Dynamo or Titan? [1/2]

[Dangles13 373]

We are hours away from the puck drop in the S61 playoff match-up between HC Davos Dynamo and the Helsinki Titans. The Titans took the regular season series 7-3; Helsinki had the best goal differential against Davos with a +7 and were one of only 2 teams to sport a positive goal differential against the Dynamo. It would appear that this showdown is Helsinki's for the taking but let's look a little deeper at the match-up.

 

The Forwards

 

Davos is led by reigning MVP, Gabriel McAllister who is an absolute beast on the ice. As large as McAllister's shoulders are, he cannot carry the weight of the world on them without crumbling. After McAllister there are a few star players in The Charm and Joseph Bassolino but after that things get a little sparse in Helsinki. Gow, Axelsson and Roux, who recently announced he would be retiring from hockey after this season, make up the depth scoring and the Dynamo would need these guys all to punch above their weight class in the playoffs.

 

On the other side of the ice is a host of star studded firepower led by Mattias Forsberg who managed to lead the entire league in scoring this season. The Titans had three other players who would have led Davos in scoring; the scoring prowess of Aleksei Federov and Jack Shephard will likely prove too much for the Dynamo. Depth scorers like Fook Yu and Shawn Gretzky provide a nice safety net that will be a tough task for Dynamo's defenders.

 

Advantage:

 

The Defence

 

Defensively, Davos boasts a decently deep back end with the likes of Ko Kane, Slava Aleksi, Adam Warlock and Luca Volkov. Kane is the unquestionable leader of this group and Davos needs him at his best to shut down Forsberg as best he can. Aleksi and Warlock can bring the offence from the back end and it will be needed if Davos is to stay alive.

Ay Ay Ron is easily the best defender in this series and possibly the best defenceman in the entire league. Having that talented of a player really showcases the stark difference in their other defenders. Rudolph Schmeckeldorf and Peter Quill are competent defenders but they are not talented enough to carry the team when Ron leaves the ice.

 

Advantage:

 

The Goaltending

 

 

Shawn Brodeur is a great goalie and put up an impressive .920 sv% with a 1.86 GAA but that was still not as good as Marcus King's .928 sv% and 1.75 GAA. King was the second best goalie in the league and can hide many, many mistakes that a team might make. Brodeur has the advantage of a slightly deeper defensive core but he will need to be at his absolute best if Helsinki hopes to stave off the Titans.

 

Advantage: 

 

In summary, the Titans have the advantage in 2 of the 3 positions and it could be argued that they really have the edge in all three positions. Helsinki has more stars, more firepower and more chance to win this series. The Dynamo really need a Cinderella run if they want advance to the finals and that means most, if not all of their players need career hot streaks right now. Can they do it? Most say no...

[DaftRaincloud 62]

Review - As somebody who hadn't joined the forum yet when these games were happening this write-up gives me a lot of perspective and information to inform the outcomes of those games. This was really well put together and the use of graphics and gifs took this piece to the next level and really gave it a professional flair. Amazing work here.

[DollarAndADream 3,356]

Love the use of the gifs in here. Dope media, bro. @Dangles13