rmartin65
Registered User
- Apr 7, 2011
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Here is just a little bit more on how the Americans plan to constrain Beliveau;
Bob Pulford had some real-life success against Beliveau-
From his bio:
As did Horton-
From overpass in last year’s playoffs-
I think Chara is a pretty clear upgrade on Stanley, which makes the pairing even more successful.
Bob Pulford had some real-life success against Beliveau-
From his bio:
His value to his teams couldn't be measured in stats. He reached the 20 goal plateau only four times and the 50 point plateau three times. Bob was considered one of the best fore-checkers in the NHL with a knack of scoring important goals. He thrived under pressure and was especially valuable during the playoffs when the checking got tougher.
Legendary Montreal coach Toe Blake was once asked who he would pick from the Toronto team if he could. Toe didn't pick Frank Mahovlich, Dave Keon or Tim Horton, but he chose Bob, and when asked why, his simple explanation was, "He's the heart of that hockey club."
Many wonder why Bob Pulford is in the Hockey Hall of Fame as a player. Well his 1964 playoff performance undoubtedly has a lot to do with it. The Pulford [Line] held the vaunted Jean Beliveau - Boom Boom Geoffrion - XXXX XXXXXXXX line of the first place Canadiens to only three goals in seven games in round one. In round two he put an end to the brilliant scoring run by Norm Ullman of Detroit, whose line had four goals in the seven games against the Leafs. Pulford was the Leafs star in a 3-2 loss to Montreal, scoring both goals including one shorthanded. He was mentioned as one of the Leafs best players in three of the other games against Montreal for his hard checking and brilliant penalty-killing. In addition to his game one heroics he had two goals and one assist as Toronto won 4-3 in overtime in game six. He had his third short-handed marker in that one and set up the famous overtime marker to take game six.
As did Horton-
From overpass in last year’s playoffs-
overpass said:Pittsburgh AC really depends on their first line to carry the scoring load. The Ice Rays are loaded and ready to limit Pittsburgh's top end scoring. It starts with Victor Hedman and Tim Horton, an extremely mobile and physically imposing pair who are both great defensively. Tim Horton is no stranger to facing Jean Beliveau in the playoffs. In 6 playoff series against each other, each came out on top 3 times. Beliveau's playoff scoring line against Horton was 17-9-26 in 30 games. That includes a 12-2-14 line at EV and 5-7-12 on the PP. So while Beliveau had success scoring goals against Horton and the Leafs, he didn't have much success setting up his linemates, and his EV scoring was pretty low. In fact, Horton had a scoring line of 3-8-11, all at EV, in those same games, so he only had 3 fewer EV points than Beliveau in their head to head playoff matchup. Horton's defence partner for those series was Allan Stanley, a big defensive defenceman who made the HHOF, but wasn't much of a skater. (Stanley was injured for one of the series that Montreal won, if you remove that series Beliveau had 15 goals, 6 assists, 21 points in 26 playoff games against Stanley-Horton.) Hedman has even more size than Stanley and far better skating, adding another dimension to the pairing.
overpass said:And I'll say a little more about the Horton-Beliveau matchup. Jean Beliveau scored 1219 points in 1125 regular season games in his NHL career (1.08 Pts/G). Against the Maple Leafs (and Horton played in almost all of these games) he scored 186 points in 201 regular season games, a 15% drop in scoring. Beliveau scored 1.09 Pts/G in his playoff career, and only 26 points in 30 playoff games against Toronto, or 0.87 Pts/G, a 20% drop in scoring. The Ice Rays are extremely pleased to have Tim Horton to match up against Jean Beliveau and Bert Olmstead.
I think Chara is a pretty clear upgrade on Stanley, which makes the pairing even more successful.