The MLD 2020 Thread

[Habsfan18]

Great pick with Rucchin. He was on my pre-draft list as a potential 3rd or 4th line C, but I ultimately decided on Plekanec and Kindrachuk who were higher on my list. But Rucchin is a very solid bottom 6 MLDer at this point.

Zajac is a great one as well.

 

[Claude The Fraud]

The Granby Prédateurs are proud to select, from Helsingborg, Sweden, Hampus Lindhom.

 

[Habsfan18]

@Claude The Fraud, Seth Jones was taken in the ATD.

 

[kruezer]

Great pick with Rucchin. He was on my pre-draft list as a potential 3rd or 4th line C, but I ultimately decided on Plekanec and Kindrachuk who were higher on my list. But Rucchin is a very solid bottom 6 MLDer at this point.

Zajac is a great one as well.

yeah not to speak out of turn but there a pair of guys who I feel like are of a kin to Rucchin as well that are on my list as potential extra skaters. Solid pick.

 

[Claude The Fraud]

@Claude The Fraud, Seth Jones was taken in the ATD.

Thanks! I’ve changed my pick.

 

[VanIslander]

Maine selects Don Raleigh, the two-time Lady Byng finalist center of the New York Rangers who went to two all-star games and was 2nd in NHL assists, 4th in NHL points. "Bones" was an undersized but skilled pivot who in 1948 became the first player in Rags franchise history to score four goals in a game. In the 1950 Stanley Cup Finals he was the first player in NHL history to score back-to-back OT game-winning goals in Games 4 and 5. The series then went to seven games and in 2OT of the deciding game Raleigh hit the crossbar! (But the dynasty Wings won after that.)

Raleigh captained the Rangers in his 8th and 9th NHL seasons before retiring soon the following season in 1955. The Manitoba juniors scoring champ was inducted into that province's hall of fame and in 100 Ranger Greats (2009) he is listed as 32nd in franchise history.

I knew how to collapse my body so that when I got hit, I didn't get hurt."

 

[Habsfan18]

Who’s on the clock? I’m on my break at work so I can make my pick quick. There’s no rush though of course.

 

[VanIslander]

Look at the draft list.
Page 1.
2nd post.

 

[Habsfan18]

Cornwall selects D, Hobey Baker

December 1918:

 

[tony d]

With my skipped pick I select Ronald Pettersen, RW. He'll complete the Vipers lineup.

 

[Johnny Engine]

I'm going to take Bobby Kromm, coach

 

[kruezer]

I'll take RW Jim Peplinski and D George Owen.

 

[Habsfan18]

I’ll take a member of the Silver Seven who was on my pre-draft list, but sort of fell through the cracks as the draft progressed. I had forgotten for awhile that he was still available. He’ll complete my lineup.

RW, Billy Gilmour

 

[Habsfan18]

I'll take RW Jim Peplinski and D George Owen.

The only thing separating George Owen from being an annual ATD draftee is longevity.

 

[tony d]

Going with defenseman Doug Crossman.

 

[VanIslander]

Maine selects Tony Granato, the four-time 30+ goal-scoring right winger renowned for his hard-nosed scrappy 200-foot game. The 1989 Calder trophy finalist scored three hat tricks his rookie season, and 164 goals in his first 363 NHL games, including 20 game-winning goals over those 5 seasons, 8 points in the Olympics and 3 in the Canada Cup. He led the Kings in playoff shots (77) and contributed 17 points in the 1993 Stanley Cup finals run. But injuries plagued the physical forward after that, resulting in years of part-time play and eventually the Masterton trophy for his efforts. He was an all-time great talent, in my opinion a cross between a Todd Bertuzzi and a Ted Lindsay.

... a feisty forward who battled for every inch of ice. The scrappy and short-tempered winger... had speed and agility to spare. He also had a good nose for the net...

 

[tabness]

I'll pick a couple of pre Original Six guys Earl Robertson and Joe Matte (the earlier one)

Robertson I first heard about from this article which calls out how he came in outta nowhere from the minors and went on a great playoff run in 1937, helping Detroit win the cup and would have been a strong a candidate for the Conn Smythe if it existed. Based on that, he became a NHL regular for several years. Looks like random goalies got hot and got rewarded with contracts even back then lol

Of course, I don't really consider goalies real hockey players, plus the era in question should really be split into pre and post thirties, so I'll also take a guy who I've spent some time reading about, Joe Matte.

Joe Matte caught my eye when reading up on Carpenter, as he was the main defenseman on Hamilton in Carpenter's last year. He seems to be a very similar player stylistically to Carpenter, basically a Carpenter light, literally too as he was a little smaller than Carpenter. Just like Carpenter, he basically is an afterthought in these drafts, taken in lower drafts. Great skater who can rush the puck as a (right) defenseman with ease, though he seemed to only do that when the game called for it and would focus on playing solid defense. He also seems to have some really bad luck with injuries just like Carpenter. Doesn't seem to be considered as dominant in his time as Carpenter was, even briefly (Carpenter seems to be right up there better with so many of the guys taken in the main draft and the papers seem to make it easy to make the case that he was considered better than most of his Seattle teammates except Foyston), but definitely got some love until his indifferent play (probably a result of being used at wing which he did not seem to like at all as well as the usual age and injuries) seem to have done him in. Should be a nice spare.

Some newspaper clips

Quite a bit of excitement of Matte turning pro in 1920:

Matte's playing style described including his skating which is described sort of the way McDavid "falls over" while turning the jets on

After a couple of years in the NHL, Matte went to the Coast League and was the same old star

Nice little contemporary bio on Matte as he came back to the NHL after a stint in the Coast League including more on his "off balance" skating style

Matte's typical style of play (similar to Carpenter) which uses speed for end to end rushes when needed and "boring tactics" to shut down the other team

Microcosm of Matte's career in a play: brilliant end to end rush and an injury

Even though he got hurt a lot, Matte was a tough mofo and came back stronger after injury

The first major injury, a broken leg from taking a shot ending his quite spectacular first professional season

Matte did not like playing wing, seems to be the beginning of the end of his career as he seemed to stop caring so much

He probably did have good hockey left in him despite getting up there in age, but really didn't regain his form in the NHL either, seemed to stop caring

 

[VanIslander]

... Of course, I don't really consider goalies real hockey players, ...

*stunned*

Wayne Gretzky yelling at Billy Smith.
Patrick Roy stoning Joe Mullen.
Dominik Hasek stopping Mario Lemieux four times in a playoff game.

How the heck could you define hockey player without including goalies? I am flabbergasted.

 

[VanIslander]

Maine selects Doug Smail, the dimunitive left winger who tied the NHL record for fastest goal after the opening faceoff by scoring a goal five seconds after the game started. He scored shorthanded goals for 12 consecutive seasons in Winnipeg.

After juniors, Smail had smartly chosen to go to the NCAA where he added 27 pounds of muscle and became the NCAA championship MVP, fielding 14 NHL team offers! He chose Winnipeg wisely, as he got to play over a decade in that line-up.

Smail scored 29 game-winning goals over an 8-year stretch. He stepped up in the clutch.

Smail is most known for his post-NHL career: the 36-year-old NHL veteran dissing offers from Germany, Italy and Switzerland to take a job in Scotland, where he had family heritage. He became the player of the year in Scotland, obviously.

 

[tony d]

Had my eye on this guy earlier in this draft but didn’t go with him but will do so now. Going with right winger mikael renberg.

 

[Habsfan18]

For my first spare forward, I’ll select the guy who Johnny Bucyk once said had the best wrist shot he had ever seen, and a guy who missed out on the Art Ross Trophy in 59-60 by a single point on the last game of the regular season. The 2nd team all-star lead the NHL in goals during that season, finished 5th in another and overall to his credit had 2 top 10 finishes in assists, overall points, and game-winning goals. He also finished in the top 10 for PP goals on 3 separate occasions, scoring 20 and finishing 1st in that 59-60 season.

C, Bronco Horvath

 

[ResilientBeast]

With my first spare pick, I'll grab my coach Pete Muldoon (Give the Kraken the old Mets Coach)

Old Bio

 

[ResilientBeast]

Offensive spare pick and I'll take Harry Trihey, C

HOH Early Era Roundup

 

[ResilientBeast]

And finally, Lee Fogolin Jr, D

 

[Johnny Engine]

I was going to take an active player, but found out he missed the games cutoff by 5 games. Instead, I'll take another active player in Frans Neilson. He's one of those guys who has consistent fringe support for the Byng and Selke over his entire prime, and probably could have had more if he was an offensive star instead of a solid scorer who topped out just below 60 points.