Mini ATD (1 player) semi-final: New Orleans Brass vs. Chicago Cougars

[VanIslander]

coach Hap Day

"Get the puck out of our zone, then be creative"

Cy Denneny - Bobby Clarke (C) - Charlie Conacher
Sweeney Schriner - Sergei Fedorov - Andy Bathgate
Clark Gillies - Mike Modano - Jari Kurri
Jiri Holik - Anze Kopitar - Theoren Fleury

Scott Stevens (A) - Bobby Orr
Rod Langway (A) - Slava Fetisov
Moose Johnson - Pierre Pilote

Jacques Plante
Tom Barrasso​

PP1: Cy Denneny, Bobby Clarke, Charlie Conacher, Scott Stevens, Bobby Orr
PP2: Clark Gilles, Mike Modano, Andy Bathgate, Slava Fetisov, Pierre Pilote

PK1: Sergei Fedorov, Anze Kopitar, Rod Langway, Slava Fetisov
PK2: Bobby Clarke, Jari Kurri, Scott Stevens, Bobby Orr

Ice time: Bobby Orr, Scott Stevens, Slava Fetisov and Bobby Clarke ought to have the most ice time, in that order, given their roles on both special teams
(I tried to talk Orr into letting Moose have the 2nd PK time but Bobby made a helluva career insisting on being out there in all game situations).
Pilote and Johnson are excellent special teams substitutes in case of injury, penalty or suspension on the blueline.


vs.

Coach: Lester Patrick

Tommy Phillips - Stan Mikita - Gordie Howe (A)
Paul Kariya - Milt Schmidt (A) - Jaromir Jagr
Bill Barber - Ron Francis - Martin St. Louis
Esa Tikkanen - Joe Thornton - Joe Mullen

King Clancy (C) - Doug Harvey
Borje Salming - Bill Gadsby
Ryan Suter - Rob Blake

Vladislav Tretiak
Jiri Holecek


PP1: Howe - Schmidt - Jagr - Blake - Harvey

PP2: Thornton - Mikita - St. Louis - Clancy - Gadsby


PK1: Francis - Tikkanen - Suter - Harvey

PK2: Schmidt - St. Louis - Salming - Blake

PK 3: Mikita - Phillips

Extra PK D: Gadsby​

Estimated Minutes
Forwards

Player | ES | PP | PK | Total
G. Howe | 15 | 5 | 0 | 20
S. Mikita | 15 | 3 | 1 | 19
T. Phillips | 15 | 0 | 1 | 16
J. Jagr | 14 | 5 | 0 | 19
M. Schmidt | 12 | 4 | 2 | 18
P. Kariya | 13 | 0 | 0 | 13
M. St. Louis | 11 | 2 | 2 | 15
R. Francis | 11 | 0 | 4 | 15
B. Barber | 11 | 0 | 0 | 11
J. Mullen | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6
J. Thornton | 8 | 2 | 0 | 10
E. Tikkanen | 7 | 0 | 4 | 11
TOTAL | 138 | 21 | 14 | 173

*Jagr will take a few shifts per game on the 4th line replacing Mullen
**Thornton will take a shift or two per game on the 2nd line replacing Schmidt for an offensive zone draw or when Schmidt needs a rest after special teams.


Defense

Player | ES | PP | PK | Total
D. Harvey | 19 | 4 | 4 | 27
K. Clancy | 19 | 3 | 0 | 22
B. Gadsby | 17 | 3 | 0 | 20
B. Salming | 17 | 0 | 3 | 20
R. Blake | 10 | 4 | 3 | 17
R. Suter | 10 | 0 | 4 | 14
TOTAL | 92 | 14 | 13 | 120

Click to read more...

 

[VanIslander]

New Orleans Brass:

PP1: Cy Denneny - Bobby Clarke - Charlie Conacher - Scott Stevens - Bobby Orr
PP2: Clark Gilles - Mike Modano - Andy Bathgate - Slava Fetisov - Pierre Pilote

PK1: Sergei Fedorov - Anze Kopitar - Rod Langway - Slava Fetisov
PK2: Bobby Clarke - Jari Kurri - Scott Stevens - Bobby Orr

 

[jarek]

Why on earth is Schriner not on a PP unit here?

 

[VanIslander]

Why on earth is Schriner not on a PP unit here?

An embarrassment of riches? I wish Pilote and Moose were on the PK as well. I guess the coach would play them sometimes.

The coach could substitute Schriner for Gilles, but Clark was so effective as a powerplay net presence for the dynasty Isles that I wanted to herald that. But if you want, imagine the coach tries and finds this combination more effective:

PP1: Cy Denneny - Bobby Clarke - Charlie Conacher - Scott Stevens - Bobby Orr
PP2: Sweeney Schriner - Mike Modano - Andy Bathgate - Slava Fetisov - Pierre Pilote

 

[Hawkey Town 18]

I'll start by taking a look at forward lines...

1st Lines:

Howe >> Conacher
Mikita > Clarke
Phillips << Denneny

Chicago will try to match power vs. power as much as possible (which is the easiest matchup for a coach to get) and will have the advantage. Clarke will have his hands full just trying to neutralize Mikita, and he will get no help from Conacher or Denneny on Gordie Howe. Meanwhile, Chicago has an elite checker assigned to New Orleans' largest offensive threat, Conacher.


2nd Lines:

Jagr > Bathgate
Schmidt > Fedorov
Kariya < Schriner

I will admit, I should've selected Schriner instead of Kariya during this draft...I just overlooked him. Funny how extremely similar these lines are built. A highly offensive, puck carrying RW, a two-way center, and an offense-only LW. While Bathgate is an above average 2nd liner, Jagr is a monster and no-worse than the 3rd best RWer in the entire draft. The advantage is to Chicago here.


3rd Lines:

St. Louis < Kurri
Francis > Modano
Barber >= Gillies (on a scoring line this would clearly be Barber, but I think it's closer on a two-way/checking line)

These lines are very close. Both are two-way lines that can defend and are also a threat to score. I would say that New Orleans is better defensively and Chicago better offensively.


4th Lines:

Mullen < Fleury
Thornton >= Kopitar
Tikkanen <= Holik

In a vacuum Thornton is clearly better than Kopitar and Holik clearly better than Tikkanen, but given their roles here it becomes closer. New Orleans has the advantage due to the RW position.

 

[VanIslander]

I standardized the op.

There should not be added any extra info there. Please do so in posts. For fairness' sake.

 

[Hawkey Town 18]

I standardized the op.

There should not be added any extra info there. Please do so in posts. For fairness' sake.

The series' OP's are to contain the information in each team's roster post

 

[VanIslander]

The series' OP's are to contain the information in each team's roster post

Thank you for updating the op just now by adding stuff from my bio post. At least that's a bit more fair, though not the preferred standardized format (the op should not be a shouting match of who can paste more stuff - the thread posts are for that. But on this point we can agree to disagree.)

 

[Hawkey Town 18]

Now we'll look at defense pairings...

1st Pairing:

Harvey < Orr
Clancy > Stevens

IMO Harvey is the clear #2 of all time, but Bobby Orr is a freak. Clancy is an average #2 whereas Stevens is an average #3. This one is actually very close.


2nd Pairing:

Gadsby << Fetisov
Salming > Langway

Fetisov is a borderline #1/2 playing on a second pairing, so that's a large advantage, but Langway is a #5 in a draft this size. Both Gadsby and Salming are borderline #3/4's. One thing to note is that Fetisov is playing his off side. Fetisov's undrafted Soviet partner ALWAYS played the right side on that famous pairing and to my knowledge Fetisov has no experience playing there. We have to assume there will be at least some decline in Fetisov's effectiveness due to this, particularly so with a player whose best years were part of a very regimented team/system (for the record Langway played the left side too, so switching them is not a solution). I give the advantage to New Orleans, but it's closer than it looks at first glance.


3rd Pairing:

Blake <<< Pilote
Suter < Johnson

Now this is a large advantage to New Orleans, but it's the 3rd pairing and the largest player advantage, Pilote, is playing the same side as Orr and Fetisov (who are also similar types of players). So my question is, how often will Pilote even be on the ice? Orr is going to play big minutes, and Fetisov will likely have a heavy load as well. Pilote doesn't really work next to either of those two (he's best playing with a big physical stay at home type of guy like his partner here). So while this is a definite advantage, I don't think New Orleans will be able to utilize it very much.

 

[Hawkey Town 18]

Coaching and Goaltending....

Coaching is an edge to Chicago as Patrick is in the very top tier of coaches, while Hap Day is in the next tier down. However, both coaches fit their team well, and given the small number of teams, everyone is going to have a strong coach, so the advantage is minimal.

The same concept applies to goaltending, but New Orleans has the advantage. Again, the gap is small as Tretiak is a high level goalie all-time.

 

[Hawkey Town 18]

Dealing with Bobby Orr

Bobby Orr is an uber-elite kind of player that requires special attention. Traditionally the best way to deal with Orr is with strong forechecking and strong two-way centers, which Chicago has both of...

Chicago's top 3 centers, Mikita, Schmidt, and Francis, are all players with strong to very strong defensive games. Taking away the middle of the ice will help in breaking up Orr's rushes and limiting his effectiveness.

Looking to forechecking on the top 3 lines, Chicago has strong forecheckers in Phillips, Howe, Barber, and St. Louis on lines 1 and 3. These are also Chicago's strongest defensive lines and most likely to be out against Orr at ES. Chicago's second line is lacking a strong forechecker on the wing, however, it does contain Chicago's best defensive center in Milt Schmidt. Still Patrick will try to avoid having this line out against Orr (which shouldn't be too hard, as I suspect New Orleans will want to have Orr up against Chicago's very strong top line as much as possible); however, should this second line find themselves on the ice at the same time as Orr, Patrick has the option of playing Esa Tikkanen on the LW in place of Kariya for a shift or two. Tikkanen is an extremely strong forechecker and pest who should be effective against Orr. Between Bobby Orr and New Orleans' strong RW's of Conacher and Bathgate, it is a good bet that Tikkanen's ice time will be increased during this series. Fortunately, he has experience playing with highly skilled players and knows the role he needs to play.

Finally, another weapon Chicago has to use against Orr is the defenseman who many consider to be the greatest defensively of all time, Doug Harvey. Playing next to the extremely smart King Clancy, and with help from his forwards as stated above, Harvey and Co. should be able to limit Bobby Orr's elite talents.



In the same sense that Bobby Orr requires special attention, so does Chicago's all-time elite player, Gordie Howe. What is New Orleans' plan for dealing with Howe (particularly with him next to another elite scorer in Stan Mikita)?

 

[VanIslander]

Coaching is an edge to Chicago as Patrick is in the very top tier of coaches, while Hap Day is in the next tier down.

Patrick is a first class builder of the sport. But as a coach? He ain't a tier higher than Hap Day. Heck, where's the argument he's as good as him.

Day won five Stanley Cup championships in ten years as head coach and his teams only once finished first in the regular season. He was a playoff-minded coach who preached team defense first. "Get the puck out of the zone and then be creative," was his philosophy. And the Brass was built to carry out that strategy to a T.

No coaching advantage to Chicago in this series.

 

[VanIslander]

Dealing with Bobby Orr

Bobby Orr is an uber-elite kind of player that requires special attention. Traditionally the best way to deal with Orr is with strong forechecking and strong two-way centers, which Chicago has both of...

Uh,... if by the second period the Brass isn't getting anywhere with Orr because Chicago is dedicating Harvey to trying to defend him all the time, then that opens up huge opportunities for Fetisov and Pilote to rush against a Chicago blueline not as deep in talent.

And note: Don't expect Chicago wingers to help deal with Orr much as they'll have their hands tied up dealing with a very potent line-up of scoring wingers, especially on the right side (Conacher, Bathgate, Kurri, Fleury).

In the same sense that Bobby Orr requires special attention, so does Chicago's all-time elite player, Gordie Howe. What is New Orleans' plan for dealing with Howe (particularly with him next to another elite scorer in Stan Mikita)?

Well, if you want to talk about great two-way players, the Brass has the most defensively renowned group of centers in the game: three Selke winners and a Selke finalist.

Howe's line will face two-time Selke winner Clarke, Selke winner Fedorov and Selke winner Kopitar a lot, so that ought to seriously crimp the Chicago's center from helping Howe out offensively. So, with Gordie carrying the puck up ice, he will meet on every shift either Scott Stevens, Rod Langway or Moose Johnson. Certainly Stevens and Langway have the muscular strength and defensive chops to get in Howe's face and endure his elbows.

This series will likely not depend on the play of Howe or Orr (they both will score to some degree, though neither expected to run roughshod in this series), but more on how the rest of the line-up can contribute.

 

[ResilientBeast]

New Orleans Brass win in 7 games

3 Stars
1) Bobby Orr
2) Jacques Plante
3) Slava Fetisov

 

[Hawkey Town 18]

Good luck in the next round VI