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Foster Hewitt Divisional Quarterfinals: Inglewood Jacks vs. Detroit Reds

arrbez

arrbez

bad chi
Jun 2, 2004
13,352
261
Toronto
Inglewood Jacks



Cecil Hart

Harry Watson - Wayne Gretzky (C) - Jari Kurri
Baldy Northcott - Pat Lafontaine - Alexander Mogilny
Ross Lonsberry - Rod Brind'Amour (A) - Ron Ellis
Murray Murdoch - Bernie Nicholls - Bill Ezinicki

Brian Leetch - Moose Johnson (A)
George Boucher (A) - Jimmy Watson
Lloyd Cook - Kimmo Timonen

Tiny Thompson
Rogie Vachon

Spare: Pavol Demitra (LW/RW/C), Mike Richards (C), Robyn Regehr (D), Pavel Kubina (D)



Special Teams:

PP1: Leetch - Nicholls - Gretzky - Kurri - Watson
PP2: Boucher - Timonen - Lafontaine - Mogilny - Northcott

PK1: Johnson - Watson - Brind'Amour - Northcott
PK2: Leetch - Cook - Gretzky - Kurri





VS



Detroit Reds

Head Coach: Dr. Ludek Bukac
Assistant Coach: Stanislav Nevesely
Captain: Steve Yzerman
Assistant Captains: Chris Chelios, Sid Abel


Alexander Ovechkin - Sid Abel (A) - Boris Mayorov
Clark Gillies- Steve Yzerman(C) - Tim Kerr
Daniel Sedin - Henrik Sedin - Claude Lemieux
Jiri Holik - Ivan Hlinka - Milan Hejduk
Ladislav Trojak
Martin Straka


Chris Chelios (A) - Gary Suter
Fern Flaman - Lars-Erik Sjoberg
Ulf Samuelsson - Ken Daneyko
Mattias Ohlund

Curtis Joseph
Jiri Kralik

Powerplay Unit 1:
Yzerman - Abel - Gillies
Chelios - Suter

Powerplay Unit 2:
D. Sedin - H. Sedin - Kerr
Ovechkin - Sjoberg

Penalty Kill Unit 1:
Holik - Hlinka
Chelios - Flaman

Penalty Kill Unit 2:
Yzerman - Abel
Daneyko - Samuelsson​
Click to read more...
 
arrbez

arrbez

bad chi
Jun 2, 2004
13,352
261
Toronto
What, no Suter-Gretzky comments yet?




So I guess our playoff series isn't going to disuss itself.


So, here are some reasons for an Inglewood victory:


Team Speed/Backchecking/Counter-Attack:

I've tried to build a quick team that will be very dangerous in open ice and on the counter-attack. Every member of my top-6 falls somewhere between fast and crazy fast on the speed scale, and you have to go all the way down to Nicholls on my 4th line to find a forward who could be described as a middling skater.

And importantly, this speed is augmented by what is (IMO) one of the top puck-moving bluelines in the draft this year. Leetch and Boucher are elite offensive defensemen here, and will be encouraged to support the rush. Johnson, Cook, and Timonen are all very good offensive contributors as well. Watson is the only defender who doesn't bring much offensively aside from a good first pass out of the zone.

I think the backchecking of forwards like Kurri, Watson, Northcott, Brind'Amour, Ellis, Lonsberry, etc will be an important factor for my team in this series. Add to that the ever-dangerous puck-hawking skills of Gretzky and a Lafontaine-Mogilny duo that was about as good as it gets on the fast break.

What this all amounts to is an Inglewood squad that can turn the puck around in a big hurry. While Detroit isn't tragically slow, I don't think they're particularly fast either. And I would consider their forwards to be average-at-best defensively. I believe my team speed and quick-strike ability is going to give Detroit fits in this series.


Goaltending:

This kind of leads into my next point, which is goaltending. I think I'm a bigger fan of Cujo than most people here, and he's at his best when under heavy fire (which I think he'll be here). But Dominik Hasek he is not, and I think I have an edge in net (particularly when the backups are taken into account).


Matchups:

I'm not sure Detroit has an answer for the Gretzky line defensively. Yzerman is the only centre I see with notable defensive presence (unless I'm missing something on Abel). And as amazing as it is to have Steve Yzerman as a #2 centre, I think he's on a bit of an island there. Gillies and Kerr are the type of guys who can play in a top-6, but ideally not on the same line. I think my top line is better both offensively and defensively.

While the hyper-aggressive styles of Ovechkin and Mayorov are effective in the right situation, I think they make the Abel line a very poor match against a chess-master like Gretzky. And I don't think the other two lines are the types you'd want playing heavy minutes in a defensive role.





That's what I have for now, best of luck to Detroit!
 
Last edited:
Reds4Life

Reds4Life

Registered User
Dec 24, 2007
3,897
223
I am unable to tell which team would actually win a playoff series to be honest, so I will just post brief summary of how I envision my team's play.

I wanted 3 lines that are capable of comparable offensive output. I think I almost managed to do it, but I dropped the ball with the Flaman pick, I should have taken a forward there.
The fourth line is supposed to play conservatively and chip in offensively whenever possible.
I do not believe in shutdown lines, I prefer a system oriented team where every line does the same thing.


I like my top D pair, and I would like to see them play live :)
My overall defense is solid, but it does not provide enough offensive support. The Daneyko pick was a mistake too. I might play Ohlund over him.


As for goalies, CuJo is solid, I do not really expect him to steal games or **** it up too much. Goalie is the least important position imho.

So my strategy: roll the 3 lines evenly, fourth line little less ice-time. Keep high tempo from start to finish. Ignore matchups. Clear the crease to let CuJo see the shots.


I am content with the team I drafted, but I made a couple of mistakes that I should not have made. But I enjoyed the ATD nonetheless.



Anyway, I like the Jacks team a lot and I would rank them pretty high if I actually voted last week :D

Best of luck to you, arrbez :)
 
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