Onto the playoffs: Seattle (2) vs. Toronto (3)!

[Peace 1,562]

TORONTO, CANADA -- The regular season has concluded today, and the North American brackets have been officially determined; the DC Dragons will face off against the Calgary Wranglers in a best of five qualifying series, where the winner will move forward to challenge the Vancouver Wolves; meanwhile, in a separate environment off-set by Vancouver getting a by and DC and Calgary playing each other in the qualifiers, the defending Seattle Bears engage the Toronto Legion in a best of seven series. Personally, I'm quite excited this time around, even though Toronto made the playoffs in S72 and pushed Calgary to the brink. 

Now I want to take a partial deep dive into both teams. Tear them apart, sorta, and see what we're working with from both ends of the ice. On the surface you already know Seattle has the advantage, but how much of an advantage do they actually have in TPA? I dunno, we'll find out.  


SEATTLE: 

FOWARDS:

 

(S71) J. BOB
| LW - 935 |

 

(S69) K. RICE 

| C - 930 TPA | 

(S71) UHTRED 

| RW - 770 TPA |

(S72) T. BROWN

| RW - 653 TPA |

(S74) I. CAMPBELL

| C - 383 TPA |

(S73) ROCKET
| LW - 320 TPA | 

TOTAL F TPA: 3991

PROJECTED LINEUP: 
BOB - RICE - UHTRED
ROCKET - CAMPBELL - BROWN

 

DEFENSE: 

(S67) H. HOGAN
| D - 919 TPA |

(S67) B. SUNDQVIST
| D - 867 TPA |

(S70) O. OMDAHL
| D - 835 TPA | 

(S72) R. MARSH
| D - 560 TPA |

(S73) H. KUK
| D - 340 TPA |

 

TOTAL D TPA: 3521

Projected Pairings:
HOGAN - OMDAHL
SUNDQVIST - MARSH
x3 - KUK

 

GOALIES: 

(S73) J. TONN
| G - 580 TPA | 

(S69) N. FOMBA
| G - 345 TPA |

STARTER: TONN

 

Seattle's roster is honestly intimidating, and they've gotten younger compared to their past championship teams and will remain competitive despite some of their defenders being forced to retire at the beginning of the off season. The Bears are bristling with offensive firepower, similarly to the iconic WWII battleships from an era not so long ago, and you'll see why I make that comparison soon. You look at the forward group GM Blake Campbell has put together and you can see the sheer caliber of their top players, both Rice and Bob, who would represent the massive cannons those warships had. They're also supported with quality players in Uhtred and Brown, and although the guns get smaller with Campbell and Rocket, a battleship only needs to strike once to sink another ship. That is the firepower the Bears have, and when they're engaged, it's extremely difficult to escape the lethal barrages they'll unleash. 

Defensively though, like the sturdy armor of those iron giants, Seattle has a rock solid foundation from top to bottom throughout their own zone. Hogan leads the charge, but both Sundqvist and Omdhal help form a neigh impenetrable citadel, but there are always gaps in any defense. I don't mean to shame, or talk down on anyone here, but Seattle's weakness is in goal. In WWII battleships were almost always escorted by cruisers, destroyers, escort carriers and some navies that employed frigates. 

Seattle's a battleship, but they have no escort. The gap in the armor is in rookie netminder Tonn, and that's a target Toronto is hoping to expose. Tonn isn't a bad goaltender, going 37-22-7 with a .911 save percentage and a 2.77 goals against average. However, if you had Funk in net going into this series, you could comfortably predict Seattle would walk away with it. 

Tactical strikes against Tonn might be what sinks the ship, but we'll have to wait and see.    
 

TORONTO:  

 

FOWARD

 

(S70) C. MAGNUM
| C - 932 TPA |

(S69) K. MCDAGG
| LW - 521 TPA |

(S73) J. MERRICK
| C - 510 TPA |

(S68) R. RITCHIE
| RW - 501 TPA |

(S73) O. SENS 
| RW - 413 TPA |

(S72) J. GAINER
| LW - 361 TPA |

(S71) J. BLAZE
| RW - 282 TPA |

 

TOTAL F TPA: 3520

 

PROJECTED LINEUP: 
MCDAGG - MAGNUM - RITCHIE
SENS - MERRICK - GAINER
(BLAZE)

 

DEFENSE:

 

(S71) E. KILLINGER
| D - 980 TPA |

(S70) G. GUTZWILER
| D - 447 TPA |

(S69) DALDO 
| D - 437 TPA |

(S68) F. ELMEBECK
| D - 409 TPA | 

(S72) Z. ANIGBOGU 
| D - 380 TPA |

(S70) L. GUTZWILER
| D - 329 TPA | 

 

TOTAL D TPA: 2982

PROJECTED PAIRINGS: 
KILLINGER - ELMEBECK
G. GUTZWILER - DALDO
ANIGOBGU - L. GUTZWILER

GOALIE: 

(S70) J. HEXTALL
| G - 978 TPA |

STARTER: HEXTALL

During World War Two -- if you spotted a distant battleship steaming your way -- it often meant that you were about to engage in fleet warfare, so if Seattle is the battleship looming on the horizon for the Toronto Legion, you have to wonder what kind of warship the Legion are. Toronto is almost certainly an aircraft carrier, for numerous reasons, given they lack any serious strengths but omit any glaring weaknesses. You see... a carrier isn't well armored, they're often woefully under armed, and they're assets that need to be protected by larger heavier surface warships or risk sinking under enemy fire.

Toronto's offensive tools aren't the cannons Seattle has, but rather the hit and run attacks from a carriers dive bomber and torpedo attack squadrons. The Legion will be outshot, likely out chanced, and outplayed for the majority of the series... but they'll fight, and they'll fight, and they'll fight. You can predict that Seattle will have the upper hand, as displayed during the regular season series between the two clubs, but Toronto has the ability to exploit the opportunities they get and they're persistent enough to recognize when those opportunities arise. Chad Magnum, Raleigh Ritchie, John Merrick, Kristopher McDagg, Oh Sens and Joseph Gainer are all skilled enough to make Seattle regret a mistake, and they're skilled enough to force those mistakes upon Seattle.

 

The aircraft carrier has a role to play, but they're not themselves surface combatants in any strategy, they're long range floating airstrips that deliver firepower from ranges beyond cannons, anti aircraft armaments and flak barrages. That's where Killinger comes in, that's where he hopes to play, as he'll be replied upon as the guy who will be making plays from the blue-line. Setting up those opportunities to for the forwards to slam a puck behind Tonn, and maybe win four games to move onto the next series. 

In net, though, is where Toronto has the serious advantage. Hextall is a superb goaltender, the highest rated goalie in the league as far as I can tell, and may just show up with Rayz Funk level of play against... ironically... Funk's former team. Hextall's playoff performance has already been noted as 'strong', as he essentially backstopped the Legion to a seven game series against Calgary, and he'll be a key piece in any victory Toronto achieves. 


    

Edited October 21, 2020 by Peace

[Banackock 8,160]

Very fair and interesting read. Look forward to the series. I’d imagine it’ll be a good one  

[ThePerfectNut 563]

After reading this, I feel like J. Merrick ewarlly deserves rookie of the year. Beside his stats, anchoring the 2nd line center position on a playoff team. Wow...

 

Hard to get those points as a rookie on a good team

[gregreg 930]

Toronto wins 

[Peace 1,562]

Another claim!