Dreakmur
Registered User
Why Orillia Wins
The First Line
The First Line
- Once again, the line of Dean Prentice - Jonathan Toews - Gordie Howe is a force at even strength. Though, this Chicago line is easily the best I've run into so far.
- Offensively, Orillia has a combined ES vs.X of 277.1. Chicago has 255.9. The LWs and Cs are essentially equal, so the difference is the gap between Mike Bossy and Howe, which is substantial.
- Defensively, Orillia has the edge as well. Again, the LWs and Cs are about equal, so the gap between Howe and Bossy is the difference, which is also substantial.
- Physically, Orillia has the edge. Once again, the LWs and Cs are about equal. The physicality gap between Howe and Bossy is about as big as any gap can get.
- Beyond the top units, Orillia has a scoring advantage on each of the other lines.
- Seconds line is an advantage of 248.9 to 233.8.
- Third line as an advantage of 214.6 to 192.6
- Fourth line is an advantage of 181.5 to 154.4
- Considering both teams use their 1st lines in the primary match-up role, these other lines have to pick up some of the scoring slack. If they are not going to checking, I don't see a whole lot of value in Chicago's bottom 6.
- Once Chicago's excellent 1st pair is off the ice, their blueline is vulnerable. That will allow our scoring depth to do some damage.
- Orillia has the better second pairing - Kevin Lowe and Brent Burns are both better than their counterparts in Rod Seiling and John Carlson
- Orillia has the better third pairing - Jack Portland is quite bit better than Watson and Yandle is a little weaker than Aucoin.
- Johnny Bower is quite a bit better than Tom Barrasso. Not a whole lot to get into here, but it's a significant advantage for Orillia.