ATD2011 Louis Magnus Prelims: (4) Kenora Thistles vs. (5) Vancouver Velocity
Kenora THISTLES 1907 Stanley Cup Champions
Home Rink: Thistle Rink (1920), Kenora, Ontario GM's: papershoes Coach: jacques LEMAIRE Assitant Coach: jacques MARTIN Captain: ted KENNEDY Alternates: eddie SHORE, dave KEON, sid SMITH
#8 sid SMITH (A) - #9 ted KENNEDY (C) - #6 babe DYE
herb CAIN - #14 dave KEON (A) - rejean HOULE
#15 nick METZ - #27 derek SANDERSON - #18 ed WESTFALL
marc TARDIF - laurie BOSCHMAN - viktor ZHLUKTOV
extra: blaine STOUGHTON, andre LACROIX
#3 joe HALL - #2 eddie SHORE (A)
harry MUMMERY - silas GRIFFIS
doug BODGER - #24 bill HAJT
extra: rick GREEN
percy LESUEUR
john bouse HUTTON
Powerplay:
PP1: sid SMITH - ted KENNEDY - babe DYE - silas GRIFFIS - eddie SHORE
PP2: herb CAIN - dave KEON - marc TARDIF - doug BODGER - harry MUMMERY
Penalty Kill:
PK1: nick METZ - dave KEON - bill HAJT - harry MUMMERY
PK2: derek SANDERSON - ed WESTFALL - eddie SHORE - silas GRIFFIS
PK3: rejean HOULE - dave KEON - bill HAJT - joe HALL
The Kenora Thistles
"...an early amateur men's ice hockey team based in Kenora, Ontario, Canada and formed in 1885 as a senior team by a group of 'Lake of the Woods' lumbermen. The club is notable for winning the Stanley Cup as an amateur team in 1907. The town is the smallest in population to have ever won the Stanley Cup"
VS
Vancouver Velocity
coach Hap Day
assistant coach Tom Watt
Ilya Kovalchuk - Sidney Crosby - Guy Lafleur
Markus Naslund - Neil Colville - Andrei Khomutov
Steve Vickers - Mike Ridley - Trevor Linden
Slava Kozlov - Kelly Kisio - Stan Smyl
Lorne Henning
Brian Leetch - Adam Foote
Karel Gut - Dmitri Yushkevich
Mattias Ohlund - Marty Burke
Barney Holden - Doug Young
Brian Leetch's skating will help break the trap when he's on the ice, but how hard can the Velocity ride him? He was actually quite good in his own zone in a subtle way early in his career, but he became prone to defensive errors in the second half of his career, largely due to being overworked by a team with a shallow defense.
The Velocity's lack of forwards adept at the dump and chase games hurts against a team built to clog up the neutral zone.
Will Jacques Lemaire give a one-dimensional sniper like Dye enough ice time to make a difference?
Brian Leetch's skating will help break the trap when he's on the ice, but how hard can the Velocity ride him? He was actually quite good in his own zone in a subtle way early in his career, but he became prone to defensive errors in the second half of his career, largely due to being overworked by a team with a shallow defense.
The Velocity's lack of forwards adept at the dump and chase games hurts against a team built to clog up the neutral zone.
Will Jacques Lemaire give a one-dimensional sniper like Dye enough ice time to make a difference?
Didn't Lemaire work alright (or at least at a tolerable level) with Kovalchuk this past season when they were together?
Didn't Lemaire work alright (or at least at a tolerable level) with Kovalchuk this past season when they were together?
Kovalchuk is a superstar relative to the NHL, so Lemaire gives him more leeway than he'd give a lesser scorer. Relative to the ATD, Dye is a very good sniper but not a superstar.
Kovalchuk actually looks up to Lemaire for whatever reason and listens to him - for some reason Lemaire seems like the only coach who can get Kovalchuk to play that way.
I was going to bring that up (and Gaborik is, in the NHL, fairly close to relative the same as Dye), byt then that didn't end so well; still, perhaps Dye would be more willing to work in a defensive system.
Kenora will be one defensive boring team to watch that's for sure , I'm not sure Vancouver as enough offense or grit to make it happen but it's gonna be interesting to see.
Vancouver's defense is awful after its first pairing(and Foote is out of place there), their top 6 is soft, and there will not be nearly enough puck to go around for those 3 on the top line. They all need the puck on their stick to be effective. I see major issues there. Kenora is a two-way team with its own chemistry issues, but I think they definitely have enough to take this one.
The Thistles drafted a really good team with a lot of solid 2-way forwards that are perfect for Lemaire and Martin. They also have a great top pairing. Hall and Shore are going to make the other team regret having to play dump and chase.
its possible Vancouver first line is underrated because of the modern factor , but I admit it's too bad Crosby will have to do all the corners work.Granted he's very good in the corners , but I don't like putting him in a situation where he will have to do it more often than not , but of course Lafleur can play the ''center role'' quite easily , just like Jagr , which is a plus.
I hate Kovalchuk and Lafleur on the same line. Both are guys who want to skate with the pick on their sticks as much as possible.
I'd suggest swapping Kovalchuk and Naslund (Kovy is better at carrying a second line too), but while that takes the "too much puck hogging" problem away from the first line, it makes it even softer.
I hate Kovalchuk and Lafleur on the same line. Both are guys who want to skate with the pick on their sticks as much as possible.
I'd suggest swapping Kovalchuk and Naslund (Kovy is better at carrying a second line too), but while that takes the "too much puck hogging" problem away from the first line, it makes it even softer.
while that's true , it doesn't take away Kovalchuk's one-timer/wrist shot abilities.
Kenora is a team that can manage to pull out surprising Ws in the playoffs, I feel. Sort of like an ATD version of the Nashville Predators.
With Lemaire at the helm, and a core of strong defensive forwards, a mean, physical, big-minute first pairing, and a ridiculously stacked PK group, they'll be able to grind out other teams and then look for timely scoring from clutch players like Kennedy and Keon.
