ATD2010 Draft Summary

[hungryhungryhippy]

As per tradition... yes?

Cut and paste and voice your opinion:

Biggest Steal of the draft
Biggest Reach of the draft
Smartest/best strategic pick in the draft
Biggest blunder selection of the draft
A Player finally getting respect in the draft
A player always taken too high, finally getting picked where he should in the draft
A player you've discovered in this draft
Most underrated player taken
Most overrated player taken
Favourite line of the draft
Best assembled line of the draft
Worst assembled line of the draft
Favourite pairing of defensemen
Most puzzling pairing of defensemen
Team in the other conference it'd be interesting to meet in the finals
Team in the other conference you wouldn't want to meet in the finals
A funny/dramatic story (related to the ATD) you've learned about since the start of the draft

Also, feel free to add any other comments or reflections about your experience/team this year.

I'll do mine in a bit

Click to read more...

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

I'm not including my picks.

Biggest Steals of the draft: King Clancy at 55 (taking into account the premium on defensemen), Sergei Markarov at 70, Alexei Kasatonov at 149, Mike Modano at 268, Ivan Hlinka at 512, Dan Boyle at 625

Biggest Reaches of the draft: Vladimir Konstantiov at 135, Nikolai Sologubov at 203, Gary Roberts at 207, Vsevolod Bobrov at 256, Wendel Clarke at 316, Rich Vaive at 419, Brendan Morrow at 443, Yevgeny Babich at 499

Smartest/best strategic pick in the draft: Brett Hull - Adam Oates. Oates in the 90s is a small reach on it's own but with Hull on a second line...

Biggest blunder selections of the draft:

-Tidewater selecting Ebbie Goodfellow at 115. He was likely the BDA at that point, but Tidewater already had Harvey and Clancy. This pick really should have been a forward, in retrospect.

-JFA picking Malkin and Starshinov in back to back picks when he already had 2 scoring line centers in the fold.

-Dreakmur frantically trading up to get George Hay, much earlier than Hay had ever been drafted.

Players finally getting respect in the draft:

-Paul Kariya at 177. He usually gets picked in the late 200s. Funny that it took a rookie who then quit on his team to do it.

-Anatoli Firsov at 91. I think this is higher than he's ever gone and it's right where he should go.

-Frank Nighbor at 41. Not long ago, I think he was considered borderline for the Top 100.

-A variety of pre-consolidation guys finally went about where they should.


A player always taken too high, finally getting picked where he should in the draft:

Pavel Bure at 159. 70s said that this is the lowest Bure ever fell? I can't see picking him any higher, not with the major holes in his game.

A player you've discovered in this draft:

Ted Green. I used to think of him as a glorified goon, but he was actually a great hockey player and incredibly smart.

Most underrated players taken: The 1970s-era Czechoslovakians. They were almost as good as the USSR of the era (players who are finally getting the respect they deserve). Specifically:

-Jiri Holecek. There is a lot of evidence he was in the same class as Tretiak. Yet even his own GM conceded a large advantage to the team with Clint Benedict.

-Ivan Hlinka. Hlinka at 512 was one of the steals of the draft. Sure he was behind Martinec and Nedomansky, but not that far behind. And Bugg got criticized for having a terrible 2nd line...

Most overrated players taken: The 1950s-era Soviets. I don't care who dominated in the Soviet league if they couldn't even beat Canadian teams full of amateurs who nobody would even consider drafting.

Favourite lines of the draft:

Moore-Stastny-Geoffrion
Howe-Stewart-Gilbert (this line really grew on me)

Best assembled line of the draft:

Olmstead-Apps-Richard

Worst assembled lines of the draft:

Bobrov-Lafontaine-Tocchet (though it's not exactly easy to construct a line around Bobrov)

Kovalchuk-Sundin-Hyland (where is the grit and playmaking? This line definitely dragged down an otherwise amazing team)

Nystrom-Goring-Naslund (huh?)

Favourite pairings of defensemen:

Park-Boivin
Coffey-Stewart
Robinson-Day
Laperriere-MacInnis

Most puzzling pairings of defensemen:

Mark Howe-Art Ross (two primary puck movers?)
Chelios-Solugubov (Solugubov on a top pairing?)
Shore-Harper (what a talent disparity!)


Team in the other conference it'd be interesting to meet in the finals: Kind of late for this one... I guess I would have said the Shamrocks, to watch Gordie Howe beat up his old linemate Ted Lindsay.

Team in the other conference you wouldn't want to meet in the finals: Smith's Falls because of Pulford

A funny/dramatic story (related to the ATD) you've learned about since the start of the draft: Just how crazy the CSSR/USSR games were in 1969.

 

[Dreakmur]

Biggest blunder selections of the draft:

-Dreakmur frantically trading up to get George Hay, much earlier than Hay had ever been drafted.

Damn right!

 

[raleh]

Does Potvin-Shore count as a unit since they played together on the PP and PK?

 

[seventieslord]

Biggest Steals of the draft: King Clancy at 55 (taking into account the premium on defensemen), Sergei Markarov at 70, Alexei Kasatonov at 149, Mike Modano at 268, Ivan Hlinka at 512, Dan Boyle at 625

No Recchi at 312? You said yourself in the HOH section he should be a lock for the HHOF. Is there any other post-expansion NHL player you'd say that about (or who is in the hall already) that lasted close to that long?

Kovalchuk-Sundin-Hyland (where is the grit and playmaking? This line definitely dragged down an otherwise amazing team)

I mostly agree, but Hyland's PIM totals indicate he actually had a lot of grit. Kovalchuk can also be an ornery ******* too.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

No Recchi at 312? You said yourself in the HOH section he should be a lock for the HHOF. Is there any other post-expansion NHL player you'd say that about (or who is in the hall already) that lasted close to that long?

Recchi was a very good pick and borderline steal I guess, but I don't even know if he was the best pick of the round. Given the premium on defensemen in the ATD, Derian Hatcher at 320 might have been a bigger steal.

I mostly agree, but Hyland's PIM totals indicate he actually had a lot of grit. Kovalchuk can also be an ornery ******* too.

Sure Kovalchuk plays with passion and won't take crap from anyone. I also think I might have seen him go into a corner once in his entire time in NJ, but that could have been someone else.

 

[Dreakmur]

Biggest Steal of the draft
Russell Bowie at 428 - I've always thought he was a legit 2nd liner, and I found some excellent new information on him this year. He's been the biggest steal in every ATD I've been involved in

Eventually, somebody needs to grow a pair and pick him where he belongs. There's no reason he shouldn't be picked around Pat Lafontaine and Dennis Savard, and I'd definately take him before both of them.

Biggest Reach of the draft
Vladimir Konstantinov at 135 - There were so many better players available.

Smartest/best strategic pick in the draft
Stan Mikita at 12 - He's just so versatile! It's pretty much impossible to build a bad line around him.

Biggest blunder selection of the draft
McGuire's Monsters passing on Bowie to take Marian Hossa. I think Bowie would have given my 2nd line the offensive punch it really needed...

A Player finally getting respect in the draft
Frank Nighbor at 41 - I think it's a little too early for him, but he's definately a legit #1 center. He's also easy to build around.

A player you've discovered in this draft
Taffy Abel - I think with a little bit more information, he could be a solid #4 guy.

Most underrated player taken
Russell Bowie

Most overrated player taken
Howie Morenz - only because he's viewed as equal to or better than Mikita. To me, he's much close to guys like Trottier and Clarke than he is to Mikita.

 

[Dwight]

Biggest Steal of the draft
Russell Bowie at 428 - I've always thought he was a legit 2nd liner, and I found some excellent new information on him this year. He's been the biggest steal in every ATD I've been involved in

Really?

 

[VanIslander]

From "The Evolution of Our Teams" thread:

Then in a 14-team MLD8 I had what I believe to be the best MLD first line ever,...

McGill Redmen

Ven Alexandrov - Dubbie Bowie - Blair Russel

 

[Dreakmur]

Really?

Really really.

 

[hungryhungryhippy]

Biggest Steal of the draft

Brad Park - 35th (12th defenseman taken?? )
Johnny Bower - 92nd
Tim Kerr - 176th
Craig Ramsay - 252nd (and Gainey goes a 100 spots earlier?? )
Vladimir Martinec - 276th
Mark Recchi - 312th
Darian Hatcher - 320th
Dirk Graham - 417th
Ivan Hlinka - 512th

Smartest/best strategic pick in the draft

Richard/Boucher picks by Stalberg
Oates/Hull duo in the 90s by Nayld Psycho


Biggest blunder selection of the draft

Taking Lemieux 3rd overall

A Player finally getting respect in the draft

Frank Nighbor, obviously, and Syd Howe as well ( I think he usually goes lower than 137th, right?)

A player you've discovered in this draft

There are a lot of players that I had never heard of, but learned about after facing them in the playoffs. Some examples would be: Barry, Starshinov, Martinec, Marshall, and Lepine.

A guy on my own team that I had never even heard of, was Harry Howell, but I learned a lot about him when I was researching players in that part of the draft, and I learned even more about him later on when I was researching about him on the google news archive feature.

Someone else that I also "discovered" was Jacques Lemaire... I obviously knew a lot about him and what he was all about when I picked him, but I learned so, so, SO much about him that I didn't originally know, after spending 2-3 hours reading news articles about his career.

Most underrated player taken

hmmm, a lot of choices...

I think people underrate the role of special teams, and how helpful a guy like Al MacInnis can be.

I think people underrate how effective Tim Kerr's net presence is, especially on the PP.

From a leadership/intangible standpoint, I think what Dirk Graham brings to a team is underrated.

Most overrated player taken

Jaromir Jagr and Mike Bossy, I would never waste a 1st round pick on either of these guys.

Favourite line of the draft

Kharlamov - Beliveau - Sloan
Olmstead - Apps - Richard (also one of the best assembled)

Best assembled line of the draft

Brind'Amour - Oates - Hull
Lindsay - Clarke - Alfredsson

Worst assembled line of the draft

Kovalchuk - Sundin - Hyland

Favourite pairing of defensemen

Cleghorn - Quackenbush, easily my favorite


Team in the other conference it'd be interesting to meet in the finals

Team Latvia, because the dynamic of that series interests me. Latvia has a very defensively inclined first line, but the other two lines, well, not so much... There are a lot of similarities though in some ways, and the matchups would be interesting (Roy vs Plante, Schmidt vs Nighbor)


Team in the other conference you wouldn't want to meet in the finals

The Regina Pats, because the GMs are so intimidating. Seventieslord is a big ATD meanie and he scares me

The thought of going up in a debate against him is taunting.

 

[seventieslord]

From "The Evolution of Our Teams" thread:

I'd take Pit's MLD7 line: Gordie Roberts - Art Chapman - Corb Denneny

Since it has a legitmate ATD 1st liner and two passable 2nd liners.

But it's close.

 

[seventieslord]

Biggest Steal of the draft

Brad Park - 35th (12th defenseman taken?? )
Johnny Bower - 92nd
Tim Kerr - 176th
Craig Ramsay - 252nd (and Gainey goes a 100 spots earlier?? )
Vladimir Martinec - 276th
Mark Recchi - 312th
Darian Hatcher - 320th
Dirk Graham - 417th
Ivan Hlinka - 512th

Smartest/best strategic pick in the draft

Richard/Boucher picks by Stalberg
Oates/Hull duo in the 90s by Nayld Psycho


Biggest blunder selection of the draft

Taking Lemieux 3rd overall

A Player finally getting respect in the draft

Frank Nighbor, obviously, and Syd Howe as well ( I think he usually goes lower than 137th, right?)

A player you've discovered in this draft

There are a lot of players that I had never heard of, but learned about after facing them in the playoffs. Some examples would be: Barry, Starshinov, Martinec, Marshall, and Lepine.

A guy on my own team that I had never even heard of, was Harry Howell, but I learned a lot about him when I was researching players in that part of the draft, and I learned even more about him later on when I was researching about him on the google news archive feature.

Someone else that I also "discovered" was Jacques Lemaire... I obviously knew a lot about him and what he was all about when I picked him, but I learned so, so, SO much about him that I didn't originally know, after spending 2-3 hours reading news articles about his career.

Most underrated player taken

hmmm, a lot of choices...

I think people underrate the role of special teams, and how helpful a guy like Al MacInnis can be.

I think people underrate how effective Tim Kerr's net presence is, especially on the PP.

From a leadership/intangible standpoint, I think what Dirk Graham brings to a team is underrated.

Most overrated player taken

Jaromir Jagr and Mike Bossy, I would never waste a 1st round pick on either of these guys.

Favourite line of the draft

Kharlamov - Beliveau - Sloan
Olmstead - Apps - Richard (also one of the best assembled)

Best assembled line of the draft

Brind'Amour - Oates - Hull
Lindsay - Clarke - Alfredsson

Worst assembled line of the draft

Kovalchuk - Sundin - Hyland

Favourite pairing of defensemen

Cleghorn - Quackenbush, easily my favorite


Team in the other conference it'd be interesting to meet in the finals

Team Latvia, because the dynamic of that series interests me. Latvia has a very defensively inclined first line, but the other two lines, well, not so much... There are a lot of similarities though in some ways, and the matchups would be interesting (Roy vs Plante, Schmidt vs Nighbor)


Team in the other conference you wouldn't want to meet in the finals

The Regina Pats, because the GMs are so intimidating. Seventieslord is a big ATD meanie and he scares me

The thought of going up in a debate against him is taunting.

Thanks for the props re: Recchi, Ramsay (in a roundabout way), Clegs/Quack, and my meanness. Hopefully one day you'll experience it first hand!

 

[VanIslander]

Biggest Steal of the draft: Lorne Chabot, 551st overall
Biggest Reach of the draft: Dion Phaneuf, 15th round
Smartest/best strategic pick in the draft: Vladimir Vikulov (scorer that team needed gotten in 18th round)
Biggest blunder selection of the draft: Don Cherry, coach (not what that team needed)
A Player finally getting respect in the draft: Odie Cleghorn, 332nd & George Hay, 12th round
A player always taken too high, finally getting picked where he should in the draft: Jamie Langenbrunner, 21st round
A player you've discovered in this draft: Pete Muldoon, coach
Most underrated player taken: Ivan Hlinka, 18th round
Most overrated player taken: Esa Tikkanen, early 7th round (love 'em but way too early)
Favourite line of the draft: Jack Walker - Guy Carbonneau - Mario Trembay
Best assembled line of the draft: Delvecchio-Lemieux-C.Conacher; Krutov-Larionov-Makarov
Worst assembled line of the draft: Eddie Shack-Doug Weight-John McKenzie; Kharlamov-Beliveau-Sloan
Favourite pairing of defensemen: Craig Ludwig - Dickie Boon; Jim Neilson - Barry Beck
Most puzzling pairing of defensemen: Jan Suchy - Sergei Zubov
Team in the other conference it'd be interesting to meet in the finals: Pats (has the centers to neutralize Fusiliers duo)
Team in the other conference you wouldn't want to meet in the finals: Latvia (I'd concede defeat - counters all my team's strengths)

 

[MadArcand]

Most puzzling pairing of defensemen: Jan Suchy - Sergei Zubov

 

[VanIslander]

I saw Zubov play most of his career and the last thing he needs by his side is a European Bobby Orr!!! Do they rock, paper, scissors on up ice surges? Who handles the front of the net? Who doesn't pinch?

 

[seventieslord]

A Player finally getting respect in the draft: Odie Cleghorn,

And in ATD 11, and in ATD 12.

 

[Dreakmur]

Favourite line of the draft: Jack Walker - Guy Carbonneau - Mario Trembay

Favourite pairing of defensemen: Craig Ludwig - Dickie Boon

That's surpriseing, but appreciated anyway

Team in the other conference you wouldn't want to meet in the finals: Latvia

Agreed. I had Latvia as the #1 team in the regular season.

 

[BillyShoe1721]

Biggest Steal of the draft-Vladimir Martinec
Biggest Reach of the draft-Dion Phaneuf
Smartest/best strategic pick in the draft-Lindsay & Clarke
Biggest blunder selection of the draft-Vsevolod Bobrov(admittedly)
A Player finally getting respect in the draft-Frank Nighbor
A player always taken too high, finally getting picked where he should in the draft-Dave Andreychuk
A player you've discovered in this draft-Vladimir Shadrin
Most underrated player taken-Chris Pronger(my eyes have been opened to his brilliance this season).
Most overrated player taken-Jay Bouwmeester
Favourite line of the draft-Lindsay-Clarke-Alfredsson
Best assembled line of the draft-Jackson-Abel-Howe
Worst assembled line of the draft-Bobrov-LaFontaine-Tocchet(admittedly)
Favourite pairing of defensemen-Lutchenko-Tsygankov
Most puzzling pairing of defensemen-Suchy-Zubov
Team in the other conference it'd be interesting to meet in the finals-Vancouver Maroons
Team in the other conference you wouldn't want to meet in the finals-Montreal Shamrocks(Lindsay/Clarke would eat my offense alive)
A funny/dramatic story (related to the ATD) you've learned about since the start of the draft-can't remember who it was, but some guy spitting chewing tobacco on the goalie when he was in front of the net back in the day.

 

[jarek]

To be honest, I don't get the Martinec love. Yeah, he was feared by the Soviets in international play, but do we really know the full story behind that. Was that only a fear that was perceived by writers that watched? Because the Czechs then getting blown out by 6 goals after Martinec goes down tells me that he was their ONLY weapon.. his domestic accomplishments are also very underwhelming compared to guys who were drafted much, much later (Hlinka, Novy, etc.).

 

[BillyShoe1721]

Ask TDMM, he swayed me.

 

[Dreakmur]

To be honest, I don't get the Martinec love. Yeah, he was feared by the Soviets in international play, but do we really know the full story behind that. Was that only a fear that was perceived by writers that watched? Because the Czechs then getting blown out by 6 goals after Martinec goes down tells me that he was their ONLY weapon.. his domestic accomplishments are also very underwhelming compared to guys who were drafted much, much later (Hlinka, Novy, etc.).

Agreed.

As I've said before, I think it goes back to the European preferance for style over substance.

Guys like Martinec and Kharlamov get over-rated, and Mikhailov and Krutov get over-rated as a result.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

A funny/dramatic story (related to the ATD) you've learned about since the start of the draft-can't remember who it was, but some guy spitting chewing tobacco on the goalie when he was in front of the net back in the day.[/B]

Nels Stewart.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

To be honest, I don't get the Martinec love. Yeah, he was feared by the Soviets in international play, but do we really know the full story behind that. Was that only a fear that was perceived by writers that watched? Because the Czechs then getting blown out by 6 goals after Martinec goes down tells me that he was their ONLY weapon.. his domestic accomplishments are also very underwhelming compared to guys who were drafted much, much later (Hlinka, Novy, etc.).

Pretty much every expert on Czech hockey in the 1970s thinks that Nedomansky and Martinec were their best players in either order.

Martinec won 4 Golden Stick awards during the 1970s. Hlinka and Novy each one 1. Novy then won 2 after Stastny defected and the other Czech greats retired.

And yes, i realize that Novy won more "scoring titles," but it doesn't seem like that mattered much to viewers of the Czech league.

Question: Does anyone know if the Czech league officially kept track of scoring stats or if they were just pieced together afterward, like from people at SIHR?

Agreed.

As I've said before, I think it goes back to the European preferance for style over substance.

Guys like Martinec and Kharlamov get over-rated, and Mikhailov and Krutov get over-rated as a result.

And I find it distastefully arrogant to think that we can just look at a stats sheet 30 years later and think that we know better than the people who actually watched these players and who almost universally considered Kharlamov and Martinec the best Soviet and Czech skaters of the era.

Edit: The two of them are, however, the leading scorers of their respective nations in international play by a wide margin. It's possible that the Soviets and Czechs just didn't care much about their domestic leagues.

 

[jarek]

Even if they didn't care about their domestic leagues much, that doesn't mean we shouldn't..