A surprisingly standard team coming from you.
Toe Blake is the greatets coach of all-time, so he will be able to handle guys like Hull and Tkachuk rather easily.
Crosby is now a great captain even on an all-time scale. I'd give an ''A'' to Rocket Richard over Alfredsson, but who cares.
This assassination will be short and sweet given the standard nature of your lineup. Not much to comment on chemistry-wise.
1st line: Major duo in Crosby-M.Richard. I love it a lot. It's gritty, offensively talented, clutch, and Crosby is responsible defensively. Syd Howe is a nice complement for them, fits right in with the description I just laid out. Definitely a strong 1st line and a strenght.
2nd line: Very standard. Forsberg-Hull is a weaker replica of Trottier-Bossy, and it obviously works. Bentley is good there on a 2nd line. He's in reality your best LW, so he bonifies the level of your line. Strong Top 6 overall with defensively responsible centers withotu sacrificing offense.
3rd line: Not sure what to make of Malone's two-way game. Admittedly I never ''digested'' overpass' work on him, and that's on me. Alfredsson is fine as some sort of jack-of-all-trades. He and Malone will be strong on possession; Alfredsson was tough to get the puck away from. Tkachuk is OK there as a fat ass goalscorer. If there's any critic to this line is the playmakign feels thin, but probably Malone was in reality a strong playmaker.
4th line: I guess it's OK nothing more. Not sure Giroux has any usefulness here but who cares. 4th line gonna 4th line.
1st pairing: Solid and standard. Fetisov the last clear cut #1 who can do it all. Horton great partner for him.
2nd pairing: Also solid and standard. By this point you won't lose any point from chemistry or construction, at least not from me unless someone points out osmething I don't see. You can only lose on the value-level when compared to what your opponent will ice.
3rd pairing: OK. Zubov is strong for a 3rd pairing.
Goalie: Fck you. Brimsek was mine. He's good if unimpressive at this level. Holtby is OK.
1st PP: Zubov over Fetisov ?
Overall a very solid, near flawless team. There aren't any major flaw there. It won't lose intrinsically, only from inferiority against opponents, if it loses at all. A contender.
Perhaps the one thing that I'm on the fence about is Crosby's value defensively given the unequal defensive prowess he displayed in his career. If you give him maximum credit for defense, then all is good. If you give him minimum credit, then Forsberg has a lot on his shoulders, and he's injury prone. Then it depends on Malone too.
Thanks BB. Much appreciated!
I think the team I put together is going to be very tough to beat, because it has such crazy flexibility, on top of talent. Those 2 things with Toe Blake as the brains behind it all makes for a lethal combination. This is a roster that I think Blake will be able to move around as he needs/sees fit, whether it be an offensive/defensive matchup, special teams, or just rolling different line combos and pairs. I've certainly not put together a roster like this, and am not sure I've ever seen a line up with so many interchangeable parts.
To get to your few points of emphasis.
Sorry about Brimsek bud. It was obvious when I took him, who I was going to take and had I not, would have lost him to you (or one of the few other guys on the way back down who hadn't drafted a G and had Boston available). I was able to wait a long time and still not end up with a bottom tier goalie. One of a handful chances I took that paid off.
Zubov over Fetisov on the PP?
I have a few reasons. One, I don't know if enough people realize how good Zubs was on the PP. His usage and effectiveness there are certainly great, if not elite, whether you look at regular or postseasons. While he had a good shot, his true calling was his vision (keeping his head up better than most blueliners I've seen in my lifetime) and play making. With arguably the greatest point shot in history in MacInnis also on the 1st unit, I want a guy who is a true QB, and while I think Fetisov certainly is that, he is more valuable to me (Blake) at ES and on the PK IMO. If Fetisov can get an extra minute or 2 at ES and be used more on the kill, that's a good thing IMO.
When you're trotting out Hull-Crosby-Richard-MacInnis as your other 4 on the 1st PP, you can move some things around with the 5th guy. Zubov would be a bit over his head playing on the 2nd pairing in a 12 team league, and certainly on the kill as well, there is zero doubt he's at least great as a PP QB given his career resume and numbers and the players he'll be surrounded by. I want to maximize Zubov's value and that is best done on the PP. But make no mistake, if Blake thinks a change is needed, Fetisov is the obvious choice.
The 3rd line, like my whole roster is mainly built around 2 way play rather than the uber traditional scoring-scoring-checking-checking/mashup. I think with the revelations overpass made about Malone, coupled with a pretty strong 200 foot player in Alfredsson to his right, it's a line that is going to exploit a lot of favorable match ups offensively speaking, while not giving up a large number of chances going the other way. When your 3rd line has the offensive resume these guys do, and they're going to see a lot of 2nd and 3rd pairings, it is likely they'll pot some goals. And the line is very puck possession based. You have 2 guys who can really bang in the corners and win puck battles (especially Tkachuk). They're going to wear on people. But unlike most 3rd lines, they have the skill and finishing ability to essentially give us a 3rd scoring line without the glaring defensive weaknesses that generally accompany trying to go away from the traditional 3rd line style.
I've been on record a million times saying Crosby's career arc would be/is eerily similar to Yzerman in terms of style and output (Crosby is just simply a more dominant offensive force and is already equal to, if not slightly head of Yzerman defensively speaking age wise) . It is no surprise, given Yzerman was Crosby's boyhood idol growing up.
Consider Sid has now been a top 10 Selke guy the past 4 seasons. He's also been in the top 10 of scoring those 4 years which puts him into pretty rare company:
Top 10 in Scoring & Selke Voting
The only player with more consecutive seasons of top 10 Scoring/Selke finishes is Kurri with 5. Crosby, like I said is at 4 and there's no reason he can't challenge Kurri, health being the only real obstacle I see. Ron Francis also had 4 in a row.
Now, I don't think Crosby was quite a top 10 Selke guy 3 and 4 years ago but he was certainly above average. That was when he really started turning a corner in terms of defensive deployment throughout the year. Started under Mike Johnston but really took off under Sullivan 3 years ago and he's steadily been more impactful defensively at ES year to year. I still go back to the Cup finals against Thornton and Pavelski 3 years ago. Sid went power on power and while his line didn't score much, neither did SJ. He and his line completely shut down Thornton and Pavs. Gets overlooked unless you were watching closely. He was just as good in the 2nd of the back to back runs. When he goes all in defensively, he's very very good. And those instances are beginning to happen more often.
As well respected folks like
@seventieslord and
@Mike Farkas have attested this past season was where Crosby REALLY moved the needle in a big way. His 4th place Selke finish wasn't egregious at all. There were numerous games I watched last year where Sid put on a clinic defensively and was used more on the kill as the year went along. I'd be very surprised to see him not win a Selke before it's all said and done. His work ethic is legendary, he obviously possesses the hockey IQ and will to do it. Just a matter of it all aligning and I think he already understands the impact he can make will be more and more defensively slanted as he continues to age and slow down.
Again, thanks for the review. I'm going to try and knock out a few before regular season voting ends.
Or can we get like ghost runners/skaters (we used to do this in baseball growing up as kids when we didn't have enough players haha).
At least compared to the rest of the unit.
