The AAA 2012 Assassination Thread

[jkrx]

Post your complete 25 man rosters here. Complete with one captain, two assistant captains, PP units and PK units.

Then we can start assassinating the AAA teams.

Click to read more...

 

[seventieslord]

Thank you for starting the thread, jkrx.

Let me just restate that - Full 25-man rosters go here, with captain, two assistants and special teams. Not 21 man rosters without spares.

 

[jkrx]

Sheffield Steelers

Coach: Cooney Weiland
Ass. Coach: Kjell Svensson

Johnny Sheppard - Dave Creighton - Joe Murphy
Pelle Eklund - Walt McKechnie - Jim Fox
Ted Irvine - David Legwand (C) - Darren McCarty
Chris Simon - Yanic Perreault - Eddie Kullman
Shaun Van Allen, Kevin McClelland

Al Dewsbury - Colin White (A)
Paul Cavillini - Sean Hill (A)
Jean Potvin - Jason Woolley
Alex Motter, Brent Burns

Jon Casey
Kjell Svensson

PP1: Johnny Sheppard - Dave Creighton - Joe Murphy, Al Dewsbury - Jean Potvin
PP2: Pelle Eklund - Yanic Perreault - Jim Fox, Sean Hill - Jason Woolley

PK1: David Legwand - Pelle Eklund, Colin White - Cavillini
PK2: Yanic Perreault - Ted Irvine, Sean Hill - Jason Woolley

 

[tony d]

St.John's Monsters
St.John's Monsters

Mike Cammaleri-Dale Mccourt (A)-Tony Tanti
Rick Dudley-Josef Malecek-Fred Glover
Sergei Nemchinov-Laurie Boschman-Ian Laperriere
Ryan Malone-Claude Lapointe-Ronnie Stern
Vic Lynn-Aaron Broten

Warren Godfrey (C)-Antonin Stavjana
Curt Giles (A)-Bryan Berard
Jim Dorey-Frantisek Kaberle
Abbie Newell-Pat Quinn

Earl Robertson
Ken Wregget

Coach: Ron Wilson

PP 1: Mike Cammaleri, Dale Mccourt, Tony Tanti, Bryan Berard, Anton Stavjina
PP 2: Rick Dudley, Josef Malecek, Fred Glover, Jim Dorey, Frantisek Kaberle

PK 1: Ryan Malone, Laurie Boschman, Warren Godfrey, Curt Giles
PK 2: Sergei Nemchinov, Claude Lapointe, Jim Dorey, Frantisek Kaberle

 

[overpass]

Sheffield Steelers

Coach: Cooney Weiland
Ass. Coach: Kjell Svensson

Johnny Sheppard - Dave Creighton - Joe Murphy
Pelle Eklund - Walt McKechnie - Jim Fox
Ted Irvine - David Legwand (C) - Darren McCarty
Chris Simon - Yanic Perreault - Eddie Kullman
Shaun Van Allen, Kevin McClelland

Al Dewsbury - Colin White (A)
Paul Cavillini - Sean Hill (A)
Jean Potvin - Jason Woolley
Alex Motter, Brent Burns

Jon Casey
Kjell Svensson

PP1: Johnny Sheppard - Dave Creighton - Joe Murphy, Al Dewsbury - Jean Potvin
PP2: Pelle Eklund - Yanic Perreault - Jim Fox, Sean Hill - Jason Woolley

PK1: David Legwand - Pelle Eklund, Colin White - Cavillini
PK2: Yanic Perreault - Ted Irvine, Sean Hill - Jason Woolley

Just one drive-by comment - your coaches will need to spend some time working with Woolley on the PK, because he never killed penalties in the NHL. Never. Ever.

 

[Velociraptor]

Wish I could've made biographies for some of my players this time around, although I've been unbelievably busy.

UTAH GRIZZLIES

Coach: Jan Starsi
Captain: Ron Schock
Assistant Captains: Tom Fitzgerald, Lucien DeBlois

Eric Daze - Bill Carson - Jason Pominville
Alex Kaleta - Ron Schock - Wayne Connelly
Dutch Hiller - Rudy Migay - Tom Fitzgerald
Randy Burridge - Tom Fergus - Lucien DeBlois

Bert Marshall - Dmitri Mironov
Kent Douglas - Jimmy Orlando
Dennis Kearns - Hal Laycoe

Roman Cechmanek
Jake Forbes

Spares:
Jim Conacher, C/LW
Ken Mallen, F
Mike Rathje, D
Rocket Power, D

PP1: Daze - Carson - Pominville - Kearns - Douglas
PP2: Kaleta - Schock - Connelly - Kearns - Mironov
PK1: Migay - Hiller - Marshall - Orlando
PK2: Fergus - Fitzgerald - Douglas - Laycoe​

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Just one drive-by comment - your coaches will need to spend some time working with Woolley on the PK, because he never killed penalties in the NHL. Never. Ever.

Yeah, given the adventure that Wooley was defensively, I also don't like Jean Potvin (who was better known for offense than defense IIRC) next to him at even strength.

I think if you draft Wooley, you do it to give him big time PP minutes and limit his ice time in other situations.

Potvin-Wooley seems more like a PP pairing than an ES pairing. And I think it's an excellent PP pairing at this level.

 

[jkrx]

Just one drive-by comment - your coaches will need to spend some time working with Woolley on the PK, because he never killed penalties in the NHL. Never. Ever.

I agree, that spot was meant for Dewsbury.

PP1: Johnny Sheppard - Dave Creighton - Joe Murphy, Jason Woolley - Jean Potvin
PP2: Pelle Eklund - Yanic Perreault - Jim Fox, Sean Hill - Al Dewsbury

PK1: David Legwand - Pelle Eklund, Colin White - Cavillini
PK2: Yanic Perreault - Ted Irvine, Sean Hill - Al Dewsbury

 

[Dreakmur]

Darryl Sutter

Greg Adams - George Gee - Petr Sykora
Vaclav Prospal - Mike Bullard - Dmitri Khristich
Alexandre Burrows - Bill Clement "A" - Bill Collins
Bob Kelly - Archie Hooper - Howie Meeker

Dale Rolfe - Leo Reise, Sr.
Mark Hardy "A" - Doug Lidster
Harold Snepsts "C" - Tom Poti

Cesare Maniago
Richard Brodeur

Spares:
Reg Hamilton, D
Steve Rucchin, C
Igor Liba, F
Bert McCaffrey, RW/D

Power Play #1
Vaclav Prospal - Mike Bullard - Petr Sykora
Tom Poti - Leo Reise

Power Play #2
Greg Adams - George Gee - Dmitri Khristich
Mark Hardy - Doug Lidster

Penalty Kill #1
Bill Clement - Bill Collins
Harold Snepsts - Dale Rolfe

Penalty Kill #2
Archie Hooper - Alexandre Burrows
Mark Hardy - Doug Lidster​

 

[tarheelhockey]

Macon Whoopee

Head Coach
Paul Maurice

Red Green - Don Raleigh (A) - Mike Murphy (C)
Derek King - Tim Young (A) - Anson Carter
Matt Cooke - Wes Walz - Paul Ranheim
Sean Avery - Steve Ott - Matthew Barnaby

Al MacNeil - Bret Hedican
Richard Matvichuk - Stephane Robidas
Joe Corvo - Tom Kurvers

Hal Winkler
Pekka Rinne


Spares
Donald Audette, RW
Magnus Arvedson, LW
Jude Drouin, C
Joni Pitkanen, D



Power Play

King - Raleigh - Murphy
Young - Kurvers

Green - Drouin - Audette
Joe Corvo - Bret Hedican

Penalty Kill

Walz - Cooke
Robidas - MacNeil

Ott - Ranheim
Matvichuk - Hedican​

 

[Dreakmur]

Sean Avery - Steve Ott - Matthew Barnaby​

Oh..... my..... God.....

 

[Rob Scuderi]

Pittsburgh Professionals

Coach: Frank Boucher

Bep Guidolin - Robert Reichel - Earl Robinson
Lowell MacDonald - Jozef Stumpel - Shawn McEachern (A)
Benoit Hogue - Christian Ruuttu - Ken Schinkel
Dave Hunter - Curtis Brown - Keith McCreary (C)

Spares: Pete Horeck, Veli-Pekka Ketola

Ralph "Scotty" Bowman - Keith Brown
Tom Reid - Philippe Boucher
Dana Murzyn (A) - Jeff Norton

Spares: Rick Lapointe and Frank Mathers

Daren Puppa
Hec Fowler

PP1: Guidolin - Reichel - Robinson - Norton - Boucher
PP2: McDonald - Stumpel - McEachern - Hogue - K. Brown

PK1: C. Brown - Hunter - Bowman - Reid
PK2: Ruuttu - Schinkel - Murzyn - Brown

 

[Michael Farkas]

Coach: Red Berenson
Goalie / strength & conditioning coach: Vladislav Tretiak

Captain: Ryan Callahan
Assistant: Arthur Moore
Assistant: Luke Richardson

Ron Murphy - John Cullen - Brian Gionta
Jiri Dopita - Jimmy Carson - John Anderson
Doug Smail - George Ferguson - Ryan Callahan
Errol Thompson - Mark Johnson - Nelson Emerson

X: Joe Pavelski
X: Earl Ingarfield

Dan Hamhuis - Moe Mantha
Sean O'Donnell - Arthur Moore
Luke Richardson - Gord Murphy

X: Joe Cirella

S: Seth Martin
B: Ilya Bryzgalov

---
PP1 J.Dopita-J.Cullen-B.Gionta | M.Mantha-G.Murphy
PP2 E.Thompson-J.Carson-J.Anderson/N.Emerson | D.Hamhuis-A.Moore

PK1 R.Callahan-D.Smail | D.Hamhuis-S.O'Donnell
PK2 G.Ferguson-M.Johnson | G.Murphy-L.Richardson

 

[BillyShoe1721]

EHC Eisbären Berlin
Coach: Jimmy Skinner
Captain: Olli Jokinen
Assistant Captains: Geoff Sanderson, Rick Smith

Jeff Friesen-Olli Jokinen-Mac Colville
Geoff Sanderson-Mike Ribeiro-Doug Brown
Mark Osborne-Travis Zajac-Mark Hunter
Val Fonteyne-Chris Gratton-Shawn Horcoff
Bob Berry, Travis Green, Brian Mullen

Rick Smith-Randy Manery
Leo Lamoureux-Alex Levinsky
Nikolai Makarov-Zbynek Michalek
Zarley Zalapski

Herbert Collins
Viktor Zinger

PP1: Friesen-Jokinen-Colville-Makarov-Lamoureux
PP2: Sanderson-Ribeiro-Hunter-Levinsky-Manery

PK1: Osborne-Zajac-Smith-Michalek
PK2: Fonteyne-Brown-Manery-Levinsky
PK3: Horcoff-Osborne-Smith-Michalek

 

[Dreakmur]

Jeff Friesen-Olli Jokinen-Mac Colville

This is one of my favorite lines of the draft. Very well constructed.

 

[Johnny Engine]

Captain: Paul Ysebaert
Alternates: Kevin McCarthy, Bob Errey

Nathan Horton - Greg Malone - Phil Kessel
Marco Sturm - Anatoli Semenov - Paul Ysebaert
Bob Errey - Herb Carnegie - Dan Cleary
Greg Gilbert - Randy Wood - Bill Flett

Brad Stuart - Patrice Brisebois
Francois Beauchemin - Boris Mironov
Kevin McCarthy - Muzz Patrick

Guy Hebert
Ron Tugnutt

Coach - Sid Abel

Spares:
- Brad May
- Garry Howatt
- Roxy Beaudro
- Terry Carkner

PP1: Horton - Malone - Kessel - Mironov - Brisebois
PP2: Sturm - Semenov - Flett - McCarthy - Stuart
PK1: Sturm - Wood - Stuart - Beauchemin
PK2: Ysebaert - Cleary - Brisebois - Patrick

 

[seventieslord]

Kevin McCarthy was actually a captain; don't you think he at least deserves a letter over Beauchemin or Stuart?

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Darryl Sutter

Greg Adams - George Gee - Petr Sykora
Vaclav Prospal - Mike Bullard - Dmitri Khristich
Alexandre Burrows - Bill Clement "A" - Bill Collins
Bob Kelly - Archie Hooper - Howie Meeker

Dale Rolfe - Leo Reise, Sr.
Mark Hardy "A" - Doug Lidster
Harold Snepsts "C" - Tom Poti

Cesare Maniago
Richard Brodeur

Spares:
Reg Hamilton, D
Steve Rucchin, C
Igor Liba, F
Bert McCaffrey, RW/D

Power Play #1
Vaclav Prospal - Mike Bullard - Dmitri Khristich
Tom Poti - Leo Reise

Power Play #2
Greg Adams - George Gee - Petr Sykora
Mark Hardy - Doug Lidster

Penalty Kill #1
Bill Clement - Bill Collins
Harold Snepsts - Dale Rolfe

Penalty Kill #2
Archie Hooper - Alexandre Burrows
Mark Hardy - Doug Lidster​

Lots of talent in the top 6, but they seem a little on the soft side.

Petr Sykora was always at his best with a big forward on his line to open up space for him - in New Jersey where he had his best years, he was almost always centered by either Bobby Holik or Jason Arnott, both big bodies that could open up space for the relatively soft Sykora. Adams and Gee read like solid two-way players (Adams' time in NJ was before my time), but is either going to open up the room that Sykora needs to be most effective?

Likewise, I still have some concerns about the puck winning of your second line. Legends of Hockey rarely says a bad word about a player and their profile of Khristich calls him a skilled player "whose intensity has been questioned," and that "there was a concern over the drop in Khristich's play in the playoffs when tighter checking predominated." I like the chemistry of Prospal passing the puck to Bullard (like he passed the puck to Lecavalier in real life). Bullard definitely has some toughness, but the read I get is he'd rather fight for goals in front than fight in the corners. The second line might be fine at battling for pucks by committee, but considering toughness on the first line is also an issue, I think you could defintiely use more tougness somewhere in your top 6.

Typically strong third line for you guys, more defensive than offensive, but it can score. I can't see what seperates Burrows from similar types drafted in the MLD, so great pick there. Perhaps you could move him to the 2nd line and bench Khristich.

4th line is another solid hard working line, but I really think you could have used a real heavyweight with lack of toughness being the one weakness in your top lines.

I have no idea how to rank defensemen when we get this low. With Rolf, Reisse, Snepst, and to a lesser extent Hardy, toughness sure isn't a problem for your D. All 3 pairs seem adequate at moving the puck, though not exceptional.

Goalies seem adequate for this level, no more.

With what has been revealed here, Igor Liba is way too good to be a spare! Not sure who you would bench for him though. It's a royal shame to see someone who brings as much as Steve Rucchin as a spare, as well.

Interesting decision to play your second line on the first PP. I do think Bullard might be your best net presence. Playing Petr Sykora and his hard shot on the point of the PP is an option - he didn't play there all that often, but was quite good when he did. Just make sure the defenseman next to him can cover for his mistakes.

Penalty kills seem fine.

 

[Dreakmur]

Lots of talent in the top 6, but they seem a little on the soft side.

I would agree that our top-6 is not going to intimidate or hurt anybody. Having said that, there is a lot of size and strength for battling, and none of our top-6ers are known for backing down. Furthermore, you have to look at who they are competing against. Who are the best top-6 puck-winners out there? Mac Colville? Nathan Horton? Bert Olmstead, Wayne Cashman, and Alf Smith don't fall to the AAA draft.

Petr Sykora was always at his best with a big forward on his line to open up space for him - in New Jersey where he had his best years, he was almost always centered by either Bobby Holik or Jason Arnott, both big bodies that could open up space for the relatively soft Sykora. Adams and Gee read like solid two-way players (Adams' time in NJ was before my time), but is either going to open up the room that Sykora needs to be most effective?

Sykora isn't soft - he's just small and weak. Does that make sense? He was always known as a guy who was a willing battler, but was just never able to win battles because of his size.

Also, both Adams and Gee are big.

The line does lack a big-time puck-winner, but if you look at the rest of the draft, those guys don't fall this far in the draft. Compared to the ATD and MLD, this line is soft, but compared to the other AAA drafts? Not so much.

Likewise, I still have some concerns about the puck winning of your second line. Legends of Hockey rarely says a bad word about a player and their profile of Khristich calls him a skilled player "whose intensity has been questioned," and that "there was a concern over the drop in Khristich's play in the playoffs when tighter checking predominated." I like the chemistry of Prospal passing the puck to Bullard (like he passed the puck to Lecavalier in real life). Bullard definitely has some toughness, but the read I get is he'd rather fight for goals in front than fight in the corners. The second line might be fine at battling for pucks by committee, but considering toughness on the first line is also an issue, I think you could defintiely use more tougness somewhere in your top 6.

Please read Khristich's bio! There's way too much evidence for his puck-winning to keep questioning it.

Mike Bullard does have a reputation for toughness, but I'm not sure here that comes from. He certainly isn't really much of a physical guy from what I've seen. I don't think it's a big deal since both Prospal and Khristich are good puck-winners/grinders at the AAA level.

Typically strong third line for you guys, more defensive than offensive, but it can score. I can't see what seperates Burrows from similar types drafted in the MLD, so great pick there. Perhaps you could move him to the 2nd line and bench Khristich.

After the bio we put together on Khristch, he sould be viewed as one of our best forward... and even one of the best in this draft. He's got 1st line offense AND a good two-way game AND good puck-winning skils. There's no way he's on the bench.

4th line is another solid hard working line, but I really think you could have used a real heavyweight with lack of toughness being the one weakness in your top lines.

Bob Kelly is a real heavyweight. While he was behind The Hammer, he was still one of the best fighters in the NHL. Just because he can skate, handle a puck, and even play responsible defense doesn't take away from his fighting ability.

I have no idea how to rank defensemen when we get this low. With Rolf, Reisse, Snepst, and to a lesser extent Hardy, toughness sure isn't a problem for your D. All 3 pairs seem adequate at moving the puck, though not exceptional.

First of all, you should rank Leo Reise #1. Then go from there

As much as I'd love you to think Rolfe is tough, he wasn't. He was huge and strong, but not a hitter or fighter. "Hal Gill + skating" would be a good comparison.

Mark Hardy, however, was definately a very tough player. He's a big-time physical presense at this level.

Goalies seem adequate for this level, no more.

We waited a long time to draft a goalie

With what has been revealed here, Igor Liba is way too good to be a spare! Not sure who you would bench for him though. It's a royal shame to see someone who brings as much as Steve Rucchin as a spare, as well.

With injuries, he'll still play quite a bit.

Interesting decision to play your second line on the first PP. I do think Bullard might be your best net presence. Playing Petr Sykora and his hard shot on the point of the PP is an option - he didn't play there all that often, but was quite good when he did. Just make sure the defenseman next to him can cover for his mistakes.

Our top-2 lines are really interchangable.

Using the percentages from the top-6 seasons:
1st Line, 321-368-401 = 1090
2nd Line, 400-391-365 = 1156

It probably does make sense to switch Sykora and Khristich. Since both Bullard and Khristich were major net-front factors, they should probably split up on the PP.

Penalty kills seem fine.

I think it's better than fine

 

[Johnny Engine]

Kevin McCarthy was actually a captain; don't you think he at least deserves a letter over Beauchemin or Stuart?

Yeah, I completely spaced on that one. I probably don't want my #5 defenseman as captain, but he should be an A.
Also remembered Errey was a captain.

Derp.

 

[seventieslord]

Lots of talent in the top 6, but they seem a little on the soft side.

We definitely don't think our top-6 is tough, but in the context of this draft, it is "tough enough" while having almost surely the most firepower of any team.

Likewise, I still have some concerns about the puck winning of your second line. Legends of Hockey rarely says a bad word about a player and their profile of Khristich calls him a skilled player "whose intensity has been questioned," and that "there was a concern over the drop in Khristich's play in the playoffs when tighter checking predominated."

If you read Khristich's bio - in which I left absolutely nothing out, positive, neutral, or negative - I think you'll agree that he's a player who battles, takes a pounding, plays strong defense and is always in the right place. Really the only knock on the guy is that he was inconsistent. He's unique in that regard, because typically one-way forwards get that tag, but he was a very strong all-around player when he was on.

4th line is another solid hard working line, but I really think you could have used a real heavyweight with lack of toughness being the one weakness in your top lines.

Kelly is a heavyweight.

I have no idea how to rank defensemen when we get this low. With Rolf, Reisse, Snepst, and to a lesser extent Hardy, toughness sure isn't a problem for your D. All 3 pairs seem adequate at moving the puck, though not exceptional.

This is the best skating defense I've ever had in a sub-ATD draft. Snepsts is notoriously slow, but the rest of the corps is exceptionally mobile, and that's even with three more 6'3"+ guys.

Goalies seem adequate for this level, no more.

Yes, probably.

Anyone think that Brodeur maybe deserves the starting job? Looking at him now I'm not sure why we didn't settle on a goalie earlier,and why it wasn't him. I kinda underrated him, then after taking him realized his WHA resume added a lot.

With what has been revealed here, Igor Liba is way too good to be a spare! Not sure who you would bench for him though. It's a royal shame to see someone who brings as much as Steve Rucchin as a spare, as well.

That's just how deep we are, man.

Rucchin was my 2nd choice for a bottom-six center. If he brought just a Randy Wood-level of offense, I'd probably still think so, so all his other offense is just gravy. Why is he not a starter? We like Hooper too much. Didn't want to take a scoring champ as a token early guy and make him a spare.

Penalty kills seem fine.

Definitely more than "fine". By reputation and by stats, I'm not sure how we don't have the best PK forwards in this draft. There are probably a few better PK defense units here, but all four of ours were heavy career-long PKers, though just one was on a team that was that great at it.

Mike Bullard does have a reputation for toughness, but I'm not sure here that comes from. He certainly isn't really much of a physical guy from what I've seen.

Yeah, I have to agree. I'm not too sure where this came from either. Maybe it was the beard. He's average physically.

After the bio we put together on Khristch, he sould be viewed as one of our best forward... and even one of the best in this draft. He's got 1st line offense AND a good two-way game AND good puck-winning skils. There's no way he's on the bench.

He might be our best forward. His offensive credentials are close enough to the other 4 (with Adams being the 6th), and his two-way and physical game could put him over the top.

Whatever happens to him as he plays his way up and down the lineup and as other players get injured, it's nice to know he can fill in at any position on any line.

As much as I'd love you to think Rolfe is tough, he wasn't. He was huge and strong, but not a hitter or fighter. "Hal Gill + skating" would be a good comparison.

Agree. Plus better even strength offense. But otherwise, that's exactly right.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

I'll try to answer both of your posts together.

• I can see where at this level, you have to make a choice between picking either a tough guy whose offense will hurt a scoring line, or a semi-tough guy with passable offense. Seems you went with the better offensive guys, which isn't necessarily the wrong thing to do.
• Sykora was not known as a "battler" in New Jersey. He was a good offensive player with speed, a canon of a shot, great at cycling, willing to backcheck (but nothing outstanding), and a tendency to score big goals. But he wasn't much of a battler. And he was weak and tended to get pushed around when he didn't have a big linemate to make room for him.
• Seems like Khristich was good at battling for the puck... when he felt like it. Which tended not to be when the checking got tighter. I mean, you guys remember his reputation too as the ultimate stereotypical soft Euro, right? Nothing to take away from his offense at this level though. His two-way play seems to be very good too. I probably underrated Prospal's compete level somewhat
• My impression of Bullard's toughness pretty much from his PIM totals. Guess he just took lots of lazy penalties like Jokinen?
• I won't argue Bob Kelly. If he's a heavyweight, more power to your bottom 6.

 

[vecens24]

I'll try to answer both of your posts together.

• I can see where at this level, you have to make a choice between picking either a tough guy whose offense will hurt a scoring line, or a semi-tough guy with passable offense. Seems you went with the better offensive guys, which isn't necessarily the wrong thing to do.
  [*]Sykora was not known as a "battler" in New Jersey. He was a good offensive player with speed, a canon of a shot, great at cycling, willing to backcheck (but nothing outstanding), and a tendency to score big goals. But he wasn't much of a battler. And he was weak and tended to get pushed around when he didn't have a big linemate to make room for him.
• Seems like Khristich was good at battling for the puck... when he felt like it. Which tended not to be when the checking got tighter. I mean, you guys remember his reputation too as the ultimate stereotypical soft Euro, right? Nothing to take away from his offense at this level though. His two-way play seems to be very good too. I probably underrated Prospal's compete level somewhat
• My impression of Bullard's toughness pretty much from his PIM totals. Guess he just took lots of lazy penalties like Jokinen?
• I won't argue Bob Kelly. If he's a heavyweight, more power to your bottom 6.

I'll concur with this for Sykora's time in Pittsburgh. Defintiely not a battler, he was a pure trigger man for guys that fling the puck out from the corners or as a trailer on a breakout. There's a reason his best year there was the year he was paired with Malone and Malkin (one of my favorite and one of the most underrated Pittsburgh lines in my opinion): they were both big and could dig in corners for him and let him take advantage of what he's best at, that laser shot.

 

[Dreakmur]

[*]I can see where at this level, you have to make a choice between picking either a tough guy whose offense will hurt a scoring line, or a semi-tough guy with passable offense. Seems you went with the better offensive guys, which isn't necessarily the wrong thing to do.

As I said again, this is all about who these players are going to be battling against.

We knew were weren't going to get big-time puck-winners, so we specifically targetted big players with skill. If you account for eras, not one of our players is shorter than 6', and not one is lighter than 190 lbs.

Our top-6 is: 6'4", 6'2", 6'2", 6'2", 6', 6'.
Our bottom-6 is: 6'3", 6'2", 6'1", 6'1", 6', 6'.
Our blueline is: 6'6", 6'4", 6'3", 6'3", 6'2", 6'.

[*]Sykora was not known as a "battler" in New Jersey. He was a good offensive player with speed, a canon of a shot, great at cycling, willing to backcheck (but nothing outstanding), and a tendency to score big goals. But he wasn't much of a battler. And he was weak and tended to get pushed around when he didn't have a big linemate to make room for him.

When I say battler, I mean a guy who is willing to fight for pucks.

[*]Seems like Khristich was good at battling for the puck... when he felt like it. Which tended not to be when the checking got tighter. I mean, you guys remember his reputation too as the ultimate stereotypical soft Euro, right? Nothing to take away from his offense at this level though. His two-way play seems to be very good too. I probably underrated Prospal's compete level somewhat.

His reputation is the reason we picked him in the 10th round.... but it's also the reason we got one of te steals of the draft.

Based on all of the reasearch, is reputation is wrong.

 

[jkrx]

As I said again, this is all about who these players are going to be battling against.

We knew were weren't going to get big-time puck-winners, so we specifically targetted big players with skill. If you account for eras, not one of our players is shorter than 6', and not one is lighter than 190 lbs.

Our top-6 is: 6'4", 6'2", 6'2", 6'2", 6', 6'.
Our bottom-6 is: 6'3", 6'2", 6'1", 6'1", 6', 6'.
Our blueline is: 6'6", 6'4", 6'3", 6'3", 6'2", 6'.



When I say battler, I mean a guy who is willing to fight for pucks.



His reputation is the reason we picked him in the 10th round.... but it's also the reason we got one of te steals of the draft.

Based on all of the reasearch, is reputation is wrong.

Khristich reputation is somewhat wrong. He could battle for pucks and did but he was a moody player and one to just give up. Since you have him on the second line and I doubt you are relying on him in game 7s I think it's good player here.