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.