Same basic format as the last time I did this, but a little stricter on the ceiling for overall ratings. The cutoff for forwards is 70 overall (instead of 75), while defensemen have a cutoff at 60. Belfour and Roy will stay off the ice as the only forbidden goalies, but might need to switch to the back up if a team with goalies in the next tier (BUF, PHI, PIT, STL, TOR, WPG) have a few too many shutouts. I will not be as lenient this time around. Lose in the 1st round? Move on to the next team. Hat trick gets you benched for rest of the game, but not the entire playoffs. Been trying not to use turbo in my own zone to catch up to breakaways, but that is not necessarily a hard and fast rule.
Playing with these limitations has changed my playing style. Fewer big hits and more poke checks on D. Try to bump the puck carrier just outside of the goal instead of checking. Much more patient on offense, always looking for someone cutting to the middle for a one timer. Most shots are from in close to the net, unless its a one-timer. I have to work SO much harder for every advantage. Winning the Cup with these teams will feel like a real accomplishment. Only teams that did not win 4 games: BUF, DAL, HFD, QUE
Anaheim:
Semonov-Loach-Loney, Ladoucer-Hill
No lineup changes. They have the lowest average player rating as a team. Surprisingly, I could still find ways to score. Loney scored a hat trick vs VAN (Rd 1). Semenov with a hatty and a GWG in 2OT vs LAK(Rd 3). Loach with 3Gs in the Final. King was the sub. D played well. Surprisingly balanced team all around. Missed the individual goal totals, but assume it was Loach leading with about 5 goals.
4 games, 4 wins. 15 GF, 7 GA (4 games)
Boston:
Donato-Ruzicka-Kvartalnov, Murphy-Featherstone
Best and fastest team in this format. Could not get in a goal scoring rhythm in Game 1, or else the total goals would have been even higher. Murphy added a goal scoring D to the mix, which is now rare. Lost Joey Juneau from the first time around, but this team was so stacked he wasn't missed. Ruzicka, 9Gs
4 Games, 4 wins. 25 GF, 4 GA
Buffalo:
Khmylev-Audette-Erry, Ledyard-Smehlik
This team was slow the last time around, but benching Hawerchuk for Audette kept this team in 1st gear. DH cleared the way for the offense the last time around, so without him there was less space. Audette plays strong around the net for rebounds, but doesn't push the play. Both wingers disappeared. Scoring was already a chore, but getting pucks past Roy was too much for this squad. 2nd round loss to MTL, 1-2.
Audette, 3G.
2 Games, 1 win. 4 GF, 2 GA
Calgary:
Ashton-Ranheim-Skrudland, Musil-Johansson
Thought this team would take a beating after changing the overall skill limit from 75 to 70. So wrong. Ranheim and Otto are both perfect for this format, and Otto doesn't even start. Any goal scored by anyone else is a bonus. The team has the fiercest forecheck overall. They can hem the opponent in their own zone and suffocate them. Although the Flames bogged down vs DAL in round 2 for some reason.
Ranheim, 10G.
4 Games, 4 wins. 24 GF, 2 GA
Chicago:
Goulet-Graham-Noonan, Russell-Marchment, Waite (G)
Above average team. They can score, but in small doses. Don't have to work as hard as the Ducks, but goals don't come as easy as the Flames. D is able to slow down the opponents, mainly by acting like speed bumps. Marchment can make things happen with his passes. But no question about it: Goulet is the scorer. If Graham was a little more accurate, he would dominate (or be benched for being too good)
Goulet, 8G
4 Games, 4 wins. 21 GF, 6 GA
Dallas:
Gilchrist-Broten-Craig, Sjodin-Johnson
Team passing is their strength. Scoring goals off of well timed passes. Nothing individual here. Sjodin is so tempting to use on offense, but he consistently misses the net....by several feet. McPhee subs in well to keep the same dynamic, but this is ultimately the Neil Broten show. Too bad Stevie Y one timed his way to victory in Game 3.
Broten, 4G
3 Games, 2 wins. 9 GF, 3 GA
Detroit:
Sheppard-Kozlov-Gallant, Racine-Konstantinov
Scoring started off as a chore until they figured out the one-timer. Sheppard parks in the crease and knocks everything in. Gallant tried to do the same, but from a little further out on the wing. Cashed in on several opponent turnovers to generate their offense. Kozlov padded his stats with a couple of breakaways in garbage time.
Kozlov, 7G
4 Games, 4 wins. 22 GF, 2 GA
Edmonton:
Elik-Todd-Ciger, Smith-Benning
Ranford(G) has a strange knack to give up the "Forsburg Goal", where the puck slides in on the opposite side of where the skater goes. Elik forces the action when he drives to the net. The other forwards will sort of pitch in. Weight was a pleasant surprise off the bench. Defense likes to guard the boards instead of the net, so that's a problem. Offense was hot and cold, but at least its balanced across the front line.
Elik, 8G (including OT GWG in the semis vs VAN)
4 Games, 4 wins. 16 GF, 6 GA
Florida:
Hough-Lomakin-Berlanger, Richer-Cirella
No updates needed for this trash heap since they are still below the thresholds I set. Hough seemed to find the scoring touch with slot crossing backhanders, which turned into the foundation of the offense. Then after making sure Richer rarely touches the puck, things started to click. The non-Hough forwards started to contribute once they didn't have any expectations to meet.
Belanger, 6G
4 Games, 4 wins. 17 GF, 6 GA
Hartford:
Nylander-Cassels-Kron, Pederson-Ladouceur
Feast or Famine. This team put up 8, 6, 2 and 2 goals. Nylander has the speed/agility to be a decent player, but shots are spotty. Cassels scores goals, but is prone to miss open nets. Kron had zero expectations, but scored 5 goals. I refuse to talk about the defense. Yake was the first sub, but I can't remember why he wasn't in the starting line up, but didn't change it. Lost to VAN in the finals in OT, 3-2.
Cassels, 6G
4 Games, 3 wins. 18 GF, 7 GA
Los Angeles:
Millen-Donnelly-Loach, Sydor-Huddy
The new skill cutoffs brings this team back down to Earth. Donnelly is still everywhere, but he needs help and is not getting it. Loach is dull but Millen was a decent contributor, who ended up getting goals from Donnelly's wheeling/dealing. Solid D keeps them in games by not giving up dumb goals. Sydor had a few goals for his efforts. This team has the best PP. Lots of crisp passing (but only on PP)
Millen, 5G
4 Games, 4 wins. 15 GF, 3 GA
Montreal:
Leeman-Keane-Carbonneau/Dionne, Daigneault-Brisebois
Uphill climb for the offense. The talent is there, but most shots are easily blocked/saved. Cue Daigneault to come in to save the day. His slapper actually finds the net on occasion, plus he carries the puck better than some wingers (looking at you, Carbonneau). Dionne subbed in substantially and scored some goals that #21 couldn't. The whole team had to keep an eye on their own net since they have Racicot back there, not Roy. Total goals is misleading after a 9-0 win over ANH. Only 4 goal scorers in 4 games.
Keane, 8G
4 Games, 4 wins. 22 GF, 5 GA
New Jersey:
Zelepukin-MacLean-Nicholls, Neidermayer-Albelin
Lost Driver at the last minute due to the new cut off, which significantly made the D worse.
Borderline player Zelepukin has good speed and decent moves around the net to get some good goals, but had to sit for the finals for being too dominant. Stastny is a welcome addition off the bench, but can't quite break into the starting lineup. Neids was a disappointment with the puck, but held his own in front of their goalie (who gives up a lot of softies). Entire team has good chemistry, with some pinpoint passing, completely opposite of the last time. This team hung 11 on HFD.
Zelepukin/MacLean, 9 G each
4 Games, 4 wins. 31 GF, 7 GA
New York Islanders:
King-Ferraro-Volek, Kurvers-Norton
Patient full backs that methodically bull their way to the net. A few wrist shots/slap shots/one timers, but this team works best when they take it straight to you. All skaters are relatively the same, so any of them can pull out a hatty. Volek had a hat trick in the first 3 mins of the semis vs QUE. Dmen are fast enough and agile enough to make handing the puck not a chore.
Volek, 8G
4 Games, 4 wins. 27 GF, 6 GA
New York Rangers:
Kovalev-Amonte-Olczyk, Zubov-Cirella
Tony Amonte is driving and Eddie Olczyk is riding shotgun. Everyone else get out of the way. Kovalev was a ghost, barely scratching the score sheet in the first 2 games, then became a beast in games 3&4. The D is slow, but smart. Zubov can make things happen with the puck. Forgot about Graves and Turcotte completely. They still qualify in this format, but I just didn't use them. Could have broke 30 goals with this team with #8 & #9.
Amonte, 8G
4 Games, 4 wins. 22 GF, 6 GA
Ottawa:
Baker-Kudelski-Smail, Shaw-Hammond
Well rounded team that could use some shot accuracy. Mostly grinders. Defense was spotty and goal tending was good enough. Used RW as a platoon position between Smail and Lamb for offense/defense situations. Although both did well enough with their opposite specialty. Kudelski led the goal scoring, but I believe that anyone playing C would have done the same. Baker disappointed a bit.
Kudelski, 5G
4 Games, 4 wins. 13 GF, 5 GA
Philadelphia:
Acton-Lomakin-Beranek, Hawgood-Galley
Oh man, these new rules really stick it to the Flyers. Big drop off in talent. Goals had to be one-timers or they weren't going in. Felt like an expansion team. Had to play through a second time after losing what I typed. Only forward goal scoring with Acton leading the way. Beranek with the OT GWG in the Finals vs VAN. Almost had 4 shutouts, which wasn't close to happening the first time. Go figure.
Acton, 4G
4 Games, 4 wins. 9 GF, 1 GA
Pittsburgh:
Tocchet-McEachern-Straka, K.Samuelsson-Stanton
I loved playing with Straka. He seemed to have a 6th sense about the puck, always in the right place. Too bad that didn't translate to as much scoring as I expected. Tocchet was a damn sniper. McEachern filled the middle lanes better than he carried the puck, so it was a balance. D was non-existent, chipping in only a couple assists and cleaning up after Barrasso's rebounds.
Tocchet, 9G
4 Games, 4 wins. 20 GF, 4 GA
Quebec:
Lapointe-Young-Rucinsky, Foote-Tatarinov
Score a ton against mediocre/bad D, but struggle against decent/good D. Feast or famine, like the Whalers. Young and Lapointe are both on the cusp of being good, but both fall short. Mostly interchangeable forwards but they have a bit of a scoring touch. Foote can make some things happen, but has a terrible shot. Huge upset in the semis, with HFD winning a defensive battle, 1-0.
Young, 5G
3 Games, 2 wins. 15 GF, 4 GA
San Jose:
Falloon-Berezan-Gaudreau, Ozolinsh-Wilkinson
Is there another player as frustrating as Falloon? Good speed/agility can create shots, but will miss the water if he fell out of a boat. All goals had to be in close. The D have some speed to make things happen on the offensive end, especially Ozolinsh. Scores were low and had to grind out victories. Irbe was....not good. Highest GAA for a goalie in this format.
Falloon, 6G
4 Games, 4 wins. 16 GF, 8 GA
St Louis:
Miller-Sutter-Bassen, Crossman-Butcher
Mostly a one man show with Sutter. Team goes as Sutter goes, but Bassen can hang with him to chip in. Miller is no slouch with some goals to show for his efforts. D is passable, but far from game changing.
Bassen, 6G
4 Games, 4 wins. 18 GF, 5 GA
Tampa Bay:
Andersson-Kontos-Kasper, Hamrlik-Bergevin
Goals were initially tough to come by, but things opened up in later rounds. Andersson has some jam, but Kontos has the touch. Between them they make one good player. Kasper is a prototype grinder, without much skill. Bureau was awesome off the bench for a couple goals. D is just meh.
Kontos, 9G
4 Games, 4 wins. 21 GF, 5 GA
Toronto:
Krushelski-Cullen-Zezel, Macoun-Gill
This is a great overall team considering the restrictions. All Fs are in the 60s and all the D are in the 50s. However, the D were consistently out of position, but they were able to unleash a few slapshots from outside that actually resulted in goals, so I could overlook it. The Sabres gave them everything they could handle in the finals, but the Leafs gutted out their only close game 3-2 behind Zezel's hat trick. The 3 starting forwards ended up with 11 points each.
Zezel, 8G
4 Games, 4 wins. 23 GF, 3 GA
Vancouver:
Semenov-Momesso-Craven/Nedved, Lidster-Plavsic/Diduck
What a struggle for a team that was supposed to be one of the better teams! I even put Nedved in, hoping his high shot accuracy could generate some offense, but his concrete filled skates kept him from scoring much. Could never quite figure this team out. Probably the most underperforming team. Had to remove Plavsic since he takes SO many penalties, like one per period. A 6-0 blowout in the finals skewed the stats a bit.
Semenov, 5G
4 Games, 4 wins. 17 GF, 6 GA
Washington:
Carpenter-Miller-Pivonka, Cavallini-Woolley
Carpenter and Miller are all over the ice. Great speed and control. Pivonka fills in nicely. But none of the forwards are much of a marksman. The defensemen are fine as long as they don't have to play defense. This front line made playing this game fun again.
Miller, 7G
4 Games, 4 wins. 19 GF, 6 GA
Winnipeg:
Davydov-Eagles-Tkachuk, Bautin-Ulanov
Plenty of goals to go around. Multiple hat tricks and even Kris King chipped in off the bench. Davydov probably shouldn't be eligible, but this is the last team in this experiment, so I wanted to leave on a high note. Assumed Tkachuk would make a difference, but he would be dominant in one game and disappear in the next. Bautin was a huge surprise, looking skilled enough to play F.
Tkachuk, 7G
4 Games, 4 wins. 21 GF, 4 GA.
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