Midway through the frame he set Rick Martin up for a one-timer to put the Fighting Saints up 3-2. Beliveau would strike again with five minutes left when he scored a huge goal to put the game away for good. With an empty net the Saras threw everything at the net, but to no avail. The 4-2 score would hold up, giving the Fighting Saints a 1-0 series lead.

Final: 4-2 Minnesota

Fighting Saints lead series 1-0

 

[Transplanted Caper]

Hull Hattrick Evens Up Series

Game Two was the Bobby Hull show in Minnesota. Despite having thousands of fans taunting him, Hull was not to be deterred on this night. He would open up the scoring on the powerplay when he snapped a one-timer past Hap Holmes. Hull would dominate the game, with great physicality and numerous scoring chances. All night long he was far and away the best player on the ice. It would take him being off the ice for a double minor for slashing for the Saints to get on the board. While on the PP, Beliveau would set up Adam Graves to tie the game up at one. But soon, Hull would be out of the box, and it only took him a few moments after his penalty expired to put his team back in front. Flying out of the box, Hull came in on a two-on-one with Butch Goring. Goring faked the shot then slipped a past to Hull who one-timed it past Holmes to put the Saras up 2-1. With the lead, the Saras were happy to slow things down. Goring and McTavish, specifically were fantastic in their own end the rest of the night and ensured the Saras stayed in front. Hull would be given the chance to complete the hattrick when Kurri passed him the puck on a 2-0 facing an empty net to round out the scoring.

Final: 3-1 Montreal

Series Tied 1-1

 

[Transplanted Caper]

The Saints Coming Marching Into Montreal

The Saints certainly came in and sent a message to the Saras in Game 3. Great games from Beliveau and Bure propelled the Fighting Saints to a 5-2 win in the 3rd game of the best of seven series. Pavel Bure scored a goal early on with the Saints on the Powerplay, putting his team up 1-0. The Saras responded with a stretch of solid play where they were able to control the puck for several minutes, but unfortunately for them they were never able to capitalize on their chances. Jean Beliveau would score late in the first, unassisted, to put his team up 2-0 heading into the 2nd period of play. Mickey Mackay would put the Saras within one in the early stages of period number two, but this is the closest Montreal would get. Later in the period, Ragulin fired one past Esposito to make it 3-1 Saints on what would be the game winner. Bure would score his 2nd of the game in the 3rd, and would assist on a Graves goal later on, to put the game completely out of reach. Butch Goring would score late to close the gap by one, with the game ending in a 5-2 win for Minnesota

Final 5-2 Minnesota

Saints Lead Series 2-1

 

[chaosrevolver]

Loving these writeups. Great job TC!

 

[Transplanted Caper]

Saras Even It Up

Montreal evened up the Hewitt division quarterfinal last night with a 4-3 over the Minnesota Fighting Saints last night in Montreal. Paul Kariya scored his first of the series to put the Saras up 1-0. Later in the first, Harry Watson would score from McTavish to put Montreal up 2-0 and for a time it looked like they would cruise to victory. The Saints however, had other ideas. Minnesota would even the game up by late in the second period on goals by Jean Beliveau and Nick Metz, setting the stage for an exciting 3rd period. It would be the Saints who notched the first goal of the 3rd when Danny Gare would pot his first goal of the playoffs. Having their backs against the wall inspired the Saras as they dominated the rest of the way. At the halfway point of the final frame, it would be Ching Johnson getting the equalizer as the puck careened off a Minnesota defender and in, and with 4 minutes left, it would be who else...Bobby Hull who fired a shot past Holmes to win the game for Montreal and to even the series coming back to Minnesota.

Final: 4-3 Montreal

Series Tied 2-2

 

[Transplanted Caper]

Minnesota One Win Away From Round Two

The Minnesota Fighting Saints are one win away from moving on to round two after a 3-1 win last night over the Montreal Saras in Minnesota last night. Earl Seibert opened the scoring for the Saints firing in a shot from the point. Harry Watson would tie the game up for the Saras late in the first tipping in a shot from the point. The goalies were great in period number two sending away all the scoring chances that came their way. It looked like the 3rd would yield the same results. For 15 minutes, Holmes and Esposito were excellent as both offenses began to slam sticks in frustration. It would be, as it sometimes is, a fluke goal that would put the Saints ahead 2-1. Syd Howe had a puck go off of his helmet. Yes, his helmet. And into the net. Howe's hard head was welcome to the Saints and they were happy to take the lead, even if the goal wasn't going to make the hilight reel. The Saints would put the game away when Seibert fired a shot from his own blueline into the open net.

Final 3-1 Minnesota

Minnesota leads series 3-2

 

[Transplanted Caper]

Minnesota Marches On To Round Two

The Minnesota Fighting Saints punched their ticket to the 2nd Round last night with a win over the Montreal Saras. Not even the hometown fans could propel Montreal to victory in this one, as Jean Beliveau was happy to take over and have another huge game for his team. It was Beliveau who would open the scoring, and he would make it 2-0 soon after to put his team ahead 2-0 by the end of period #1. Bobby Hull would try and claw his team back into the game with a big powerplay goal in the 2nd, and would be denied just 3 minutes later when a slapshot rang off the cross bar. Pavel Bure would put the Saints up 3-1 with a beauty early in the 3rd, and despite a late onslaught by the Saras, the Saints kept their own net shutdown the rest of the evening, thanks to stellar defensive play and timely saves by Holmes.

"Round Two, that's all that matters" said Jean Beliveau post game. "Looking at the potential opponents you know we're in for another battle, just like this one. But it's what this time of year is all about, I look forward to it"


Minnesota wins the series in 6 Games.

3 Stars
1) Jean Beliveau MIN 2) Bobby Hull MTL 3) Earl Seibert MIN

 

[chaosrevolver]

Congrats Nalyd. Sucks...but you guys deserved it.

Good luck and once again..great write ups TC and thanks for the proffesional words said in this thread.