CHL 97-98 Preview - Barrie Colts
Oct 11, 2020 17:17:12 GMT -5
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Post by xx - Former Calgary Flames on Oct 11, 2020 17:17:12 GMT -5
Barrie Colts - Season Preview
Over the next few days, I will be scouring through the rosters of the CHL, trying to find strengths and weaknesses of the team, not only for my strategic advantage (which all of you know, I don't use strategy at all), and for anyone who doesn't know some schmoe from Europe. The goal is to have a team done per day, starting on October 10th.
The Team
Forwards
The Colts are going to be absolutely swimming in wing depth, with Dany Heatley, Martin Havlat and Radim Vrbata leading the way. All capable scorers, especially with Heatley. With the right mates, he could absolutely lead any league in goals. But you also can't sleep with guys like Jonathan Cheechoo, Jason Blake, and Patrik Stefan (pending a concussion protocol pass). However, the main glaring issue that can be seen right away is that lack of depth down the middle. In order to get shots, you need to win faceoffs. They'll get faceoffs won by Mike Fisher, absolutely, but past him, there isn't too much. One of the star forwards will have to brunt the job on the faceoff dot.
Among the rest of the forward crew are familiar names to European fanatics, such as Oleg Saprykin, Artem Chubarov, and Karpat/Kladno legend Petr Tenkrat. All of them will bring a certain bit of grit that's necessary to a bottom six lineup. Overall, the Colts have a very balanced forward core that is capable of shooting the lights out, but lack that center depth. Hmmm, kinda reminds me of a real life NHL team at the moment... can't put my finger on it...
Defense
Andrei Markov is a French-Canadian treasure, who is really from Russia. His two-way ability, and puck moving prowess will help spark play to the wings, and will be a definite leader on the ice both on the defense and offensive department. Alongside him can be really anyone, there are a ton of pretty good options for him. You can possibly double up on the cool name department, and pair him with Ossi Vaananen, or maybe keep it an All-Russian pairing with Alex Khavanov. Needless to say, the top 4 pairings, along with Martin Skoula or Vitali Vishnevsky, will be a very stout lineup, possibly one of the best in the CHL.
Goaltending
This is possibly where you could see Barrie's crutch all season, with the goalie tandem of Andrew Raycroft and Johan Holmqvist. Don't get me wrong, in the right scenario, Raycroft can steal plenty of games for you, and with a stout defense he might have the help he needs, but if that defense is off for even one crucial night, I wouldn't heavily rely on Raycroft for too long. With that being said, we also have the same news with Holmqvist. He also has his bright spots, but there was a reason he was a Swedish Elite League journeyman, with his sporadic performances in net. In order for these goaltenders to succeed, they need to bring their best version of themselves out in each game, or the Colts will have to overly rely on the scoring wings.
The 'Real Season' of the Barrie Colts
The 1997-98 Colts found themselves with some decent regular season success, finishing second in the central division with a 38-23-5 record. Led by Daniel Tkaczuk, who could have finished with more than just the 75 points he had, but only played 57 games, missing out on nine of them. Alongside with him was, indeed, current Barrie Colt here Martin Skoula who had himself a 44 point season. The big story of that season was 20 year old overaged talent John Hultberg being replaced as a starter by sixteen year old Brian Finley, who would never see himself get any better than what he had in his OHL career. The Colts would eventually be upended by the 5th place Sudbury Wolves (more on them later...).
The Cieling
The Colts' forwards find their scoring touch, Dany Heatley scoring 50 goals without breaking a sweat. The Colts find Boston-Era Andrew Raycroft and Tampa-Era Johan Holmqvist, who shut the door. The defense find themselves being the Russian Elites, stopping the puck at every point. The Colts finish being one of the more dominant teams in the league, in both scoring the puck and stopping the puck.
The Floor
Barrie uncovers Toronto-Era Raycroft and Rangers-Era Holmqvist, who can't stop a puck. The wings can't get many shots down because of the lack of touches coming from their centers, and the Russian experiment fails in Barrie as they see themselves in the basement, wondering 'What If?'
The Team
Forwards
The Colts are going to be absolutely swimming in wing depth, with Dany Heatley, Martin Havlat and Radim Vrbata leading the way. All capable scorers, especially with Heatley. With the right mates, he could absolutely lead any league in goals. But you also can't sleep with guys like Jonathan Cheechoo, Jason Blake, and Patrik Stefan (pending a concussion protocol pass). However, the main glaring issue that can be seen right away is that lack of depth down the middle. In order to get shots, you need to win faceoffs. They'll get faceoffs won by Mike Fisher, absolutely, but past him, there isn't too much. One of the star forwards will have to brunt the job on the faceoff dot.
Among the rest of the forward crew are familiar names to European fanatics, such as Oleg Saprykin, Artem Chubarov, and Karpat/Kladno legend Petr Tenkrat. All of them will bring a certain bit of grit that's necessary to a bottom six lineup. Overall, the Colts have a very balanced forward core that is capable of shooting the lights out, but lack that center depth. Hmmm, kinda reminds me of a real life NHL team at the moment... can't put my finger on it...
Defense
Andrei Markov is a French-Canadian treasure, who is really from Russia. His two-way ability, and puck moving prowess will help spark play to the wings, and will be a definite leader on the ice both on the defense and offensive department. Alongside him can be really anyone, there are a ton of pretty good options for him. You can possibly double up on the cool name department, and pair him with Ossi Vaananen, or maybe keep it an All-Russian pairing with Alex Khavanov. Needless to say, the top 4 pairings, along with Martin Skoula or Vitali Vishnevsky, will be a very stout lineup, possibly one of the best in the CHL.
Goaltending
This is possibly where you could see Barrie's crutch all season, with the goalie tandem of Andrew Raycroft and Johan Holmqvist. Don't get me wrong, in the right scenario, Raycroft can steal plenty of games for you, and with a stout defense he might have the help he needs, but if that defense is off for even one crucial night, I wouldn't heavily rely on Raycroft for too long. With that being said, we also have the same news with Holmqvist. He also has his bright spots, but there was a reason he was a Swedish Elite League journeyman, with his sporadic performances in net. In order for these goaltenders to succeed, they need to bring their best version of themselves out in each game, or the Colts will have to overly rely on the scoring wings.
The 'Real Season' of the Barrie Colts
The 1997-98 Colts found themselves with some decent regular season success, finishing second in the central division with a 38-23-5 record. Led by Daniel Tkaczuk, who could have finished with more than just the 75 points he had, but only played 57 games, missing out on nine of them. Alongside with him was, indeed, current Barrie Colt here Martin Skoula who had himself a 44 point season. The big story of that season was 20 year old overaged talent John Hultberg being replaced as a starter by sixteen year old Brian Finley, who would never see himself get any better than what he had in his OHL career. The Colts would eventually be upended by the 5th place Sudbury Wolves (more on them later...).
The Cieling
The Colts' forwards find their scoring touch, Dany Heatley scoring 50 goals without breaking a sweat. The Colts find Boston-Era Andrew Raycroft and Tampa-Era Johan Holmqvist, who shut the door. The defense find themselves being the Russian Elites, stopping the puck at every point. The Colts finish being one of the more dominant teams in the league, in both scoring the puck and stopping the puck.
The Floor
Barrie uncovers Toronto-Era Raycroft and Rangers-Era Holmqvist, who can't stop a puck. The wings can't get many shots down because of the lack of touches coming from their centers, and the Russian experiment fails in Barrie as they see themselves in the basement, wondering 'What If?'
