Foster Hewitt semi-final: Chicago Shamrocks vs. California Golden Seals

[VanIslander]

Foster Hewitt division:


Chicago Shamrocks

coach Hap Day

Alex Ovechkin (A) - Mike Modano - Alex Maltsev
Steve Shutt - Norm Ullman - Guy Lafleur
John Tonelli - Jonathan Toews (A) - Larry Aurie
Bob Davidson - Aleksander Barkov - Joe Pavelski
Walt Tkaczuk, Rejean Houle

Victor Hedman - Eddie Gerard (C)
Roman Josi - Jimmy Thomson
Jim Neilson - Terry Harper
Barry Beck

Andrei Vasilevskiy
Roy Worters



vs.



California Golden Seals

coach Tommy Gorman

Syd Howe - Steve Yzerman (A) - Gordie Howe (C)
Roy Conacher - Sergei Fedorov - Steve Larmer
Craig Ramsay - Steve Kasper - Danny Gare
Patrick Marleau - Gilbert Perreault - Tony Amonte
John Tavares, Todd Bertuzzi

Sprague Cleghorn (A) - Jiri Bubla
Jack Stewart - Sergei Zubov
Moose Vasko - Red Horner
Jimmy Watson

Turk Broda
Curtis Joseph

​

Click to read more...

 

[VanIslander]

Post your special teams, links, photos, comments, etc.

 

[tony d]

Good luck @Hawkey Town 18. Here are my special teams

Special Teams:

PP 1: Syd Howe-Steve Yzerman-Gordie Howe-Sprague Cleghorn-Sergei Zubov
PP 2: Roy Conacher-Gilbert Perreault-Steve Larmer-Jiri Bubla-Sergei Fedorov

PK 1: Craig Ramsay-Steve Kasper--Moose Vasko-Jack Stewart
PK 2: Sergei Fedorov-Gordie Howe-Sprague Cleghorn-Jiri Bubla

 

[Hawkey Town 18]

Here's to a good series @tony d !

Posing the Chicago lineup again here with links to bios for the underlined player names:

Coach: Hap Day

Alexander Ovechkin (A) - Mike Modano - Alexander Maltsev
Steve Shutt - Norm Ullman - Guy Lafleur
John Tonelli - Jonathan Toews (A) - Larry Aurie
Bob Davidson - Aleksander Barkov - Joe Pavelski


Victor Hedman - Eddie Gerard (C)
Roman Josi - Jimmy Thomson
Jim Neilson - Terry Harper


Andrei Vasilevskiy
Roy Worters​

Chicago special teams as follows:

PP1
Pavelski (net front)
Ovechkin - Maltsev - Lafleur
Josi

PP2
Shutt/Tonelli (net front)
Ovechkin/Toews - Ullman - Lafleur/Modano
Hedman


PK1
Modano - Toews
Gerard - Harper

PK2
Barkov - Aurie
Neilson - Thomson

Extra PK F: Pavelski, Davidson
Extra PK D: Hedman​

Chicago estimated Regular Season minutes below. As with most teams, the top players will likely get more ice time in the playoffs:


Goalies were about a 55/45 split in the regular season, Vasilevskiy gets the reins in the playoffs.

Estimated Regular Season Minutes
Forwards

Player	ES	PP	PK	Total
A. Ovechkin	14	6		20
M. Modano	11	2	4	17
A. Maltsev	13	4		17
S. Shutt	13	1		14
N. Ullman	14	3		17
G. Lafleur	15	5		20
J. Tonelli	11	1		11
J. Toews	12	1	3	16
L. Aurie	10		4	14
Bob Davidson	8			8
A. Barkov	9		3	12
J. Pavelski	8	5		13
TOTAL	138	28	14	180

Defense

Player	ES	PP	PK	Total
V. Hedman	20	3		23
E. Gerard	18		4	22
R. Josi	16	4		20
J. Thomson	17		3	20
J. Neilson	10		3	13
T. Harper	11		4	15
TOTAL	92	7	14	113

 

[Hawkey Town 18]

California's 1st line and Gordie Howe

Cali has been constructed with a big 1st line, it is one of the best lines in the draft with dangerous two-way ability. Limiting this line's effectiveness is a key to defeating California. Hap Day will likely match up his big shutdown pairing of Hedman-Gerard up against them as much as possible. Chicago has 2 good LW options to help out with Gordie Howe in John Tonelli and Bob Davidson, both strong defensive players. Tonelli also has the size to go up against Howe (as does Hedman) and Davidson was tasked with shadowing Maurice Richard in real life. Both Tonelli and Davidson have strong two-way centers on their lines (Toews and Barkov) to help out with Yzerman.

Hap Day also runs a tight defensive team, and you need everyone on the same page when defending against a line such as this.


EDIT: one very slight knock on Cali's first line, is that I don't recall Steve Yzerman ever not being the primary guy/puckhandler on his line, so there will have to be an adjustment made to play with Howe.

 

[Hawkey Town 18]

Alex Ovechkin

Ovechkin will be a key player for Chicago this series, as Cali does not have the personnel to limit him.
First, looking at the RD on Cali's top 2 pairings: Jiri Bubla is on Cali's first pairing. I like Bubla and have even drafted him in previous years, but he's a 3rd pairing guy in this and cannot be counted on to handle top pairing minutes, especially when some of those are against Ovechkin. Zubov is a fine second pairing Dman in a draft this size, but is more of an offense generator, not the guy you want on Ovechkin's side of the ice.

Cali also does not have a great RW option to help out on Ovechkin. Larmer is a solid defensive player, but skating isn't his strong suit. The old Ovechkin we watched this year wasn't terribly fast, but let's not forget how speedy prime Ovechkin was. Gare is simply not a strong defensive player. Amonte is a gritty two-way guy, and he does have speed, but he isn't someone you can count on to really limit a guy like Ovechkin.

Ovechkin is going to get a lot of chances this series, and he knows how to bury them.

 

[Hawkey Town 18]

3rd Lines

This is a large advantage for Chicago, and a key to the series. California has tried to recreate Buffalo's real life line of Ramsay - Luce - Gare, but instead of Luce at Center they have a lesser player in Steve Kasper. Further, with Chicago rostering 4 two-way Centers (all better than Kasper), I do not see this line being able to generate any significant offense.
On the other hand, Chicago is a legitimate two-way threat with Tonelli - Toews - Aurie.

Just looking at personnel, I would give Ramsay the edge over Tonelli, but the gap isn't huge. At C and RW, Toews and Aurie are miles ahead of Kasper and Gare.

Not only will California get very little to zero offense from their 3rd line, but I think they are in real trouble matchup-wise when up against Chicago's 1st and 3rd lines.

 

[tony d]

Thanks @Hawkey Town 18 for raising some good points. You took the time to debate so I can return the favor.

- Ovechkin is probably the best goal scorer ever in NHL history. Such a solid player who despite a "down" year managed to score 31 goals this past year. He'll be a tough matchup for sure but in Gordie Howe my team has someone who can match up against him. I think the Howe/Ovechkin matchup will be a fun 1 to watch in this series. Also you mentioned Sergei Zubov. Yeah Zubov was known mostly for offense but later in his career he developed somewhat of a defensive game so hoping that can limit Ovie.

- I'm glad to see my 1st line get some more praise. In all my years here it's probably been 1 of my best received 1st lines. I certainly like it up against yours. Ovie and Howe has already been discussed. I take Yzerman over Modano. They are familiar with each other from the Detroit/Dallas battles in real life. Not sure if in a draft this size Modano is a #1 centre. Yzerman, later in his career, developed a more responsible game. I'm sure Gordie and Yzerman, himself, will make sure Yzerman adapts his game.

- My 3rd line was drafted with a more defensive style in mind. I think Ramsay and Kasper could be one of the better purely defensive pairing of forwards on a checking line in this draft. Yes they won't add much offense but defensively they should be astute. I especially like a quote I found in this draft in that Ramsay was as good a shadow for Lafleur as anyone so that's going to be a matchup California will employ.

I look forward to further debate as the series goes on.

 

[Hawkey Town 18]

Thanks @Hawkey Town 18 for raising some good points. You took the time to debate so I can return the favor.

- Ovechkin is probably the best goal scorer ever in NHL history. Such a solid player who despite a "down" year managed to score 31 goals this past year. He'll be a tough matchup for sure but in Gordie Howe my team has someone who can match up against him. I think the Howe/Ovechkin matchup will be a fun 1 to watch in this series. Also you mentioned Sergei Zubov. Yeah Zubov was known mostly for offense but later in his career he developed somewhat of a defensive game so hoping that can limit Ovie.

- My 3rd line was drafted with a more defensive style in mind. I think Ramsay and Kasper could be one of the better purely defensive pairing of forwards on a checking line in this draft. Yes they won't add much offense but defensively they should be astute. I especially like a quote I found in this draft in that Ramsay was as good a shadow for Lafleur as anyone so that's going to be a matchup California will employ.

Thanks for the reply Tony

I agree that Howe could be effective when matched up against Ovechkin, but ideally he should be more of a second option for that role. Surely it would hamper Cali's offense if they're using their best offensive player to try to chase a defensive matchup. This would likely result in a lot of defensive zone draws for Howe and potentially less ice time for Howe - we'd be fine with that tradeoff (i.e. giving our 1st line less minutes if it means reducing Cali's 1st line minutes as well)

My main point was that after Howe, Cali has no backup option on RW to try to limit Ovechkin, and that becomes even more important when considering that Cali does not have good RD options for Ovechkin either.
Further, even when Cali does get that Howe matchup, then that leaves Ramsay as the only option to try to limit Lafleur. Trying to get 2 exact line matchups is a very difficult task, especially when Chicago has home ice advantage for the series.

 

[Hawkey Town 18]

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't surprised to lose this one, but those are the breaks, and it looks like it was razor thin by the result. I guess the HowesY line was just too much for us. Congrats @tony d!

 

[nabby12]

Yes, this series' result was another head scratcher, amongst others.

I guess Turk Broda is the true playoff "money goalie" of all time.

 

[VanIslander]

Yes, this series' result was another head scratcher, amongst others.

I guess Turk Broda is the true playoff "money goalie" of all time.

Really? Gordie Howe & Steve Yzerman with Turk Broda isn't a recipe for first-round all-time success? ... i love many Shamrock players (but Modano 1st line? Shutt 2nd line all time? ... and do you want a PK1 of Ramsay-Kasper or Modano-Toews.... PK1?) ... playoff hockey is a different animal requiring a skill set and experience more apparent on the champ. Justice was done here.