THE 2-PER-DECADE DRAFT: An All-Time 2-week HOLIDAY Game (from Dec. 18th to Dec 31st)

[VanIslander]

I was gonna take Henri Richard as a plan to re-unite the Moore - Richard - Richard line but I considered another 1960s player to be better: Stan Mikita. (Now, if i was assured Moore would drop to me I would be more tempted to re-unite the whole line.)

I did re-unite the 1920s dynasty duo of Denneny - Nighbor, and thought long and hard about picking their RWer irl, but getting Boom Boom for the powerplay point was just too valuable, plus, the undrafted RWer is at best a serviceable 4th liner at this stratospheric level of play.

 

[VanIslander]

Wouldn't it be fun to do a MLD version of the 2-PER-DECADE Draft?

 

[ted2019]

I have narrowed it down to one of 3 defensemen for my 1940's pick. The Goalie is my 1950's selection.

 

[VanIslander]

The Sarnia Sting select Alf Smith (1900s), Valeri Kharlamov (1970s).

 

[Habsfan18]

Van, I see you reunited Gretzky and Kharlamov. I had the duo in the OPPF. I liked the idea of them creating offensive magic together but the others seemed to dislike the fit. I had to draft Jere Lehtinen to play with them for the purpose of providing some defense.

 

[Habsfan18]

My first pick will be Ernie “Moose” Johnson, D (1900’s)

Second pick coming shortly.

 

[VanIslander]

I got Bill Cook on right wing, the enforcer on the Lady Byng Boucher line.

How could having two creative players on the same line be a bad thing? Gretzky can equally be a thteat to shoot than to pass, and Kharlamov could just as much pass to Cook as to Gretz. Hard to anticipate. Dynamic offense. It us an all-out offensive line. If 3-on-2 rushes against happen, well, Hasek likes those: dmen take away the pass and let him go one on one with the shooter.

I decided against Blair Russel in favor of Cannonball Pitre because this team doesn't need a shutdown line: Kennedy joining the dmen was enough for rushes against. Moore, Nighbor, Kennedy, Smith was enough.

The team could experiment with:

Moore - Gretzky - Cook
Kharlamov - Mikita - Richard

Perhaps when leading...

 

[Habsfan18]

Like I said, I liked the fit. I think the two could create magic together. I was just told by all of the others that they were too soft and provide zero defense. Which I get. But as I had pointed out, the potential offensive magic of these two more than make up for it.

Sometimes I think we have a tendency to put too much stock in the “toughness” and defensive play of players. Sometimes a line can be all-out offense, even if there’s a risk involved.

 

[VanIslander]

Bill Cook is one of the toughest players of a very tough era.

And if a player like Clarke or Cleghorn wishes to take liberties in cheapshots, Alf Smith was as feared vicious in his era as anyone in this draft.

Every line and pairing in Sarnia has a guy renowned for toughness.

They'll be okay.

 

[Johnny Engine]

I said it in the other thread, there’s always enough puck for two players, not necessarily for 3 of the same. Even a player like Bobby Hull who failed with one talented line mate, is often just waiting for their Perreault or Hedberg to come along.

That’s not to say you can’t have an offensive talent for your third wheel. He just needs to be a shooter if you’ve got a couple of puck handling whizzes.

So Joliat and Morenz are getting Mike Bossy

 

[Johnny Engine]

And I’ll complete my intimidating team with a different type of intimidation than what Shore, Howe et all bring. Al MacInnis is my second 90s pick, and he joins Shore on the top power play unit, and Fetisov on a second pair that makes use of his smart two way play while covering his only prominent weakness- speed.

 

[ted2019]

Blackjack Stewart D 1940's
Glenn Hall Goalie 1950's

 

[Habsfan18]

I know he is typically a C in the ATD, and he provides next to nothing other than pure offense..but he also played the rover position and his offense is too good to pass up at this point as the last 1900’s player off the board.

I also painted myself into the corner a bit by waiting so long for my 1900-1910 slots.

So because of his experience at rover, I’ll play him on the wing. And he’ll be with two defensively reliable team mates on the 4th line in Keon and Gottselig, providing some secondary offense when called upon.

Russell Bowie, C/rover (1900’s)

 

[VanIslander]

Tomorrow is Voting Day!

Send regular season rankings to Theokritos.

 

[Habsfan18]

I will be sending in my votes tomorrow morning/afternoon.

This was a lot of fun guys! 4 really strong lineups.

 

[VanIslander]

I decided to put Moore on Gretzky's line and save Kharlamov - Gretzky passing magic for the powerplay, and when trailing.

 

[Habsfan18]

Seeing the list of undrafted players really makes me think a 2PD MLD draft is certainly doable.

Paul Coffey
Sergei Makarov
Cyclone Taylor
Phil Esposito
Steve Yzerman
Martin Brodeur
Pierre Pilote
Brian Leetch
Peter Forsberg
Bill Gadsby
Syl Apps

etc..

 

[VanIslander]

Not to mention Sawchuk and Schmidt.

 

[Habsfan18]

Not to mention Sawchuk and Schmidt.

That’s true, I had forgotten Sawchuk went undrafted as well. I strongly considered Schmidt at one point, but I already had Messier who brings similar intangibles. And I thought Boucher was the better fit, since he provides more of a complete two-way game.

Some great players still available. Makes me think we could have easily had 7-8 teams and our lineups would still look pretty decent. A few of the early decades could have gotten dicey at that point, I suppose. But for the most part quite a few difference makers are still available per decade.

 

[VanIslander]

I am surprised no one drafted Frank Foyston, given he is a top-40 all-time Stanley Cup performer according to the HOH project and legitimately plays both wings. I wanted to, but used my picks for his decade elsewhere.

 

[Johnny Engine]

Didn't really think about Foyston, but in retrospect he's close to as good as Reg Noble (while also being a forward who can shift around), who I was targeting as the second winger on Richard and Walker's line, before I realized that Hooley Smith would be eligible for the 20s slot. Would have been an interesting thing to think over, as they'd be close enough to think about which one would fit better.

That said, I'm sticking with Hooley.

 

[Habsfan18]

Voted. Good luck guys!

 

[Habsfan18]

Picks by decade..

1900’s:

Russell Bowie
Moose Johnson
Percy LeSeur
Tommy Phillips
Didier Pitre
Blair Russel
Alf Smith
Hod Stuart

1910’s:

Clint Benedict
Sprague Cleghorn
Cy Denneny
Eddie Gerard
Newsy Lalonde
Hugh Lehman
Georges Vezina
Jack Walker

1920’s:

King Clancy
Babe Dye
Frank Boucher
Georges Boucher
Frank Nighbor
Aurel Joliat
Hooley Smith
Nels Stewart

1930’s:

Dit Clapper
Charlie Conacher
Bill Cook
Cecil Dillon
Johnny Gottselig
Busher Jackson
Howie Morenz
Eddie Shore

1940’s:

Sid Abel
Toe Blake
Bryan Hextall Sr.
Syd Howe
Ted Kennedy
Maurice Richard
Earl Seibert
Blackjack Stewart

1950’s:

Jean Beliveau
Glenn Hall
Doug Harvey
Gordie Howe
Bernie Geoffrion
Ted Lindsay
Dickie Moore
Jacques Plante

1960’s:

Tim Horton
Frank Mahovlich
Stan Mikita
Boris Mikhailov
Bobby Hull
Red Kelly
Dave Keon
Henri Richard

1970’s:

Bobby Clarke
Valeri Kharlamov
Guy Lafleur
Bobby Orr
Brad Park
Denis Potvin
Larry Robinson
Bryan Trottier

1980’s:

Mike Bossy
Ray Bourque
Chris Chelios
Slava Fetisov
Wayne Gretzky
Jari Kurri
Mario Lemieux
Mark Messier

1990’s:

Dominik Hasek
Nicklas Lidstrom
Jaromir Jagr
Al MacInnis
Chris Pronger
Patrick Roy
Joe Sakic
Scott Stevens

 

[Theokritos]

Tomorrow is Voting Day!

Send regular season rankings to Theokritos.

General information: since no time of day was given, I assume you can vote all day until midnight. Which actually means you get a few additional hours because I won't be around at that time.

3 ballots submitted so far BTW.

 

[Theokritos]

Voting result:

1) Freshwater Bogtrotters
2) Sarnia Sting
3) Cleveland Crusaders
4) Philadelphia Firebirds

All four GMs have voted.