MLD 2011 Assassination Thread

[tony d]

New New York Awesome Express

General Managers: Team Awesome - (Dwight) Conrad and Cubert Farnsworth (Velociraptor)

Head Coach: Randy Carlyle
Captain: Orest Kindrachuk
Assistant Captains: Dale McCourt, Warren Godfrey

Jim Riley - Guy Chouinard - Martin Havlat
Darryl Sutter - Dale McCourt (A) - Ilkka Sinisalo
Ron Duguay - Orest Kindrachuk (C) - Don Saleski
Ted Irvine - Christian Ruuttu - Vlastimil Bubnik
Spares: Alf Pike F/D, Mikko Koivu C, Dustin Brown RW

Warren Godfrey (A) - Jocelyn Guevremont
Sheldon Souray - Brent Seabrook
Bret Hedican - Pat Quinn
Spares: Doug Lidster

Eddie Johnston
Jose Theodore

PP1: Riley - McCourt - Havlat - Guevremont - Chouinard
PP2: Sinisalo - Duguay - Bubnik - Souray - Seabrook
PK1: Kindrachuk - Saleski - Godfrey - Seabrook
PK2: McCourt - Duguay - Hedican - Quinn
​

Since you did a review of mine I'll review yours:

Line 1: Jim Riley brings what I like about a #1 Left Winger, goal scoring; also there is a bit of toughness in his game. Good choice for a #1 Left Winger. Guy Chouinard is another solid player, I expect him to put up good playmaking numbers with Riley and Martin Havlat. Havlat, despite being injury prone is a player I've always liked. I think he'll complement Riley and Chouinard quite well.

Line 2: Like this line as well. I looked at Darryl Sutter for a spot on my team but ultimately passed over him. Longevity cost him a little but still a solid choice. When I saw that you had picked Dale Mccourt I said how did I overlook that guy? Really solid pick. 3 seasons of 40 or more assists make me think of him as one of the better playmakers in the draft. Ilkka Sinisalo was a guy me and Dave scouted last AAA draft, solid 2 way player, perfect for a 2nd line. Goal scoring may be an issue here but I think things should be fine.

Line 3: Ron Duguay reads as the offensive force on this line, he was a popular player back in the day so a solid pick here. Orest Kindrachuk is your captain and that's a good choice, he's a prototypical checking line centre. Don Saleski was my 1st choice for a 2nd line right winger but I preferred Bill Flett's toughness, good pick for you though with Saleski. Good checking line all around.

Line 4: Ted Irvine is wrestler Chris Jericho's father but he's also a good player. He will be a checking winger as he was for me and Arcand in last year's MLD. Don't ask me why but Christian Ruutu was a player I always liked as a kid, solid all around game. Vlastimil Bubnik reads as an explosive goal scorer, maybe move him up a couple lines to your 2nd line to give that line.

Extras: Alf Pike read as your prototypical extra. Mikko Koivu maybe doesn't belong at this level yet but he's an extra so that's not so bad. Dustin Brown would have been a good power forward at the AAA level so solid group of extras you have there.

Final Thoughts On Forward Group: A great group of players who do everything well.

Defense Pairing 1: Warren Godfrey is one of the better defensive defensemen in this draft while Jocelyn Guevremont is one of the better offensive defensemen in the draft, a good complementary pairing.

Defense Pairing 2: Souray has put up some good offensive numbers during his career including 64 points 1 season, not bad for a 2nd line defenseman in the MLD. Brent Seabrook is one of my favourite defensemen in the league at this point. Together they should be a good pairing.

Defense Pairing 3: While I like the rest of your team, I'm not fussy of this pairing, Hedican and Quinn are both to defensive, you may want to put Lidster on this pairing with one of Hedican or Quinn.

Extra: Like Lidster, probably would of chose him over Zalapski had I got the chance.

Final thoughts on Defense group: Solid group that focuses more on defense than offense. That won't hurt you in the MLD.

Goalies: Eddie Johnston was one of the better goalies available while Theodore is a good backup, solid group.

Special Teams: Only qualm I have here is Mccourt should be on the point on the 1st pairing and Chouinard should be your centre, other than that solid group.

Coaching: Randy Carlyle is one of the best modern coaches, always seems to do good with those Anaheim teams.

Overall I like your team a lot, good luck to you in this.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Did Jim Riley have toughness? When I looked at him, I couldn't find proof that he did, but I didn't look too hard.

 

[Dreakmur]

Did Jim Riley have toughness? When I looked at him, I couldn't find proof that he did, but I didn't look too hard.

I've had him before and didn't find anything.

 

[Dwight]

Can't say I found much either about his toughness. I did find a quote about him playing defense for a game or two, but I figured it wasn't anything substantial.

Thanks for the review, tony

 

[Velociraptor]

Appreciate the review Tony, one issue with the 2nd line goal scoring assumption, Sutter is a 40-goal scorer and Sinisalo was also known for his scoring prowess. McCourt is the obvious playmaker for a line that we have faith in scoring some secondary offense for us.

 

[BillyShoe1721]

Appreciate the review Tony, one issue with the 2nd line goal scoring assumption, Sutter is a 40-goal scorer and Sinisalo was also known for his scoring prowess. McCourt is the obvious playmaker for a line that we have faith in scoring some secondary offense for us.

Sutter did score 40 goals, but only ever scored 31 goals once and his next 4 best are 23, 20, 20, and 17 in a very high scoring era.

 

[tony d]

Re: Riley's toughness. Read that he picked up a lot of penalty minutes so I assumed an edge to his game.

 

[Velociraptor]

Sutter did score 40 goals, but only ever scored 31 goals once and his next 4 best are 23, 20, 20, and 17 in a very high scoring era.

Pretty impressive numbers for a guy who had a career as short as he did, and who looked like he wasn't going to make it big at one point, he's a proven scorer any way you slice it.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Eden Hall Warriors

GMs: vecens24 & TheDevilMadeMe

This team is set up to allow Julien to role 4 lines, with the 4th line functioning similar to Detroit's Grind Line.

Head Coach: Claude Julien
Assistant Coach: John Muckler

Nick Mickoski - Billy McGimsie - Nikolai Drozdetsky
Ulf Dahlen - Mike Ribeiro - Marian Stastny
Sami Kapanen - Steve Sullivan - Roland Pettersson
Matt Cooke - Larry Patey - Randy McKay (A)

Jack Evans - Mike O'Connell
Walt Buswell (C) - Brian Campbell
Christian Ehrhoff - Garth Butcher (A)

Johnny Mowers
Bert Lindsay

​

Spares = Dave Tippett, Jeff Carter, Paul Martin

PP1: Ulf Dahlen - Billy McGimsie - Nikolai Drozdetsky - Mike O'Connell - Brian Campbell
PP2: Nick Mickoski - Mike Ribeiro - Marian Stastny - Steve Sullivan - Christian Ehrhoff

PK1: Larry Patey - Sami Kapanen - Jack Evans - Garth Butcher
PK2: Steve Sullivan - Cooke/(Tippett) - Walt Buswell - Mike O'Connell
other PK options: (Carter), Mickowski, Pettersson, McGimsie

1916 or earlier: Billy McGimsie, Bert Lindsay
1917-1942: Johnny Mowers, Walt Buswell
1943-1965: Jack Evans, Nick Mickoski, Roland Pettersson
1966-1979: Mike O'Connell, Marian Stastny, Larry Patey, John Muckler
1980-1994: Nikolai Drozdetsky, Garth Butcher, Ulf Dahlen, Randy McKay, Dave Tippett
1995-2004: Sami Kapanen, (Brian Campbell, Steve Sullivan, Mike Ribeiro, Christian Ehrhoff, Claude Julien, Matt Cooke, Paul Martin)
in 2011: Brian Campbell, Steve Sullivan, Mike Ribeiro, Christian Ehrhoff, Claude Julien, Matt Cooke, Jeff Carter, Paul Martin

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

No-Names from Nowhere


Coach: Terry Crisp

Olli Jokinen - Scott Gomez - Vincent Lukac
Geoff Sanderson - Jason Allison - Aleksander Kozhevnikov
Baldy Cotton - Todd Marchant - Ken Schinkel
Murph Chamberlain - Forbes Kennedy - Shorty Green

Bert Marshall - Tom Bladon
Mike McEwen - Bill Brydge
Bryan Berard - Eric Brewer

Kelly Hrudey
Brian Hayward

Spares: Oren Frood - LW/C, Fred Higginbotham - D, Dave Creighton - C/W, Bryan Watson - D/RW

PP#1
Olli Jokinen - Jason Allison - Vincent Lukac
Mike McEwen - Tom Bladon

PP#2
Aleksander Kozhevnikov - Scott Gomez - Geoff Sanderson
Bryan Berard - Bill Brydge

PK#1
Todd Marchant - Baldy Cotton
Bert Marshall - Bill Brydge

PK#2
Forbes Kennedy - Ken Schinkel
Eric Brewer - Tom Bladon

PK#3
Murph Chamberlain - Scott Gomez
Bert Marshall - Bill Brydge​

Era Requirements:
1916 or earlier - Shorty Green, Oren Frood, Fred Higginbotham
1917 to 1942 - Baldy Cotton, Bill Brydge, Murph Chamberlain
1943 to 1965 - Bert Marshall, Forbes Kennedy, Ken Schinkel, Bryan Watson
1966 to 1979 - Vincent Lukac, Tom Bladon, Mike McEwen, Aleksander Kozhevnikov, Terry Crisp
1980 to 1994 - Jason Allison, Geoff Sanderson, Kelly Hrudey, Todd Marchant, Brian Hayward
1995 to 2004 - Scott Gomez, Olli Jokinen, Bryan Berard, Eric Brewer
Active in 2011 - Scott Gomez, Olli Jokinen, Todd Marchant, Bryan Berard

First off, you deserve a medal for coming in and taking over for a rookie GM, whose only contribution was thinking Tiny Thompson was still available after a 40 team ATD. Considering you basically missed the first 4 rounds, you constructed a very solid team.

Coaching:

Terry Crisp is one of the top coaches at this level. He's a fiery guy, which could rub slackers like McEwen, Gomez and Jokinen the wrong way, but I think he proved over the course of his NHL career that he could be successful with most types of players.

Forwards:

I'm not as big a fan of Scott Gomez as you are; he's not a bad first liner, but not a great one either IMO. Among Devils fans, the consensus was that he was a guy who really was best served as a second line center and was a bit over his head as a first liner. Still, his speed and ability to skate the puck down the ice by himself is a very nice thing to have and can help tilt the ice in your direction. Lukac is one of the most talented goal scorers in this thing, but his numbers in international tournaments has to be a bit of a concern. When did he change his style to become better defensively? I don't really like Jokinen here - I think a first line LW is one of the few things you really missed out on by starting late. I don't really buy Jokinen as a puck winner, as he seems a lot like Mike Bullard in that he was a guy who would get his nose dirty to score goals, but wasn't really a hard worker all over the ice. Jokinen is a very talented goal scorer at this level, but I do think it has to be downgraded a bit because he's not in his natural position.

Jason Allison might be the class of second line centers here - IMO, he's a better offensive player than Gomez. He's slow as dirt though. Sanderson is one of the fastest players in the draft - I'm not sure how well the two will work together in transition. I like that Sanderson brings a bit of sandpaper to the line, and they should work well together in the offensive zone. Given that speed is such a huge part of Gomez's game, I might be tempted to play Sanderson with him. Kozhevnikov is a lot like Lukac in that he has fantastic numbers in the Soviet league, but not very impressive numbers in international play. His grit is a good thing to have though.

Your third line is one of the best shutdown lines in the draft, but they won't score much in the counterattack.

I really like your 4th line. I think Chamberlain is the ideal 4th liner in this - he's tough as nails, and has a better scoring touch than your typical 4th liner. Kennedy is a good two-way guy and Shorty Green is an aggressive player and great leader.

Defense:

Bert Marshall is a solid but unspectacular shut. Bladon is best known as the PP QB of the 70s Flyers, but I'd prefer someone who had a bigger even strength role in real life on my top pairing.

McEwen is another pretty good offensive player. I honestly think Bill Brydge is probably your best defenseman and he should probably be on your top pair. He sounds like a beast!

Eric Brewer is a solid all-round bottom pairing guy. Berard is weak in his own zone, but can skate and put up points.

Overall, you're lacking a real number 1 due to starting late. Brydge is probably the closest you have to one.

Spares:

Frood and Creighton are good offensive-minded spares. Not sure what the plan is if one of your defensive forwards gets hurt. I like your two spare defensemen - it's hard to tell how good Higginbotham was, but he was almost certainly better overall than Berard.

Goaltending:

Hrudey is probably a little bit above average as a starter here. I honestly have no idea what to make of Hayward as a backup. In the 80s, he was considered the best backup in the league by far. Does that make him worth drafting here? (He and Roy did platoon for a number of years in Montreal).

Special Teams:

Excellent first unit. McEwen, Bladon, and Jokinen are better PP players than ES players I think, and that can only help you when you are a man up. Allison is an excellent PP player, as well and Lukac seems good here.

Second unit isn't as good, but is still solid. Is it Berard even necessary in the lineup if he isn't playing first PP? Is Brydge a better option than Brewer?

Your first PK is excellent. Second PK forwards are good, but I really don't like Bladon out there.

Overall:

Considering your heavy handicap of taking over for a team that missed its first few picks, you did a great job. I do think it hurt your top line by forcing Jokinen to play out of position, and your top defense pairing isn't that impressive as you missed all the known standouts on D by the time you started. Quite solid in most areas, though.

Suggestions:

Give Brydge more ice time - he's your best defenseman.

Bench Berard if you aren't using him on the top PP. His defensive lapses would be worth it with #6 ice time at even strength if you needed him for the PP. But it appears like you don't. You have two very good defensive spares - I would consider dressing one of them.

You haven't listed a captain or any assistants.

 

[Dreakmur]

First off, you deserve a medal for coming in and taking over for a rookie GM, whose only contribution was thinking Tiny Thompson was still available after a 40 team ATD. Considering you basically missed the first 4 rounds, you constructed a very solid team.

Coaching:

Terry Crisp is one of the top coaches at this level. He's a fiery guy, which could rub slackers like McEwen, Gomez and Jokinen the wrong way, but I think he proved over the course of his NHL career that he could be successful with most types of players.

Forwards:

I'm not as big a fan of Scott Gomez as you are; he's not a bad first liner, but not a great one either IMO. Among Devils fans, the consensus was that he was a guy who really was best served as a second line center and was a bit over his head as a first liner. Still, his speed and ability to skate the puck down the ice by himself is a very nice thing to have and can help tilt the ice in your direction. Lukac is one of the most talented goal scorers in this thing, but his numbers in international tournaments has to be a bit of a concern. When did he change his style to become better defensively? I don't really like Jokinen here - I think a first line LW is one of the few things you really missed out on by starting late. I don't really buy Jokinen as a puck winner, as he seems a lot like Mike Bullard in that he was a guy who would get his nose dirty to score goals, but wasn't really a hard worker all over the ice. Jokinen is a very talented goal scorer at this level, but I do think it has to be downgraded a bit because he's not in his natural position.

Jason Allison might be the class of second line centers here - IMO, he's a better offensive player than Gomez. He's slow as dirt though. Sanderson is one of the fastest players in the draft - I'm not sure how well the two will work together in transition. I like that Sanderson brings a bit of sandpaper to the line, and they should work well together in the offensive zone. Given that speed is such a huge part of Gomez's game, I might be tempted to play Sanderson with him. Kozhevnikov is a lot like Lukac in that he has fantastic numbers in the Soviet league, but not very impressive numbers in international play. His grit is a good thing to have though.

Your third line is one of the best shutdown lines in the draft, but they won't score much in the counterattack.

I really like your 4th line. I think Chamberlain is the ideal 4th liner in this - he's tough as nails, and has a better scoring touch than your typical 4th liner. Kennedy is a good two-way guy and Shorty Green is an aggressive player and great leader.

Defense:

Bert Marshall is a solid but unspectacular shut. Bladon is best known as the PP QB of the 70s Flyers, but I'd prefer someone who had a bigger even strength role in real life on my top pairing.

McEwen is another pretty good offensive player. I honestly think Bill Brydge is probably your best defenseman and he should probably be on your top pair. He sounds like a beast!

Eric Brewer is a solid all-round bottom pairing guy. Berard is weak in his own zone, but can skate and put up points.

Overall, you're lacking a real number 1 due to starting late. Brydge is probably the closest you have to one.

Spares:

Frood and Creighton are good offensive-minded spares. Not sure what the plan is if one of your defensive forwards gets hurt. I like your two spare defensemen - it's hard to tell how good Higginbotham was, but he was almost certainly better overall than Berard.

Goaltending:

Hrudey is probably a little bit above average as a starter here. I honestly have no idea what to make of Hayward as a backup. In the 80s, he was considered the best backup in the league by far. Does that make him worth drafting here? (He and Roy did platoon for a number of years in Montreal).

Special Teams:

Excellent first unit. McEwen, Bladon, and Jokinen are better PP players than ES players I think, and that can only help you when you are a man up. Allison is an excellent PP player, as well and Lukac seems good here.

Second unit isn't as good, but is still solid. Is it Berard even necessary in the lineup if he isn't playing first PP? Is Brydge a better option than Brewer?

Your first PK is excellent. Second PK forwards are good, but I really don't like Bladon out there.

Overall:

Considering your heavy handicap of taking over for a team that missed its first few picks, you did a great job. I do think it hurt your top line by forcing Jokinen to play out of position, and your top defense pairing isn't that impressive as you missed all the known standouts on D by the time you started. Quite solid in most areas, though.

Suggestions:

Give Brydge more ice time - he's your best defenseman.

Bench Berard if you aren't using him on the top PP. His defensive lapses would be worth it with #6 ice time at even strength if you needed him for the PP. But it appears like you don't. You have two very good defensive spares - I would consider dressing one of them.

You haven't listed a captain or any assistants.

Thanks for the review.

As I said earlier, my top 2 lines aren't really set in stone. I was toying with the idea of a speed line of Sanderson-Gomez-Lukac, and a power line of Jokinen-Allison-Kozhevnikov. I think it will depend on the opponent. I don't have very much toughness on those lines, but I do have a lot of explosive offensive ability.

I don't think you're giving Gomez enough credit. The numbers don't lie. If he's not the best playmaker in this draft, he's very close to it.

The reason Lukac didn't put up numbers in IIHF tournaments is because he had a lesser role there. That Czech team of the late 70s and early 80s had quite a few ATD-level forwards on it. Lukac just wasn't a top-level guy on those teams, so he wasn't given the offensive minutes. Kozhevnikov had it even worse. Not only did he have to join what was probably the most dominant international team ever, he had to play for a coach that hated him. He was never given a chance to shine, and despite that, he was among the leaders a few times.

If a defensive forward gets hurt Chamberlain moves onto the 3rd line and Frood comes into the 4th line. Chamberlain was strong defensively, and played multiple positions. Also, Bryan Watson could jump into a shadow role as a forward.



I was also considering flipping Higginbotham in and taking Berard out. With McEwen and Bladon, I've got enough firepower, and I really need a 4th defenseman for the PK.

Agreed that I don't have a real #1. I think my blueline is going to be my weakest spot. If I wasn't such a nice guy, I would have Mike O'Connell instead of Bladon, and I'd be in a much better spot. If I was in from the start, I would have gone Gomez-Galley-Lukac-O'Connell. Doesn't matter though - I took over the team knowing it would be pretty much ipossible to make competitive.



For Hayward, I think his Vezina record is reason enough to draft him.



Bert Marshall is my captain, and I don't know who my alternates will be.


Maybe new line-up (???):
Sanderson-Gomez-Lukac
Jokinen-Allison-Kozhevnikov
Cotton-Marchant-Schinkel
Chamberlain-Kennedy-Green

Marshall-Brydge
Brewer-Bladon
McEwen-Higginbotham

 

[tony d]

My review of Dave's team:

Line 1: Hib Milks will provide goal scoring for your team. He had 2 top 10's in goal scoring, and had 6 seasons of 20 or more goals according to adjusted stats. Herb Carnegie reads as a good player, he never played in the NHL but when a Frank Mahovlich calls you a good player you must be good. Carson Cooper was a guy I looked at to be on Larouche's right wing. Solid 1st line.

Line 2: Other than your bio I couldn't find much on Skvortsov. I think he, along with Milks, will provide goal scoring for the left wingers on your team. Cassels is a guy I've always liked. We had him in the AAA draft last year, solid choice. Mellanby is as gritty as they come, so good choice for that spot and also for your captain. This line has a goal scorer, a playmaker and a sandpaper guy, sounds like my kind of guy.

Line 3: Arvedson was 1 of the better defensive forwards of the past few years in the NHL. As he only has 100 career goals he won't provide much offense but I gather you drafted him for his defensive play so solid choice. Patrice Bergeron appears to be putting it all together after a couple seasons recovering from his injury. Paul Holmgren put up better offensive numbers than I thought, he was a good player during his career, just don't let him make any personnel decisions for your team.

Line 4: This reads as a supreme checking line. Konowalchuk will provide some offense but he's better suited in this role. Wes Walz is probably one of the better checking line centres in this thing. Wayne Presley was a favourite of mine growing up, so solid 4th line.

Final thoughts on your forward group: Solid group all around, maybe it could have used another scorer for your top 6 or some more offense on your bottom 6 but other than that a good group.

Defense Pairing 1: I've always been of the belief, and I exercised on my own team, that a defensive pairing needs an offensive guy and a defensive guy. This pairing lacks that strong offensive guy. Both Lewis and Cooper are great defensive defensemen but they lack offense, that could hurt you when you go against other teams who have an offensive guy and defensive guy on their defensive pairings.

Defense Pairing 2: Sergei Starikov should be on your 1st pairing, he seemed to do everything well and according to that bio was the Soviet Larry Robinson so that makes him a solid choice. Couldn't find much on Igor Stelnov but what I read on him he was a good defenseman so good choice.

Defense Pairing 3: Janne Niniimaa reads as perhaps your best offensive defenseman, Ninimaa had a good NHL career, but it was to short for my liking, 3 40 point seasons for a defenseman in the dead puck era is impressive though. Alex Levinsky gives you a good defensive guy, solid pairing and perhaps my favourite of your 3 defensive pairings.

Final thoughts on your defensive pairings: Could use another offensive guy, but it will provide a lot of tough matches as it's heavily defensive, good group.

Goalies: Irbe is a tremendous goalie in this, he did wonders for both San Jose and Carolina during impromtu playoff runs for those teams. Gilles Meloche is another good goalie. Really solid group of goalies you drafted.

Coaching: Dineen was our coach in the AAA draft last year and I think he would have been our coach in this again this year if we had entered this draft together. Not much NHL success but 1 of the best WHA coaches of all-time, good choice for a coach.

Extras: Frank Winters was on my radar for the longest time in this draft, should have drafted him ahead of the Fin I thought was a defenseman. Carl Kendall is a solid extra. Sean Hill is a defensive guy so he'd be a good fill in should 1 of your defensive guys get hurt. Justin Williams is a tremendous player when not hurt.

Special Teams: Like this group but I think I would have someone else besides Joe Cooper on your 2nd power play pairing. Also you have Joe Cooper down twice on your 3 penalty killing pairings.

Final Thoughts: Good roster, could use a little more offense but other than that it's a good team. Good luck to you in this.

 

[BillyShoe1721]

Just wanted to say I love that Bill Brydge is finally getting the credit he deserves. Now, here are your Philadelphia Quakers:

Philadelphia Quakers
Coach: Red Berenson​

Red Green-Robbie Ftorek(A)-Bob McDougall
Alexander Bodunov-Nicklas Backstrom-Charlie Sands
Mike Krushelnyski-Michal Pivonka-Anders Kallur
Rick Dudley-Stephane Yelle-Mark Johnson(A)
Yevgeny Zimin, Alexander Uvarov, Tony Tanti

Phat Wilson(C)-Bill Juzda
Alex Smith-Jim Dorey
Drew Doughty-Kim Johnsson
Hal Laycoe

Daren Puppa
Joe Daley



PP1: Green-Ftorek-McDougall
Wilson-Doughty

PP2: Bodunov-Backstrom-Johnson
Smith-Dorey

PK1: Yelle-Kallur
Wilson-Juzda

PK2: Krushelnyski-Pivonka
Smith-Dorey

PK3: Ftorek-Johnson
Juzda-Johnsson​

pre-1916: Bob McDougall, Phat Wilson(technically can't fulfill a requirement because he never played in a professional league)
1917-1942: Alex Smith, Red Green, Charlie Sands, Bill Juzda
1943-1965: Yevgeny Zimin, Alexander Uvarov, Hal Laycoe
1966-1979: Robbie Ftorek, Alexander Bodunov, Anders Kallur, Rick Dudley, Mark Johnson, Jim Dorey, Joe Daley, Red Berenson(coach)
1980-1994: Daren Puppa, Mike Krushelnyski, Michal Pivonka, Kim Johnsson, Tony Tanti
1995-2004: Stephane Yelle
in 2011: Nicklas Backstrom, Drew Doughty

 

[BenchBrawl]

MONTREAL BAD HABITS​

GM: ReenMachine
Coach: Emile Francis & Bob Hartley
Captain: Jason Smith
Assistant: Dave Maloney
Assistant: Brian Gionta

Eric Vail - Jason Spezza - Mud Bruneteau
Carl Liscombe - Alex Zhamnov - Petr Sykora
Bob Kelly - George Gee - Brian Gionta(A)
Stan Jonathan - Tomas Plekanec - Mike Knuble
Spare: Daymond Langkow , Ian Laperriere

Dave Maloney(A) - Jason Smith(C)
Dale Tallon - Bob Rouse
Brad Stuart - Vladimir Malakhov
Spare:Baldy Spittal

Sean Burke
Hec Fowler

PP1: Spezza-Sykora-Vail-Malakhov-Tallon
PP2: Zhamnov-Bruneteau-Liscombe-Maloney-Stuart
PK1: Plekanec-Gionta-Maloney-Smith
PK2: Zhamnov-Gee-Rouse-Stuart

1916 or earlier:Spittal
1917-1942:Bruneteau
1943-1965:Gee
1966-1979:Maloney
1980-1994:Burke
1995-2004:Spezza
in 2011: Plekanec​

 

[seventieslord]

Not that Brydge is a bad player or doesn't belong, or that you're overrating him, or even that he doesn't have the ability to be a top pairing guy here, but if he does...

Thanks to the all-star voting results being fleshed out by BM67 over the past couple of months, we've learned a lot about the era and who was the next tier of highly-regarded defensemen. Here are some MLD guys and the years where they had an all-star voting finish of note (more than a single vote)

Jack Portland: 5th, 7th, 8th
Bingo Kampman: 6th, 7th, 9th
Walter Buswell: 6th, 8th
Ted Graham: 7th, 7th
Stewart Evans: 9th, 13th
Bill Brydge: 6th
Joe Cooper: 14th

If Brydge's single 6th (which, yes, is more than the vast majority of MLD defensemen have) makes him a top MLD defenseman, what does that make the five guys ahead of him? Just sayin', and not just because I have the top two there.

FYI everyone, here are the voting records of some other prominent "never or rarely all-star" defensemen from this era who were drafted in the ATD, for comparison (just the ones whose careers were mainly in this fleshed out era of 1931-1945):

Flash Hollett: 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 8th, 10th, 11th
Ott Heller: 3rd, 5th, 7th, 7th, 9th, 10th
Cy Wentworth: 3rd, 5th, 5th, 8th, 10th
Hap Day: 5th, 6th, 6th, 7th, 7th
Red Horner: 5th, 6th, 9th, 9th, 10th
Red Dutton: 5th, 7th, 9th
Doug Young: 7th, 9th, 9th
Taffy Abel: 7th, 10th, 10th
Bucko McDonald: 4th, 6th
Marty Burke: 5th
George Owen: 9th
Al Shields: 10th
Reg Hamilton: 10th
Joe Jerwa: N/A

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Thanks for the review.

As I said earlier, my top 2 lines aren't really set in stone. I was toying with the idea of a speed line of Sanderson-Gomez-Lukac, and a power line of Jokinen-Allison-Kozhevnikov. I think it will depend on the opponent. I don't have very much toughness on those lines, but I do have a lot of explosive offensive ability.

I don't think you're giving Gomez enough credit. The numbers don't lie. If he's not the best playmaker in this draft, he's very close to it.

The reason Lukac didn't put up numbers in IIHF tournaments is because he had a lesser role there. That Czech team of the late 70s and early 80s had quite a few ATD-level forwards on it. Lukac just wasn't a top-level guy on those teams, so he wasn't given the offensive minutes. Kozhevnikov had it even worse. Not only did he have to join what was probably the most dominant international team ever, he had to play for a coach that hated him. He was never given a chance to shine, and despite that, he was among the leaders a few times.

If a defensive forward gets hurt Chamberlain moves onto the 3rd line and Frood comes into the 4th line. Chamberlain was strong defensively, and played multiple positions. Also, Bryan Watson could jump into a shadow role as a forward.



I was also considering flipping Higginbotham in and taking Berard out. With McEwen and Bladon, I've got enough firepower, and I really need a 4th defenseman for the PK.

Agreed that I don't have a real #1. I think my blueline is going to be my weakest spot. If I wasn't such a nice guy, I would have Mike O'Connell instead of Bladon, and I'd be in a much better spot. If I was in from the start, I would have gone Gomez-Galley-Lukac-O'Connell. Doesn't matter though - I took over the team knowing it would be pretty much ipossible to make competitive.



For Hayward, I think his Vezina record is reason enough to draft him.



Bert Marshall is my captain, and I don't know who my alternates will be.


Maybe new line-up (???):
Sanderson-Gomez-Lukac
Jokinen-Allison-Kozhevnikov
Cotton-Marchant-Schinkel
Chamberlain-Kennedy-Green

Marshall-Brydge
Brewer-Bladon
McEwen-Higginbotham

I think I like the new possible lineup better. First defense pair doesn't provide all that much offensive support, but it's a very good shut down pair and Brydge is decent with the puck.

Depending on how much ice time you plan on giving the fourth line, Shorty Green is definitely deserving of a letter.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

I always suspected Joe Jerwa was overrated. Now it's more than suspicion.

Happy we are moving beyond judging defensemen by the fantasy hockey stats of points and PIMs.

Brydge has great quotes about him, in addition to the one season of high all-star votes.

 

[seventieslord]

I always suspected Joe Jerwa was overrated. Now it's more than suspicion.

Yep. Specialist. (or occasional forward, maybe??)

Happy we are moving beyond judging defensemen by the fantasy hockey stats of points and PIMs.

Agree. In fairness, what I'm really happy about is the fact that we now have better things to go by, when we didn't before.

How they were regarded in their time should be seen as very important.

Stats do a decent job of showing how good they were offensively, and all-star voting is sort of an "overall" measure so it helps to get an idea of their defensive worth too.

Brydge has great quotes about him, in addition to the one season of high all-star votes.

Agree that he does, but that should not necessarily put him ahead of guys with 2-3 seasons of good votes.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Agree that he does, but that should not necessarily put him ahead of guys with 2-3 seasons of good votes.

No, not at all. But on the other hand, Brydge did have some good seasons in the late 20s, before the AS teams came into existence.

 

[seventieslord]

No, not at all. But on the other hand, Brydge did have some good seasons in the late 20s, before the AS teams came into existence.

oh yeah, that's true.

wish we could find those ASTs. Then again, they're just going to include "the usual suspects"; I don't anticipate any surprises there. Clancy and Shore should have a monopoly on at least 2 of the 4 defense spots annually.

 

[BillyShoe1721]

Eden Hall Warriors

GMs: vecens24 & TheDevilMadeMe

This team is set up to allow Julien to role 4 lines, with the 4th line functioning similar to Detroit's Grind Line.

Head Coach: Claude Julien
Assistant Coach: John Muckler

Nick Mickoski - Billy McGimsie - Nikolai Drozdetsky
Ulf Dahlen - Mike Ribeiro - Marian Stastny
Sami Kapanen - Steve Sullivan - Roland Pettersson
Matt Cooke - Larry Patey - Randy McKay (A)

Jack Evans - Mike O'Connell
Walt Buswell (C) - Brian Campbell
Christian Ehrhoff - Garth Butcher (A)

Johnny Mowers
Bert Lindsay

​

Spares = Dave Tippett, Jeff Carter, Paul Martin

PP1: Ulf Dahlen - Billy McGimsie - Nikolai Drozdetsky - Mike O'Connell - Brian Campbell
PP2: Nick Mickoski - Mike Ribeiro - Marian Stastny - Steve Sullivan - Christian Ehrhoff

PK1: Larry Patey - Cooke/(Tippett) - Jack Evans - Garth Butcher
PK2: Steve Sullivan - Sami Kapenen - Walt Buswell - Mike O'Connell
other PK options: (Carter), Mickowski, Pettersson, McGimsie

1916 or earlier: Billy McGimsie, Bert Lindsay
1917-1942: Johnny Mowers, Walt Buswell
1943-1965: Jack Evans, Nick Mickoski, Roland Pettersson
1966-1979: Mike O'Connell, Marian Stastny, Larry Patey, John Muckler
1980-1994: Nikolai Drozdetsky, Garth Butcher, Ulf Dahlen, Randy McKay, Dave Tippett
1995-2004: Sami Kapanen, (Brian Campbell, Steve Sullivan, Mike Ribeiro, Christian Ehrhoff, Claude Julien, Matt Cooke, Paul Martin)
in 2011: Brian Campbell, Steve Sullivan, Mike Ribeiro, Christian Ehrhoff, Claude Julien, Matt Cooke, Jeff Carter, Paul Martin

1st Line

As expected with a TDMM entry, there are few holes in the lineup. The first line is a strong one with one of the best, if not the best, wingers in the MLD in Drozdetsky. McGimsie is a good enough setup man, and Mickoski is the glue that holds it together. Adequate(but not good) defensively and plenty of offensive firepower. The line is average in terms of toughness as well, but in terms of 1st lines it is more than passable.

2nd Line

Same format as the 1st line. Glue guy LW in Dahlen, the passing center in Ribeiro and the shooter at RW in Stastny. My only minor concern with this line is the lack of a high quality shooter to compliment Ribeiro who is about as pass first as they come. Stastny appears to also have been a pass first guy from the wing, and I don't know if Dahlen's scoring ability fully maximizes the playmaking potential from the other two members of the line. Defense and physicality are both good.

3rd Line

Three pretty decent two way forwards on this line. They're not going to be elite defensively, but will be good offensively. Probably the fastest 3rd line in the draft in terms of speed. The only problem I could see this line having is it getting overmatched by physical players. Kapanen and Sullivan are both midgets and could get pushed around by a big top line or a power forward.

4th Line

You're certainly not lacking in toughness with McKay and Cooke on your 4th line. They're centered by one of the best defensive centers in the draft. This line won't score much, but will be difficult to play against, and will be strong on the forecheck while being good in their own zone. You can also switch the wingers in your bottom 6 around to accommodate facing bigger, tougher opponents in checking matchups.

Forwards Overall

A good group with no glaring holes in them. The 2nd line could use some more goal scoring ability, and the 3rd line is kind of small. Other than that, they're a good group and are strong skaters.

1st Pairing

A decent 1st pairing that brings pretty much everything you could want. O'Connell provides offense and decent two-way play while Evans handles things in his own end.

2nd Pairing

Pretty much the same as the first pairing, a good complimentary puck mover and stay at home physical guy. Should be one of the better 2nd pairing with the recent findings on Buswell.

3rd Pairing

Pretty much the same deal as your first two pairings, no holes here.

Defense overall

3 well constructed pairings with no glaring holes anywhere.

Goaltending

Mowers is one of the better starters in the draft with a short but high peak. Lindsay's a decent backup.

Coaching

I personally hate Claude Julien, but you've got decent coaching between him and Mucker.

PP

PP1 looks good, Dahlen provides net presence with a playmaker-shooter combo of McGimsie and Drozdetsky. Two good pointmen as well. Your 2nd PP has the same problem as your 2nd line, not a good enough shooter to maximize the playmaking that Ribeiro and Stastny provide. How much PP has Sullivan played on the point? I honestly don't know the answer, just wondering.

PK

Color me unconvinced that Matt Cooke can handle 1st unit PK duties. I'd rather have Patey-Kapanen out there. 2nd PK unit looks decent. The defensemen on the units look good. Whatever your 3rd unit will be, it's not going to be a very good one if your options are Mickoski, Pettersson, and McGimsie. But, they won't see much time so no big sweat there.

Spares

I'm a big Jeff Carter fan, and I like Tippett as well. If I were you, I'd put Tippett in at 4th line LW instead of Cooke. He's a better PKer and defensive player, and they're like the same offensively. Cooke brings agitation, but Tippett's advantage in defensive play is much larger in my eyes.

 

[vecens24]

Cooke: 26% of penalties killed, at a rate 10% better than the league average, is really good for a winger available now. -according to seventies

Hate the guy all you want but he'll be a fine first unit PK guy. We're looking into switching that around though anyway. Besides, anyone next to Patey (who very well might be the best PKer in this draft) makes for a really good PK unit.

As far sa the 3rd PK unit, Pettersson should be a very strong PKer for that unit as he is big, strong, fast, hard working, and defensive minded (as seen by the fact that he also used to play defense). Micoski is also fast, big, defensive minded, and hard working. Either of these two (especially Pettersson) centered by McGimsie will make a fine 3rd PK unit, which will be used rarely as it is.

As far as the second line, we think Stastny was more of a guy who made his talents available to whatever situation arose. The example we kind of thought of was like a Daniel Sedin in that he could do either.

Thanks for the review Billy, one of us will get around to yours eventually.

 

[seventieslord]

that's right, use seventies to settle your disputes

 

[vecens24]

that's right, use seventies to settle your disputes

Haha if I had the stats myself I would have used my own numbers but I don't have the resources you do at this moment.

 

[jkrx]

Detroit Red Wings (preliminary, havent spoken to Reds yet)

Coach: Jimmy Skinner

Andrew Brunette - Earl Reibel - Robert Reichel
Cory Stillman - Thomas Gradin - Doug Brown
Ulf Sterner - Vlad Golikov - Alex Golikov
Danis Zaripov - Sergei Zinoviev - Alexey Morozov
Ronnie Stern - Vladimir Ruzicka

Sergei Babinov - Antonin Stavjana
Frantisek Kaberle - Jaro Spacek
Rod Flett - Magnus Flett
Alex Motter - Larry Zeidel

Honken Holmqvist
Goran Hogosta

PP1: Brunette - Reibel - Reichel, Rod Flett - Babinov
PP2: Stillman - Gradin - Morozov, Kaberle - Stavjana

PK1: Reibel - Doug Brown, Flett - Flett
PK2: Gradin - Sterner - Kaberle - Babinov

Zeidel might still be a regular on the line-up but I just don't know who he will replace yet.