Foster Hewitt Division Finals (1) Pittsburgh AC vs. (3) West Island Lions

[Sturminator]

Pittsburgh AC

Coach: Lester Patrick

Frank Foyston (C)-Frank Boucher-Brett Hull
Vladimir Krutov-Marty Barry-Andy Bathgate
Jiri Holik-Don Marshall-Bob Nevin
Jack Adams-Ivan Hlinka (A)-Terry O'Reilly
Kent Nilsson, Brenden Morrow, Dale Hunter

Ebbie Goodfellow (A)-Doug Harvey
Georges Boucher-Bob Goldham
Rod Seiling-Nikolai Sologubov
Viktor Kuzkin

Grant Fuhr
Rogie Vachon

PP1: Hull-Boucher-Barry-Bathgate-Harvey
PP2: Krutov-Hlinka-Foyston-Boucher-Goodfellow

PK1: Marshall-Nevin-Harvey-Goldham
PK2: Boucher-Holik-Goodfellow-Seiling
Extras: Foyston, Hunter, Boucher

Vs.

WEST ISLAND LIONS

GM: Dwight
Assistant GM: Paulina Gretzky
Coach: Cecil Hart
Captain: Wayne Gretzky
Alternates: Zdeno Chara, Jim Schoenfeld

Tommy Phillips - Wayne Gretzky - Charlie Conacher
Rick Martin - Adam Oates - Larry Aurie
Joe Klukay - Don Luce - Tony Amonte
Jamie Benn - Fleming Mackell - Bengt-Ã…ke Gustafsson
Yvon Lambert - Ken Wharram

Zdeno Chara - Rob Blake
Frank Patrick - Ott Heller
Jim Schoenfeld - Wade Redden
Dion Phaneuf - Doug Barkley

Turk Broda
Chuck Rayner

PP1
Rick Martin - Adam Oates - Charlie Conacher
Wayne Gretzky - Rob Blake

PP2
Jamie Benn - Fleming Mackell - Larry Aurie
Zdeno Chara - Frank Patrick

PK1
Don Luce - Joe Klukay
Zdeno Chara - Ott Heller

PK2
Fleming Mackell - Tommy Phillips
Jim Schoenfeld - Rob Blake

PK3
Adam Oates - Larry Aurie​

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[Dwight]

Rob has ended my ATD campaign the past 2 years. Will he make it 3 this year?

I mean, maybe. Hopefully I have more time to dedicate to arguments this round. Good luck Rob!

 

[ResilientBeast]

Biggest thing for me going forward, what does Rob plan to do with Gretzky, obviously his D is suited for such a task, but I don't see a forward line that could do it.

 

[Sturminator]

I suspect that Rob would do well following the old Al Arbour strategy I used three years ago when faced with another Gretzky-Conacher first line - that is: set the left wings to the task of harassing Conacher, and the centers to the task of keeping Gretzky out of the center of the ice. Don't try to hit Gretzky, just restrict his passing lanes and keep him on the perimeter.

Gretzky's greatest strength was using his teammates to create offensive space, but if Conacher is denied space in transition by the forwards, Gretzky may struggle to open up the very tight AC defense. West Island doesn't have a Paul Coffey.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

I suspect that Rob would do well following the old Al Arbour strategy I used three years ago when faced with another Gretzky-Conacher first line - that is: set the left wings to the task of harassing Conacher, and the centers to the task of keeping Gretzky out of the center of the ice. Don't try to hit Gretzky, just restrict his passing lanes and keep him on the perimeter.

Gretzky's greatest strength was using his teammates to create offensive space, but if Conacher is denied space in transition by the forwards, Gretzky may struggle to open up the very tight AC defense. West Island doesn't have a Paul Coffey.

I'm curious if Rob ends up shuffling the lines. Really, Frank Boucher looks to be the only one of his centers who wouldn't get eaten alive by Gretzky. But then Krutov is the only one of his LWs without a good to great defensive reputation.

 

[Sturminator]

I'm curious if Rob ends up shuffling the lines. Really, Frank Boucher looks to be the only one of his centers who wouldn't get eaten alive by Gretzky. But then Krutov is the only one of his LWs without a good to great defensive reputation.

Yes, doubling up the Franks with Foyston on the top line might be the best move here. As Pittsburgh has the clear coaching advantage and home ice, that matchup could be gotten against Gretzky with some frequency.

Krutov for Foyston would weaken the second line defensively, but Krutov - Barry - Bathgate would be a really tough unit to contain on offense. I could see Krutov doing very well playing off of Andy Bathgate.

Does Don Marshall take shifts at 3rd line center against Gretzky? Holik - Marshall - Nevin is a nice defensive unit. Marshall's main weakness is that he was purely a finesse player, but that's no problem against Wayne. Pittsburgh has some options. Curious to see what Rob decides to do here.

 

[Rob Scuderi]

Good luck Dwight! Looking forward to a good series.

Biggest thing for me going forward, what does Rob plan to do with Gretzky, obviously his D is suited for such a task, but I don't see a forward line that could do it.

Definitely a fair concern. I see West Island similar to Miami in the sense that a top line is the key to the team. Harvey will help serve as an equalizer again here. I'll perform some analysis, but I think I have some solid advantages when you get past Gretzky. Defense, as you mentioned, is one of these.

I suspect that Rob would do well following the old Al Arbour strategy I used three years ago when faced with another Gretzky-Conacher first line - that is: set the left wings to the task of harassing Conacher, and the centers to the task of keeping Gretzky out of the center of the ice. Don't try to hit Gretzky, just restrict his passing lanes and keep him on the perimeter.

Gretzky's greatest strength was using his teammates to create offensive space, but if Conacher is denied space in transition by the forwards, Gretzky may struggle to open up the very tight AC defense. West Island doesn't have a Paul Coffey.

This will be the approach. Holik, Foyston, and Marshall are all strong defensive players (obviously to varying degrees). Gretz being fed by Blake, Patrick, and Redden in transition aren't the most fear-inducing group.

I'm figuring out any potential shuffling of lines so I will revisit these other thoughts.

 

[Rob Scuderi]

Because my lines may change, I want to look at defense first.

Top pairs
Harvey - 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 4, 10
Chara - 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 6, 8, 8, 13

Chara is a nice player and all, but Harvey is way ahead of him.

Goodfellow - 2, 2, 3, 5, 5; 3 (center), 4 (center)
Blake - 2, 3, 3, 3, 5, 8, 11
Similar records, and these guys finished back-to-back in the HoH Defensemen rankings. Goodfellow is hurt by his time playing forward however, and I have him slightly ahead of Blake.

Due to Harvey over Chara, Pittsburgh has a big advantage in top pairs.

Second Pairs
Boucher and Patrick are our #3s, and our early era guys.

Boucher received some Hart Trophy recognition, made the 1925 MacLean's all-time team with Eddie Gerard behind Cleghorn and Stuart, and was an elite scorer.

Patrick was a 2x 1st AST, and 2x 2nd AST in the PCHA and an elite scorer.

I think Boucher is significantly better than Frank. Boucher was a peer of Patrick's and more highly regarded. Boucher also ranked 48th in the HoH D Project FWIW, and Frank did not place.

Goldham - 3, 5, 7, 8; 7?, 5-11?
Heller - 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 10

Heller and Goldham are fairly close. They have similar records, without being able to be too precise about Goldham's years with limited AST voting records.

Either way, on the back of Boucher vs Patrick, I think Pittsburgh has a noticeable advantage on second pairs.

Third Pairs
Schoenfeld - 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13
Seiling - 7, 8, 10

Schoenfeld has a clear advantage over Seiling, as two defensive-minded guys.

Redden - 6, 9, 10, 11
Sologubov - 7x Soviet League AST, 3x WC Best Defender

Again we've reached that awkward point of how to compare Sologubov to an NHL defender with a career entirely in the voting record era. Again, I have no clean answer here, but I think the gap here is less than with Seiling/Schoenfeld.

West Island has the better third pair.

Overall, Pittsburgh has the superior defense, with big advantages on our top two pairs. West Island does have the superior third pair, however.

 

[monster_bertuzzi]

I suspect that Rob would do well following the old Al Arbour strategy I used three years ago when faced with another Gretzky-Conacher first line

I believe last year when I hooked it up was the first time Gretz and Conacher played together in the ATD??

 

[Rob Scuderi]

Coaching and Goaltending are two other areas that go each way.

I think I have an advantage behind the bench. Patrick is roughly a top-five coach all-time (I have him him 4th). Hart is roughly a top-ten coach all-time (I have him 11th). Each coach brings an excellent fit to our squads.

Dwight has an advantage in net. Broda is roughly a top-fifteen goalie all-time (I have him 14th). Fuhr is roughly a top-twenty goalie all-time (I have him 22nd). Both are strong in the playoffs.

I see these as reasonable advantages in each direction.

 

[monster_bertuzzi]

Think I'm switching Krutov and Foyston if I'm Lester Patrick. Krutov on Charlie Conacher could get ugly for the PAC.

 

[Sturminator]

I believe last year when I hooked it up was the first time Gretz and Conacher played together in the ATD??

You are right. Velo's team that year had the three G network: Gretzky - Geoffrion - Goulet.

 

[Rob Scuderi]

I shuffled my lines around. Foyston is bumped up to the second line and Krutov to the second. I've also moved Marshall up to 3C and Hlinka to 4C. Hunter comes out with Adams in as the 4th line LW.

Foyston-Boucher-Hull and Holik-Marshall-Nevin give me two lines to match up against Grezky.

Krutov-Barry-Bathgate can focus on scoring.

Adams-Hlinka-O'Reilly gives me an excellent forechecking line that can chip in offensively as well.

 

[monster_bertuzzi]

I shuffled my lines around. Foyston is bumped up to the second line and Krutov to the second. I've also moved Marshall up to 3C and Hlinka to 4C. Hunter comes out with Adams in as the 4th line LW.

Foyston-Boucher-Hull and Holik-Marshall-Nevin give me two lines to match up against Grezky.

Krutov-Barry-Bathgate can focus on scoring.

Adams-Hlinka-O'Reilly gives me an excellent forechecking line that can chip in offensively as well.

Right call. Krutov - Barry - Bathgate is a disgustingly good second line on the attack.

 

[Sturminator]

I shuffled my lines around. Foyston is bumped up to the second line and Krutov to the second. I've also moved Marshall up to 3C and Hlinka to 4C. Hunter comes out with Adams in as the 4th line LW.

Foyston-Boucher-Hull and Holik-Marshall-Nevin give me two lines to match up against Grezky.

Krutov-Barry-Bathgate can focus on scoring.

Adams-Hlinka-O'Reilly gives me an excellent forechecking line that can chip in offensively as well.

I think this is wise. Having only one matchup line vs. Gretzky might be perilous, but two should be sufficient, especially considering you have home ice and Lester Patrick behind the bench.

I also like the move to set Hlinka up with regular 4th line duties and move Adams into the LW rather than moving Marshall and Hlinka around ad hoc. Line shuffling can work, but it's harder to pull off on a shift-to-shift basis.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Right call. Krutov - Barry - Bathgate is a disgustingly good second line on the attack.

Really strong on O. Weak on D, so they'll have to be hidden from Gretz.

 

[Sturminator]

Pittsburgh wins in 6.
Three Stars: Gretzky, Harvey, Boucher

 

[Rob Scuderi]

Good series Dwight, you had a great squad and I knew it would be a close one either way!