MLD 2011 Draft Thread I

[TheDevilMadeMe]

This is looking like a fairly substantial commitment in real time in order to execute, something Im short of. Regrettably, Im going to have to sit this one out guys. I dont want to be messing anyone up with absenteeism when you need picks & progress etc. Not fair to the other participants.

Once the draft officially starts tomorrow, every GM gets a 4 hour window to make his pick. If you miss your window, it's really no big deal, just pick when you sign on. Alternatively, if you know you will miss your window, you can private message your pick to the administrator or the guy who goes after you, and they'll select for you when it's your turn.

If you can check the draft once a day, you're golden. If you can check every 2 days or so, you're still fine. And how long you spend researching each pick is really up to you - obviously the more time, the better your chances of winning the prestigious Minor League Draft Cup (whatever it's called).

Basically, if you don't think you have enough time to research the guys you are picking, then it's understandable that you might want to pass. But please, don't be worried about holding anything up for the rest of us. The only reason we are waiting for Iain is because it's the first pick of the draft. Once the thing gets started, each GM only gets 4 hours to "hold things up," then we move on and the skipped GM can pick at his leisure.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

So the clock officially starts at noon tomorrow?

Sounds like the complete draft order might not be known until we are finished with the first round... heh.

14 teams is a good number - 2 divisions, #1 seed gets a first round bye. So we need just one more; or for Killion to come back (if he thought we'd have to wait for every GM who missed their pick).

 

[DaveG]

OkeeDokee then, I'll carry on. I thought ya'll were doing this in real-time which is pretty difficult to coordinate......

Oh thank god no. That would be an absolute nightmare trying to get together 14-16 GMs and co-GMs with time off at the same time to pull off something like this.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

So we have 14 teams again?

I think we should just stick with it. It's a good number - it makes winning your division in the regular season actually worth something - a first round bye in the playoffs.

Wouldn't mind having 16 if other GMs really wanted to join, but no point in pushing to get more, in my opinion.

 

[chaosrevolver]

If you ever need someone to fill in..I may be up for it. I am totally unprepared and will have picks to make up in all likelyhood..but really..is that anything new?

 

[VanIslander]

If you ever need someone to fill in..I may be up for it. I am totally unprepared and will have picks to make up in all likelyhood..but really..is that anything new?

1. You make decent picks.
2. You always make up for missed picks

A competent, reliable ATDer that any team would benefit from having.

AN IDEA Iain Fyffe & chaosrevolver - Brandon Shamrocks

 

[chaosrevolver]

1. You make decent picks.
2. You always make up for missed picks

A competent, reliable ATDer that any team would benefit from having.

AN IDEA Iain Fyffe & chaosrevolver - Brandon Shamrocks

Decent? Sir..I want redemption for the last MLD I was in. My championship was stolen from two guys named Eagle Belfour and VanIslander.

I will not stand for that blasphemy.

 

[VanIslander]

Decent? Sir..I want redemption for the last MLD I was in. My championship was stolen from two guys named Eagle Belfour and VanIslander.

I repent.

That said, I think your MLD11 Bulls team was your best ever. My Jokerit Helsinki at #2 vs. your Belleville at #3 should have been a seven game OT classic. Your 2nd line of Haviland Routh - Viktor Zhluktov - Boris Mayorov and 3rd line of Don Grosso - Brian Skrudland - Jack Findlay were among my favs ever. And you had a blueline with Dickie Boon, Allan Cameron, Dmitri Yushkevich, Lee Fogolin Sr. (I still think of Tom Lysiak and Yuri Fedorov as fool's gold but otherwise, smashing!)

 

[seventieslord]

To me, we had the best two teams in that draft. I know a few others agreed.

One of them didn't count.

I sure wouldn't mind retroactively assessing old mld teams using the updated knowledge we have.

Most dominant mld team ever? Look no further than Pitseleh's mld7 entry... that lost in round 1.

 

[chaosrevolver]

One of them didn't count.

I sure wouldn't mind retroactively assessing old mld teams using the updated knowledge we have.

Most dominant mld team ever? Look no further than Pitseleh's mld7 entry... that lost in round 1.

One didn't count? I don't know if I was even around for that draft.

 

[Dreakmur]

One of them didn't count.

I sure wouldn't mind retroactively assessing old mld teams using the updated knowledge we have.

Most dominant mld team ever? Look no further than Pitseleh's mld7 entry... that lost in round 1.

No kidding... that team was absolutely stacked.... except in net.


For those who haven't seen it:

Gordie Roberts - Art Chapman - Corb Denneny
Ed Sandford - Paul Ronty - Wally Hergesheimer
George Hay - Jack Adams - Harry Oliver
Rusty Crawford - Dick Irvin Sr. - Frank Finnigan
Dave Trottier

Gilles Marotte - Bucko McDonald
_______ - Jeff Brown
Battleship Leduc - Bob Turner
_______

_______
_______
_______

 

[Iain Fyffe]

Sorry everyone, the last I heard we were thinking this wouldn't start until much later, so I haven't been logging on. Now that we're underway I'll be on every day.

With the first overall pick, the Brandon Shamrocks select:

Tom Paton, G


Maybe it's just because I've been doing research in his era lately, but I'm sure most everyone here is familiar with his career.

Please let me know if there's any particular protocols I should be observing when posting a pick.

 

[VanIslander]

Most dominant mld team ever? Look no further than Pitseleh's mld7 entry... that lost in round 1.

A LOT of all-time great Bottom-6 forwards on that team of his. Lost to pappyline's Whitby in the first round too. Both teams were stacked with all-time greats.

Hockey Outsider and I won that championship with our Penticton Vees, BM67 administering playoff voting, the first ever playoff voting system. We did it with coach Reay, captain Pit Martin, Alex Kovalev, Camille Henry, Don Lever, Pierre Mondou, Gregg Sheppard, Rod Seiling, Dmitri Yushkevich, Brian Rafalski, Kelly Hrudey, Reggie Lemelin and three other drafted players. Yet, in higdsight, pappyline's Whitby squad and pitseleh's Quebec team were deeper in all-time great talent easily, especially at forward position. Goaltending, not so much.

 

[VanIslander]

With the first overall pick, the Brandon Shamrocks select goaler Tom Paton.

Tom Paton

Trophy Case:

Stanley Cup (1893)
Championship (AHAC) Winner (1888, 1889, 1890, 1891, 1892, 1893)
Hart Memorial Trophy (1889*)
Vézina Trophy (1888*, 1889*, 1890*, 1891*, 1893*)

Wins League Leader (1888, 1889, 1890, 1891)
Goal Against Average League Leader (1888, 1889, 1890, 1891)

- According to Ultimate Hockey, the best glove hand of the 1800's
- According to Ultimate Hockey, the finest goaltender of the 1800's

Earliest known hockey awards, given to Tom Paton in 1885

Multiples medals won by Tom Paton in the early 1880's in snowshoeing

Medals given to Tom Paton for his championship victory in 1888

First ever Stanley Cup Ring (1893) won by Tom Paton

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Sorry everyone, the last I heard we were thinking this wouldn't start until much later, so I haven't been logging on. Now that we're underway I'll be on every day.

With the first overall pick, the Brandon Shamrocks select goaler Tom Paton. Maybe it's just because I've been doing research in his era lately, but I'm sure most everyone here is familiar with his career.

Please let me know if there's any particular protocols I should be observing when posting a pick.

Only suggestion is to bold the name and add a position afterwards, to make it easy for people skimming the thread to see you picked.

Such as:

Tom Paton, G

Our pick will come shortly.

 

[chaosrevolver]

Sorry everyone, the last I heard we were thinking this wouldn't start until much later, so I haven't been logging on. Now that we're underway I'll be on every day.

With the first overall pick, the Brandon Shamrocks select goaler Tom Paton. Maybe it's just because I've been doing research in his era lately, but I'm sure most everyone here is familiar with his career.

Please let me know if there's any particular protocols I should be observing when posting a pick.

Interesting..he has some great accomplishments and is the best of his era..but the level of competition is concerning to most around here. I took him way back as apart of the MLD and while most don't disagree that he's a starter at this level..I am not sure he is the best goalie in the draft.

Intrigued that a newbie goes to that era though and doesn't pick some decent guy from the modern era.

 

[VanIslander]

Please let me know if there's any particular protocols I should be observing when posting a pick.

Post a reason, statistic and/or description with your pick. Or,... construct a bio on the pick afterwards. These are encouraged to help us learn more about the players. I learn alot from researching myself and from reading the bios of others. It's part of what makes this subboard so great. Not just name dropping usually!

Intrigued that a newbie goes to that era though and doesn't pick some decent guy from the modern era.

The newbie was recruited specifically for his hockey history orientation. He's the most anticipated newbie ATD board GM since pappyline!

 

[Iain Fyffe]

The newbie was recruited specifically for his hockey history orientation.

Indeed. To be honest, I expect I'll be second-guessing myself a lot, wondering if I'm making a pick because I have a bias toward the early years of the game. I'm more likely to load up on old players than recent ones.

 

[Iain Fyffe]

Post a reason, statistic and/or description with your pick. Or,... construct a bio on the pick afterwards. These are encouraged to help us learn more about the players. I learn alot from researching myself and from reading the bios of others. It's part of what makes this subboard so great. Not just name dropping usually!

I've put something in the bio thread.

 

[vecens24]

Paton was mine and TDMMs #2 overall on our board pretty much. Good pick.

 

[VanIslander]

I'll put something in the bio thread.

Great! Here is the MLD 2010 Bios Thread for reference:

http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=787093

 

[chaosrevolver]

The key with Paton is the info available. If you can find more then guys like myself, seventieslord, eagle and vanI found...you are on your way to an excellent pick. Even with the info we found..I'd say he's at least a top-5 goalie in the draft if not top-3. I'd say a decent pick that could become great depending on your argument and info.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Eden Hall selects an explosive right winger (every source but Pelletier calls him a RW), who had a brilliant peak until he managed to cross his dictator, I mean coach, Victor Tikhonov, who then proceeded to bury him:

Nikolai Drozdetsky, RW

Nikolai Drozdetsky was an explosive left winger with the old Soviet Red Army teams of the 1980s.

- Selected Soviet Player of the Year in 1984 (2nd place was Tretiak, then Fetisov, then Makarov)

-Awarded "the Merited Sports Master (Zasluzhenny Master Sporta or ZMS) which is the top award given to outstanding sports personalities in Russia. By analogy with the biggest honor in professional hockey in Canada, it is often called the 'Russian Hall of Fame.'" (chidlovski)

Domestic League

- Finished 3rd in Soviet League scoring twice in the early 80s - not an easy task. Makarov, Larionov, Krutov, and Balderis are the only other players with multiple top 3 scoring finishes in the Soviet League in the 1980s. Kapustin (2nd, 4th) and Bykov (4th, 4th) were close.

-In 1981, he was behind only Makarov and Kapustin in scoring. In 1984, he was behind only Makarov and Krutov.

International

-Dominated the 1984 Olympics with 10 goals in 7 games.

-Scored an outstanding 64 goals in 109 games for the National team (0.58 GPG), despite never playing on the top unit. For comparison, Makarov scored 189 in 315 (0.60), Krutov scored 150 in 255 (0.59), Kapustin scored 120 in 208 (0.57), and Balderis scored 74 in 147 (0.50).

Buried by Tikhonov after 1984:

His career took a turn for the worse after he got on Victor Tikhonov's bad side. Tikhonov left Drozdetsky off the 1984 Canada Cup Team, the same year he won the award for the best player in the Soviet Union, then proceeded to bury him:

However his situation was far from rosy. Drozdetsky was not one of coach Victor Tikhonov's favorites, despite his scoring exploits. Life was never easy in the Soviet Union, but especially not easy if Tikhonov didn't like you.

Tikhonov deliberately left Drozdetsky off of the 1984 Canada Cup team that finish second to Canada. Drozdetsky was said to be at home nursing an undisclosed injury.

That appeared to be the last straw in the strained relationship. Drozdetsky fought to get his release from the Red Army team. By 1987 he joined SKA Leningrad. And by 1989 he was given permission to pursue a career in Sweden.

Drozdetsky joined a second division Swedish team named Boras. There Drozdetsky played with former NHLer Stefan Person. Drozdetsky was easily the most exciting player in the league, leading the league in scoring the first two years in the league. Drozdetsky spent a total of 6 years in Sweden, though he slowed as he aged over the years.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

The key with Paton is the info available. If you can find more then guys like myself, seventieslord, eagle and vanI found...you are on your way to an excellent pick. Even with the info we found..I'd say he's at least a top-5 goalie in the draft if not top-3. I'd say a decent pick that could become great depending on your argument and info.

Paton's a total wild card right now. He could be the best goalie in the draft; he could be below the pack (unlikely but possible); or he could be in the pack (which is the only way ranking him top 3 or 5 makes sense IMO). I don't see how you can rank him otherwise. His resume is so unlike any other guy likely to be a starter.

The fact that he is the most accomplished goalie in the draft (quite easily), despite the incredibly weak era is what made him so tantalizing and why I knew that if we wanted him, we had to draft him early.

I'll be honest, knowing what I knew about Iain, I had 2 guess as to who he would pick and Paton was one of them.

One suggestion: Get a backup goalie who has a good regular season record who can start a lot of games to alleviate any questions about whether Paton can handle a 82 game grind. Paton is your man in the playoffs, obviously.

 

[Dreakmur]

Nikolai Drozdetsky, RW

Good pick. I'm pretty sure he's the most talented offensive winger left.