Dallongville Division Preview

[angryjay93]

Dallongeville Division Breakdown:

1. Montreal

2. Minnesota

3. Rangers

4. Philadelphia

5. San Jose

6. Buffalo

Overall Breakdown: Montreal and Minnesota are the class of the division with an always competitive Rangers team not far behind. After that though the division takes a bit of a dip, Philadelphia will be fighting it out to the last games of the season for that 8th playoff spot, but team depth may be an issue. San Jose and Buffalo will duke it out for the bottom as both teams have some holes that will be very tough to patch up.

Team: Montreal

User: HABS

Place: 1st

MVP: Stephan Lebeau

Unsung Hero: Tommy Sjodin

Montreal returns half of their starting line up and are provided with an upgrade at wing with Wayne Gretzky. This team is designed to be a swift skating puck possession team which greatly suits HABS strengths. The only concern on this team is the downgrade from Roy to Cheveldae in net. Cheveldae is coming off a controversial season in Buffalo where he was run out of town along with owner Juice Maker, can he be the answer in net?

Good: Largely the same offense that caused all sorts of problems for owners around the league all season long last year.

Bad: An absolute gauntlet of a conference, that fact will surely make the playoffs a battle for this team.

Ugly: A downgrade in goal will surely uncover a few holes in this team that Roy clogged up last season.

Team: Minnesota

User: Scribe99

Place: 2nd

MVP: Teemu Selanne

Unsung Hero: Gord Hynes

Selanne is back for an encore and he will surely cause several owners nightmares with his blazing speed and wicked shot. Supported by fast wingers such as Ronning and Broten, w Selanne will have support on his up ice rushes. But those wingers lack any legitimate sniping ability and they will have to get close in to score. Defensively Duchesne will not last long and he will make way for bone crusher Gord Hynes to try and restore some order in the back end and give Andy Moog some much needed support.

Good: Selanne is back baby, and he’s got wingers that on paper, look like an amazing fit.

Bad: The defense is suspect skating wise, the forwards will have to be very active on both sides of the ice.

Ugly: Moog, if the Wild have breakdowns, there will be plenty of goals against him.

Team: Rangers

User: VocallyCaged

Place: 3rd

MVP: Alex Mogilny

Unsung Hero: Geoff Courtnall

Something about this team just doesn’t look like it will allow it to mesh. The offense is blazing fast with the likes of Courtnall and Mogilny, that will certainly mean some offensive production. But looking at the back line, you really have to wonder if the slow plodding defense can keep up with the more dangerous offenses in the league. Brown, Smith, Olausson, and Thompson will all face the tough task of having to shut down the offenses so human sieve Jon Casey doesn’t get abused by a barrage of shots. This is going to be a wildly inconsistent yet dangerous team.

Good: Mogilny, the dominant player New York was missing so dearly last season.

Bad: Is there enough scoring depth beyond Mogilny to support a big playoff push?

Ugly: That defense…it has a lot of questions to answer.

Team: Philadelphia

User: Newjerseykillers

Place: 4th

MVP: Jeremy Roenick…duh

Unsung Hero: Gary Suter

Roenick is going to have a boffo type season to carry this otherwise average team into the playoffs. The supporting cast of Esa Tikkanen and Rod Brinda’mour could stand to be better, but if they are able to do the job in giving Roenick the puck, there is some potency to be had in this offense. Defensively, Murphy and Suter should provide some decent defense, but nothing spectacular. With Mike Vernon tending the nets, there will have to be some high scoring games by Roenick to keep this team alive for that final playoff berth.

Good: Roenick, he is always fresh off a good season, another one should be in store.

Bad: Depth, if there is some, this team is scary, if the depth doesn’t come through, it could be a long season.

Ugly: Mike Vernon’s in goal antics, he makes the most routine saves look like an adventure some nights.

Team: San Jose

User: ed

Place: 5th

MVP: Tom Barrasso

Unsung Hero: Brian Leetch

That San Jose front line is going to take one hell of a beating with heavyweights such as Lemieux, Stevens, and Jagr. When these guys manage to stay on their feet, they will have to feed Lemieux to score, but just keeping them on their feet long enough to score will be a Herculean task. Leetch and Desjardins with Barrasso in net should provide a defense that will be able to limit some offenses, but the lack of scoring may offset any gains made defensively.

Good: Ed’s 3rd season of experience should be enough to keep him out of the bottom of the division.

Bad: Despite a solid defense, its going to be overwhelmed on some nights.

Ugly: Those wingers, lack scoring touch and the ability to take some punishment, there will be a lot of turnovers.

Team: Buffalo

User: awsomerino

Place: 6th

MVP: Peter Bondra

Unsung Hero: Adam Oates

This has the makings of a rough season in Buffalo, after running out Juice Maker last season in their playoff debacle, the Sabres have gone young and picked up a rookie manager in Awsomerino, but have given him a less skilled team in order to succeed with. The offense should be average, with Bondra and Oates leading the attack, there will be some speed and passing ability, but lack true game breaker ability. Defensively the Sabres will struggle dearly, with Hatcher and Manson on the backline, it is very offensive minded, but that hardly helps a team in dire need of defense to protect the vulnerable Dominik Hasek who has been run amuck in his prior two seasons of play, It’s a wonder how he is still a starting goalie.

Good: Bonda’s speed will keep teams honest as well as Oates passing and Muller’s shot.

Bad: That defense is gonna get burned a lot.

Ugly: Hasek, he is going to keep the maintenance crew at the auditorium busy with how often they will have to change the goal light behind him.

[Scribe99]

Team: Minnesota

User: Scribe99

Place: 2nd

MVP: Teemu Selanne

Unsung Hero: Gord Hynes

Selanne is back for an encore and he will surely cause several owners nightmares with his blazing speed and wicked shot. Supported by fast wingers such as Ronning and Broten, w Selanne will have support on his up ice rushes. But those wingers lack any legitimate sniping ability and they will have to get close in to score. Defensively Duchesne will not last long and he will make way for bone crusher Gord Hynes to try and restore some order in the back end and give Andy Moog some much needed support.

Good: Selanne is back baby, and he’s got wingers that on paper, look like an amazing fit.

Bad: The defense is suspect skating wise, the forwards will have to be very active on both sides of the ice.

Ugly: Moog, if the Wild have breakdowns, there will be plenty of goals against him.

Great analysis on my team. It's true that my wings don't have much sniping ability at all, and that most of the action is going to have to take place close in. However, I'm hoping to pick up my one-timers a lot this year. And with my lightweight wings who can pass and skate, hopefully that will be the right compliment to Selanne. Last season I paired shooters with Selanne, and I've rethought that strategy for this campaign.