MLD Semi Finals: Phoenix Roadrunners v NDG Bears

[ResilientBeast]

Post your rosters

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[ResilientBeast]

If people post we'll go until Friday otherwise we'll call it wednesday

@tinyzombies
@tony d

 

[tinyzombies]

N.D.G. (Montreal) BEARS​

Coach: Ken Hitchcock (3rd all-time in wins; SC winner)

Captain: Wendel Clark (I think solid captain material)
Alternates: Harry Hyland (was captain of the Wanderers), Fleming Mackell (wore the A in Boston)

Dave Balon - Bernie Nicholls - Alexei Kovalev
Nicholls (Pass): 80.6 VS7 Pts; 5th player to score 150 pts, 3x AS.
Kovalev (Carry/Score): 75.3 VS7 Pts; 6-2, 222 lbs.; Hitch/Clark will kick him in the ass.
Balon (Defend/Dig/Score): HHOF said: "Balon was assigned to check opposing stars such as Gordie Howe and Bobby Hull, and his savvy play garnered him one of the best plus-minus ratings in the league."; 2x SC; 4x AS. ES Goals: 3, 9, 9, 10. "Balon was strong in the playoffs with his two-way play and led the playoffs in assists." NYT said: “He was one of the best defensive forwards in the league,” said Emile Francis, the Rangers’ longtime coach and general manager.

Wendel Clark - Rick MacLeish - Marian Gaborik
MacLeish: 73.3 V7Pts, 36.1 V7G. 107 pts in 114 career playoff games, 3x AS.
Gabork: 38.6 VsX goals, blazing speed and acceleration.
Clark (Bang/Score): 30.5 VsX7 goals; 7 30 Goal Seasons; 69 points in 95 career playoff games; 90th All Time in Career playoff penalty minutes; 2x AS. "Skating and puckhandling abilities - he had an incredible wrist shot"

Percy Galbraith - Fleming Mackell - Mush March
Mackell: 6th in Play-off Points per Game, 79% of 2nd place Bernie Geoffrion; 2x SC; 1st AS ('53); Greatest Hockey Legends said: "When he was called upon by the Leafs he was expected to be a defensive-minded winger with rugged intentions. He was considered by many to be the fastest skater in the league when he played, despite a bowlegged stance." "specialty teams specialist. He was a regular on both the power play and penalty kill units, thanks to his speed.; Ultimate Hockey said: "Tough, chippy little center; maddening guy to play against; tricky; superb acceleration, was a nifty stick-handler, and had a star quality shot. And the boy had heart."
March: "Tied for 3rd in a 1934 writers poll for "fastest skater" behind Howie Morenz and Busher Jackson; Awarded a "Retroactive Selke" by Ultimate Hockey for 1939"
Galbraith: Ultimate Hockey awarded him: “Best Defensive Forward” of 1920-29; “Best Penalty Killer” of 1920-29;
“Best Shadow” of 1920-29; Play-off Points – 1st(1927), 3rd(1930); Play-off Goals – 3rd(1927), 5th(1928); Play-off Assists – 1st(1927), 2nd(1930)

Taylor Hall - Tommy Dunderdale - Harry Hyland
Kent Nilsson
Marc Savard
Dunderdale: HHOF; 6x PCHA AS & all-time career leader in goals scored. 3x topped the PCHA in goals, 3x won the league championship and even led all skaters in penalty minutes one season; agile; known to backcheck; speedy, mobile puckhandler who weaves through traffic with skill and chases the play.
Nilsson: "33 $PPP/82 tops the list of players available. That's 9th place all-time, ever (tied)."; SC; 2x AS.
Hall: Hart winner; 2nd in Pts/60 (2018); 71.8 VsPts; 31.1 VsG; 47 VsA; 22 $PPP/82.
Hyland: HHOF; 1911-1915 (first in goals/game in NHA ahead of Malone); "A fast skater with powerful, accurate shot."; "not much a playmaker"; "A small but tough little bugger"; "Fast and tricky stickhandler."; "Appears to have been a scrapper.: (From ATD bio.)
Savard: 28 $PPP/82; 59.8 VsA; 73.3 VsP


Paul Reinhart - Doug Barkley
Barkley: "A big and physical defenseman who started his NHL career at a late age and had it end far too early. ... Could have become one of the most dominant defensemen of his time if it was not for a career ending eye injury." During 4 year peak(only 4 full years in NHL): 3rd in goals, 3rd in assists, 4th in points(90% of 2nd place Howell).
Reinhart: LOH said: "Superior two-way defender with versatility." "(P)lenty of offensive spark, especially setting up goals ... very strong playoff performer (77 points in 83 contests).

Craig Hartsburg - Ken Morrow
Morrow: From his ATD bio: "Most defensive" defencemen of the ATD (modern era)"; 4x SC; Miracle on Ice.Plus/Minus #1 finishes (7).
Hartsburg: 3x AS; poise; steady point production; rusher; fantastic passer; quarterback PP; vision; creativity; strong/big; very sound defensively; active stick. (All from ATD bio.)

Lars-Erik Sjöberg - Stefan Persson
Stefan Persson: "24 $PPP/82"; 4x SC
Sjöberg: "A short, robust man ... refused to surrender to the big, powerful players from Canada and he frequently used his favorite maneuver, the hipcheck. ... Swedish national team's leading defenseman in the late 1960s and early 1970s because of his excellent skating skills and persistent training. His talent for choosing the right position, combined with effective bodychecking, made him a virtually impenetrable force to opposing forwards. At the same time, he managed to avoid foul play and behaved with the dignity befitting a true athlete. ... He's the "mind" of the defense...Ranks with Mark Howe for mobility on defense...His tight circles, sudden bursts and dancing dekes drive forecheckers crazy...A good rusher...Works hard to improve his shot.."

Zinetula Bilyaletdinov: From bio: aggressive, hard hitting shut down hockey
James Patrick: "Strong positional play."; "Excellent skater in every way - speed, agility and power. His skating was amplified by his superior puck handling ability, often rushing the puck. He had a great point shot, always kept low for tips and rebounds."; "Not an elite passer."


Pekka Rinne/Vladimir Dzurilla
Rinne; 347-187, .919, 56 SO
Dzurilla: "World champion in 1972, 1976 and 1977, a silver medalist in 1965, 1966 and 1968, and a bronze medalist in 1963, 1964, 1969 and 1970. He was a four-time Olympian with two silver and two bronze medals, a 1976 Canada Cup hero, earned the 1965 IIHF Directorate best goalkeeper award, and was a 1965 and 1969 IIHF World Championship tournament all-star."


PP1: Nicholls (9x 25+ pts on the PP) - Nilsson (9th best PP ever) - Kovalev - Reinhardt - Barkley
PP2: MacLeish - Clark - Hyland - Sjoberg - Hartsburg

PK1: Galbraith - Mackell- Hartsburg - Morrow
PK2*: March - Balon - Reinhart - Persson

*Slide MacLeish on PK2 if I need a goal: 23 short handed goals ranks him 47th all time

1916 or earlier: Hyland
1917-1942: March, Galbraith
1943-1965: Barkley, Mackell
1966-1979: MacLeish, Sjoberg, Balon, Dzurilla
1980-1994: Nicholls, Kovalev, Patrick, Clark, Morrow, Hartsburg, Nilsson
1995-2010: Gaborik, Hitchcock
in 2019: Rinne, Hall

 

[tony d]

Phoenix Roadrunners

Coach: Lindy Ruff

Ray Getliffe-Pierre Turgeon-Rick Vaive(A)
Simon Gagne-Neal Broten(A)-Gary Dornhoefer
Scott Hartnell-Steve Kasper-Ron Stewart
Alex Tanguay-Dan Bain-Jason Pominville

Extras: Geoff Courtnall, Keith Primeau

Wade Redden-Jerry Korab(C)
Dallas Smith-Steve Duchesne
Robert Svehla-Bob Armstrong

Extras: Bryan Mccabe, Paul Shmyr

Sergei Bobrovsky
Normie Smith

Special Teams:

PP 1: Ray Getliffe-Pierre Turgeon-Rick Vaive-Wade Redden-Steve Duchesne
PP 2: Simon Gagne-Neal Broten-Gary Dornhoefer-Robert Svehla-Alex Tanguay
PK 1: Steve Kasper-Ron Stewart-Bob Armstrong-Dallas Smith
PK 2: Neal Broten-Jason Pominville-Wade Redden-Jerry Korab

1916 or earlier: Dan Bain
1917-1942: Ray Getliffe, Normie Smith
1943-1965: Dallas Smith, Bob Armstrong
1966-1979: Jerry Korab, Rick Vaive, Gary Dornhoefer, Ron Stewart, Paul Shmyr
1980-1994: Pierre Turgeon, Neal Broten, Steve Kasper, Steve Duchesne, Geoff Courtnall, Keith Primeau
1995-2010: Wade Redden, Simon Gagne, Robert Svehla, Alex Tanguay, Scott Hartnell, Bryan Mccabe, Jason Pominville

in 2019: Sergei Bobrovsky​

 

[Habsfan18]

I think NDG pretty clearly has the scoring edge here. That being said, I think they’ll give up their fair share of goals as well. A very boom or bust offensive oriented lineup for the most part, although I do like their 3rd line defensively. Kovalev, Gaborik, Nilsson, Hall. That’s a whole lot of one dimensional play. Morrow provides some nice shutdown play on D, so that will help offset some potential lazy defensive play when he’s on the ice. He’ll do what he can.

Also, although I can appreciate his role on the line..I really question Wendel Clark as a 1st line MLDer. Seems..out of place?

I question where Phoenix’s offense will come from. They have some nice pieces but overall the offensive depth is lacking. They will need a big series from a guy like Turgeon and Vaive.

I don’t see an obvious clear cut advantage between Rinne and Bobrovsky. At least not one to give a particular team a noticeable advantage.

 

[tinyzombies]

I think NDG pretty clearly has the scoring edge here. That being said, I think they’ll give up their fair share of goals as well. A very boom or bust offensive oriented lineup for the most part, although I do like their 3rd line defensively. Kovalev, Gaborik, Nilsson, Hall. That’s a whole lot of one dimensional play. Morrow provides some nice shutdown play on D, so that will help offset some potential lazy defensive play when he’s on the ice. He’ll do what he can.

Also, although I can appreciate his role on the line..I really question Wendel Clark as a 1st line MLDer. Seems..out of place?

I question where Phoenix’s offense will come from. They have some nice pieces but overall the offensive depth is lacking. They will need a big series from a guy like Turgeon and Vaive.

I don’t see an obvious clear cut advantage between Rinne and Bobrovsky. At least not one to give a particular team a noticeable advantage.

That's why Gaborik is with Balon and MacLeish. You might be right about my first line and I didn't clearly define my fourth line, so you are correct there as well.

But my defense is solid from 1-7 I think. There are no weak defenders there as far as I can tell? If anything longevity would be the issue, but I have Persson as a safe-guard and he plays RD and shoots left and could cover either side, and is a PP stud (at least as a complementary piece to Potvin). Bily would be great too, no?

Is it too late to shuffle my lines? lol

I could go with Dunderdale/Hyland 4th line to keep it a mystery (lol) and Hall. Nilsson could be the extra forward and used on the PP - tho those numbers are probably Gretzkied to a degree - but that is a career PP record and he IS tied for 9th all-time on the powerplay. I'll give him mins but hold him to Ozone starts.

Great comments, I didn't even see that.

 

[Habsfan18]

That's why Gaborik is with Balon and MacLeish. You might be right about my first line and I didn't clearly define my fourth line, so you are correct there as well.

But my defense is solid from 1-7 I think. There are no weak defenders there as far as I can tell? If anything longevity would be the issue, but I have Persson as a safe-guard and he plays RD and shoots left, and is a PP stud (at least as a complementary piece to Potvin).

Is it too late to shuffle my lines? lol

I could go with Dunderdale/Hyland 4th line to keep it a mystery (lol) and Hall. Nilsson could be the extra forward and used on the PP - tho those numbers are probably Gretzkied to a degree - but that is a career PP record and he IS tied for 9th all-time on the powerplay. I'll give him mins but hold him to Ozone starts.

Great comments, I didn't even see that.

Nilsson and Hall would make for a very strong offensive 4th line duo, but the potential of it being a complete tire fire defensively definitely warrants taking Nilsson out and replacing him with Dunderdale. Losing Nilsson hurts a bit offensively, obviously. But you have enough there to make it not really noticeable, IMO.

I like your D group as a whole. The potential is there for them to chip in offensively, for sure, while also playing some respectable defense. I really like Barkley. Guy would be a sure-fire annual ATD pick if only his body of work were longer, IMO. I like your 1st and 3rd pairings more than the Sjoberg-Patrick duo, but they won’t lose you any games or anything. Hartsburg-Morrow is a very nice MLD 3rd pairing.

 

[tinyzombies]

Nilsson and Hall would make for a very strong offensive 4th line duo, but the potential of it being a complete tire fire defensively definitely warrants taking Nilsson out and replacing him with Dunderdale. Losing Nilsson hurts a bit offensively, obviously. But you have enough there to make it not really noticeable, IMO.

I like your D group as a whole. The potential is there for them to chip in offensively, for sure, while also playing some respectable defense. I really like Barkley. Guy would be a sure-fire annual ATD pick if only his body of work were longer, IMO. I like your 1st and 3rd pairings more than the Sjoberg-Patrick duo, but they won’t lose you any games or anything. Hartsburg-Morrow is a very nice MLD 3rd pairing.

Maybe Reinhart-Morrow and Sjoberg-Barkley? Hartsburg-Patrick? Or even Hartsburg-Persson?

I mean it's all relative now- I posted my lineup and that's what you have to go with? Then again, my opponent has NOT. Is that fair? I have home ice, no? lol

 

[tinyzombies]

I remember watching Hartsburg as a kid, so my estimations might be inflated. But I remember him as an absolute stud and then he kept getting hurt. But he did almost everything very well and was a force in ending Montreal's dynasty (along with Guy's knee injury- Montreal was still a very good team).

 

[Habsfan18]

Maybe Reinhart-Morrow and Sjoberg-Barkley? Hartsburg-Patrick? Or even Hartsburg-Persson?

I mean it's all relative now- I posted my lineup and that's what you have to go with? Then again, my opponent has NOT. Is that fair? I have home ice, no? lol

I could be wrong but you could probably change your lines as much as you want until both rosters are posted and voting is about to take place.

I definitely wouldn’t place Sjoberg on a top pairing, but that’s just me. If anything I’d swap him and Hartsburg but then again I like that 3rd pairing as is.

My main questions with your team are the number of similarly offensive (strictly offensive) players who don’t care much about D, like I mentioned in my earlier post. But cleaning up that 4th line helps in that regard. I didn’t like Nilsson and Hall together at all when you also had Kovalev and Gaborik.

And I gotta be honest, Wendel Clark just doesn’t belong on that line. But the thing is I’m not sure where else he would fit in your lineup. I’d leave the 3rd line alone and I certainly wouldn’t put Hall in that 1st line LW slot. So that leaves swapping Balon and Clark on the top 2 lines. Not sure of that would be better though because you mentioned Gaborik being placed with Balon and MacLeish.

 

[tinyzombies]

I could be wrong but you could probably change your lines as much as you want until both rosters are posted and voting is about to take place.

I definitely wouldn’t place Sjoberg on a top pairing, but that’s just me. If anything I’d swap him and Hartsburg but then again I like that 3rd pairing as is.

My main questions with your team are the number of similarly offensive (strictly offensive) players who don’t care much about D, like I mentioned in my earlier post. But cleaning up that 4th line helps in that regard. I didn’t like Nilsson and Hall together at all when you also had Kovalev and Gaborik.

And I gotta be honest, Wendel Clark just doesn’t belong on that line. But the thing is I’m not sure where else he would fit in your lineup. I’d leave the 3rd line alone and I certainly wouldn’t put Hall in that 1st line LW slot. So that leaves swapping Balon and Clark on the top 2 lines. Not sure of that would be better though because you mentioned Gaborik being placed with Balon and MacLeish.

Nicholls was solid defensively though, no?

 

[Habsfan18]

Nicholls was solid defensively though, no?

Yes, underrated defensively. Not that he was some defensive dynamo by any means but he was quite solid defensively for a guy that most viewed as strictly offensive when you look at his stats. Kovalev and Nicholls will provide some solid top line scoring, but Clark sticks out like a sore thumb unless his job is strictly to crash and bang and create space for Nicholls and Kovalev to make plays.

 

[seventieslord]

I don’t see an obvious clear cut advantage between Rinne and Bobrovsky. At least not one to give a particular team a noticeable advantage.

Rinne is a definite advantage over Bobrovsky at this time.

- 1-2-2-3 in Vezina voting vs. 1-1
- 6 excellent seasons by GSAA to 4
- more playoff wins than Bobrovsky even has playoff GP

 

[Habsfan18]

Rinne is a definite advantage over Bobrovsky at this time.

- 1-2-2-3 in Vezina voting vs. 1-1
- 6 excellent seasons by GSAA to 4
- more playoff wins than Bobrovsky even has playoff GP

What I meant was that I’m not sure I view Rinne as noticeably superior over Bobrovsky to the point that the difference would be enough to be the determining factor in this particular series. But yes, looking at the two side by side you can absolutely make the argument that Rinne > Bobrovsky.

 

[tinyzombies]

Well if I can: swap Balon and Clark. I think my 3rd line is strong enough that I don’t need to go power vs power in this context. Might be an issue against a big cycling line, but he doesn’t have that, so my small feisty 3rd line can handle top lines.

 

[tinyzombies]

Morrow and Patrick can swap. Maybe even Persson over Patrick??

I altered it to:

Reinhart-Barkley
Hartsburg-Morrow
Sjoberg-Persson (countrymen)

 

[Habsfan18]

Voted.

 

[Johnny Engine]

NDG Bears defeat Phoenix Roadrunners in 6

3 stars:
1. Bernie Nicholls
2. Pekka Rinne
3. Sergei Bobrovsky/Paul Reinhart (tie)

 

[tinyzombies]

woohoo. I don't think I've ever won anything on here! Solid team Tony- see you in the ATD.