Rene Lecavalier semi-final: Detroit Vipers vs. Richmond Renegades

[VanIslander]

Bob Cole division:



Detroit Vipers

coach Anatoly Tarasov, Arkady Chernyshev

Alex Delvecchio - Milt Schmidt - Helmuts Balderis
Frank Foyston - Bill Cowley - Boris Mikhailov (K)
Johnny Gottselig (A) - Pit Lepine - Owen Nolan
Dick Duff - Edgar Laprade - Reggie Leach
Ron Ellis

Nicklas Lidstrom (A) - Brad McCrimmon
Chris Pronger - J.C. Tremblay
Jean-Guy Talbot - Cy Wentworth
Wade Redden

Bill Durnan
Harry Lumley



vs.



Richmond Renegades

coach Joel Quenneville

Bobby Hull - Elmer Lach - Martin St. Louis
Bert Olmstead - Jean Ratelle - Cecil Dillon
Marty Pavelich - Vyacheslav Starshinov (A) - Joe Mullen
Rick Nash - John Madden - Tim Kerr
Ondrej Palat, Vincent Lecavalier

Lionel Conacher - King Clancy (C)
Carl Brewer - Lionel Hitchman (A)
Brian Campbell - Teppo Numminen
Albert Leduc

Glenn Hall
Tim Thomas

​

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[VanIslander]

Post your special teams, links, photos, comments, etc.

 

[Hockey Stathead]

Power Play 1:
Mikhailov
Leach - Cowley
Delvecchio - Lidstrom

Power Play 2:
Nolan - Schmidt - Balderis
Tremblay - Pronger

Penalty Kill 1:
Gottselig - Laprade
Pronger - Wentworth

Penalty Kill 2:
Lepine - Nolan
Lidstrom - McCrimmon

 

[The Macho King]

PP1: Hull, Lach, St. Louis, Olmstead, Clancy
PP2: Starshinov, Ratelle, Kerr, Nash, Conacher

PK1: Pavelich, Madden, Hitchman, Brewer
PK2: Dillon, Starshinov, Conacher, Clancy

 

[The Macho King]

The way I see it, my team has two big advantages over Detroit - gamebreaking scorers and goaltending. Durnan is on the weak side of ATD starting goalies, and Detroit devoted a lot of its draft capital in shoring up that weakness with Lidstrom and Pronger anchoring different pairings. But Bobby Hull is the best offensive player here, and I have scoring from both forwards and the back end.
While I'll acknowledge the best defenseman (and third best defenseman) are on that side of the ice, my guys aren't slouches and Hall is there to clean up what makes it through. Outside of Schmidt, I don't think there's any forward on Detroit that is good enough to really tip the scales, and Balderis is miscast as a top line forward here.

I think my superior forward depth, goaltending, and gamebreaking talent wins out here.

 

[Hockey Stathead]

Great team, Macho King!

Some notes on the Vipers...

Play style: under Anatoly Tarasov, it's built around passing and puck possession while maintaining solid defensive structure without the puck.

-Stocked with a number of players suited to play the sequential passing game. Most notable are Bill Cowley, Helmuts Balderis, Alex Delvecchio, Nicklas Lidstrom, Chris Pronger, and J.C. Tremblay.

-Milt Schmidt, Pit Lepine, and Edgar Laprade are generally considered strong defensive centers, important for a Tarasov team. Delvecchio and Frank Foyston as left wingers with experience at center figure to be able to contribute defensively. Nicklas Lidstrom, Brad McCrimmon, and Chris Pronger, and Cy Wentworth all terrific defensively.

Familiarity: a few instances of real life connections put back together

-Tarasov and Arkady Chernyshev together as coaches. Boris Mikhailov coached by Tarasov (and Balderis playing under that type of system).

-Schmidt and Cowley as 1C/2C worked well for the Bruins.

-Lidstrom and McCrimmon as defensive partners for the Red Wings for a couple seasons.

Balanced team build: Detroit is designed to be a balanced team with complementary skillsets which ensures that players don't get overextended by playing too much and covering too many roles.

-Owen Nolan is the only forward on both PP and PK (2nd unit for both) and he plays 3rd line 5v5. This way, guys like Schmidt and Mihailov who could play PK can really focus on 5v5 and PP play. Similarly, a guy like Johnny Gottselig who could play PP can focus on his all around play at 5v5 and his keepaway game on the PK.

-Nicklas Lidstrom and Chris Pronger are the only defensemen who play both PP and PK. Lidstrom is 1st pair 5v5/1st PP/2nd PK while Pronger is 2nd pair 5v5/2nd PP/1st PK. One of them should be on the ice ~75% of the time.

-there is no pure checking line or pure offensive line. Every line is designed to be able to score and defend. Each defensive unit has a proficient puck mover with a strong defensive player (Lidstrom and Pronger as both).

Leadership: Detroit has many players who were captains of their teams: Mikhailov, Lidstrom, Gottselig, Pronger, McCrimmon, Schmidt, and even Bill Durnan (goalie captain).

(sidenote: your Vyacheslav Starshinov would look great in Detroit with Tarasov. I was going to pick him with my next pick when you got him and had to settle for Pit Lepine.)

 

[The Macho King]

Well there you have it from the horses own mouth - I have the better 3C, ergo I win.

Good game good game good game