Post by xx - Former Calgary Flames on Oct 14, 2020 20:18:23 GMT -5
Season Preview - Saskatoon Blades
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 forward core will be led by a solid group of very solid talent, especially with their first five forwards, despite it not looking so. People like Simon Gagne and Erik Cole are those leaders by example on the ice, and are very capable forwards. Nik Antropov is a very solid two-way player who can man the faceoff dot on any team, and he wouldn't look like the odd guy in the bunch. Mike Comrie, in his prime, was an excellent goal scorer, and it all depends on if he can step up on a team that has a lot of names known, but talent a little weaker in comparison to other teams. Guys like Matthew Lombardi and John Madden are your gritty players who can manage to score a few goals for you in a game if need be.
Behind those five, the last batch of forwards are your two-way or gritty style forwards. Josef Vasicek and Tom Kostopoulos are those guys that people remember immense potential from, and didn't quite come up to it, but found their way to still be reliable players for certain teams. Paul Gaustad is a faceoff god, and he is a penalty killing asset for any team. Speaking of potential, we also need to discuss Adam Hall and Joel Lundqvist, who also had some great potential behind them, but didn't quite come to fruition. But, with them, opposite of Vasicek/Kostopoulous, they couldn't hold it in the NHL stage.
This forward core will succeed if each player plays their role well. It's not a fantastic core, but its safer to say that this core could be a little more solid than other teams.
Defense
The defense is also the same case in Saskatoon. It's got some great depth, but it's players who are regularly a step below to what they're used to. Robyn Regehr is considered that number two defenseman to pair with your top guy, but on this team he'll have to be relied on as the top guy. Frantisek Kaberle is also a guy you slot maybe in your top four, but now there's a case for him to be that suppliant as the number two. Guys like Rusty Klesla, Karlis Skrastins, and Dave Tanabe are all those reliable back end defenders, but at least one of them will have to play more time than they're used to.
Then you look at the back end, if you include Skrastins, the back end here are some beefy boys. Mark Eaton (6'2"), Skrastins (6'1"), and John Erskine (6'4") can be your big and beefy guys to offset the slim and agile, like Tanabe and Kaberle. It's another case of great balance all around, but it'll be more weight having to be pulled by players than they are used to for them to succeed.
Goaltending
This is where Saskatoon's season could fail or succeed, and that's by the goaltending of Henrik Lundqvist. The top goaltender in the fantasy draft, and selected first overall in said draft, the team is relying on having him carry the load, which King Henrik is pretty much synonymous with. He has carried teams who had no reason to be in the postseason, and carry them deep into it with his play alone. Now, his CHL career will start with carrying, to some, an average, but solid team to a good record. Question is not 'Will he do it?', because he has the track record to prove he can, the question is 'How well can he brunt the load?'.
Backing him up will be the journeyman all other journeymen aspire to be, who is Dany Sabourin. This man saw six(!) different leagues in 4 different countries, all of it with him being between pedestrian (.879 in 19 games in a ECHL season), and stable (.915 in Providence in 2009-10). So, with all backups, it really depends on how much time Sabourin plays, and in those games he does, can he be relied upon to steal some games and be a stable backup. But we know this for sure, Henrik will be a great goalie for Saskatoon. Just how much adversity will he have to face?
The 'Real Season' of the Saskatoon Blades
The Blades are mired with the word 'mediocrity' for decades. That was until the early 1990s, when they had WHL Finals appearances in 1992 and 1994, but at this time, they were on a downswing. Fresh off the heels of an abysmal 18-48-6 1995-96, the Blades slightly improved, and did have some decent scoring, but was still a disaster on the defensive end. Martin Sonnenberg, who would end up playing 63 games in the big time and scoring all of 5 points, finished with 92 points. The Blades also had NHL Veteran Cory Sarich, who was traded mid-season to Seattle, after realizing they weren't really going places. However, despite a sub-par 25-39-8 regular season, it was still good enough for a playoff spot. See, the WHL in the mid-to-late 90s were very top heavy. The good teams dominated (for example, Portland's 97-98 saw them with 53 wins and 111 points), and the bad teams were really bad (Medicine Hat's 97-98 record of 16 wins and 38 points). So, as suspected, they found themselves with a tough opponent, which was the Central Division winners Calgary Hitmen, who they ended up losing in six games.
The Cieling
Saskatoon's players find that perfect balance between all forwards and defense, and give Henrik Lundqvist enough support to help him dominate the CHL. The tandem led by Gagne and Cole are lethal at the right times of games, and the Blades find themselves on the opposite side of history, and being widely successful in 1998.
The Floor
Lundqvist is easily tired of carrying a team who can't put it all together, and his play fades a little bit as the Blades can't quite score as much as they're allowing, causing close losses along the way. The defense can't brunt a new load they're not used to, and the forwards can't step up. The Blades find themselves in the same position as the 'Real Life' 1998-99 Blades team. *shudder*
A GM's Perspective
Having the first overall pick in a serpentine draft to basically build a team from the ground up is always super tough. You make that first pick, then have to see fourteen players go right afterwards. So, when I made that first pick to select Lundqvist, I knew that he would be long gone by the time my second pick came, and I had to accept the sacrifice of 'Well, the forwards and defense will kinda be average, but we'll see if the dice rolls well for me.' And I had to plan ahead on who would fall for me on my next two picks. Thankfully, Gagne was on that list for me, but I was hoping that Alex Tanguay was gonna fall to me too. If Tanguay was there, I would have sacrificed Regehr quickly, knowing I'd have two quality wingers for Antropov (who I knew would fall for me, guaranteed. That was fate).
Going through the next of the picks, everything was falling good for me. Antropov and Cole were best options for me, then Comrie and Frank Kaberle. Basically, all the guys that I hoped would fall, except for four, were falling to me, which was nice. I think the only HUGE reach I had to make was picking Joel, to make sure I had him. The four players I wanted to take was just really unfortunate;
Greg Zanon, Garnet Exelby, Darcy Hordichuk and Glen Metropolit.
But overall, I feel fine with how the team looks now. The last picks will always be tough, because you need to deep dive into players and figure out their style of play. Guys like Eaton, Shelley, Erskine, those ones I had to look and say 'Well, they're good enough players, might as well'. But aside from that, I feel the layout of my team doesn't look too bad, I don't know about you guys.
The Team
Forwards
The forward core will be led by a solid group of very solid talent, especially with their first five forwards, despite it not looking so. People like Simon Gagne and Erik Cole are those leaders by example on the ice, and are very capable forwards. Nik Antropov is a very solid two-way player who can man the faceoff dot on any team, and he wouldn't look like the odd guy in the bunch. Mike Comrie, in his prime, was an excellent goal scorer, and it all depends on if he can step up on a team that has a lot of names known, but talent a little weaker in comparison to other teams. Guys like Matthew Lombardi and John Madden are your gritty players who can manage to score a few goals for you in a game if need be.
Behind those five, the last batch of forwards are your two-way or gritty style forwards. Josef Vasicek and Tom Kostopoulos are those guys that people remember immense potential from, and didn't quite come up to it, but found their way to still be reliable players for certain teams. Paul Gaustad is a faceoff god, and he is a penalty killing asset for any team. Speaking of potential, we also need to discuss Adam Hall and Joel Lundqvist, who also had some great potential behind them, but didn't quite come to fruition. But, with them, opposite of Vasicek/Kostopoulous, they couldn't hold it in the NHL stage.
This forward core will succeed if each player plays their role well. It's not a fantastic core, but its safer to say that this core could be a little more solid than other teams.
Defense
The defense is also the same case in Saskatoon. It's got some great depth, but it's players who are regularly a step below to what they're used to. Robyn Regehr is considered that number two defenseman to pair with your top guy, but on this team he'll have to be relied on as the top guy. Frantisek Kaberle is also a guy you slot maybe in your top four, but now there's a case for him to be that suppliant as the number two. Guys like Rusty Klesla, Karlis Skrastins, and Dave Tanabe are all those reliable back end defenders, but at least one of them will have to play more time than they're used to.
Then you look at the back end, if you include Skrastins, the back end here are some beefy boys. Mark Eaton (6'2"), Skrastins (6'1"), and John Erskine (6'4") can be your big and beefy guys to offset the slim and agile, like Tanabe and Kaberle. It's another case of great balance all around, but it'll be more weight having to be pulled by players than they are used to for them to succeed.
Goaltending
This is where Saskatoon's season could fail or succeed, and that's by the goaltending of Henrik Lundqvist. The top goaltender in the fantasy draft, and selected first overall in said draft, the team is relying on having him carry the load, which King Henrik is pretty much synonymous with. He has carried teams who had no reason to be in the postseason, and carry them deep into it with his play alone. Now, his CHL career will start with carrying, to some, an average, but solid team to a good record. Question is not 'Will he do it?', because he has the track record to prove he can, the question is 'How well can he brunt the load?'.
Backing him up will be the journeyman all other journeymen aspire to be, who is Dany Sabourin. This man saw six(!) different leagues in 4 different countries, all of it with him being between pedestrian (.879 in 19 games in a ECHL season), and stable (.915 in Providence in 2009-10). So, with all backups, it really depends on how much time Sabourin plays, and in those games he does, can he be relied upon to steal some games and be a stable backup. But we know this for sure, Henrik will be a great goalie for Saskatoon. Just how much adversity will he have to face?
The 'Real Season' of the Saskatoon Blades
The Blades are mired with the word 'mediocrity' for decades. That was until the early 1990s, when they had WHL Finals appearances in 1992 and 1994, but at this time, they were on a downswing. Fresh off the heels of an abysmal 18-48-6 1995-96, the Blades slightly improved, and did have some decent scoring, but was still a disaster on the defensive end. Martin Sonnenberg, who would end up playing 63 games in the big time and scoring all of 5 points, finished with 92 points. The Blades also had NHL Veteran Cory Sarich, who was traded mid-season to Seattle, after realizing they weren't really going places. However, despite a sub-par 25-39-8 regular season, it was still good enough for a playoff spot. See, the WHL in the mid-to-late 90s were very top heavy. The good teams dominated (for example, Portland's 97-98 saw them with 53 wins and 111 points), and the bad teams were really bad (Medicine Hat's 97-98 record of 16 wins and 38 points). So, as suspected, they found themselves with a tough opponent, which was the Central Division winners Calgary Hitmen, who they ended up losing in six games.
The Cieling
Saskatoon's players find that perfect balance between all forwards and defense, and give Henrik Lundqvist enough support to help him dominate the CHL. The tandem led by Gagne and Cole are lethal at the right times of games, and the Blades find themselves on the opposite side of history, and being widely successful in 1998.
The Floor
Lundqvist is easily tired of carrying a team who can't put it all together, and his play fades a little bit as the Blades can't quite score as much as they're allowing, causing close losses along the way. The defense can't brunt a new load they're not used to, and the forwards can't step up. The Blades find themselves in the same position as the 'Real Life' 1998-99 Blades team. *shudder*
A GM's Perspective
Having the first overall pick in a serpentine draft to basically build a team from the ground up is always super tough. You make that first pick, then have to see fourteen players go right afterwards. So, when I made that first pick to select Lundqvist, I knew that he would be long gone by the time my second pick came, and I had to accept the sacrifice of 'Well, the forwards and defense will kinda be average, but we'll see if the dice rolls well for me.' And I had to plan ahead on who would fall for me on my next two picks. Thankfully, Gagne was on that list for me, but I was hoping that Alex Tanguay was gonna fall to me too. If Tanguay was there, I would have sacrificed Regehr quickly, knowing I'd have two quality wingers for Antropov (who I knew would fall for me, guaranteed. That was fate).
Going through the next of the picks, everything was falling good for me. Antropov and Cole were best options for me, then Comrie and Frank Kaberle. Basically, all the guys that I hoped would fall, except for four, were falling to me, which was nice. I think the only HUGE reach I had to make was picking Joel, to make sure I had him. The four players I wanted to take was just really unfortunate;
Greg Zanon, Garnet Exelby, Darcy Hordichuk and Glen Metropolit.
But overall, I feel fine with how the team looks now. The last picks will always be tough, because you need to deep dive into players and figure out their style of play. Guys like Eaton, Shelley, Erskine, those ones I had to look and say 'Well, they're good enough players, might as well'. But aside from that, I feel the layout of my team doesn't look too bad, I don't know about you guys.
