Foster Hewitt Division 1st Round - Indianapolis Racers vs Buchans Miners

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Indianapolis Racers

Head Coach: Dick Irvin Sr.

Brendan Shanahan-Newsy Lalonde-Sergei Makarov
[URL="http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showpost.php?p=79666559&postcount=38"]Brian Propp-[/URL] Dale Hawerchuk-Joe Mullen
Wendel Clark-Dave poulin-[URL="http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showpost.php?p=80892579&postcount=92"]Jim Pappin
Kelly Miller-[/URL] Rick Macleish-John Maclean

Doug Harvey-Lionel Conacher
Gary Suter-Mike Ramsey--
Joe Hall-James Patrick

Billy Smith
Harry Lumley

Extras: Ron Stackhouse, Doug Weight, Andre Dupont, Ab Mcdonald

Captain: Doug Harvey
Alternates: newsy Lalonde, Dale Hawerchuk

Special Teams:

PP 1: Brendan Shanahan, Newsy Lalonde, Sergei Makarov, Doug Harvey, Gary Suter
PP 2: Brian Propp, Dale Hawerchuk, Joe Mullen, James Patrick, Lionel Conacher
PK 1: Kelly Miller, Dave Poulin, Doug Harvey, Mike Ramsey
PK 2: Brian Propp, Rick Macleish, Lionel Conacher, Joe Hall

VS.

The Buchans Miners

GM: Johnny Engine
Coach: Tommy Gorman
Captain: Lester Patrick
Alternate Captains: Doug Gilmour, Al MacInnis

Dickie Moore - Aleksandr Maltsev - Didier Pitre
Luc Robitaille - Doug Gilmour - Odie Cleghorn
Esa Tikkanen - Red Berenson - Bill Guerin
Percy Galbraith - Brad Richards - Floyd Curry

Doug Gilmour will take about half of the 4th-line centre shifts.

Brad McCrimmon - Al MacInnis
Jimmy Watson - Lester Patrick
Gus Mortson - Robert Svehla

Patrick Roy
Dave Kerr

Spares

Mike Richards
Paul MacLean
Ian Turnbull
Al Shields

Powerplay:
MacInnis - Moore - Robitaille - Maltsev - Patrick
Pitre - Gilmour - B. Richards - Cleghorn - Mortson

Turnbull, MacLean, Svehla and Berenson will receive occasional spot duty on the PP.

Penalty Kill
Tikkanen - Gilmour - Watson - McCrimmon
Galbraith - Berenson - MacInnis - Mortson

A third unit of Dickie Moore, Floyd Curry, Lester Patrick and Robert Svehla will receive occasional spot duty on long penalty kills.

Last minute when trailing: Moore - Maltsev - Robitaille - Gilmour - MacInnis - Patrick

Last minute when ahead: Moore - Gilmour - Tikkanen - McCrimmon - MacInnis

and a word from singer-songwriter Matthew Hornell:​

Click to read more...

 

[tony d]

Will start debating this series tomorrow but good luck to Johnny Engine's team.

 

[tony d]

Brendan Shanahan-Newsy Lalonde-Sergei Makarov
Brian Propp- Dale Hawerchuk-Joe Mullen
Wendel Clark-Dave poulin-Jim Pappin
Kelly Miller- Rick Macleish-John Maclean

vs.

Dickie Moore - Aleksandr Maltsev - Didier Pitre
Luc Robitaille - Doug Gilmour - Odie Cleghorn
Esa Tikkanen - Brad Richards - Bill Guerin
Percy Galbraith - Mike Richards - Floyd Curry

Time to begin the comparsion here with the forward group:

Forward Line 1:

Brendan Shanahan vs. Didier Pitre: These guys look like the size guys of their respective lines. Shanahan though was more likely to use his size than was Pitre. In a playoff series you're going to want your physical guys to be physical. Shanahan will but will Pitre?

Newsy Lalonde vs. Alexander Maltsev: Is the centre battle. Lalonde is the more dynamic of the 2 but Maltsev should be able to hold his own. Maltsev's size is going to be a concern especially going against a guy like Lalonde who was a physical scoring centre. Is there anyone on your 1st line that could protect Maltsev from the physical Lalonde and Shanahan?

Sergei Makarov vs. Dickie Moore: Makarov vs. Moore should be the highlight matchup between the 1st lines. Moore added somewhat of a gritty game which could be crucial. The matchup between the 1st lines should be a good 1.

Advantage: Indianapolis

Forward Lines 2:

Brian Propp vs. Odie Cleghorn: Both guys read as the lunch pail players of the 2nd lines. Both guys where physical guys who went all out for the team and wheren't afraid to get dirty, all the while providing their teams with offense.

Dale Hawerchuk vs. Doug Gilmour: You got a real warrior in Doug Gilmour, the playoffs where his strong suit as he put those Toronto teams of the 90's on his back and ran with them. Hawerchuk was a good player but doesn't offer the physical defensive dynamic while Gilmour offers an offensive game in addition to a physical 1.

Joe Mullen vs. Luc Robitaille: The goal scoring battle of the 2nd lines goes here. Both players where known for their goal scoring above everything else. Both guys also had physical games (Which I didn't know about Mullen and certainly didn't know about Robitaille), that said I trust Mullen's physical game more than Robitaille's.

Advantage: A slight 1 to the Miners largely because of Doug Gilmour

Forward Lines 3:

Wendel Clark vs. Bill Guerin: Funny these 2 would go vs. 1 another as when I picked Clark I had it finalized between him and Guerin. Clark has the ability to be more of a team player than did Guerin. Still both are going to be good physical players who can also score some goals.

Dave Poulin vs. Brad Richards: I fail to see what Brad Richards brings to a checking line in the ATD sense and I really think being matched against Dave Poulin will make things worse. Poulin was a pretty good 3rd liner for the majority of his NHL career, adding some scoring to a good defensive game, Richards was all playmaking and little else.

Jim Pappin vs. Esa Tikkanen: I think this should be a good battle as I think both are going to be pesky guys on the ice especially in front of the net. In the past I've criticized Tikkanen going so high but I think where you got him is the perfect spot for him. Pappin did all the little things right during his NHL career. I think this will be a good 1 on 1 battle.

Advantage: Indianapolis because I really don't see Brad Richards being a good 3rd liner in this.

Forward Line 4:

Kelly Miller vs. Floyd Curry: Both guys aren't going to be confused with Wayne Gretzky in terms of offense and that's what they're here for, they're going to be mainly defensive guys which is why they're on the 4th line. Both guys are excellent team guys which is what you want on the 4th line.

Rick Macleish vs. Mike Richards: I think both guys offer their teams a solid game albeit different games. Macleish of course is an offensive guy while Richards plays a defensive more 4th line game. Neither guy should hurt his team.

John Maclean vs. Percy Galbraith: Now here's a matchup of oppostive styles. You have Maclean, a goal scorer vs. Galbraith who was anything but. Maclean added a physical game from time to time, did Galbraith add any offense to his game? Could be a difference in this series.

Advantage: Indianapolis because of the 2 way play of Maclean.

I'll be back tomorrow to review the defense matchups.

 

[Johnny Engine]

I'll address those point by point soon, but I'm using Berenson in my lineup against you. As mentioned in the my lineup post, Berenson draws in when I need a matchup, and you really stacked your most potent weapons on your first line. Mike Richards sits for now, with Brad mostly playing as a PP specialist, and Gilmour picking up 4th line shifts on defensive zone faceoffs.

Moore - Maltsev - Pitre
Robitaille - Gilmour - Cleghorn
Tikkanen - Berenson - Guerin
Galbraith - B. Richards* - Curry

If a mod wants to update the OP, that would be good.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

I'll address those point by point soon, but I'm using Berenson in my lineup against you. As mentioned in the my lineup post, Berenson draws in when I need a matchup, and you really stacked your most potent weapons on your first line. Mike Richards sits for now, with Brad mostly playing as a PP specialist, and Gilmour picking up 4th line shifts on defensive zone faceoffs.

Moore - Maltsev - Pitre
Robitaille - Gilmour - Cleghorn
Tikkanen - Berenson - Guerin
Galbraith - B. Richards* - Curry

If a mod wants to update the OP, that would be good.

I can edit the OP, but if you want me to include the hyperlinks can you please post your new lineup with them included? It's one thing for me to copy and paste a whole lineup; having to copy and paste parts of it into other parts is a lot of work.

Also, I think you need to change the special teams if Mike Richards is no longer dressed.

 

[Johnny Engine]

Cool. I'll do that as soon as I get home from work today!

 

[Johnny Engine]

Here is the Buchans Miners more matchup-friendly lineup:

GM: Johnny Engine
Coach: Tommy Gorman
Captain: Lester Patrick
Alternate Captains: Doug Gilmour, Al MacInnis

Dickie Moore - Aleksandr Maltsev - Didier Pitre
Luc Robitaille - Doug Gilmour - Odie Cleghorn
Esa Tikkanen - Red Berenson - Bill Guerin
Percy Galbraith - Brad Richards - Floyd Curry

Doug Gilmour will take about half of the 4th-line centre shifts.

Brad McCrimmon - Al MacInnis
Jimmy Watson - Lester Patrick
Gus Mortson - Robert Svehla

Patrick Roy
Dave Kerr

Spares

Mike Richards
Paul MacLean
Ian Turnbull
Al Shields

Powerplay:
MacInnis - Moore - Robitaille - Maltsev - Patrick
Pitre - Gilmour - B. Richards - Cleghorn - Mortson

Penalty Kill
Tikkanen - Gilmour - Watson - McCrimmon
Galbraith - Berenson - MacInnis - Mortson

A third unit of Dickie Moore, Floyd Curry, Lester Patrick and Robert Svehla will receive occasional spot duty on long penalty kills.

Last minute when trailing: Moore - Maltsev - Robitaille - Gilmour - MacInnis - Patrick

Last minute when ahead: Moore - Gilmour - Tikkanen - McCrimmon - MacInnis


EDIT: IN OP

 

[tony d]

Looking forward to your rebuttal Johnny. I will say that Red Berenson is a game changer here for sure and makes the checking line battle a little closer.

Time now to compare the defenses:

Defense Pairing 1:

Doug Harvey vs. Al MacInnis:

Both these guys are leaders on the defensive side of the puck for our teams and the success of the teams will go through the 2 of them. Both play a similar game in that they play just as well offensively as they do defensively. Harvey seemed to block more shots than what MacInnis did so that could produce an advantage for the Racers but overall this should be a close matchup.

Lionel Conacher vs. Brad Mccrimmon

I believe that there is a familarity between MacInnis and Mccrimmon dating back to their Calgary days so I can see why you went with them as a pairing. That said in an ATD setting I don't think Mccrimmon belongs on a top pairing (I like him a lot and think he's a great #3 but out of place as a #2), pairing with MacInnis should help him but I think his inclusion here will be a disadvantage for your team.

Advantage: Racers because of Harvey being Harvey mainly

Defense Pairing 2:

Gary Suter vs. Lester Patrick:

Both guys look to be the 2nd tier offensive defensemen for both clubs and they're both guys who aren't afraid to get physical. Patrick's all around game probably gives him a bit of an advantage over Suter but I think Suter's offensive game is enough to keep pace with Patrick's.

Mike Ramsey vs. Jimmy Watson:

I moved Ramsey up to help Gary Suter out a lot more plus his defensive game should help this team more vs. Jimmy Watson than Joe Hall would. Both guys are prototypical stay at home defensemen who probably won't do anything offensively. This should be a good battle as I've always liked Watson.

Advantage: None here, this is an equal battle, All 4 guys play a similar game to the person they're going vs. Which pairing comes out better could mean a series win for the Racers or the Miners.

Defensive Pairing 3:

Joe Hall vs. Robert Svhela: Hall and Svehla are both good physical defensemen who will do everything to help their teams. Hall's a strong #5 in this while Svehla is probably a mid to lower tier #6 but he should still provide a decent battle in going vs. Hall.

James Patrick vs. Gus Mortson: Both guys play an opposite style. Patrick's offensive while Mortson's defensive. I think that having Mortson on your bottom pairing with Svehla is good for your team as you want your final pairing to be shutdown.

Advantage: Buchans as this is a classic 3rd shutdown pairing instead of the offensive/defensive dynamic I've got going with my defense.

I look forward to a rebuttal from Johnny and I'll debate the goaltending tomorrow.

 

[Johnny Engine]

Now for a few things I disagree with from your assessments:

- Didier Pitre is the "size guy" on my top line only in that he's strong enough that if he decides to stand somewhere to shoot, your defensemen will have their work cut out to move him. The better player for gutting it out in the corners, winning puck battles, and digging out rebounds is Dickie Moore. Moore is up there with Bert Olmstead and Hooley Smith as physical first line "glue" wingers, while providing more offense.

- Guerin's occasional holdouts have nothing to do with his play at crunch time, and he's a better 3rd-line option than Clark. Guerin meshed with Lemaire's system in Jersey and was a fast tenacious player who was good on the boards. Clark just threw a lot of hits.

- Curry has a few monster playoffs to his credit, and having either Gilmour or Richards passing to him makes my 4th line a bit of a scoring darkhorse.

- For bottom sixers, explain to me what the difference between Brad Richards and Rick MacLeish is? They both have some lip service as good two way guys, and Richards has his 4th-place Selke finish and heavy PK usage in Tampa.
Then, Richards has his decline in defensive usage as his career went on (mostly to get away from having him play #1 defenseman-type minutes) and the same lacklustre Rangers tenure that every player in the NHL has, and MacLeish has that quizzical "worst defensive forward of the 70s" cross to bear that I still don't think we as a community have totally settled. To me it looks like they're both versatile guys, not big, but smart enough to play any role.

- Not a rebuttal, per se, but the tempermental Lalonde will see a lot of shifts against Tikkanen's line, and has a better than average chance to try and murder him after the whistle. That's the kind of matchup I crave, hopefully leading to a few chances for MacInnis to load up his cannon.

If you're not on by later tonight, I'll take on the defense!

 

[Johnny Engine]

I see you got to the defense. Give me a bit!

 

[Johnny Engine]

On the defense:

- I'm glad you see Lester Patrick's defensive value - I'm always fond of a huge guy who was also a great tactician. It's easy to overlook those qualities as opposed to a guy like Suter, who's meaner than a Honey Badger trying to quit smoking cold turkey. However...
i don't see them as fully equal offensively. Yeah, Suter had the toughest competition for an offensive defenseman ever, but he still squeaks into the top-ten in his cohort - Patrick may have been the best rusher of his day. Suter also had some pretty choice company on special teams - MacInnis, Chelios, as well as Bob Johnson's legendary Flames units that were good from top to bottom. I see it as a difference between an excellent player, and a dominant one.

- It should also be noted that Gus Mortson was known as a great puck rusher with a good shot. He doesn't have the numbers to back him up as a real offensive D, but it makes him a cog in the best kind of shut-down pairing - a versatile one. He'll play the Shea Weber role to Svehla's quieter Ryan Suter.

- It's very possible that Hall's a great partner for James Patrick, although I used him in a similar role opposite Steve Duchesne last year and didn't get much traction. He's been described as doing good things defensively - blocking shots, taking the man - but some see him as an olde-timey Dion Phaneuf. Then again, he might find a home next to the more cerebral Patrick. If that's true, Hall-Suter might have been an absolute clownshow. Good on you for making the move.

- I'm not sure how much your last pairing matters, because I imagine you'll lean on Harvey heavily. The fact that you have your big franchise D, and I have my #1, #2, and #3b defensemen on different pairings means I can role them a bit more, and make up the minutes difference on special teams. That makes us harder to compare head to head.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Hockey reference.com made a data entry error. Brad Richards did not finish 4th in Selke voting.

I mean, seriously, what are the chances of a player finishing 4th in Selke voting as a rookie on a bottomfeeding team, then never getting more than a small handful of votes the rest of his career?

Here is the Selke voting for 2000-01 according to the History of Hockey board:

SELKE: John Madden, N.J. 269 (14-10-10-2-3); Joe Sakic, COL 249 (15-9-3-6-3); Mike Modano, DAL 199 (8-8-7-8-4); Mike Ricci, S.J. 125 (6-2-6-6-3); Steve Yzerman, DET 108 (3-7-3-3-5); Jere Lehtinen, DAL 93 (1-4-8-3-6); Radek Bonk, OTT 66 (2-4-1-4-1); Patrik Elias, N.J. 64 (2-2-4-3-1); Bobby Holik, N.J. 47 (2-3-1-0-1); Todd Marchant, EDM 46 (1-2-4-0-2); Peter Forsberg, COL 44 (2-3-0-0-3); Sergei Fedorov, DET 35 (2-0-3-0-0); Curtis Brown, BUF 30 (2-1-0-1-0); Marian Hossa, OTT 19 (1-0-1-1-1); Petr Sykora, N.J. 19 (0-2-0-1-2); Magnus Arvedson, OTT 18 (0-1-1-1-3); Rod Brind'Amour, CAR 14 (0-1-0-2-1); Zigmund Palffy, L.A. 13 (1-0-0-1-0); Jeff Halpern, WSH 13 (0-0-2-0-3); Gary Roberts, TOR 12 (0-1-1-0-0); Milan Hejduk, COL 12 (0-1-0-1-2); Mike Keane, DAL 10 (0-1-0-1-0); Kris Draper, DET 10 (0-0-2-0-0); Steve Konowalchuk, WSH 9 (0-0-0-3-0); Niklas Sundstrom, S.J. 8 (0-0-1-1-0); Craig Conroy, STL-CGY 7 (0-0-1-0-2); Rob Zamuner, OTT 7 (0-0-0-2-1); Paul Kariya, ANA 6 (0-0-1-0-1); Steve Sullivan, CHI 6 (0-0-0-2-0); Andrei Nikolishin, WSH 5 (0-0-1-0-0); Owen Nolan, S.J. 5 (0-0-1-0-0); Adam Oates, WSH 4 (0-0-0-1-1); Doug Weight, EDM 4 (0-0-0-1-1); Kevyn Adams, CBJ 3 (0-0-0-1-0); Mike Grier, EDM 3 (0-0-0-1-0); Michal Handzus, STL-PHX 3 (0-0-0-1-0); Alexander Mogilny, N.J. 3 (0-0-0-1-0); Joe Nieuwendyk, DAL 3 (0-0-0-1-0); Dave Reid, COL 3 (0-0-0-1-0); Mike Sullivan, PHX 3 (0-0-0-1-0); Bill Guerin, EDM-BOS 2 (0-0-0-0-2); Dave Scatchard, NYI 2 (0-0-0-0-2); Andrew Cassels, VAN 1 (0-0-0-0-1); Ron Francis, CAR 1 (0-0-0-0-1); Kent Manderville, PHI 1 (0-0-0-0-1); Randy McKay, N.J. 1 (0-0-0-0-1); Mark Recchi, PHI 1 (0-0-0-0-1); Brendan Shanahan, DET 1 (0-0-0-0-1); Ryan Smyth, EDM 1 (0-0-0-0-1); Stephane Yelle, COL 1 (0-0-0-0-1)

When hockey reference copied the data from hfboards, they seem to have given Mike Ricci's votes in 2000-01 to Brad Richards.

 

[Johnny Engine]

Ok, I thought that was weird myself. Whoops.

Doesn't really change the overall point I was trying to make, that he's always been known as a smart, two-way classic centre, and not a one-dimensional player (which isn't even that important a point, since he's not being used as a defensive matchup).

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Ok, I thought that was weird myself. Whoops.

Doesn't really change the overall point I was trying to make, that he's always been known as a smart, two-way classic centre, and not a one-dimensional player (which isn't even that important a point, since he's not being used as a defensive matchup).

I don't think he's always been known as a two-way center, but I was surprised by the number of references to his two-way game in your profile. Guess I didn't see much of him in Dallas. I think your statement that Brad Richards and Rick MacLeish both "received lip service as two-way guys" seems accurate.

 

[BraveCanadian]

Hockey reference.com made a data entry error. Brad Richards did not finish 4th in Selke voting.

Yeah that jumped out at me a bit considering I had Richards before.

His defensive stock seems to have gone up and down in his career.

MacLeish is actually an interesting comparable because there is conflicting info about him too.

I don't think he's always been known as a two-way center, but I was surprised by the number of references to his two-way game in your profile.

No wonder my team did so poorly that year. Put all this work into my profiles and no one reads them. grumble grumble

 

[Pominville Knows]

Why is Gilmour not getting all of Brad Richards minutes, anyway?

 

[tony d]

Good to see Johnny Engine providing debate in this series, always good to have debate in a series like this.

I'll focus on the goalie battle today:

Smith/Lumley vs. Roy/Kerr

Comments: In Smith and Roy we may have drafted 2 of the better playoff goalies ever. Both guys bring an added element to their teams in that they're good money goalies. I think having Roy gives your team a very strong advantage but the backups (Though they only get limited action because of who their #1's are) could be the difference here. I think if my goalie goes down to injury during the playoffs or in the season I'd be more comfortable in having Lumley, who is 1 of the best backups in this, over Kerr who is a mid tier backup at best in this.

Advantage: Close 1 to the Miners but that's because of Roy should Roy get injured the goalie advantage goes to me as Smith and Lumley are strong in their own right.

Thanks again for the debate Johnny, tomorrow I'll discuss special teams and coaching.

 

[Hawkey Town 18]

Good to see Johnny Engine providing debate in this series, always good to have debate in a series like this.

I'll focus on the goalie battle today:

Smith/Lumley vs. Roy/Kerr

Comments: In Smith and Roy we may have drafted 2 of the better playoff goalies ever. Both guys bring an added element to their teams in that they're good money goalies. I think having Roy gives your team a very strong advantage but the backups (Though they only get limited action because of who their #1's are) could be the difference here. I think if my goalie goes down to injury during the playoffs or in the season I'd be more comfortable in having Lumley, who is 1 of the best backups in this, over Kerr who is a mid tier backup at best in this.

Advantage: Close 1 to the Miners but that's because of Roy should Roy get injured the goalie advantage goes to me as Smith and Lumley are strong in their own right.

Thanks again for the debate Johnny, tomorrow I'll discuss special teams and coaching.

I have to chime in here, I don't see this goaltending matchup as close at all, and frankly I am shocked to hear this argument even being made. Roy has a legit claim as the best goalie ever and Smith is a below average starter. The gap between those two is larger than the gap between the backups, and even if it weren't larger, it should not matter. This is WAY more weight than I think should be put on backups. It's the playoffs, the backups will hardly be playing at all. It's not like Roy is injury prone either (although injuries are already factored into our overall ranking of players, so I don't think the backup should be much of a factor even if he was injury prone)...I guess if both your starter and backup were injury prone it would lead to further deduction, but we don't see that often.

Don't mean to be going off on you here, this is meant to be a general comment...this is the second time I've seen a significant gap in goaltender quality attempt to be passed off as small (the other was Hall vs. Belfour).

 

[tony d]

I agree Hawkey Roy is head and shoulders above every other goalie in this league. It's just you measure the goalie tandems and it's closer. If we where just ranking Roy vs. Smith then it's Roy hands down though Smith's playoff credentials makes things closer.

 

[Johnny Engine]

I will credit Tony with picking a backup that can spell Smith for 40 games or so, if you believe that extra rest was a part of Smith's recipe for playoff success. The injury argument isn't flying with me though, and I don't see other voters looking at it that way either. To the extent that you can seriously expect a backup goalie to affect a series, they're too close together to make any difference at all. A mid-range backup like Kerr won't scare the coach if Roy suddenly has to use the washroom.

 

[Hawkey Town 18]

I agree Hawkey Roy is head and shoulders above every other goalie in this league. It's just you measure the goalie tandems and it's closer. If we where just ranking Roy vs. Smith then it's Roy hands down though Smith's playoff credentials makes things closer.

Are you saying Smith has better playoff credentials than Roy? I find that tough to agree with and if he doesn't then they wouldn't make it closer.

 

[tony d]

No I'm not. Roy won playoff series by himself but it's just Smith's playoff record is nothing to sneeze at either, Roy gives Johnny an advantage in net but Smith is not going to hurt my team come playoff time.

 

[monster_bertuzzi]

Roy isn't head and shoulders above Hasek. Hell, talent-wise Hasek is the best puckstopper in the league IMO.

 

[Johnny Engine]

Fair point, although Hasek isn't in this series.

I think the narrative Tony is trying to sell here is "Roy is the best goalie, and will stay the best goalie in this series; Smith is a mediocre goalie who will be a very good goalie in this series, so the gap is closing by a certain amount."

I'll counter with the fact that in the playoffs, there are more chances for a goaltender to dominate - you'd never see a team like the '03 Ducks challenge for the President's Trophy, would you? There's plenty of room for Roy to improve on his regular season performance, and he has a history of doing exactly that.

 

[tony d]

That's exactly what I'm saying, I'll be the first person to say that Patrick Roy's the best goalie in NHL history and he gives any team he's on the advantage in net. It's just Smith's playoff exploits will help my team a lot more than if this was Patrick Roy going vs. a lesser playoff goalie.

Now to the coaching and special teams:

Coaching:

Dick Irvin vs. Tommy Gorman:

I think both coaches are going to help their teams a lot. Irvin seemed to get the most out of any team while Gorman worked well with defensive clubs which it looks like your team is more of.

Advantage: None really, these guys are both top 10 coaches of all time and where they rank is probably within 1 spot of the other.

Special Teams:

Power Play:

PP 1: Brendan Shanahan, Newsy Lalonde, Sergei Makarov, Doug Harvey, Gary Suter
PP 2: Brian Propp, Dale Hawerchuk, Joe Mullen, James Patrick, Lionel Conacher

vs.

MacInnis - Moore - Robitaille - Maltsev - Patrick
Pitre - Gilmour - B. Richards - Cleghorn - Mortson

Comments: My 1st PP unit of Lalonde-Makarov-Harvey with Shanahan being a good net presence should be dynamic to watch. I guess you'll be using Richards as a point guy on your 2nd unit which is the best way to use his talents, same with Robitaille. Not much of a difference between the PP units for both teams.

PK:

PK 1: Kelly Miller, Dave Poulin, Doug Harvey, Mike Ramsey
PK 2: Brian Propp, Rick Macleish, Lionel Conacher, Joe Hall

vs.

Tikkanen - Gilmour - Watson - McCrimmon
Galbraith - Berenson - MacInnis - Mortson

Comments: Much like the PP our PK units are equal. Tikkanen will probably make things interesting for your PK. Miller on my first PK will make the best use out of his skills.

Advantage: None, special teams are as equal as they can get.

Final Thoughts:

I'd like to thank Johnny for a fair debate here, this is a very even series, I wish him good luck in this series.