OPPF 2020 - Assassination Thread

[BenchBrawl]

Post your lineup and assassinations.

Click to read more...

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

San Jose Rubber Puckies

Coach: Scotty Bowman

Ted Lindsay (A) - Howie Morenz - Jaromir Jagr
Vladimir Krutov - Stan Mikita - Vaclav Nedomansky
Brian Propp - Anze Kopitar - Daniel Alfredsson (A)
Gary Roberts - Vincent LeCavalier - Blake Wheeler

Borje Salming - Brad Park
Moose Johnson - Dit Clapper (C)
Derian Hatcher - Sergei Gonchar

Martin Brodeur
Mike Liut

PP1: Ted Lindsay - Howie Morenz - Jaromir Jagr - Daniel Alfredsson - Sergei Gonchar
PP2: Vladimir Krutov - Stan Mikita - Vaclav Nedomansky - Dit Clapper - Brad Park
PK1: Anze Kopitar - Brian Propp - Moose Johnson - Derian Hatcher
PK2: Howie Morenz - Vladimir Krutov - Borje Salming - Dit Clapper
Spare PK: Stan Mikita - Daniel Alfredsson, Brad Park
​

I currently have Alfredsson penciled in over Park on the point of PP1, because I like having both LH and RH shots on the points of both PP units. Does anyone think I should swap Park back up to PP1? FWIW, according to @overpass 's spreadsheet, Alfredsson averaged 28 adjusted PPP per season, Park 27 adjusted PPP per season, though I'm not sure how much of Alfredsson's was at forward.

 

[Hawkey Town 18]

Coach: Hap Day

Alex Ovechkin - Cyclone Taylor - Marian Hossa
Jamie Benn - Henri Richard (A) - Charlie Conacher
Jiri Holik - Milt Schmidt (A) - Mark Recchi
Kevin Stevens - Don Luce - David Backes

Red Kelly - Valeri Vasiliev (K)
Ching Johnson - Drew Doughty
Roman Josi - Cy Wentworth

Glenn Hall
Mikka Kiprusoff


PP1
Benn - Taylor - Conacher
Ovechkin - Kelly

PP2
K. Stevens - H. Richard - Schmidt
Doughty - Recchi

PK1
Holik - Luce
C. Johnson - Vasiliev

PK2
Schmidt - Backes
Kelly - Wentworth

PK3
H. Richard - Hossa

Extra PK D: Doughty
​

Regular Season Estimated Minutes

Forwards
Player	ES	PP	PK	Total
A. Ovechkin	15	5		20
C. Taylor	14	4		18
M. Hossa	14		2	16
J. Benn	12	4		16
H. Richard	13	3	1	17
C. Conacher	14	4		18
J. Holik	11		3	14
M. Schmidt	11	3	2	16
M. Recchi	11	2		13
K. Stevens	8	3		11
D. Luce	8		4	12
D. Backes	7		2	9
TOTAL	138	28	14	180
Defense
Player	ES	PP	PK	Total
R. Kelly	17	5	2	24
V. Vasiliev	15		4	19
C. Johnson	15		4	19
D. Doughty	18	2	1	21
R. Josi	14			14
C. Wentworth	13		3	16
TOTAL	92	7	14	113

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[Hawkey Town 18]

I have to travel for work this week, so not sure how much time I'll have for assassinations, but I'll try to get some in

 

[ResilientBeast]

Coach: Tommy Ivan

Alex Delvecchio --- Phil Esposito (A) --- Hooley Smith
Paul Thompson --- Evgeni Malkin --- Bill Cook (A)
Busher Jackson --- Eric Lindros --- Frank Foyston
John Madden --- Dale Hunter --- Jason Pominville

Denis Potvin (C) --- Al MacInnis
Larry Robinson --- Erik Karlsson
Ryan Suter --- Alex Pietrangelo

Vladislav Tretiak
Grant Fuhr

PP1: Cook - Esposito - Malkin - Karlsson - MacInnis
PP2: Delvecchio - Lindros - Jackson - Potvin - Robinson
PK1: Smith - Madden - Potvin - Robinson
PK2: Delvecchio - Pominville - Suter - MacInnis​

 

[Habsfan18]

Coach: Al Arbour

Valeri Kharlamov - Wayne Gretzky (C) - Jere Lehtinen
John LeClair - Syl Apps Sr. (A) - Guy Lafleur
Bun Cook - Ryan Getzlaf - Ed Litzenberger
Dave Trottier - Mike Peca - Bob Bourne

Eddie Gerard (A) - Eddie Shore
Scott Niedermayer - Jan Suchy
Marc-Edouard Vlasic - Lester Patrick

Terry Sawchuk
Tom Barrasso

PP1: Kharlamov - Gretzky - Lafleur - Niedermayer - Shore

PP2: LeClair - Apps - Getzlaf - Patrick - Suchy

PK1: Peca - Lehtinen - Gerard - Vlasic

PK2: Bourne - Trottier - Niedermayer - Shore​

 

[tony d]

Owen Sound Platers

Coach; Toe Blake

Keith Tkachuk-Frank Nighbor-Maurice Richard
Luc Robitaille- Joe Thornton-Rick Nash
Rod Brindamour(a)-Darryl Sittler-Jamie Langenbrunner
Clark Gillies-Bill Cowley-Rod Gilbert

Nicklas Lidstrom(c)-Mark Howe(a)
Duncan Keith-Sergei Zubov
Adam Foote-Calle Johansson

Dominik Hasek
Curtis Joseph

Special Teams:

PP 1: Tkachuk-Thornton-Richard-Lidstrom-Zubov
PP 2: Robitaille-Cowley-Nash-Howe-Keith
PK 1: Nighbor-Langenbrunner-Foote-Lidstrom
PK 2: Gillies-Brindamour-Keith-Johansson

 

[The Macho King]

Coach: Tommy Ivan

Alex Delvecchio --- Phil Esposito (A) --- Hooley Smith
Paul Thompson --- Evgeni Malkin --- Bill Cook (A)
Busher Jackson --- Eric Lindros --- Frank Foyston
John Madden --- Dale Hunter --- Jason Pominville

Denis Potvin (C) --- Al MacInnis
Larry Robinson --- Erik Karlsson
Ryan Suter --- Alex Pietrangelo

Vladislav Tretiak
Grant Fuhr

PP1: Cook - Esposito - Malkin - Karlsson - MacInnis
PP2: Delvecchio - Lindros - Jackson - Potvin - Robinson
PK1: Smith - Madden - Potvin - Robinson
PK2: Delvecchio - Pominville - Suter - MacInnis​

Can I start my assassination by complaining about this color scheme? That blue is unreadable.

 

[BenchBrawl]

Montreal Wanderers

Lester Patrick

Sid Abel (A) - Mario Lemieux - Mike Bossy
Baldy Northcott - Jean Béliveau (C) - Patrick Kane
Zach Parise - Dave Keon - Boris Mikhailov (A)
Bill Barber - Peter Stastny - Todd Bertuzzi

Zdeno Chara - Paul Coffey
Sprague Cleghorn - Art Coulter (A)
Mark Giordano - Kevin Hatcher

Clint Benedict
Roy Worters

PP: Lemieux-Béliveau-Bossy-Cleghorn-Coffey
PP: Mikhailov(net)-Stastny-Kane-Chara-Barber

PK: Keon-Mikhailov-Chara-Coulter
PK: Abel/Lemieux-Northcott-Cleghorn-Hatcher​

 

[The Macho King]

RICHMOND RENEGADES

Coach - Punch Imlach

Doug Bentley - Frank Boucher - Gordie Howe (A)
Ilya Kovalchuk - Peter Forsberg- Teemu Selanne
Esa Tikkanen - Doug Gilmour - Punch Broadbent
George Hay - Nick Backstrom - Joe Mullen

Scott Stevens (C) - Doug Harvey (A)
Victor Hedman - Alexei Kasatanov
Jim Schoenfeld - Brad McCrimmon

Frank Brimsek
Roberto Luongo

PP1:
Boucher - Howe - Selanne - Harvey - Forsberg
PP2:
Gilmour - Kovalchuk - Bentley - Backstrom - Hedman

PK1: Boucher - Tikkanen - Harvey - Stevens
PK2: Forsberg - Broadbent - Schoenfeld - McCrimmon​

 

[ResilientBeast]

Can I start my assassination by complaining about this color scheme? That blue is unreadable.

Sure, I have it in dark mode so it looks great to me

Better?

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

EDIT: i think most ppl have already voted but i'm flipping my first and second d pairs and making a slight change to my PP2 and PK1

fred shero

bergeron trottier (c) bathgate
firsov yzerman (a) kucherov
anderson stewart tocchet
lemieux goring pavelski

langway (a) pilote
boucher pronger
ramsey cameron

roy
giguere

pp1
stewart yzerman kucherov
pilote bathgate

pp2
firsov trottier pavelski
proger cameron

pk1
trottier bergeron
langway pronger

pk2
goring anderson
ramsey pilote

pk spares
if a second faceoff ace is needed for PK2, yzerman (RHS), with firsov as the sixth forward and boucher as the extra guy on d​

receipts:

bergeron at LW

• 2005 WJC played LW with crosby/perry, 2006 WC played LW with crosby/brad boyes (boyes was bergeron's regular RW with boston that season); also played RW with crosby for a bit of 2010 olympics (nash/crosby), a lot of 2014 (kunitz/crosby), 2016 world cup (marchand/crosby)
• babock: "The first time I had him was in ’04 at the Worlds. I had him in ’10 (at the Vancouver Olympics). I had him in ’14 (at the Sochi Olympics) and I had him in ’16 (at the World Cup of Hockey). Every time he can play with the best players, he can play any position. He can look after the best players defensively if he needs to. He can play on the power play. He can play on the penalty kill. He can play 20 minutes" (source).
• trottier and crosby aren't identical players, but bergeron and trottier having a bergy/cros thing together is my wavelength here

anderson at LW

• AST votes at both wings in 1982 (11 ballots LW, 14 RW), at LW in 1986 (40 ballots), in RW in 1983 (26 pts), 1984 (7 pts); fwiw also 1 ballot LW in '85, 2 ballots RW in '86, 2 ballots LW in '87, 1 ballot RW in '88
• played most of the 1983 playoffs on LW with gretzky/kurri, '84 with messier/lindstrom, '85 with messier/napier
• feeling anderson as a scud missile forechecker on a nasty af third line; we remember him best crashing the net, and he'll do some of that here too, but on this line i like him and tocchet doing the dirty boards and corner work with stewart in the slot (thinking about the '88 and '90 anderson that thrived digging out pucks for craig simpson)

lemieux at both wings

• played LW with stastny/richer in '93 (career year in pts), carpenter/maclean in the '94 playoffs, broten/richer in '95
• played RW with mcphee/skrudland in '86 and '89, walter/smith in '87 and '88, zelepukin/stastny in '92, kamensky/forsberg in '96
• in his conn smythe run of '95, he was assigned to neely, jagr, then lindros; other years he was assigned to mario and messier (show my work)
• i'll start lemieux at LW because it's more likely he'll need to shadow an opposing RW than an LW, but can switch him and pavelski when needed; all three guys on my fourth line are very good defensive players, but lemieux does the most heavy lifting defensively

pavelski at both wings

• has excelled at all three positions: led the sharks in scoring in that core's first trip to the conference finals in 2010 centering clowe and setoguchi, broke through as a top five scorer and second team all-star at LW with thornton/burns in 2014, led the playoffs in goals en route to the finals as RW with hertl/thornton (his first year as captain)
• elite faceoff guy, can spell goring (who is also elite) when a RHS is needed

bathate at the point on the PP

• documented in lots of places, including here

firsov at the point

• documented here (shoutout to @Batis )

 

[Habsfan18]

In no particular order, my 5 favorite forward lines excluding my own of course:

Thompson - Malkin - Cook

Mahovlich - Messier - Iginla

Denneny - Clark - Martinec

Lindsay - Morenz - Jagr

Bentley - Boucher - Howe

 

[ChiTownPhilly]

Cherry Hill Knights of Kní!

Home: Cherry Hill Arena- where "The Ice Is Tilted" is more than just a metaphor.*

Coach- Glen Sather

#27 Frank Mahovlich- #11 Mark Messier (C)- #12 Jarome Iginla [The Thunder Line]
#9 Paul Kariya- #91 Sergei Fedorov- #10 Pavel Bure [The Lightning Line]
#20 Johnny Bucyk (A)- #21 Brent Sutter*- #18 Dave Taylor
#28 Claude Giroux- #17 Frank Fredrickson*- #8 Jimmy Ward
*Fredrickson will poach occasional shifts on 3rd line, & Sutter will increase PK duties

#2 Viacheslav Fetisov (A)- #3 Earl Seibert
#4 Bill Gadsby/Pospíšil- #88 Brent Burns/Gadsby
#6 František Pospíšil (A)- #72 Teppo Numminen

#29 Ken Dryden
#35 Pekka Rinne

PP-1 Burns, Gadsby/Pospíšil, Mahovlich/Messier, Giroux, Bure
PP-2 Seibert, Fetisov, Kariya/Messier, Fedorov, Iginla

PK-1 Brent Sutter, Fedorov, Fetisov, Numminen
PK-2 Messier/Kariya, Iginla, Pospíšil/Gadsby, Seibert

Playoff QuarterFinals Estimated Time-on-Ice Chart (subject to revision):

Forward	ES	PP	PK	Total
Mahovlich	14	4		18
Messier	16	3	3	22
Iginla	15	3	3	21
Kariya	12	2	2	16
Fedorov	13	3	3	19
Bure	12	3		15
Bucyk	13			13
Bre. Sutter	7		3	10
D. Taylor	10			10
Giroux	7	3		10
Fredrickson	11			11
J. Ward	9			9
Team Total	138	21	14	173

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Defensemen	ES	PP	PK	Total
Fetisov	18	3	4	25
Seibert	18	3	3	24
Gadsby	18	3	1	22
Brent Burns	12	4		16
Pospíšil	16	1	2	19
Numminen	11		4	14
Team Total	92	14	14	120

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Anticipated Playoff Goalie-Start ratio: Dryden=Playoff Starter,
Rinne plays if Dryden injured or batted out-of-the-box.

Notes on multi-positional play:
The following will only be entertained in certain Special Teams situations, or in the event of injury. Keep in mind that with a roster of 20 skaters, the ability to play other positions could well be relevant. Fully a quarter of the Cherry Hill squad can do this- in some capacity. Here follows...

Player	Listed Position	Can creditably play	Can play in extremis
Mark Messier	Center	Left Wing
Pavel Bure	Right Wing	Left Wing
Sergei Fedorov	Center	Right Wing	Left Wing, Defense
Bill Gadsby	Left Defense	Right Defense
Brent Burns	Right Defense		Right Wing
Claude Giroux	Left Wing	Center	Right Wing

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

* Multi-million fantasy-dollar Capital Improvement Project completed. Ice no longer actually tilted. We've also added a Visitors Dressing Room, so that opponents no longer have to gear-up at the Hotel a mile down-the-road.

 

[BenchBrawl]

RICHMOND RENEGADES

Coach - Punch Imlach

Doug Bentley - Frank Boucher - Gordie Howe (A)
Ilya Kovalchuk - Peter Forsberg- Teemu Selanne
Esa Tikkanen - Doug Gilmour - Punch Broadbent
George Hay - Nick Backstrom - Joe Mullen

Scott Stevens (C) - Doug Harvey (A)
Victor Hedman - Alexei Kasatanov
Jim Schoenfeld - Brad McCrimmon

Frank Brimsek
Roberto Luongo

PP1:
Boucher - Howe - Selanne - Harvey - Forsberg
PP2:
Gilmour - Kovalchuk - Bentley - Backstrom - Hedman

PK1: Boucher - Tikkanen - Harvey - Stevens
PK2: Forsberg - Broadbent - Schoenfeld - McCrimmon​

1st line: Boucher-Howe is a great combo, and Bentley is a decent complement bringing some goalscoring, playmaking, defense and speed. Perhaps would have preferred a more physical LWer but that's not crucial.

2nd line: Not a fan. Kovalchuk likes to rush up the puck, and Forsberg is a dominant puck-possession player. Furthermore, a line with Kovalchuk and Selanne at wings doesn't scream Punch Imlach's favorite to me.

3rd line: Great gritty defense line. You get the clutch scoring, the pest in Tikkanen (and to some extent Gilmour), the grit with all three, the size and physicality especially with Broadbent. All three were solid playoff performer. This is a line Punch Imlach will trust and love.

4th line: OK, not much to say about it.

I might consider putting Kovalchuk on my third line and flip hi mwith Tikkanen, but would love to hear what others have to say about this.

1st pairing: A majestic pairing. The great strenght of the team along with the Boucher-Howe combo, but probably even more important. A pairing that is absolutely elite defensively, very physical, good in transition through Harvey that will control the flow of the game. Also an unbeatable PK pairing.

2nd pairing: Reasonable pairing, good chemistry-wise as I can buy Hedman as some sort of Fetisov-lite with Kasatanov, but it feels weak in value a little bit. Lacking a true #3. Still, it's not a major weakness, but quite the drop from the 1st pairing.

3rd pairing: OK

PP: I didn't remember Forsberg playing the point so much. I do remember Sakic though. Anyhow a strong unit with Howe and Harvey on it.

Is Kovalchuk on the point on the 2nd wave? I'd definitely put him there with his great shot. OK second unit.

PK: Tremendous 1st unit; Boucher is great on the PK and your defensemen are crazy good. Solid 2nd unit as well.

Brimsek and Luongo are OK.

Leadership is strong. This is a men's team.

Overall it's a well-constructed team with a center line that are all strong two-way players, but my biggest question is the 2nd line and especially Kovalchuk. I just think he stands out as an eyesore on this lineup.

Your core is also very strong with Howe and Harvey, the two players I consider to be the easiest to build around and the most valuable in the ATD setting. No weakness type players.

Coach: Al Arbour

Valeri Kharlamov - Wayne Gretzky (C) - Jere Lehtinen
John LeClair - Syl Apps Sr. (A) - Guy Lafleur
Bun Cook - Ryan Getzlaf - Ed Litzenberger
Dave Trottier - Mike Peca - Bob Bourne

Eddie Gerard (A) - Eddie Shore
Scott Niedermayer - Jan Suchy
Marc-Edouard Vlasic - Lester Patrick

Terry Sawchuk
Tom Barrasso

PP1: Kharlamov - Gretzky - Lafleur - Niedermayer - Shore

PP2: LeClair - Apps - Getzlaf - Patrick - Suchy

PK1: Peca - Lehtinen - Gerard - Vlasic

PK2: Bourne - Trottier - Niedermayer - Shore​

1st line: Sorry habsfan18 but not a fan. Too soft and ab it ackward too. I don't think Kharlamov was that great of a choice to play with Gretzky, but the problem shines when you had to pick up Lehtinen to play with them. They will score a lot I'm sure though.

2nd line: John LeClair is the sole physical presence inside your Top 6, and he's more of a passive physical presence. This line has absolutely no defense whatsoever. Great value in Apps and Lafleur on a 2nd line, not denying it, but this feels more and more like an all-star team.

3rd line: OK but weak in value.

4th line: OK, love Peca.

1st pairing: Apparently we have some info indicating Gerard can play LD, though I always believed he was RD (and still do). Regardless, I love him as Shore's partner here. This is a great strenght for your team. It does remind me of the Stevens-Harvey pairing from MM's team, though not as good.

2nd pairing: Again a bit ackward. Niedermayer doesn't strike me as a Pospisil-like player. If Suchy is "The european Bobby Orr", is Niedermayer really the right choice to play with him?

3rd pairing: L.Patrick plays LD as far as I know. Not sure about Vlasic. Value is good.

Sawchuk is great (I'm higher on him than most), but Barrasso didn't like to be backup IIRC. So I'd expect some lockerroom problem with him.

PP1: Wonder what other think about puttign Suchy in there over Niedermayer? Anyway, a very strong unit talent-wise, but lacking in any net presence. All finesse, unless Shore rushes to the net on the goalie. As much as it pains me, i'd put LeClair in there over Kharlamov.

PP2: Very strong, especially the Ds.

PK: Firwards are elite, so is Gerard, not sure about Vlasic but I presume he was very good?

Good 2nd unit.

Overall I was harsh on you, but you neglected the physicality way too much in favor of talent, which is fine... up to a point; a point I think you went over. That said, Gretzky, Lafleur, Apps and Kharlamov is A LOT o f talent inside the Top 6, so maybe they surprise me and destroy the competition. I'm not ruling it out. Waiting to see your thoughts on this.

A last word on Al Arbour; Your team doesn't really ressemble the NYI dynasty, but I can accept Arbour being a flexible coach capable of coaching many styles. Still, ideally, when drafting Arbour, I'd try to build a team like the NYIs, so with strong two-way centers.

However, this team has very, very high-end leadership with Gretzky and Gerard both being Top 5 captains of all-time IMO.

San Jose Rubber Puckies

Coach: Scotty Bowman

Ted Lindsay (A) - Howie Morenz - Jaromir Jagr
Vladimir Krutov - Stan Mikita - Vaclav Nedomansky
Brian Propp - Anze Kopitar - Daniel Alfredsson (A)
Gary Roberts - Vincent LeCavalier - Blake Wheeler

Borje Salming - Brad Park
Moose Johnson - Dit Clapper (C)
Derian Hatcher - Sergei Gonchar

Martin Brodeur
Mike Liut

PP1: Ted Lindsay - Howie Morenz - Jaromir Jagr - Daniel Alfredsson - Sergei Gonchar
PP2: Vladimir Krutov - Stan Mikita - Vaclav Nedomansky - Dit Clapper - Brad Park
PK1: Anze Kopitar - Brian Propp - Moose Johnson - Derian Hatcher
PK2: Howie Morenz - Vladimir Krutov - Borje Salming - Dit Clapper
Spare PK: Stan Mikita - Daniel Alfredsson, Brad Park
​

I currently have Alfredsson penciled in over Park on the point of PP1, because I like having both LH and RH shots on the points of both PP units. Does anyone think I should swap Park back up to PP1? FWIW, according to @overpass 's spreadsheet, Alfredsson averaged 28 adjusted PPP per season, Park 27 adjusted PPP per season, though I'm not sure how much of Alfredsson's was at forward.

1st line: A magnificient line and the motor of that team. It is charismatic on the screen. Only problem I might see is if Morenz and Jagr want the puck too much on their stick as in transition, but i think Jagr can handle that. He didn't have to be the one rushing up the puck. Morenz looks more like that player. This team will win or die with the performance of that line which has no weakness.

2nd line: Mikita is strong there, and I like the fit with his wingers, so the only question becomes their all-time value.

3rd line: Same as the 2nd line, it is a solid fit, just becomes a matter of value. It does feel like your line up has the great 1st line up, Brodeur, then the rest is constructed to be as flawless as possible but without standing out, which is a viable strategy depending of the competition.

4th line: Lecavalier was an intelligent choice with what was left. As great as Perreault was, I love Lecavalier better here (but then I've always been a big fan of his, including his intangibles). That line is heavy. Wheeler, despite being a bit of a p***y for his size, will probably elevate his physical game playing with Roberts and Vinny.

1st pairing: I can say your blueline was saved by the bell when you managed to grab both Salming and Clapper in extremis. Now it doesn't look out of place. You have a weak-ish but legit #1, an OK #2, but you do have a very strong #3 in Dit Clapper. The pairing itself is solid. Strong at ES.

2nd pairing: I love it because the value is good for a 2nd pairing, and it's really steady behind your stead y1syt pairing. What you lose in value you gain in steadiness. A good "by committee" Top 4 that while weak in vaccuum, will do it's job helped by Brodeur's stickhandling prowess. They do get a boost from that.

3rd pairing: Love it but I'm a Derian fanboy.

Brodeur underrated. Workhorse of a dynasty who was the greatest stickhandling goalie of all-time; certainly my choice over Hasek for his era if starting a franchise, the awards be damned. Still under Roy though.

Bowman will love this team. Only player I could see him have a problem with is Gonchar, but Bowman isn't dumb, he knows why he's there, like he knew it for Housley. The other owuld have been Jagrb ut he already coached him.

Overall I see this as a flawless team but that doesn't have a lot of strenghts standing out. There's the great 1st line and Brodeur, and perhaps Mikita as the 2nd line C, but IMO this team will win more on other teams having more weaknesses than by its strenghts in themselves.

One flaw might be the level of your leadership, which is way below-average.

 

[BenchBrawl]

Cherry Hill Knights of Kní!

Home: Cherry Hill Arena- where "The Ice Is Tilted" is more than just a metaphor.*

Coach- Glen Sather

#27 Frank Mahovlich- #11 Mark Messier (C)- #12 Jarome Iginla [The Thunder Line]
#9 Paul Kariya- #91 Sergei Fedorov- #10 Pavel Bure [The Lightning Line]
#20 Johnny Bucyk (A)- #21 Brent Sutter- #18 Dave Taylor
#28 Claude Giroux- #17 Frank Fredrickson- #8 Jimmy Ward

#2 Viacheslav Fetisov (A)- #3 Earl Seibert
#4 Bill Gadsby- #88 Brett Burns
#6 František Pospišíl (A)- #72 Teppo Numminen

#29 Ken Dryden
#35 Pekka Rinne

PP-1 Pospišíl, Burns, Mahovlich/Messier, Giroux, Bure
PP-2 Fetisov, Seibert, Kariya/Mahovlich, Fedorov, Iginla

PK-1 Messier, Iginla, Fetisov, Seibert
PK-2 Fedorov, Kariya, Gadsby, Numminen

Preliminary Regular-Season Estimated Time-on-Ice Chart (subject to revision):

Forward	ES	PP	PK	Total
Mahovlich	15	3		18
Messier	14	1	4	19
Iginla	15	4	3	22
Kariya	14	3	2	19
Fedorov	14	3	4	21
Bure	13	3		16
Bucyk	10			10
Bre. Sutter	9		1	10
D. Taylor	9			9
Giroux	7	4		11
Fredrickson	9			9
J. Ward	9			9
Team Total	138	21	14	173

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Defensemen	ES	PP	PK	Total
Fetisov	17	3	4	24
Seibert	18	3	4	25
Gadsby	16		3	19
Brent Burns	14	4		18
Pospišíl	13	4		17
Numminen	14		3	17
Team Total	92	14	14	120

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Anticipated Goalie-Start ratio: ⅔ Dryden, ⅓ Rinne

Notes on multi-positional play:
The following will only be entertained in certain Special Teams situations, or in the event of injury. Keep in mind that with a roster of 20 skaters, the ability to play other positions could well be relevant. Fully a quarter of the Cherry Hill squad can do this- in some capacity. Here follows...

Player	Listed Position	Can creditably play	Can play in extremis
Mark Messier	Center	Left Wing
Pavel Bure	Right Wing	Left Wing
Sergei Fedorov	Center	Right Wing	Left Wing, Defense
Brent Burns	Right Defense		Right Wing
Claude Giroux	Left Wing	Center	Right Wing

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

* Multi-million fantasy-dollar Capital Improvement Project completed. Ice no longer actually tilted. We've also added a Visitors Dressing Room, so that opponents no longer have to gear-up at the Hotel a mile down-the-road.

1st line: Love it. What a tough line to play against! Mahovlich was hard to find a center to play with, but Messier should work. Mahovlich had success with Beliveau and Kelly, and Messier is some sort of in-between. The Messier-Iginla combo is pure grit and leadership.

2nd line: I see your point in varying your style from line to line, but man this is a soft one! In a way I feel Kariya is redundent; Fedorov and Bure are so fast that their softness won't even be a factor; you can't catch em! But still would have preferred a glue guy type at LW. Might be wrong though. I admire the ballsiness.

3rd line: I'd be really tempted to put Fredrickson on the 3rd line here between Bucyk and Taylor. Do not underestimate Fredrickson's defensive abilities. I would put them around Messier's. AS it is, Sutter looks really weak on a 3rd line, but I love his wingers.

4th line: If you keep Fredrickson there, surely a great 4th line, but both Giroux and Fredrickson looks playmaking-biased to me, and Ward is not that great of a goalscorer.

1st pairing: Great 1st pairing who bring everything to the table. Fetisov a solid #1 and Seibert an elite #2. Them on the ice with the Messier line is a nightmare.

2nd pairing: Gadsby a strong #3, not sure I like him with Burns though. I love Brent Burns but Gadsby, while certainly a capable defender, was more offensively-oriented wasn't he? He did throw a lot of big hits. Just feel a bit redundant. I'm open to hear otherwise, as Gadsby's dominant tendencies still elude me. Defensive, offensive, both, neither, one a tthe same time? Hard to get a read on him.

3rd pairing: Solid and steady. No worry sending them.

Dryden is solid, Rinne OK. Two very tall goalies so I like the continuity.

PP1 is incomprehensible to me: Gadsby should be on there over Pospisil, and Fetisov over Burns as well. I don't care how much points Giroux scored on the PP, Messier should be on the top unit.

That would put Burns on your 2nd PP with Seibert, which is a massive 2nd PP pairing. However I'm not sure about Burns vs. Gadsby, open to debate. Open to discussion but your choice of players are so "out there" to me that I'm a bit speechless. What am I missing?

Isn't Brent Sutter a strong PKer? I'd use him there if so.

I do wonder whether this is a Glen Sather lineup though. I don't see it as an offensively-biased team at all, more like a good mix of speed and grit, a team with many styles inside of it depending on which line and pairing goes on the ice.

A note on your icetime: Why is Iginal playing more ES minute (or minute at all) than Mark Messier? Messier should be your top forward for TOI. He is your best player and leader, and can go power vs. power against anyone. He can las hit out and take some himself. I see no reason not to give him the most icetime. Likewise, I'd give more TOI to Gadsby, who is a solid #3 with a real gap between him and your 4th.

Overall this is an intriguing team though, with potential and difficult to play against because it seems resistant to gameplans due to the diversity in styles and strenghts from line to line.

 

[BenchBrawl]

Owen Sound Platers

Coach; Toe Blake

Keith Tkachuk-Frank Nighbor-Maurice Richard
Luc Robitaille- Joe Thornton-Rick Nash
Rod Brindamour(a)-Darryl Sittler-Jamie Langenbrunner
Clark Gillies-Bill Cowley-Rod Gilbert

Nicklas Lidstrom(c)-Mark Howe(a)
Duncan Keith-Sergei Zubov
Adam Foote-Calle Johansson

Dominik Hasek
Curtis Joseph

Special Teams:

PP 1: Tkachuk-Thornton-Richard-Lidstrom-Zubov
PP 2: Robitaille-Cowley-Nash-Howe-Keith
PK 1: Nighbor-Langenbrunner-Foote-Lidstrom
PK 2: Gillies-Brindamour-Keith-Johansson

1st line: I really love Richard as a winger for Nighbor. Tkachuk is some sort of Denneny but without any defense. I think the line looks great, and it can be hard to build a Nighbor line so good work! The Nighbor-Richard combo is a major strenght on this team.

2nd line: Classic sniper-playmaker combo with Robitaille and Thornton, and Nash is a reasonable complement as he is responsible defensively and will be able to play Thornton's game in the offensive zone due to his great skills. Value is not that good for a 2nd line but it works.

3rd line: Shame to put Brind'Amour on the LW. The line works as a gritty two-way unit but the value is lacking a bit IMO. Langenbrunner is not very good at this level, and Brind'Amour loses some of his value at LW.

4th line: Cowley is arguably your 2nd best center. He feels redundent with Thornton already on board though. The line itself is almost as good as your 2nd line, but again feels a bit redundent. That said in isolation it is well-constructed.

1st pairing: Solid pairing. Howe a bit weak for a #2 but he's good at ES and Lidstro mis so easy to play with that together they will form a very steady force on your blueline.

2nd pairing: Not sure I like Zubov with Keith here. Would have preferred a more defense and physical oriented D. Otherwise Keith is a strong #3 (or maybe #2, as he and Howe are in the same ballpark). I love your Top 3 on D.

3rd pairing: Not much to say

Hasek is great, even if I'm not personally his biggest fan. I like Joseph.

Great 1st PP, everyone is in his role. 2nd unit is OK.

Great 1st PK, solid 2nd.

Toe Blake is the greatest coach of all-time so you did well.

 

[The Macho King]

@BenchBrawl thanks for all the nice things you said about my team, and f*** you for all the negative.

Don't have a ton of time to respond in detail other than I think some of the Kovy criticism is overstated. He played with guys like Savard who carried the puck a lot, so I don't think he should have problems with Forsberg. He can play the role of trigger man well, although you may have a point in dropping him to the third just to spread the scoring and take advantage of Gilmour more.

I was really thinking about how he would fit on pp2. Hedman has a lot of experience feeding that RH one timer, and Kovy was the best guy available (especially considering franchise) that could take that role, so I'm not super married to his ES line.

 

[tony d]

Montreal Wanderers

Lester Patrick

Sid Abel (A) - Mario Lemieux - Mike Bossy
Baldy Northcott - Jean Béliveau (C) - Patrick Kane
Zach Parise - Dave Keon - Boris Mikhailov (A)
Bill Barber - Peter Stastny - Todd Bertuzzi

Zdeno Chara - Paul Coffey
Sprague Cleghorn - Art Coulter (A)
Mark Giordano - Kevin Hatcher

Clint Benedict
Roy Worters

PP: Lemieux-Béliveau-Bossy-Cleghorn-Coffey
PP: Mikhailov(net)-Stastny-Kane-Chara-Barber

PK: Keon-Mikhailov-Chara-Coulter
PK: Abel/Lemieux-Northcott-Cleghorn-Hatcher​

Many thanks for the review of my team, Bench. I'll return the favor for you now:

Line 1: No shortage of goal scoring here, Lemieux and Bossy probably lay claim as 2 of the top goal scorers in hockey history. Abel had 8 top 10 finish in assists for a season so he should be a good fit for this line. Injury concerns may plague this line a little bit but other than that it's a solid 1st line.

Line 2: Beliveau's one of my favorite players ever and my choice as #5 all time in NHL history, great guy to build around and to have on your 2nd line as well. I'm not overly familiar on Baldy Northcott. Patrick Kane though can lay claim as one of the best Blackhawk players ever. For a modern player and a original six team that's pretty good. Solid 2nd line.

Line 3; Wasn't aware Mikhailov was a defensive player, always thought of him as an offensive player. Dave Keon is going to be one of the better #3 centers in this for sure. Zach Parise is a good lunch pail player, so overall a solid 3rd line here.

Line 4: You know your centre group is good when you have Peter Stastny as your 4th line center. As I've found out since I joined these drafts he was a serviceable defensive player as well as being good offensively. So he's not out of place on a bottom 6 line. Bill Barber is a good glue guy as well, Bertuzzi offers physicality so a good 4th line.

Defense Pairing 1: If you could come up with a better partner for Coffey than Chara then I haven't seen it. These guys should work well together. Coffey's offensive game will be able to shine here as Chara will look after the defensive/physical responsibilities. Good 1st pairing.

Defense Pairing 2: Cleghorn is one of the top physical defensemen ever so him and Chara on your top 2 pairings will make sure your defense is physical. Coulter will be a defensive cog for the pairing.

Defense Pairing 3: Giodrano and Hatcher are modern guys who won't hurt you. I always thought Hatcher to be more of an offensive guy but since I joined these boards I've discovered he had a 2 way game so he's a good #6 here.

Goalies: I've had both in the ATD. Worters might be the best New York American of all time while Clint Benedict is in that line outside the big 7 goalies so overall a good tandem.

Coach: Lester Patrick is a very good coach, I think he'll like this team.

Special Teams: Nothing overly to talk about here other than I'd like Hatcher on one of your PP units.

Final Thoughts: A very good team as always, Bench. I think switching Beliveau for Lemieux in your top 6 would make sense but other than that this is a good team, good work as always.

 

[BenchBrawl]

Many thanks for the review of my team, Bench. I'll return the favor for you now:

Line 1: No shortage of goal scoring here, Lemieux and Bossy probably lay claim as 2 of the top goal scorers in hockey history. Abel had 8 top 10 finish in assists for a season so he should be a good fit for this line. Injury concerns may plague this line a little bit but other than that it's a solid 1st line.

Line 2: Beliveau's one of my favorite players ever and my choice as #5 all time in NHL history, great guy to build around and to have on your 2nd line as well. I'm not overly familiar on Baldy Northcott. Patrick Kane though can lay claim as one of the best Blackhawk players ever. For a modern player and a original six team that's pretty good. Solid 2nd line.

Line 3; Wasn't aware Mikhailov was a defensive player, always thought of him as an offensive player. Dave Keon is going to be one of the better #3 centers in this for sure. Zach Parise is a good lunch pail player, so overall a solid 3rd line here.

Line 4: You know your centre group is good when you have Peter Stastny as your 4th line center. As I've found out since I joined these drafts he was a serviceable defensive player as well as being good offensively. So he's not out of place on a bottom 6 line. Bill Barber is a good glue guy as well, Bertuzzi offers physicality so a good 4th line.

Defense Pairing 1: If you could come up with a better partner for Coffey than Chara then I haven't seen it. These guys should work well together. Coffey's offensive game will be able to shine here as Chara will look after the defensive/physical responsibilities. Good 1st pairing.

Defense Pairing 2: Cleghorn is one of the top physical defensemen ever so him and Chara on your top 2 pairings will make sure your defense is physical. Coulter will be a defensive cog for the pairing.

Defense Pairing 3: Giodrano and Hatcher are modern guys who won't hurt you. I always thought Hatcher to be more of an offensive guy but since I joined these boards I've discovered he had a 2 way game so he's a good #6 here.

Goalies: I've had both in the ATD. Worters might be the best New York American of all time while Clint Benedict is in that line outside the big 7 goalies so overall a good tandem.

Coach: Lester Patrick is a very good coach, I think he'll like this team.

Special Teams: Nothing overly to talk about here other than I'd like Hatcher on one of your PP units.

Final Thoughts: A very good team as always, Bench. I think switching Beliveau for Lemieux in your top 6 would make sense but other than that this is a good team, good work as always.

Thanks for the review tony, I appreciate it.

Intriguing suggestion flip Lemieux and Béliveau, I will keep it in mind as the playoffs roll in.

 

[ImporterExporter]

MONTREAL MAROONS!

Team Overview:

• 4 line, relentless attacking to wear down opposition.

• Strong 2 way hockey up and down lineup

• Elite top end C talent and depth with 6 players capable of playing C

• Puck possession is name of game, especially out of dot with Clarke/Kennedy

• Puck transition from D to O with Leetch, Chelios, Blake, Carlson, and Boyle is strength

• Physical top 4 on blue line

• Superior clutch play featuring, Plante, Crosby, Kennedy, Leetch, Kurri especially

Coach:

Joel Quenneville


Forwards:

Brad Marchand - Sidney Crosby (C) - Jari Kurri

Marchand is a 200 foot demon. Yes he sometimes borders on the edge (and crosses) of legal but he's one of the all time great agitators and has developed into a strong offensive player. He and Crosby have had a ton of success together on the international stage, though the sample size is small. Crosby is Crosby. Kurri should love playing with Sid (and vice versa) as the latter is a poor man's Gretzky (offensively) in most areas, namely vision and passing. This is a line I have no problems putting up against any other top 6 unit. They can all play 200 feet at an above average level.

Cy Denneny - Bobby Clarke (A) - Vladimir Martinec

Power on power more often than not here. Denneny played and excelled in a defensive/counter scheme in Ottawa under Pete Green, putting up great offensive totals. He was noted as a policeman for players like Nighbor and that rep, along with his finishing ability, will play wonderfully next to Clarke. Speaking of Clarke, he is one of the best defensive C's of all time on top of providing elite face off ability (possession) and great offense in a 2nd line capacity. His vision/passing ability should play well with the wings here as will his feistiness in the corners and high traffic areas. Martinec provides excellent all around offensive ability. He was regarded well as a defensive hockey player, especially on the PK. For teams with really strong top lines, you will likely see Kurri dropped down here to enhance the line's 2 way acumen even more.

Joe Malone - Ted Kennedy (A) - Alexander Maltsev

Relentless pressure continues offensively. Malone may get dinged a little for being at LW but it should be minimal as this is a 3rd line role and his line mates are stellar, good fits. His goal scoring is way above average for this role regardless. Kennedy brings incredible fore checking and face off ability to the mix. He can dig pucks and create space for the wingers while still being strong offensively for a 3rd line role. Maltsev will handle the puck quite a bit and engineer the line from RW. His speed, skill and creativity will keep opposing teams on their heels.

Craig Ramsay - Mike Modano - Theo Fleury

This line can play either direction. Ramsay is one of the best defensive LW'ers of all time with solid ES scoring numbers for the role he played in real life. Modano's Selke record is quite good (including a finalist nod) as was his ability in the dot. Couple that with his offensive acumen and he makes for a very strong depth C. Fleury is just a little energizer bunny who will hit anything all over the ice, plays a strong 200 foot game, and like Modano brings way above the bar offense for a bottom 6/depth role.


Defensemen:

Brian Leetch - Chris Chelios

All American top pairing! Managed to get a bit of real life chemistry again here. Leetch and Chelios were partners for the US national team on multiple occasions including the rare US gold medal in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey. Chelios and Leetch combine to check off basically all the boxes you want. Puck transition is fantastic, especially on the left. Chelios brings a ton of physicality, even agitating behavior. He's a rich man's Duncan Keith. I think Q would LOVE deploying CC as his #1. Unlike a Paul Coffey, Leetch isn't a major liability in his own end. He's passable in that regard and with Chelios to his right can do what he did best and that is transition the puck via pass/skating. Both are high end #1 players on the PP and PK respectively. They also have 361 playoffs games between them. 4 Cups, a Conn Smythe.

Jack Stewart - Rob Blake

Pretty similar to the top pairing but this one is especially rugged. Stewart was the greatest Red Wing defensemen until Red Kelly showed up in the early 50's. EXTREMELY physical/strong player who would hit like a freight train but was clean about it. Didn't often get out of position to do it either. Blake provides strong puck transition and shot capabilities fro the point. Solid defensively with the ability to end the night of anyone who doesn't keep their head up in neutral/offensive ice. Another pair with a plethora of big game experience. Over 200 playoff games played and 3 Cups.

John Carlson - Dan Boyle

Puck transition and depth on special teams. Both peaked as multi time AS players. Both were high minute players on Cup winners. In a 12 team league you can probably do a bit better but there will be worse bottom pairings.


Goalies:

Jacques Plante

Billy Smith

Elite, clutch #1 and a very strong backup who knows a thing or two about winning Cups. Had the Smyth existed in Plante's time you'd have 2 winners here.


Special Teams:

PP 1:

Kurri (shoot/pass) - Crosby (the office) - Denneny (shoot)
Blake (trigger) - Leetch (QB)

PP2:

Maltsev - Malone/Modano/Clarke (will rotate) - Martinec
Carlson (trigger) - Boyle (QB) ​

PK 1:

Ramsay - Clarke
Stewart - Chelios

PK 2:

Martinec - Kennedy
Carlson - Blake

Spare PK'ers

Fleury
Marchand
Modano
Kurri​

 

[overpass]

I currently have Alfredsson penciled in over Park on the point of PP1, because I like having both LH and RH shots on the points of both PP units. Does anyone think I should swap Park back up to PP1? FWIW, according to @overpass 's spreadsheet, Alfredsson averaged 28 adjusted PPP per season, Park 27 adjusted PPP per season, though I'm not sure how much of Alfredsson's was at forward.

I'm probably going way too in depth on this but what the heck.

Alfredsson started playing the point on the power play after Marian Hossa and Martin Havlat arrived on the scene. He was on the point for part of the 2001-02 season, pretty much for the full season in 2002-03 and 2003-04. In 2005-06, with Hossa gone and Havlat injured for most of the season, he moved back up front for for much of the regular season, but he was back on the point in the playoffs when Havlat was in the lineup. For 2006-07 on he was usually up front, but in 2009-10 he moved back to the point to make room for Alex Kovalev.

So he usually played the point when the team had another high-end RW to play up front, which is the situation your team is in. He also had his best PP scoring seasons on the point, with 5 of his 6 top adjusted PP scoring seasons coming in those 5 seasons when he was playing the point for some of all of the season. And Ottawa's power play was really good from 2002-2006.

On the other hand, Alfredsson would be more vulnerable than Park to some of the high-end SH scoring threats in this league, especially alongside Gonchar. If you put him on the first unit, I would have a quick trigger to switch him off and get Clapper or Park on, so he doesn't stay out there too long and get burned. More of a 50-50 split than a 70-30 split.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

i'll try to do one of the teams that bb hasn't done yet tonight

in the meantime...

 

[Habsfan18]

Thanks for the feedback, @BenchBrawl.

Although I do like my team, I know I could do better. This was my first OPPF draft, and one that I agreed to join at the last minute. I wasn’t nearly as prepared and “in the game” as I usually am. Got a lot going on right now, but I love drafting, so I thought what the hell.

But your concerns about the lack of physicality and defensive play in the top 6 are totally valid. I loved the idea of a super-duo in Gretzky and Kharlamov, so I jumped at that chance. But then, as others have stated, it really did limit the options that were available to me to complete the trio. Lehtinen was my best option for a defensive winger, so I went with it. But looking back, I probably should have went for someone other than Kharlamov as it would have given me the chance to create a more “complete” line. That being said, I still think Gretzky and Kharlamov CAN create magic together. They will score, a lot.

Apps and Lafleur were guys that I just couldn’t pass up on. After the Gretzky-Kharlamov duo, I figured what the hell and basically went all-in on a soft, but offensively dangerous attack. We will give up our fair share of goals. But we will score a lot as well. Basically I cornered myself into going all-offense there.

Niedermayer I think is underrated defensively on here. Is he the perfect partner for Suchy? Probably not, but I think they’re fine together. They’ll help drive offense as well together as a pairing. And both are competent defensively.

But yeah, I get the concerns. This team will live or die on their ability to create offense. And I think that top 6 will create a lot of it. Gretzky-Kharlamov & Apps-Lafleur are two duo’s that will be VERY hard to contain on the attack.

 

[ChiTownPhilly]

...an intriguing team though, with potential and difficult to play against because it seems resistant to gameplans due to the diversity in styles and strengths from line to line.

Thank you for the assassination. Appreciate the feedback, encouraging words, and reservations- which I find to be pretty legitimate.

To address a couple of questions- ultimately, the decisions concerning minutes played, Special Teams configurations etc will wind up being not "what would ChiTownPhilly do?" but WWSD ("what would Slats do?").To crib advice I passed on to another participant a while back, it's my intention to be more Robert Kraft and less Jerry Jones(!)

Speaking of Sather- the reason I picked him is but partially on account of his offensive mentality-- I also chose him because of the 'known-quantity' relationship with Messier, plus the fact that Cherry Hill is suffused with self-motivated character & leader types who would (in Horse Racing parlance) respond to a 'hand-ride.' My 'plan-B' was Cecil Hart.

Finally, your mention of Fredrickson being promoted to the 3rd line is something that I contemplated a while back. If I did that, I would be left with the Parlor-Trick-Like all RHS 4th line of Giroux-Brent Sutter-J. Ward. Now, I don't summarily reject iconoclastic ideas... but that one seemed a little out-there.

Again, appreciate the input from the GM of one of the Teams that's a clear and present concern. I might discuss in detail later, depending upon how the polyhedron-of-fate lands.