BLITZ 07 TEAM REVIEW - QUEBEC - B LEAGUE

[LA Robbie]

QUEBEC NORDIQUES - BLITZ 07 B LEAGUE

COACH: KUPUCK

TEAM LINK: http://www.blitz94.com/draftab/rosterinfo.asp?team=QUE

TEAM OVERVIEW

Quebec had a superb Blitz 06, finishing in 4th place before going down in 6 games against Champions San Jose in the B semi-finals. It could be said it was Kupuck's breakout season on his road to establishing himself as a true A league player in the '94 community. With the guys that have moved up to A for Blitz 07 surely Kupuck will be going to out prove he should be there too in Blitz 08.

Quebec have to start afresh this season though. This is pretty much a brand new team. After Brett Hull slammed in a ridiculous 117 goals and 31 assists, and Pat LaFountaine supported him to the tune of 100 points the 07 Nordiques have a tough act to follow.

The new team looks like it might be a touch weaker on offence, but a touch stronger on defence. It seems a good bet they're going to be up there with the best in B again, but will they have enough to go further than last season?

TEAM MAKE-UP

Gone are all of last season's favoured front 3: Hull, LaFontaine & Reichel (73 points Blitz 06), and in their places Adam Oates, Trevor Linden & Pele Eklund will be aiming to emulate them. It's an interesting looking lineup. Oates is obviously the biggest name here. 5/4 skating, 6 Off aware, sublime 6 passing, but does his 3/4 shot let him down as a center? His ratings look more like those of a playmaker than a goalscorer, and the stats back it up too: He's never hit 100 points and never scored 40 goals or more in his Blitz career. This is not the man to recoup Hull's 148 points, thats for sure. Is Trevor Linden then? His 9 weight is going to make him a real handful for B league defences this season for sure, and with his 4/4 skating, 4/4 shot and 4 passing he's all the qualities to be extremely effective in Blitz 07, and his career points are actually very similar to Oates, including a 103 point season in Blitz 05. So, on to Eklund. A speedy 5/4 skater with 4 passing to set chances up, but only 3/3 shooting. A career best 62 points in Blitz 03 tells the story.............We're nowhere near the points lost from Hull, La Fontaine & Reichel here, so Kupuck is going to have to find the right blend to make these guys more than the sum of their parts.

To recoup those big points then the Nordiques are going to be relying on their backups much more this season. Who we got? Joe Mullen, John Cullen & Bobby Smith to be precise. Mullen has never had much of a look in through Blitz's 1-6, including last season on the same Nordiques roster, but I think that could be different this season. His 3/5 shot is the best on the roster, and his 4/3 skating isn't too bad. Is this the guy for Oates and Linden to set up? Give him onetimers and he's going to finish chances. An interesting option and a potential sleeper for sure. Cullen looks very similar to Mullen, and not just in name! He skates the same and although his 3/4 shot is not quite as effective his 4 passing is better than Mullen's. He looks like the 5th choice really, but should be solid enough if called upon. Smith is the bruiser in the team. No points coming from this one i'm afraid. At first glance he looks like the big enforcer, but his 2 checking means his 10 weight is not too effective when he's on D, but he'll be hard to put down when he's on the puck. His 3/3 skating and 4 passing is OK, and he should be able to contribute some assists if the smaller guys are struggling to make things happen vs the bigger teams, but his 2/2 shot means he wont be weighing in with many vital goals this season.

On D things look more solid than last season with Steve Chiasson & Tepo Numminen retained from 06, and Larry Murphy and Charlie Huddy added. Chiasson is solid all round with 4/3 skating and 3 passing, but isn't the biggest hitter. Still, he looks a reliable guy to have on your team. Numminen is a small Dman at 7 weight, and unfortunately doesn't bring much with the puck either, with 4/3 skating, 3 passing and a poor shot. Probably just Chiasson's backup. Larry Murphy though looks to have more class than the others, and definitely makes the Nordiques look more solid than last season. With his 10 weight he's a reasonable hitter, but his 4 passing and reasonable 4/2 shot give Quebec a new edge on offence that wasn't present on 06. Expect him to bring some important assists to this team. Huddy is the team's worst 2/2 skater, but he's another 10 weight and 3 passer. Maybe he'll come in for Chiasson on PKs or to see out a result when a bit more physcial presence is necessary?

In goal Don Beaupre steps into John Vanbiesbrk's slot for this season, and can probably be expected to do a similar job. Not likely to make the difference too often, but also unlikely to let you down too much either. He'll be backed up by Ken Wregget, who has been kept on since Blitz 06.

STARS

It was always going to be hard to replace an offensive line as strong as Hull, LaFontaine, Reichel with Kupuck's place in the draft, so for Blitz 07 there is huge expectation on the shoulders of Adam Oates & Trevor Linden. Oates will need to be at his playmaking best, whilst probably finding his career best goal scoring form, whilst Linden will have to prove he can step up and be a go-to guy, rather than a supporting cast member.

On D Larry Murphy will be the leader and, like Linden, will have to show he can take the responsibility on a regular basis.............cos there aint no bigger stars here!

WEAKNESSES

You have to look to the so-so records of the front 3 this season when compared to last season's. They're not going to score the goals of Blitz 06, and there's no blistering speed there, so playing a tight defensive game against this season's Quebec could ask questions of them that they don't have the answers to, and with Bobby Smith unlikely to get much ice-time Linden is the only forward on the roster with more than 7 weight........they may be able to be bullied.

On D there's also no one with more than 3 speed, and despite a couple of 10 weights no monstrous hitter either, so a deep lying defence and counter-attacking game plan could expose these guys.

PRE-SEASON PREDICTION - PLAYOFF QUALIFICATION

Despite the loss of the stars on offence I actually like the balance this team has. With some big guys on D and Linden on offence they wont be easily knocked off the puck. There's no reason why an elite playmaker like Oates can't lay on good enough chances for accomplished players like Linden & Eklund to win games against anyone, and with the addition of Murphy at the back they're going to be more solid defensively this season too.

I think this team is a case of the whole equalling more than the sum of it's parts, and no one is going to pick up any easy wins against Quebec this season.

Can they do better than last season? Tough call. Not so sure about that one. They don't have the same firepower as in Blitz 06, and they're not big enough hitters to bully teams, but like I said, the balance looks good, and the coach is good and they could be the surprise package in Blitz B this season.

[kupuck19]

Nice write up robbie hadn't seen this until now. Very spot on analysis.

Mullen's shot is definitely tempting to put him in at center, but slow feet gives eklund the nudge. Don't sell light players short, Numminen and Murphy's twin 5 defense awareness seem to have decent chemistry; while Chiasson eats a few more cheeseburgers in the offseason Numminen has the tendency to be in the right place at the right time. While Teppo is more likely to be looking at the arena cieling than others, he produced 46 assists in 44 games during the regular season last year. The team is packed with apple pickers between Oates, Murphy and Teppo; goal scoring and finishing will be the challenge. Expect Queerbec to follow up with another good post season run in Blitz 7.