James Creighton Division Finals - New Jersey Devils (1) vs Bolshoy Ballet (2)

[ImporterExporter]

New Jersey Devils (1)


Coach = Dick Irvin

Patrik Elias - Phil Esposito (A)- Bryan Hextall, Sr.
Lynn Patrick - Duke Keats - Harry Hyland
Rusty Crawford - Neil Colville (C) - Jim Pappin
Charley "Rabbit" McVeigh - Charlie Burns - Rene Robert

Jacques Laperriere - Brad Park
Frank Patrick (A) - Dave Burrows
Bucko McDonald - Bob Dailey

Hugh Lehman
Alec Connell

PP1: Lynn Patrick - Phil Esposito - Bryan Hextall, Sr.
Brad Park - Rene Robert

PP2: Patrik Elias - Duke Keats - Harry Hyland -
Frank Patrick - Bob Dailey

PK1: Charlie Burns - Rabbit McVeigh - Jacques Laperriere - Dave Burrows
PK2: Neil Colville - Rusty Crawford - Bucko McDonald - Brad Park
PK3: Patrick Elias - Jim Pappin

Spares: Graham Drinkwater, D/F ; Red Hamill, LW; Bob MacMillan, F. All my LWs can also play C. Crawford and Colville can also play D.

Estimated Ice Time

Forwards
Name	ES	PP	PK	Total
Patrik Elias	15	3	1	19
Phil Esposito	16	4		20
Bryan Hextall Sr	15	4		19
Lynn Patrick	13	4		17
Duke Keats	13	3		16
Harry Hyland	13	3		16
Rusty Crawford	14		2	16
Neil Colville	14		2	16
Jim Pappin	14		1	15
Rabbit McVeigh	4		4	8
Charlie Burns	3		4	7
Rene Robert	4	4*		8*
Total	138	25	14	177

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Defensemen	ES	PP	PK	Total
Jacques Laperriere	17		4	21
Brad Park	17	5	2	24
Frank Patrick	15	3	1	19
Dave Burrows	15		4	19
Bucko McDonald	13		3	16
Bob Dailey	13	2		15
Total	92	10	14	116

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

VS


Bolshoy Ballet (2)


Tommy Ivan

George Hay - Ted Kennedy (C) - Patrick Kane
Woody Dumart - Bill Cowley - Milan Hejduk
Taylor Hall - Marty Walsh - Johnny Peirson
Chris Drury - Fleming Mackell - Andy Hebenton

Lionel Hitchman (A) - Eddie Shore
Glen Harmon - Red Dutton (A)
Ľubomír Višňovský - Charlie Huddy

Spares: Jimmy Roberts, Andrew Ladd, Jaccob Slavin

Bernie Parent
Riley Hern

PP1:
Walsh
Hay - Cowley - Kane
Shore

PP2:
Hejduk - Kennedy - Hall
Višňovský - Huddy

PK1: Dumart - Mackell - Hitchman - Shore
PK2: Kennedy - Drury - Harmon - Dutton

Player	ES	PP	PK	Total
Hay	15	5		20
Kennedy	15	2	3	20
Kane	15	5		20
Dumart	14		3	17
Cowley	14	5		19
Hejduk	14	2		16
Hall	10	2		12
Walsh	10	5		15
Peirson	10			10
Drury	8		3	11
Mackell	8		4	12
Hebenton	8			8

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Player	ES	PP	PK	Total
Shore	18	5	4	27
Hitchman	18		4	22
Harmon	16		3	19
Dutton	16		3	19
Visnovsky	12	2		14
Huddy	12	2		14

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Click to read more...

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

This looks like it could be a really good series. I know you are busy, @Sprague Cleghorn, but I hope you can find time to make a few comments.

My first impressions:

• Bolshoy's top offensive threats are Patrick Kane and Bill Cowley. I think Cowley could struggle some this series, due to the strength of NJ's centers - two huge, physically powerful centers in Esposito and Keats, one true two-way center in Coville, and one defensive specialist in Burns. Not a single one will make things easy on Cowley.
• I assume Bolshoy probably want to go power-on-power - Kennedy vs Esposito, as Esposito is the best offensive player on either team by a wide margin, and Kennedy is Bolshov's best defensive center by a wide margin. I'm fine with that - if Laperriere/Park is behind Phil Esposito (for the Park/Espo combo), it creates a matchup where NJ's top shutdown dman (Laperriere) then goes head to head against Patrick Kane.
• That said, obviously Esposito vs Cowley is a matchup Irvin would love to see at least sometimes.
• NJ's biggest advantages from a talent perspective - #1 C (no explanation needed, Espo is hard to build around, but he's a star); #2 and #5 defensemen. I'll compare the defense below, because it's easy to do, and of course favors my team.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

First pairing

The gap in #1 defensemen is substantial: Eddie Shore is usually ranked #3-#5 all-time, and Brad Park is usually ranked #10-#12 all-time. Both players are good at every aspect of the game, but Shore is just a little better at all of them. If Park is a star, Shore is a superstar.

However, the gap between #2s is larger that the gap between Park and Shore. Both #2s are elite shutdown dmen, but Jacques Laperriere had an excellent first-pass, and was adept at clearing the zone on his own, while Hitchman reads like a Derian Hatcher type player, who will have to defer to Shore in this setting. Laperriere could actually be a bargain basement #1 in a 40 team draft; FWIW, the HOH Top defensemen project put him at #38. Hitchman wasn't even close to making the top 60 list. FWIW, I actually have put together a rough draft of my own top 100 defensemen of all-time, and Hitchman falls somewhere around #80 (right next to the aforementioned Derian Hatcher) - in ATD terms, that would make him a fringe #2/#3 ideally.

Want awards records?

Here's Laperriere's Norris record:
63-64: 4th
64-65: 2nd
65-66: 1st
66-67: 8th
67-68: 5th
68-69: 6th
68-70: 4th
72-73: 5th
73-74: 9th

Overall: 1, 2, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6, 8, 9

Lionel Hitchmen led all defensemen in Hart voting in 1929-30, the only year of his NHL prime for which we don't have All-Star voting. (Remember, we have GM-voted teams for 26-27, 27-28, and 28-29). So Assign him a "retro Norris" for that year. But the thing is, he wasn't close again. Here's his All-Star record:

26-27: 9th
29-30: 1st*
30-31: 5th
32-33: 10th

Overall: 1, 5, 9, 10

Overall, I think the large gap in #2s outweighs the gap between Shore and Park.

Second pairing:

Hard to compare, but I think they are close to even. I think both Frank Patrick and Red Dutton are solid #3s, while Harmon and Burrows are solid #4s. Solid but unspectacular all-round. I was down to Harmon and Burrows when deciding who I wanted as my #4; ultimately deciding that the defensive Burrows was a better fit for the offensive Patrick. If I had a more rounded Dutton, I would have preferred a more rounded Harmon.

Third pairing

Bucko McDonald (defensive defenseman with All-Star finishes of 5th and 6th) is the best defenseman on either bottom pairing, and I think he's enough to give NJ the advantage. Beyond that, Visnovsky wasn't all that strong an even strength defenseman, even the one year he scored enough on the PP to get a good amount of Norris votes. Anyway, I think that Dailey vs Huddy vs Visnovsky is all splitting hairs at this level; all of them are close enough to each other and far enough behind McDonald that it doesn't really affect the comparison

Overall: I think both bluelines are well-constructed from a chemistry perspective, so talent is the main thing that matters when comparing the quality of the bluelines. Bolshoy has a better #1, but I think the gaps in #2s is so large that NJ has the better top pairing. Jacques Laperriere really should be a (low end) #1 in a 40 team draft. Beyond that, the biggest difference in quality is at #5 defenseman, where NJ also has the advantage.

 

[BenchBrawl]

Perhaps my two favorite 1st pairings in the draft. Hitchman - Shore speaks for itself, and Laperrière - Park has a certain je-ne-sais-quoi that I really like.

The Ted Kennedy vs. Phil Esposito confrontation is certainly an interesting one. Neither were great skaters and both played completely different styles. An unusual match-up to be sure.

 

[ChiTownPhilly]

...it sucks to lose to a team that didn't show up.

I'll follow up with an old quote- and insert a new name-

If we think Plante Parent could pull this off, then man- we sure did rate him too low in the 'Top-100' project. Well... come to think of it, we actually DID rate him too low-- but I don't think he's SO great that he could pull this one off.