Hewitt Division Semifinals: Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies vs Cobalt Silver Kings

[Theokritos]

Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies

Coach: Arkady Chernyshev

Bill Barber -- Jean Beliveau (C) -- Martin St. Louis
Henrik Zetterberg -- Nels Stewart -- Zigmund Palffy
Dick Duff -- Ryan Getzlaf -- Phil Kessel
Jere Lehtinen -- Dave Poulin -- Danny Gare

____ -- Bernie Federko -- Wilf Paiement
Mike Richards

František Pospíšil --- Al MacInnis (A)
Brian Leetch (A) --- Cy Wentworth
Barry Beck --- Teppo Numminen
Jay Bouwmeester

Grant Fuhr
Mike Richter
​

PP1:
Nels Stewart
Jean Beliveau - Martin St. Louis
Al MacInnis - Brian Leetch

PP2:
Danny Gare
Henrik Zetterberg - Zigmund Palffy
Teppo Numminen - Barry Beck

PK1:
Dave Poulin - Bill Barber
Barry Beck - Cy Wentworth

PK2:
Henrik Zetterberg - Jere Lehtinen
Brian Leetch - František Pospíšil

Click to read more...

 

[Theokritos]

COBALT SILVER KINGS

Coach: Art Ross
Assistant Coach: Jacques Demers

John LeClair --- Stan Mikita --- Mike Bossy
Bert Olmstead --- Max Bentley --- Bill Mosienko
Don Marshall --- Guy Carbonneau (A) --- Ed Westfall
Vic Hadfield --- Frank McGee --- Eddie Oatman
Pud Glass --- Jeff Carter

Rod Langway (C) --- Bill Quackenbush
Pat Stapleton --- Fern Flaman (A)
Bobby Rowe --- Red Dutton
Dion Phaneuf

Bernie Parent
Curtis Joseph

PP1
John LeClair - Stan Mikita - Mike Bossy
Bill Quackenbush - Max Bentley

PP2
Bert Olmstead - Frank McGee - Bill Mosienko
Pat Stapleton - Red Dutton

PK1
Ed Westfall - Guy Carbonneau
Rod Langway - Fern Flaman

PK2
Bert Olmstead - Don Marshall
Bill Quackenbush - Red Dutton​

 

[King Forsberg]

Good luck Chaos. A little bit of a coincidence that we end up facing each other after making a big trade early on. I'll post my thoughts probably tomorrow when I have a little more time.

 

[chaosrevolver]

Good luck to King.

I will gather some thoughts and present them soon.

 

[chaosrevolver]

I'll be curious to hear who will combat the top line and more specifically Mikita-Bossy.

Not sure if King plans on putting Duff on Bossy but I really don't think Getzlaf can cover Mikita at all...and really Beliveau is the only center here that would look okay matching up with him.

As a whole, I think our top-6's compare favourably but the Mikita-Bossy combination and the chemistry on the second line give Cobalt the edge.

My third line is the best defensive line in this series and Carbonneau vs. Beliveau will be a fun match up. I feel pretty comfortable matching up Marshall-Carbo-Westfall against that first line.

I think our defenses are both solid despite not going for the elite #1's. I think both are pretty comparable. I might go into more significant matchups after but I think they are pretty close to even.

As for the goalie matchup. Bernie Parent was at his best in the playoffs and Fuhr was strong in the clutch as well. However, Parent's two Conn Smythe's give him the edge for me and that's in addition to just being a better goalie overall.

Coaching..don't know much about King's coach but we believe the combination of Ross and Demers should bring a nice dynamic for a team that can play tough and play hard and hopefully bring the team a first round victory.

 

[King Forsberg]

After much consideration I am going to change my lines a bit here. My bottom six will now be as follows

Dick Duff - Ryan Getzlaf - Phil Kessel
Jere Lehtinen - Dave Poulin - Danny Gare

Cobalt doesn't have have an overwhelming physical presence so I do not think Paiement will be as effective as Kessel can be. This also adds another impressive resume to the lineup.

 

[King Forsberg]

Coaching
Coaching is very close in this series. Chernyshev and Ross are both above average and have tons of experience. I think Cobalt might have a slight edge here but I think Chernyshev's big game experience will come in handy.

Goaltending
Parent vs Fuhr is an amazing playoff match up. Both goalies have great success in the playoffs. Parent was better at his peak in the playoffs but Fuhr isn't far behind and did it over a slightly longer period. I'd call this a wash since I think both goalies will be effective but give the slight edge to Cobalt since it's more likely that Parent could put on a Smythe worthy performance.

Forwards

Our forward cores are both very good but very different. Cobalt's top line is potentially the best in the draft so they definitely have the advantage here. Beliveau is certainly the best player on either team but Bossy is better than St. Louis and LeClair is a clear step above Barber. I like my second line a little bit more than Cobalt's. Mosienko seems like a weak link here even given the chemistry. I like Stewart and Palffy as an offensive duo with Zetterberg being more of a playmaker and defensive presence.

Our third lines are yet again vastly different. I don't even know how to compare who's is better since they will serve such different roles. Cobalt's line could be put out there to defend against any line in the draft but they won't be scoring much even against weaker third pairings. And I consider my third pairing one of the better ones in the draft. My third line is way more offensively gifted but isnt nearly as well rounded. I think Duff and Getzlaf are decent enough defensively but will still get hemmed in against better lines. The benifit of my third line of course is the matchup problem it may cause for Cobalt's third pairing.

Our fourth lines are kind of the opposite of our third lines, models in my case. My fourth line has two elite defensive players in Poulin and Lehtinen along with Gare who started his career off as an effective checker. Gare also provides some counter punch with his speed and goal scoring ability. I like my fourth line a bit here.

Defense

Like Chaos said both of our defensive units are really good despite not having a top 10 guy as our number #1. I will say I have the two best defensemen in MacInnis and Leetch. Having one of these guys on the ice for most of the game will be a huge asset to my transition game. Langway and Quackenbush are the next best two of our defenders. Our #3 and 4 defenders are very close but I think I have the benifit of having my #1 and #2 of seperate pairings. Not by much, but I think I have a slight edge in my third pairing.

Matchups

Cobalt's first line is a lot to handle. I would like to match my first line and top pairing against them whenever possible. Beliveau and Barber are both good defensive players to match against Bossy and Makita. My top pairing should be able to provide a physical presence against guys like Makita and LeClair. MacInnis is an elite offensive threat from the back end and I don't think Cobalt's top line has the defensive presence to account for that. I am also okay with matching my fourth line against the opposing top line as well. Like I said earlier I feel I have two elite defenders in Lehtinen and Poulin and a third defender in Gare that can be effective as well.

Cobalt's second line doesn't scare me nearly as much as the top unit. I would prefer to have either my first or third line matched up with them along with Leetch and Wentworth. The only line I have that I don't like against them is my third line. I think Zetterberg and a motivated Nels Stewart could hold their own against Bentley and company.

I think my real advantage here is that my third line should provide some offense with Kessel and Getzlaf. I don't think Cobalt has the scoring in their bottom six to compete IF my team can limit their top line. My fourth line will serve as a matchup line in the same way Cobalt's third line will. The difference is my third line is superior to Cobalt's fourth line.

 

[ResilientBeast]

I think calling both coaches above average is a little generous

Ross: 20th coach taken
Chernyshev: 21st coach taken

Even considering that draft position isn't a perfect measure of skill, with only 25 head coaching spots available they are below league average IMO

 

[seventieslord]

I think calling both coaches above average is a little generous

Ross: 20th coach taken
Chernyshev: 21st coach taken

Even considering that draft position isn't a perfect measure of skill, with only 25 head coaching spots available they are below league average IMO

I was gonna say the same thing. You'd have a hard time finding anyone who thinks either is above average or even average here.

Hitchcock, Adams, Lemaire, and Keenan are all undrafted and I don't think Ross is necessarily better than any of them.

Chernyshev is a lot harder to compare, obviously.

 

[chaosrevolver]

Our forward cores are both very good but very different. Cobalt's top line is potentially the best in the draft so they definitely have the advantage here. Beliveau is certainly the best player on either team but Bossy is better than St. Louis and LeClair is a clear step above Barber. I like my second line a little bit more than Cobalt's. Mosienko seems like a weak link here even given the chemistry. I like Stewart and Palffy as an offensive duo with Zetterberg being more of a playmaker and defensive presence.

Mosienko is not a weak link especially regarding the chemistry and I also think the line is built well in the sense that it has goal scoring, speed, intangibles and Max Bentley..who is one of the best offensive 2nd liners in the draft.

Our third lines are yet again vastly different. I don't even know how to compare who's is better since they will serve such different roles. Cobalt's line could be put out there to defend against any line in the draft but they won't be scoring much even against weaker third pairings. And I consider my third pairing one of the better ones in the draft. My third line is way more offensively gifted but isnt nearly as well rounded. I think Duff and Getzlaf are decent enough defensively but will still get hemmed in against better lines. The benifit of my third line of course is the matchup problem it may cause for Cobalt's third pairing.

Get ready to get hit a lot with both guys being able to contribute in all zones. I maintain Red Dutton is quite underrated and Rowe is a good #5.


Matchups

Cobalt's first line is a lot to handle. I would like to match my first line and top pairing against them whenever possible. Beliveau and Barber are both good defensive players to match against Bossy and Makita. My top pairing should be able to provide a physical presence against guys like Makita and LeClair. MacInnis is an elite offensive threat from the back end and I don't think Cobalt's top line has the defensive presence to account for that. I am also okay with matching my fourth line against the opposing top line as well. Like I said earlier I feel I have two elite defenders in Lehtinen and Poulin and a third defender in Gare that can be effective as well.

All three of my first liners were responsible with Mikita being considered very good defensively...I personally doubt they won't be able to cover the point and make sure Macinnis doesn't get any easy point shots.

Your focus is on offense but I think my shutdown third line, and really physical, defensive presence will make it very difficult for Atlantic City to score a lot and win the series.