LA Robbie Posted April 9, 2012 Report Share Posted April 9, 2012 ProBob requested a report on his team. Hope you enjoy the read. Pretty busy this week but i'll try to write a couple more. As I said before, if you're interested in one for your team you can help me make it a bit more detailed with a bit of info about how the draft went for you and what your strategy was when building your team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA Robbie Posted April 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2012 OTTAWA SENATORS - BLITZ 07 B LEAGUE COACH: PROBOB TEAM LINK: http://www.blitz94.com/draftab/rosterinfo.asp?team=OTT TEAM OVERVIEW The coachless New York Islanders finished Blitz 06 16-27-1 in the A league, just outside the playoffs after Blitz B champion Houli saw them through to the end of the season. Now moved to the B league, and also to Ottawa coach ProBob took them through the Blitz 07 draft looking to stamp his mark on a team lacking any great identity or offensive stars. Only Joe Nieuwendyk, Dave Manson, Frank Musil & Darcy Wakaluk survive from last season´s roster & ProBob has given them a clear defensive look which should make them harder to break down than last year´s team. Some clever trades and a clear strategy appear to have helped build a team to suit his prefered playing style. It looks like they may still struggle to compete with the offensive capabilities of other teams in the league, but, with a coach who likes to keep it tight & grind out the close games there's no reason why ProBob's debut Blitz season can't be a successful one. TEAM MAKE-UP As a league newcomer ProBob had to cope with being placed at the bottom of the draft for the early rounds. Obviously this prevented him from securing any of the big name offensive stars, but defence was always the priority for a coach who prides himself on keeping things tight and not going toe to toe with some of the more offensive coaches. The tone was set when big Kevin Stevens was brought in with his round 1 pick - One of the best heavy hitting forwards in the league who can play great offence as well as sureing up the D. A big decision also had to be taken with the round 2 protect too. With Barraso, Dave Manson & Peter Bondra to choose from someone valuable would be lost. Dave Manson got the nod ahead of Barraso in goal. A big decision to lose one of the leagues best goalies, but of course it means that heavy hitter Manson stays to head up the defensive line. With his 5 defensive awareness and 4 checking he's as solid as any, but with his 4 speed and 5 shot power he also provides a punch on the counter attack and will surely add an important offenisve contribution to the team. To help add more punch to the offence Pat LaFontaine was brought in as a trade for Ottawas 3rd round pick. A shrewd looking move when you consider his 91 overall rating, and the fact he's coming off a 100 point season in Blitz 06 with Kupuck´s Quebec. Combined with Stevens & Joe Nieuwendyk it looks like Ottawa have an effective, if unspectacular offence that will score goals, even if they don't trouble the league's biggest point scorers. A big decision was also made to complete Ottawas D for the season - Wendel Clark and his big 5 shot power was allowed to leave for Vancouver in return for a pick which brought in Mark Tinordi. With his 9 weight and 4 checking he packs a bigger punch than Frank Musil and inspires a lot more confidence overall in the defensive line up...............but at what cost? That big Wendel Clark shot is a majr offensive weapon gone from the Senators roster. John Vanbiesbrk is added to replace Barrasso. He fits into that category of acceptable goalies, but he's nowhere near the elite level of Barrasso. ProBob will need to use all his manual goalie skills to bridge the gap. Nicely skilled Valeri Zelepukin, Glenn Anderson & 9 weight Sylvian Turgeon complete the offense for this season. Good looking replacements for Clark & Dave Gagner that add some options to the roster, but gone is the pace of Bondra & Tony Granato this season. With 11 weight Stevens, 8 weight Nieuwendyk & Turgeon Ottawa won't be physically dominated. LaFontaine, Zelepukin & Anderson add finesse, but which offensive tactic is going to suit this group of players? STARS There's no doubt that Dave Manson is the rock this team is built on. He'll be expected to be the leader of this team & is the essential piece of ProBob's tactical jigsaw. On offense expect big things from Stevens & LaFontaine. They're the two players further up the ice with a little bit of game-winning class. If LaFontaine can reproduce his 100 point season from Blitz 06 and Stevens can get over the 70 point mark, as he has done twice before in his Blitz career they can threaten any team in the league. With 346 goals in 243 career Blitz games Joe Nieuwendyk has shown he can also be relied on as an offensive threat. ProBob will have to find the right way to combine these 3 players. WEAKNESSES Whilst Ottawa's front 3 all have good career point scoring records, does this team have enough variation to change things up if they're struggling to break a team down? With Bondra & Granato gone there's no player with more than 4 speed on the roster. Lightweights LaFontaine & Zelepukin should be quicker off the mark than most, but perhaps a real speedster would have helped ProBob's counter-attacking philosophy? With Wendel Clark's heavy shot gone the team also doesn't have anyone apart from Manson with more than 4 shot power. Indeed LaFontaine, Stevens, Anderson, Zelepukin & Turgeon all have 3 shot power. With only Joe Nieuwendyk threatening to chalk up many with slapshots how will Ottawa manage to find a way through a deep lying defense marshalled by an expert? As mentioned, whilst John Vanbiesbrk will be solid enough, good manual goalkeeping will be needed to fill the gap left by Barrasso's dearture. SEASON PREDICTION - PLAYOFF CONTENTION With their coach's defensive style there's no reason why this group can't have a strong season, but much will depend on the offensive chemistry. All the forwards are going to have to reach their full potential to build on the solid defensive foundations ProBob has laid. Tough one to predict but it wouldn't surprise me if this group were to over-achieve this season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRoBob38 Posted April 9, 2012 Report Share Posted April 9, 2012 Very cool. Nothing in there that I can really disagree with. Good write-up, more people should request to get these done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRoBob38 Posted September 29, 2012 Report Share Posted September 29, 2012 Playoff contention predicted, playoff qualification reached. Woot for overachieving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA Robbie Posted September 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2012 Playoff contention predicted, playoff qualification reached. Woot for overachieving. Haha. Very impressive debut season! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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