O'Brien Division playoff spot: HC Košice vs. Winnipeg Victorias
- Thread starter VanIslander
- Start date
VanIslander
A 19-year ATDer on HfBoards
BillyShoe1721
Terriers
HC's advantage in terms of forwards overall gives them an advantage over Winnipeg's better top 6 but not nearly as good bottom 6. Difference maker could be in the nets.
VanIslander
A 19-year ATDer on HfBoards
How Kosice could win: Have the Rucchin line shadow the McFadden line and have the speedy Hedican and tough Weinrich out there against Murray as often as possible, and have Matvichuk and Carney clear the crease. Offensively, the blueline can use its experience in the postseason, with an impressive 
115 NHL playoff points between the five rearguards not named Višňovský. The team should score early and often. Don't rely on the perimeter game as the Victorias will get shotblocking from Laperriere and Reekie. Capitalize on turnovers and get all four lines into the action with shorter shifts and depth of scoring.
How Winnipeg could win: Bruneteau has scored multiple goals in three Stanley Cup cup championships, McFadden scored a couple in a lesser role in another cup and their linemate Brunette has had three productive postseasons. This line has to produce. The 2nd line has experience scoring in the playoffs. The 2nd line pivot Creighton led Boston to the 1953 Stanley Cup finals as the Bruins' top scoring center that postseason and he was top-2 in team scoring two other shorter playoff runs as a Ranger so he knows how to step his game up in the playoffs and will have to here. Murray has 40+ playoff points to help the line produce and Stanley Cup playoff hero Stillman can be impossible to check with his unpredictible dipsy doodling in the offensive zone, dishing off passes. Both benched forwards need to inserted into the starting lineup for the postseason. Drouin has gaudy playoff numbers and King led the Isles in assists in the NYI conference finals run in 1993. The defense has to play a simple conservative game except for the second pairing, as Niinimaa famously led the Flyers blueline in scoring in their 1997 Stanley Cup finals run and Picard led the Nordiques with 10 assists in their shorter 1987 playoffs run. The netminder Theodore has a .911 save % in 51 playoff games but has to stand on his head and bail out the team at times as Kosice will get lots of pucks on net.
115 NHL playoff points between the five rearguards not named Višňovský. The team should score early and often. Don't rely on the perimeter game as the Victorias will get shotblocking from Laperriere and Reekie. Capitalize on turnovers and get all four lines into the action with shorter shifts and depth of scoring. How Winnipeg could win: Bruneteau has scored multiple goals in three Stanley Cup cup championships, McFadden scored a couple in a lesser role in another cup and their linemate Brunette has had three productive postseasons. This line has to produce. The 2nd line has experience scoring in the playoffs. The 2nd line pivot Creighton led Boston to the 1953 Stanley Cup finals as the Bruins' top scoring center that postseason and he was top-2 in team scoring two other shorter playoff runs as a Ranger so he knows how to step his game up in the playoffs and will have to here. Murray has 40+ playoff points to help the line produce and Stanley Cup playoff hero Stillman can be impossible to check with his unpredictible dipsy doodling in the offensive zone, dishing off passes. Both benched forwards need to inserted into the starting lineup for the postseason. Drouin has gaudy playoff numbers and King led the Isles in assists in the NYI conference finals run in 1993. The defense has to play a simple conservative game except for the second pairing, as Niinimaa famously led the Flyers blueline in scoring in their 1997 Stanley Cup finals run and Picard led the Nordiques with 10 assists in their shorter 1987 playoffs run. The netminder Theodore has a .911 save % in 51 playoff games but has to stand on his head and bail out the team at times as Kosice will get lots of pucks on net.
MadArcand
Whaletarded
How exactly is Winnipeg's top 6 better?
- Satan is better than Brunette
- McFadden is comparable to Stumpel
- Renberg is at very least equal to Bruneteau, who hasn't done much outside war years
- Khristich and Stillman are largely a wash
- so is Cullen and Creighton
- Murray has a slight edge on Nylander
There's also the matter of defense, where I feel I have a major edge, as Winnipeg's defense has four flaky D-men in Brewer, Tverdovsky, Picard and Niinimaa, and as an unit, doesn't have nearly as much defensive skill.
VanIslander
A 19-year ATDer on HfBoards
In the playoffs, certainly.
In the playoffs, Stillman has a clear edge with significant scoring in two Stanley Cup championships with two franchises, the later one he was one of the key players.
Greater once you consider Nylander is playing out of position.
I totally agree on everything except the term "flaky"
but I did laugh and nod when I read it. "Shaky" or "inconsistent" may be a better term for it.
MadArcand
Whaletarded
Stillman has a playoff edge, but it's just one significant scoring run, not two, as in TB he managed just 7 points in 21 games.
TheDevilMadeMe
Registered User
Agreed with this one. Giving Stillman extra credit for the 2004 Cup run is too close to simply Cup counting in my opinion. He was fine in that playoff run - I don't think it hurt him. But I don't know how much it should help him, as he certainly didn't outperform his regular season standards and there were at least 9 players on his team that postseason more important than him (and that's just off the top of my head; there might have been more).
He was excellent in 2006, however.
To be fair, I think "flaky" is the perfect term for Tverdovsky.
seventieslord
Student Of The Game
Agreed with this one. Giving Stillman extra credit for the 2004 Cup run is too close to simply Cup counting in my opinion. He was fine in that playoff run - I don't think it hurt him. But I don't know how much it should help him, as he certainly didn't outperform his regular season standards and there were at least 9 players on his team that postseason more important than him (and that's just off the top of my head; there might have been more).
He was excellent in 2006, however.
To be fair, I think "flaky" is the perfect term for Tverdovsky.
Agree, Stillman is nothing special in the 2004 run, but he was really clutch in 2006.
I never really noticed Winnipeg's defense was flaky, but now that you mention it, yeah... Although Brewer's been a captain for a few years now - is it fair to call him flaky?
MadArcand
Whaletarded
seventieslord
Student Of The Game
We can just call him 'worst adjusted +/- defenseman ever' and be done with it.
It's bad, but he also gets a ton of minutes. So all it shows is he's not the best defenseman getting a lot of minutes.
Just as there are great defensemen who play a ton of minutes and outperform the other team's best players, there are good defensemen who play a ton of minutes and get outperformed by the opposition's best, but their coaches are still confident they are the best for the job.
MadArcand
Whaletarded
Well it seems he should get the heaviest minutes here... paired with Tverdovsky, which ups the difficulty for him yet another notch.
VanIslander
A 19-year ATDer on HfBoards
HC Kosice wins the road game against Winnipeg Victorias in OT and the home game in regulation to take the final playoff spot in the division.
Three stars of the home & away series:
1. Miroslav Satan, Kosice
2. Mud Bruneteau, Winnipeg
3. LubomÃr Visnovsky, Kosice
Three stars of the home & away series:
1. Miroslav Satan, Kosice
2. Mud Bruneteau, Winnipeg
3. LubomÃr Visnovsky, Kosice
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