ATD #9 Jim Robson Quarterfinal: #2 Trail Smoke Eaters vs. #7 Calgary Stampeders

[FissionFire]

Trail Smoke Eaters
Coach: Scotty Bowman
Assistant Coach: Claude Ruel
Captain: Bryan Trottier
Alternate Captain: Art Ross
Alternate Captain: Jim Peplinski

Aurele Joliat - Bryan Trottier - Ken Hodge
Keith Tkachuk - Igor Larionov - Martin St. Louis
Dean Prentice - Rick MacLeish - Shane Doan
Dave Balon - Joel Otto - Jim Peplinski

Jacques Laperriere - Harry Cameron
Art Ross - Leo Reise Jr.
Dollard St. Laurent - Joe Simpson

Bill Durnan
Charlie Hodge

Extras: Henrik Zetterberg, Don Awrey

PP Unit 1: Joliat - Trottier - Hodge - Simpson - Cameron
PP Unit 2: Tkachuk - Larionov - St. Louis - Laperriere - Ross
PP Unit 3: Balon - MacLeish - Doan

PK Unit 1: Prentice - Otto - Laperriere - St. Laurent
PK Unit 2: Balon - Trottier - Ross - Reise Jr.
PK Unit 3: Larionov - Peplinski
PK Unit 4: Joliat - MacLeish



Calgary Stampeders
Coach: Billy Reay

Ted Lindsay (C) - Frank Nighbor - Jack Darragh
Al Secord - Brent Sutter - Rick Tocchet
Steve Thomas - Keith Primeau (A) - Trevor Linden
Gaetan Duchesne - Keith Acton - Paul Holmgren
ex. Rick Kehoe

Brad McCrimmon (A) - Al MacInnis
Herb Gardiner - Phil Russell
Ed Van Impe - Ed Jovanovski
ex. Mark Tinordi, Dion Phaneuf

George Hainsworth
Ron Hextall

PP 5-on-4 no.1
Ted Lindsay - Frank Nighbor - Jack Darragh
Herb Gardiner - Al MacInnis

PP 5-on-4 no.2
Al Secord - Brent Sutter - Rick Tocchet
Brad McCrimmon - Ed Jovanovski

PP 4-on-3 no.1
Ted Lindsay - Brent Sutter
Brad McCrimmon - Ed Jovanovski

PP 4-on-3 no.2
Keith Primeau - Trevor Linden
Herb Gardiner - Al MacInnis

PK 4-on-5 no.1
Keith Primeau - Trevor Linden
Ed Van Impe - Phil Russell

PK 4-on-5 no.2
Frank Nighbor - Gaetan Duchesne
Brad McCrimmon - Al MacInnis

PK 3-on-5 no.1
Keith Primeau
Ed Van Impe - Phil Russell

PK 3-on-5 no.2
Frank Nighbor
Brad McCrimmon - Al MacInnis

Extra player
Rick Tocchet, Trevor Linden​

Click to read more...

 

[LapierreSports]

Forwards: I really like Calgary's 1st line, especially Lindsay and Nighbor. Also, they have bigger forwards with guys like Tocchet, Secord and Primeau. But overall, I think the Trail Smoke Eaters have the advantage in scoring. Bottom line is that the Trail Smoke Eaters forwards will score more goals.
Advantage: Trail Smoke Eaters

Defense: Calgary has the best D of both teams with Al MacInnis. He has to be huge if Calgary is gonna win this. The Trail Smoke Eaters compensates with a little more depth. I really like their defensive squad. With that in mind, I will call this one a draw.

Goalies: Durnan over Hainsworth, but not by much.
Advantage: Trail Smoke Eaters.

Intangibles: Well when you have Ted Lindsay on your team, you know everyone will have to elevate their game.

Who will win it: Trail Smoke Eaters in 5.

 

[MXD]

Hummm.... Stampeder's GM is presently in Hawaii with the mother of Elisha Cuthbert....

 

[vancityluongo]

I really really like this Trail team. I had them top in the division, and for good reason, IMO.

The only true advantage I see for Calgary is MacInnis and Lindsay. Otherwise, I give Trail the advantage in almost every department.

 

[shawnmullin]

First of all I want to say a big thank you to everyone that voted for Trail and put us into the second seed. That's my best regular season showing so far in the draft and I really appreciate the positive sentiment. Pit's Nanaimo team is never one I'd feel ashamed about finishing behind, and I'm honoured to finish ahead of some of the terrific teams in the Robson.

I feel weird about selling my team too much knowing that Calgary's GM is banned and unable to back his team up. I will say I had them higher than they finished. I like their style.

That being said, I absolutely like this match up for us. I think we have similar styles of teams, but I think my group has more depth up and down the line-up, better goaltending and better coaching. As vcl said, Lindsay is probably the best forward in the series (although I think Trots can give him a run for his money...) mostly because he's a LW. I think my RWs will have a real challenge handling Terrible Ted. However, he's one guy and we play a very disciplined team defensive game under Bowman and Ruel. McInnis is the best defenceman in the series, but I don't think he's miles better than Laperriere by any stretch. Plus I think the way our D is built means we can replicate the kinds of things McInnis brings to his team, but with our depth instead of in one player.

Durnan is a top 10 goaltender and I think definately better than Hainsworth. He was the best goaltender in the NHL by a signficant margin during his era. Bowman is the best coach of all time and Ruel was the assistant that helped him create a dynasty in Montreal. He is very good at helping defencemen fine tune their game, and he was a Cup champion coach on his own as well. Our leadership is oustanding (although I think Calgary's is very strong as well) and I expect the Smokies wouldn't take nearly as many penalties as Calgary.

Look for the special teams edge to take over there and be a big part of how we get the goals we need to win.

Again I'm not sure how much to say given no one is here to contradict it.

 

[Hockey Outsider]

Why Trail will win:

- Take advantage of Brent Sutter. I love Sutter's style of play, but he's miscast as a second line centre. Assuming Sutter is used in a defensive role, I don't think he can match Larionov's speed, vision and creativity; Larionov will badly outscore him if both second lines play a wide-open style. Even if Calgary matches him up against Trottier, #19 is strong and tough enough to escape Sutter's checks.

- Exploit the third defense pair. Van Impe is tough but slow and Jovanovski makes a staggering number of errors in the defensive zone (especially when throwing himself way out of position while trying to make a big hit). Assuming this pair plays against Trail's bottom two lines, they'll have to deal with two, two-time top-ten goal scorer (Macleish & Prentice) and a three-time top-ten goal-scorer (Balon).

- Coaching. Bowman is very likely the greatest coach in hockey history. Reay often gets underrated but still deserves his share of blame for the Hawks' continual underachievement in the mid-60s to late 70s.

- Durnan. I've posted about this before but I feel that Durnan's (perceived) lack of playoff success is overblown. He was the most dominant regular season goalie of his generation, and only Broda was better in the playoffs.

Why Calgary will win

- Tkachuk. The power forward has had several dominant regular seasons but consistently underperforms in the playoffs. Trail should not rely on him as a second-liner in the playoffs. Calgary will likely attack Tkachuk with Linden and/or Holmgren. They both have the size and raw strength necessary to contain him and given Linden's superb positional play and Holmgren's willingess to drop the gloves, Tkachuk will likely be frustrated the entire series.

- Top-line RW. Calgary's top RW, Jack Darragh, was one of the fastest skaters of his era. He was a four-time top-ten scorer (in six NHL seasons) and won two retro Conn Smythes. This is a big advantage over the often indifferent Hodge, who kept on alternating between 50 and 100 point seasons. He was criticized for not being a team player and not getting along with coaches (though if anybody can fix this, it's Bowman).

- Speed. Generally both teams are pretty even in terms of speed, but the Darragh/Nighbor duo should cause all sorts of problems for Otto and Peplinksi, two average skaters at best.

 

[shawnmullin]

I realize Tkachuk is going to be a lightning rod here, I should go back and get my long post on him. What it pointed out is that when put in a position to play on a very talented team in international competition on north american ice, Tkachuk was dominant. In a few playoffs Tkachuk equalled his normal level of play. The problem was that in a few other years his teams went no where and he had a few 1 points in 4 games or 2 points in 6 games on his resume.

A ton and I mean a TON of great players have had some seasons like that. Especially on bad teams that wern't good enough to win.

When he was given a chance to play on truly elite teams in best on best North American competition, he delivered big time.

Even so, I like the way I think.... I believe Nalyd put it... that even if he's not a PPG player in the playoffs, he's still a 0.7 PPG player who can score at a 30 goal pace and play a very physical game. That's not ideal but it's solid for a second liner.

EDIT: I mean if he equalled his regular season performance every playoff Tkahuck is an obvious first line LW. As it is, I hardly see how he's a big detriment as a second line LW. But I also think a lot of stuff said about him is way overblown when matched up against similar players.

As for Hodge, he has a role to play. He can get dirty goals, he can dig pucks out of the corner and play strong. Is he as physical as he could be at his size? Not always, but he was in Chicago. He's very hard to move even if he's not in your face. He's the kind of guy I think Bowman would get the best out of. But my main concern about him in this series is the match up with Lindsay who will make his life very difficult.

 

[VanIslander]

Why Calgary will win

- Tkachuk. The power forward has had several dominant regular seasons but consistently underperforms in the playoffs. Trail should not rely on him as a second-liner in the playoffs. Calgary will likely attack Tkachuk with Linden and/or Holmgren. They both have the size and raw strength necessary to contain him and given Linden's superb positional play and Holmgren's willingess to drop the gloves, Tkachuk will likely be frustrated the entire series.

- Top-line RW. Calgary's top RW, Jack Darragh, was one of the fastest skaters of his era. He was a four-time top-ten scorer (in six NHL seasons) and won two retro Conn Smythes. This is a big advantage over the often indifferent Hodge, who kept on alternating between 50 and 100 point seasons. He was criticized for not being a team player and not getting along with coaches (though if anybody can fix this, it's Bowman).

- Speed. Generally both teams are pretty even in terms of speed, but the Darragh/Nighbor duo should cause all sorts of problems for Otto and Peplinksi, two average skaters at best.

I smell an upset brewing.

 

[God Bless Canada]

I ask the same question for Calgary that I did for Glace Bay: can this team score enough goals to win a seven-game series?

Calgary made one mistake during the season: trading Bill Cowley, and getting peanuts in return. Lindsay-Cowley would have been a very potent two-thirds of a first line. Instead, Lindsay is partner with Nighbor-Darragh (likely better suited to second line duty), and the second line has minimal offensive presence. Lindsay is definitely a top 20 player ever in my books, and when you consider all he brings to a team from the LW spot, I think he deserves a top 15 spot in this draft. But he can only do so much.

Calgary's got a tough team. But so does Trail. That's not good news for the Cowboys. I like the Cowboys team from a playoff perspective. I really do. If they can play their game, they're going to be dangerous. But with the possible exception of Hodge, when you hit the Smoke Eaters forwards, they won't cower. Guys like Larionov and St. Louis weren't physical, but they weren't soft.

I've aired my criticisms about Tkachuk. Bottom line is that a guy that good in the regular season should have better playoff numbers. Period. The one thing about him is his role (if he's willing to accept it) is more likely to work, because he's basically being counted on to be a grunt work guy, work the corners, work the front of the net, open up room for St. Louis and Larionov, and score a few garbage goals, instead of being a go-to guy in the playoffs. He just doesn't have the big-game mentality. mullin, there is a world of difference between the best-of-one's on the international stage, than a best-of-seven set-up. I think that's one thing that has hurt Tkachuk - he doesn't fare as well in the best-of-seven, when teams can make adjustments.

One other thing on Tkachuk - he really impressed me in his first two post-season appearances with Winnipeg against Vancouver, when he was used in the role mullin is expecting for him.

Trail probably has the best bottom two lines in the draft. Loaded with character, work ethic, toughness, and good offensive ability. That third line is definitely capable of generating some offence. We really wanted a fourth line of Balon-Skov-Doan. Doan's good enough defensively for that third line role. It's about friggin' time the very well-rounded Balon went in the main draft. He'll never see the MLD again.

One area I'll give Calgary the edge is on the blue-line. MacInnis-McCrimmon is one of the best top pairings in the draft. They have some familiarity with each other from their Calgary days, although I don't think they were regular partners. Trail's defence is their one weak spot. Laperriere's okay as a No. 1, Cameron is probably better off as a No. 3 offensive specialist. I think Art Ross is definitely miscast as a No. 3. Big test for Trail's defence is how they handle the Philly forecheck, because it will be coming hard, and coming often.

Biggest edge in this series (outside of second line scoring for Trail) is Trail's coaching. Bowman's the best in the draft. I think he goes too soon, but he's the best in the draft. And he's reunited with Ruel? Trail will have the coaching edge over any team they face.

 

[shawnmullin]

I smell an upset brewing.

*laugh* trying to make a point, Van?

 

[shawnmullin]

Speed. Generally both teams are pretty even in terms of speed, but the Darragh/Nighbor duo should cause all sorts of problems for Otto and Peplinksi, two average skaters at best.

This is not a match-up you're going to see. I'm comfortable with Bowman giving a lot of ice to all four lines, but I'm pretty confident he'd be wise enough to avoid that match-up. I think power vs. power or the third line will be the most likely match-ups against Darrah/Nighbor. I can't imagine Otto and Peplinski being out on the ice too often against the fastest skilll players on Calgary.

That being said, they both played in a very fast era and were among the better two-way players on an excellent team. They're not going to get torched if on rare occasions they get stuck out there against Darragh/Nighbor on the road.

 

[shawnmullin]

I've aired my criticisms about Tkachuk. Bottom line is that a guy that good in the regular season should have better playoff numbers. Period. The one thing about him is his role (if he's willing to accept it) is more likely to work, because he's basically being counted on to be a grunt work guy, work the corners, work the front of the net, open up room for St. Louis and Larionov, and score a few garbage goals, instead of being a go-to guy in the playoffs. He just doesn't have the big-game mentality. mullin, there is a world of difference between the best-of-one's on the international stage, than a best-of-seven set-up. I think that's one thing that has hurt Tkachuk - he doesn't fare as well in the best-of-seven, when teams can make adjustments.

One other thing on Tkachuk - he really impressed me in his first two post-season appearances with Winnipeg against Vancouver, when he was used in the role mullin is expecting for him.

That's kind of what I was getting to when talking about the World Cup performances as well. Tkachuk in those situations was one among many talented players. He wasn't "the man" and counted on to deliver and lift his team on his back. When he's been surrounded by talent and hasn't been forced to be THE guy, he has delivered. Not expecting a playoff MVP here.

One area I'll give Calgary the edge is on the blue-line. MacInnis-McCrimmon is one of the best top pairings in the draft. They have some familiarity with each other from their Calgary days, although I don't think they were regular partners. Trail's defence is their one weak spot. Laperriere's okay as a No. 1, Cameron is probably better off as a No. 3 offensive specialist. I think Art Ross is definitely miscast as a No. 3. Big test for Trail's defence is how they handle the Philly forecheck, because it will be coming hard, and coming often.

I think Ross is underrated, but I'll have to do some digging to get some of the other information for why I think that. A few points I had in his favour were that he was one of the better goal scoring defencemen in his era, yet he was also pointed to as having innovated and executing a winning defensive system for his team. This is a guy with unreal hockey sense and tremendous leadership.

I'll say Calgary absolutely has the top defenceman in the series and probably a better first pairing. Knowing how fast defencemen were going, I tried to concentrate on building a strong 6 man unit that had balance. I'm comfortable I've done that. I'm not going to say they're the top group in the draft by any stretch, but they've got guys who all compliment each other well. There are puck movers, scorers, phyisical guys and responsible leaders. It's a balanced group I can rely on 1-6 rather than a top heavy group with one true superstar.

I also think Cameron can be a #2 with 32 teams... and Lappy is a guy who was the top defenceman on championship teams. He's not going to stand with the elite guys, but I'm happy with him as a firm two-way anchor to our blue line.

That being said, thanks for all the postiive comments and contructive feedback. I enjoy this stuff a lot.

 

[chaosrevolver]

I will do the writeups tommorow when I wake up...I dont have the attention span to write anything else.

 

[chaosrevolver]

Hainsworth Struggles in Game 1 Loss​

First Period
The Trail Smoke Eaters would take a 2-0 lead after the first period on goals by Bryan Trottier and Aurel Joliat. Both assisted on the others goals. Hainsworth was below-average allowing 2 goals on 9 shots. Durnan was solid stopping 7 of 7.

Second Period
George Hainsworth showed some flashes of the goalie we know he can be, but unforteunatly not enough flashes as once again he would be shelled for 2 goals. This time on 13 shots. Joliat scored one of them while the other was scored by Martin St. Louis on an end-to end rush. Durnan was solid but hardly tested facing only 4 shots.

Third Period
Igor Larionov would score 2:45 into the third period to give his Smoke Eaters with 5-0 lead. However, Durnan's shutout would be broken as Ted Lindsay would pot home a rebound. But that's all the goal scoring that either team would be doing this night. Durnan faced a total of just 19 shots allowing 1 goal. Hainsworth struggled allowing 5 goals on 28 shots. However, this in no way is all George's fault as when you can only produce 19 shots, then your team needs some help on the offensive side. Game ends 5-1.

Trail Smoke Eaters lead series 1-0..

Aurel Joliat had a very strong game for Trail as he recorded 2 goals and an assist in a winning effort.​

 

[chaosrevolver]

Trail Smoke Eaters would go 2 up on Calgary with a 2-1 victory. George Hainsworth would stop 49 of 51 shots but it was not enough. Trottier and Joliat with the goals.

NOTE: Yea, I accidentally got rid of this one. Forgive me. This was the score of the game.

Trail Smoke Eaters lead series 2-0.

 

[shawnmullin]

very good so far chaos

 

[chaosrevolver]

Trottier Win OT Thriller!​

First Period
A very boring and quiet first period was at store for us. In total, there were just 11 shots fired at the nets. 7 at Hainsworth, 4 at Durnan. The best oppurtunity was a Ted Lindsay shot from the point that rippled the post. Most of the play was in the neutral zone and it was starting to get chippy by the end of the first.

Second Period
Ted Lindsay would score the opening goal of the game 3:34 into the second period. And the goalies shut the door from there as Durnan faced another 9 shots after the goal and Hainsworth faced 5. Very similar period to the first as it wasnt much up and down the ice and more about little battles.

Third Period
Frank Nighbor would make it 2-0 on a great pass from Jack Darragh, but thats where the scoring would stop for Calgary. Dean Prentice and Rick MacLeish would score to tie it up and send the game to overtime.

Overtime
It was on an Aurel Joliat dump-in. Ken Hodge would fly into the Calgary zone and pick the puck up and immediatly look in front of the net for Trottier. Trottier was parked all alone in front of the goaltender. Pass. Shot. Goal.

Trail Smoke Eaters lead series 3-0..

Bryan Trottier proves to be clutch. Get your brooms out.​

 

[chaosrevolver]

Hainsworth: "Put Away Those Brooms"​

First Period
Rich Tocchet would open the scoring on a great pass by Brent Sutter on a PP. And that would quickly be followed with a Frank Nighbor goal, which was assisted by Terrible Ted Lindsay. All in all there were 8 shots fired at Hainsworth and 12 at Durnan. 2-0 Calgary after one.

Second Period
Ted Lindsay would score the third goal of the game to give his Calgary Stampeders what looked like a commanding lead. But hold on, Aurel Joliat and Bryan Trottier would team up to score 3 goals in the last 7 minutes of the second period. Trottier with one of them and assisting on the other two and Joliat with 2 and one assist. Hainsworth was peppered heavily as he faced 20 shots in the period. If Calgary wants to win, they must cut down those shots.

Third Period
No goals were the story in this period. Bill Durnan stopped all 15 shots he faced, and Hainsworth stopped all 11 that came his way. We are off to OT in what could be the last game of this series.

Overtime
Hainsworth with the save. Another save by Hainsworth. Oh golly, what a save! That seemed like a reocurring theme in this overtime. George Hainsworth would make 18 saves until Steve Thomas would score the OT Winner on a nice and smooth pass by Keith Primeau, with just 1:07 remaining in the OT. Hainsworth: "Put Away Those Brooms"

Trail Smoke Eaters lead series 3-1..

Stumpy keeps Stampeders alive.​

 

[chaosrevolver]

Joliat, Trottier Dominate in Series Ending Game​

First Period
George Hainsworth had little luck as far as this game goes. Facing 23 shots in the first period and surrendering 4 goals. Joliat, Trottier, Jacques Laperriere and Igor Larionov would get the goals. Calgary would put the disc into the mesh once though as Ted Lindsay decided to deke out a defender and shoot the puck short side.

Second Period
Another two goals would be scored in this period. Both by Bryan Trottier. Aurel Joliat would add another assist to his great statistics in this series. Hainsworth was once again held out to dry as he faced 17 shots and 9 scoring chances. Its amazing that the game is only 6-1.

Third Period
Bryan Trottier decided that he wasnt finished as he would add another goal and assist in this period to finish off the Calgary Stampeders in a very convincing fashion. Hainsworth stopped 13 of the 15 shots he saw that period. Durnan in the game stopped 26 of 27 shots. Game ends 8-1.

Trail Smoke Eaters win series 4-1.

In convincing fashion, the Trail Smoke Eaters would take their series in 5.​

 

[chaosrevolver]

3 Stars
1. Bryan Trottier (9 Goals, 7 Assists, 16 Points, +15)
2. Aurel Joliat (6 Goals, 6 Assists, 12 Points, +14)
3. Bill Durnan (4-1, 1.80 GAA, .930 SV%)

Congrats to Shawn on the win.

 

[Transplanted Caper]

Congrats to Trail. Definitely think they could be a sleeper pick in this thing.

 

[shawnmullin]

Thanks guys. Great job Chaos. I think Calgary was a good team and the result would've been closer if their GM was still around to defend his team. Still, thanks for the votes guys.

Holy crap Trottier has a whole playoffs worth of points in the first round!!

 

[FissionFire]

Holy crap Trottier has a whole playoffs worth of points in the first round!!

You'd better hope not for your sake.