Foster Hewitt Conf. Semifinal: (1) St. Louis vs (4) Iceland

[mikey287]

In this thread, please discuss the playoff matchup between: (1) St. Louis (http://www.letsgopens.com/scripts/phpBB ... 4#p2791911" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) and (4) Iceland (http://www.letsgopens.com/scripts/phpBB ... 4#p2791881" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)

They will face off in a seven game series that will be voted on only by the league's managers (asst GMs included) via a private message to me.

Please state your cases particular to this series regarding matchups, advantages, disadvantages, etc. - obviously, if you typed up some regular season notes about your team, they would be applicable here, but if you want to state that how your team would matchup well against your opponent, that would be encouraged.

In two days time (9/5), we'll have a vote to decide the series victor.

[meow]

The roster write up should take care of everything regarding my team strategy. God help the tiny nation of Iceland if they take any penalties in this series.

[meow]

Where are you, Team Iceland? Show yourself!

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

Sorry, busy weekend haha





anyway, obviously this is a tough match up for us. St. Louis won the Hewitt Packard Conference and for good reason. They're going to put up goals and have a top tier goalie.

Unfortunately I do believe I am going to come away with very close 7 game series win. The top 2 lines are equally potent, but I think my advantage lies in my 3rd and 4th lines. I built all 4 lines so that they're all capable of scoring in such a talent-dense league. I also believe my top 4 defensemen will outshine St. Louis' as mine are a lot more experienced in the playoffs. Of them, there are a combined 7 Stanley Cup finals appearances and 5 total Stanley Cup wins. Compare that to St. Louis' 1 finals appearance in the top 4 d-men and 0 wins.

Not to mention that Dale Weise is the only forward who will be able to substitute who will be severely outmatched on the ice regardless of what line he is put in and put against.


I do admit that my goaltending may be a slight problem but we all know that Fleury is capable of great things given a solid defensive unit in front of him and I believe I have created this for him.

Also, we all know that Crosby is a choker

[Avyran]

So, this was a really close match for me, probably closer than others made out. I ultimately voted St. Louis in 7, just because I didn't realize how deep their roster was as a whole. There are several reasons why I voted this way...

1) Coaching. Iceland has far superior coaching, in my opinion. Babcock is well-versed in line-matching and shutting down someone like Crosby. He also has several defensive options who are used to playing in the shutdown role, specifically Girardi and Kronwall. Boudreau is fine, but I don't consider him giving his team any specific advantage like a Babcock, Julien, or similar hands-on coach does.

2) Goaltending. St. Louis has the consistently better goaltending in Quick. That being said, Halak is capable of being a brick wall in the playoffs, and Fleury is capable of stealing games in his own right.

3) Defense. This is a wash to me. Hamonic is outclassed on the top line, but there aren't better options on St. Louis. Bieksa, unlike meow's good description, will take stupid penalties (as will Gudas). Brodin is young and will make mistakes. Iceland has a strong power play that would take advantage of that. However, Iceland's 3rd line defense is pretty weak in and of itself, and would likely force the top 4 to play too many minutes: something I'm not sure Voynov is ready for yet.

4) Offense. I actually feel that top to bottom, Iceland has a stronger offensive capability. However, St. Louis is much more defined. The top 2 lines score, plain and simple. The bottom two defend. I don't think Galchenyuk/Okposo fit with Vermette, personally. Iceland's offensive depth is sick: the third line could be the top line of any team in the NHL right now, except for one or two. But, their defensive capability is suspect outside of the top two.

5) The intangible. Crosby will... well, will St. Louis to win at least for one or two games. Quick will also steal one or two. I don't trust Tavares or Nugent-Hopkins in the playoffs just yet (same with Okposo or Galchenyuk). St. Louis will give up a ton of stupid penalties with Cooke, Gudas, and Bieksa, but their top line will push them over the edge. I also think Halak or Fleury will have a let-down at the most inopportune time.

However, I will add one more thing. I do think Crosby will, like the last 3 playoffs, pick up a knock from a hit by Hartnell, Girardi, or Kronwall that will hinder him throughout the rest of the playoffs. Simply put, Crosby is injury-prone. As a Pens fan, I don't like saying that, but when has he last been 100% for the playoffs? Concussion, wrist, leg (thinking Downie's hit)... the injury is different every year.

[Green Eggs and Ham]

What is going on here?

[mikey287]

The series lasted longer than some expected, but, like the 2012 SCF, the end result was really never in doubt.

The Blues took both games at home on the back of a strong effort from Sidney Crosby. All this without a lot of help from T.J. Oshie, who had been noticeably absent in the series. Crosby had 5 points in the first two games - dominant wins by St. Louis. Quick notched his first shutout of the playoffs in game 2.

The Blues would go up 3-0 after a long trip to Iceland. It was a closer contest, John Tavares thrived with a 2-goal effort. However, Bobby Ryan found his legs in game 3 and became a force, Voynov and Girardi had no answers for him. He scored twice in a wild game 3 win for St. Louis.

Game 4 saw the emergence of veterans Joe Thornton and Scott Hartnell, which was necessary in the elimination game. Antoine Vermette frustrated John Tavares into three minor penalties in the contest and held him off the scoresheet. One of which led to an Oliver Ekman-Larsson power play goal from just inside the blueline that Fleury never saw midway through the final frame to tie the game. Thornton cashed on an Iginla-generated rebound in the final three minutes of regulation to win it. Iceland would ride the momentum to an overtime win in game 5. It was a game in which both teams seemed exhausted - perhaps from the excessive travel. Fleury was stellar in the game 5 win.

Game 6 was back in Iceland and St. Louis was able to handily finish off the Icelanders. Oliver Ekman-Larsson made several long rushes that led to success. Antoine Vermette had two assists and Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist in a definitive win to clinch the series.

Game 1: StL 5-1
Game 2: StL 3-0
Game 3: StL 6-4
Game 4: Ice 3-2
Game 5: Ice 1-0 (OT)
Game 6: StL 4-0

St. Louis wins in 6.

Three Stars of the series: Jonathan Quick, Sidney Crosby, Oliver Ekman-Larsson

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

blowed out

[meow]

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

I want Crosby...out of commission.