BLITZ 07 TEAM REVIEW - LOS ANGELES - A LEAGUE

[LA Robbie]

Dcicon requested a review of his Blitz 07 team, and I thought it was a pretty cool one, because it kind of illustrates why I wanted to do these. KingRaphs' team rankings have LA down as the number 2 team in the rom, but because it's based on the overall player ratings it just adds all the numbers together. It doesn't consider how the team fits together or how the group of players might perform as a whole or what their potential weaknesses might be.

Basically the way i've been doing this is looking at the team roster, and the different numbers there for each player, and trying to see the overall picture of where their strengths and weaknesses lie and how those numbers, high or low might fit into an overall strategy for that team i.e. My suggestion that Mav might be looking to beat teams into submission with his enforcers to compensate for a lack of offensive talent in my Hartford review. In Kings rankings all you see is where that team places overall, but you don't get any indication of why or how. For that reason I think these 2 different forms of assessment can accompany each other quite nicely.

Hope you enjoy this one anyhow.

[LA Robbie]

LOS ANGELES KINGS - BLITZ 07 A LEAGUE

COACH: DCICON

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

TEAM OVERVIEW

Los Angeles move up to the A league this season after a successful run to the semi-finals of the Blitz 06 B league. The truth is the team has been completely rebuilt this season, but don't think they'll be playing a tighter defensive game this season in the face of the '94 community's elite coaches. No sir, this team is set up for offence all the way!

LA have lost their entire front 3 from last season, losing Doug Gilmour (92 points) and Owen Nolan (49 points) in the draft, and allowing top scorer Dino Ciccarelli(97 points) leave for Philadelphia. They've also lost the immense Paul Coffey in defence and a host of backups. Don't worry though because their replacements are all of the same quality and despite the personnel changes the overall feel of the team is pretty similar, with the addition of the survivors from the promotion winning side including goal tender Curtis Joseph, Dmen Don Sweeney & Sergei Zubov and backup forward Perry Berezan.

Despite their high rating in KingRaph's team rankings LA's gutsy decision to build another attacking team in the face of the wealth of talent in the A league could come back to bite them. It's a brave looking team that won't be respecting reputations but some question marks might be raised about their physical presence on the ice. They've taken up the challenge to trade punches with the best of them this season, but is their chin solid enough to take the punishment, because they might not have the defence to block the blows!

TEAM MAKE-UP

So what do you do when you lose a couple of superstars like Dino Ciccarelli & Doug Gilmour?.........You bring in Mike Gartner & Theoren Fluery of course! Almost 200 Blitz 06 points have been lost, but almost another 240 have been gained. No problem! Fluery has posted over 100 points his last 2 Blitz seasons to push himself up into the elite category and Gartner has over 100 in 5 of his 6 Blitz seasons. Both have 5/5 skating and big slap shots. Gartners 5 passing just give him the overall edge between the two compared to Fluery's 3. The only downside could be their 3 shot accuracy when compared to the precision finishing of Ciccarelli & Gilmour..........but the career points suggest it isn't going to be much of a problem for either! Robert Reichel completes this new front 3, and with solid 4s across the board he's going to be a solid contributor in goals and assists for sure. An elite forward line and no mistake. With the speed at their disposal here the King's are going to be a nightmare for anyone on the breakaway, and those big shots are going to yield goals from slapshots and rebounds too without question. With Reichel and Nemchinov's 4 shot accuracy they have a couple of poachers too, but if you want to get picky there may not be a real sniper like a Roenick, Yzerman or dare I say it, Ciccarelli!

Sergei Nemchinov also comes in with his 4 accuracy to poach a few and the forwards are rounded off by Doug Weight who also has solid enough skills to fill in when needed and Perry Berezan who has a bit of pace but probably doesn't have the skills to bring down the A league big boys to be honest. Nemchinov may get a goal here and there through the season but the scoring responsibility certainly looks to be on the 3 starters.

At D Coffey has gone, but his huge skates look to have been filled perfectly with the addition of Zarley Zalapski on a trade from Vancouver. Part of Houli's B championship winning team at San Jose last season he's an elite Dman and no mistake. Fast, defensively aware and a big hitter, but he also boasts 4 shot power, great agility and strong stick handling to make him an offensive threat too. He averages almost a point a game in his Blitz career and will dominate at both ends against pretty much anyone.

Zalapski will most likely be partnered by Don Sweeney, another fast Dman with great passing, stick handling and another powerful shot. He completes an offense oriented team, but it's worth remembering he's just 4 weight! He's not going to be bringing down the Lemieuxs of this world any time soon, and a master of the poke check will be needed to really make him effective on D. The defence is rounded off by Zubov & Fredrik Olausson who also both have a pretty good skill set, but like Sweeney are not great checkers. In terms of breaking up the opposition offence with a big check the team's going to be looking to Zalapski for sure.

With CuJo in goal the team knows it has one of the best and as a unit there's no doubt this roster has more than it's fair share of stars, skills and most importantly, goals.

STARS

It's a who's-who of NHL94 on the Kings' roster for Blitz 07 for sure. Starting with an elite goalie in Joseph, a dominant Dman in Zalapski, right the way up to Gartner & Fluery on the forward line. This group would be the envy of most teams. 2 stars on the same team = pretty good, 3 = scary, 4 = about as close to dreamland as you could probably get in a draft league? These guys provide pretty much all the ability you need for all situations at both ends of the rink.

WEAKNESSES

OK, i'm getting controversial now. How do you find weaknesses with the team that ranks number 2 statistically in the league? Well first of all, i'm going to ask this: Ouside the starting 5 does this team have the quality of player and quality of variation to cover injuries and penalties or just to offer something different if things aren't working? Nemchinov, Weight and Berezan have totalled 23 points in 84 career Blitz league games so how are they going to fill in for the allstars of Gartner, Fluery & Reichel? & is that lack of a 5 shot accuracy going to prove costly at the vital moment? Will Gartner or Fluery boom one wide when more of a sniper was needed to win the game? There just doesn't seem to be the strength in depth there that might be needed if change of game plan is required.

The other potential weak link may be when this team doesn't have possession of the puck. I've picked up on this in a number of these reviews and some people seemed less concerned about it, but I really like to see some dominators in the team to do the dirty work for the flair players when necessary. In a similar way to Calgary in the B league this LA roster looks so pretty, but where's the Bob Probert, the Kevin Stevens or the Sergio Momesso to come off the bench and take the pressure of the defence or to help see out a close 1 goal game in the 3rd period? I love an enforcer. I just think it gives the team balance, and with 6 forwards on the roster there's space for at least 1 in place of the Perry Berezan's of this world surely?!

At D Zalapski is also the only big hitter, so where is the fight and battle going to come from when needed? When LA can't outplay an equally talented attacking team? After Zalapski's 10.875 Checking effect Sergei Nemchinov is the next biggest hitter on the roster with 7.875. That really is tiny and is going to make knocking down a marauding Mario Lemieux or Jimmy Carson much more difficult for sure.

PRE-SEASON PREDICTION - PLAYOFF QUALIFICATION

Based on the stars in this team and the enormous offensive talent in the starting 6 I think you'd have to say this team has what it takes to get in the playoffs, but at the same time I do think the lack of an enforcer and some serious checking ability could make things tough in the A league, where so many guys are more than capable of gobbling up any half chance that is presented to them. Likewise the lack of players that can do the ugly stuff when LA lead Phily 4-3 with 2 minutes left in the 3rd could prove crucial.

I think it could go either way, but like I said, it's a really gutsy looking roster selection and Dcicon's gotta be praised for that. Hopefully attacking hockey will be the winner & the LA Kings go on to have the successful season this attractive looking team deserves.

[RedWingDevil]

Since Dcicion made his request and it bloomed, how about you view my St. Louis Blues next?

[LA Robbie]

Since Dcicion made his request and it bloomed, how about you view my St. Louis Blues next?

Got you lined up behind Houli & his SJ team

[dcicon5148]

Great job,

Thanks for the write up.

[IceStorm70]

saddle up the Sabres please. nice reads.

[hokkeefan]

saddle up the Sabres please. nice reads.

biggest choke team of the season

[IceStorm70]

hahahahah gotta have skill and talent to choke sometimes.