Be the Coach: Build Your Powerplay Units
by Ryan Meier on Jul 7, 2011 12:08 PM EDT
in Florida Panthers Opinion
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PrintKeeping the theme going from our last hurrah, we're going to look at the man advantage today and see what forwards and defensemen you would use if you were in Florida Panthers head coach Kevin Dineen's shoes (or skates)! Take some time to post your powerplay units in the comments, and provide us with some reasoning as to why you feel those players belong where you put them.
Centers: Stephen Weiss, Marcel Goc, Mike Santorelli, Shawn Matthias, Scott Timmins, Tim Kennedy
Left Wings: David Booth, Tomas Fleischmann, Sean Bergenheim, Jonathan Huberdeau, Kenndal McArdle, Mike Duco
Right Wings: Kris Versteeg, Scottie Upshall, Tomas Kopecky, Jack Skille, Evgeni Dadonov, Matt Bradley, Michal Repik
Defensemen: Ed Jovanovski, Brian Campbell, Mike Weaver, Keaton Ellerby, Dmitry Kulikov, Jason Garrison, Erik Gudbranson
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Here we go!
Unit 1:
Booth-Weiss-Dadonov
Gudbranson-Campbell
Weiss wins the faceoffs, he and booth can get to the net and battle for the puck to keep possession. Dadomania can funnel the puck to the point or find soft areas to make plays. Guds has a right handed shot and can power home slappers and one timers. Campbell has a left handed shot and is arguably our top PP quarterback.
Unit 2:
Flash-Santorelli-Versteeg/Skille
JovoCop-Kulikov
Santorelli wins the faceoffs of course. This is a more mobile unit that’d rely on passing and wearing a PK unit down, especially with Kuli and Jovo having left handed shots, they’d rotate with the flow of the play. Santorelli would likely be the guy driving to the net while the other forwards would dangle and pass, opening up the ice with the D-men. Jovo could teach Kuli with game experience how to play on the PP as well, so there is that too. If you wanted to increase the size of the line and get more guys to the net, replace Versteeg (or Flash) with Skille.
That’s what I’d start with anyway, see how it pans out. Your welcome in advance Coach Dineen!
Unashamed Alex Burrows Fanboy, MN Wild Lover, and believer in the FLA Cats Blueprint
Pretty high on Dadonov, aren’t we? :)
He definitely exhibited playmaking ability last year in limited time; it will be interesting to see if he brings that again this season, and if Dineen gives him top line minutes.
Oh yeah, go Dadomania!
Yeah, it will be interesting to see how much time he gets. I’d think Dineen would give him a shot, at least on the top PP unit to see if he can bring it like he is capable of doing
Unashamed Alex Burrows Fanboy, MN Wild Lover, and believer in the FLA Cats Blueprint
PP 1: Fleischmann-Weiss-Kopecky Campbell-Kulikov
PP 2: Booth-Santorelli-Versteeg Garrison-Weaver
I will keep it simple with these two. I’ll start with my reasoning for the defensive pairings:
Campbell-Kulikov: even though it is two Lefthanded shots on the point, provide a dynamic offensive breakout from the backend, with good speed and good open-ice vision.
Garrison-Weaver: this one might seem puzzling at the outset but hear me out: Garrison is vastly underrated offensively as he really grew into big piece of the puzzle last season (if I recall, most of his goals were of the game-winning variety). Weaver provides the right handed shot from the point and the long reach necessary to keep the play going. Garrison is has still some untapped upside in regards to his offensive game and his skating ability. I think he may stand to benefit the most from a much deeper defensive core this year.
Fleischmann-Weiss-Kopecky: I think Fleischmann and Weiss provide the skill and hands and Kopecky provides the grit for this group. Kopecky will get the dirty goals and provide the traffic for the potentially dynamic power-play unit with the heavy skill of Campbell-Kulikov and Fleischmann-Weiss.
Booth-Santorelli-Versteeg: To steal an NBA term, this would be our “small lineup” for the PP. Booth and Santorelli showed chemistry together last year and at times played strong puck possession games. Versteeg provides a winger the caliber of which Booth has not played with since the Sunshine Express Line (or what ever it was called). This PP unit combined with Weaver and Garrison has serious potential to tire out the penalty killing units with their all around quickness and speed.
Reserves: Jovonovski, Ellerby, Upshall, Dadonov, Goc (basically PP3 but no real construction here, just the guys poised to take spots on the PP units).
The Ghost of David Nemirovsky
Weaver
He works well with Garrison, but I’d be hesitant to put him on a PP line, esp. with JovoCop here. I’d rather be having Weaver save his strength and energy for shutting down the opponent’s offensive guys and playing the PK, of which he is one of the best in the league.
Other than that I can dig it!
Unashamed Alex Burrows Fanboy, MN Wild Lover, and believer in the FLA Cats Blueprint
PP1: Fleischmann – Santorelli – Kopecky, with Weiss and Campbell at the point
PP2: Booth – Goc – Versteeg, with Jovanovski and Gudbranson at the point
PP1: Going against the grain here and putting Weiss at the point, as he is an excellent passer and probably has the best vision on the team in regards to playmaking. Between he and Campbell, who both have great shots and great wheels, this is a powerplay that’s going to have a lot of backdoor cuts into the high slot after some tic-tac-toe passing. Kopecky is the traffic man, screening whatever netminder is in his way. Fleischmann and Santorelli are proven finishers. This could be a very, very entertaining and dangerous PP line.
PP2: Jovo and Gudbranson are the anchors here, with a left and right handed shot from each side of the point, and man can they both tee it up. Booth has to be the traffic guy here, and Versteeg and Booth are both finishers. Goc is an extremely solid faceoff guy, ensuring Jovo and Gudbranson will get to see the puck stay in the zone and help set up the PP.
I thought about the 4 forward setup
but didn’t want to cut Kulikov out of the mix.
Unashamed Alex Burrows Fanboy, MN Wild Lover, and believer in the FLA Cats Blueprint
oh nm didnt notice u said hes on the point
by Rob PKane McMahon on Jul 7, 2011 3:41 PM EDT up reply actions
NOOOOOO!!!!!
Just kidding. At this point I wish the guy the best though.
A lil thunder and a lil lightning is what the Cats are going to bring this year.
Absolutely, his red shock of hair will fit in mightily with the Sedins.
by Chris S Roberts on Jul 7, 2011 8:03 PM EDT up reply actions
I’ll have to post up the PP units that I built in NHL 11 using the new players when I get home tonight, I can’t remember them off the top of my head.
BTW, Ramsay is officially a Panthers assistant coach.
NHL 11, awesome! Line building is a lot of fun in that game, especially when you get it set up just right and your team dominates or at least overachieves
Unashamed Alex Burrows Fanboy, MN Wild Lover, and believer in the FLA Cats Blueprint
Yeah, I almost think it’s too easy to build a ridiculously dominant team though. I am really excited for NHL 12 despite that though.
I've cranked up the difficulty and, for me anyway, it's been tough
(of course right now I am playing with the Senators)
But I concur, NHL 12 looks awesome
Unashamed Alex Burrows Fanboy, MN Wild Lover, and believer in the FLA Cats Blueprint
I updated the rosters for post-Free Agency and I’ve been playing a couple of games with the new roster.
I know it’s just a simulation, but here’s what I’ve learned.
1. The team has one speed: FAST
2. Every line can be deadly and score, which is great. No more McArdle/Timmins/Thomas time wasters.
3. Theodore can’t see a puck if it was the size of the sun. There’s been so many times he’s let in a slapshot from the blue line without being screened, it’s embarrassing.
Again, I know it’s just a game, but it’s the only thing I can do to keep me sane until October.
Steve Diaz
Twitter - @sdiaz6215
by Sdiaz6215 on Jul 7, 2011 3:29 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
oooooh new rosters!
Did you do it yourself or do they have an update out?
Unashamed Alex Burrows Fanboy, MN Wild Lover, and believer in the FLA Cats Blueprint
No, I did it myself. They won’t be doing anymore roster updates. :(
I didn’t update the whole league cause that would take a while, I guess I just updated the Panthers and left the other teams with nothing. lol
Steve Diaz
Twitter - @sdiaz6215
Ahh, I was hoping for another but that makes sense
Unashamed Alex Burrows Fanboy, MN Wild Lover, and believer in the FLA Cats Blueprint
You guys have it for the 360 or PS3?
by Alexander Calloway on Jul 7, 2011 4:22 PM EDT up reply actions
Awesome, you guys are better than Rob
by Alexander Calloway on Jul 7, 2011 4:56 PM EDT up reply actions
Powerplay
David Booth-Stephen Weiss-Tomas Fleischmann
Ed Jovanovski-Brian Campbell
Jovo and Soupy are the best offensive defensemen on the team, Booth and Weiss are heart of the offense, and Fleischmann has 38 powerplay points in his career (19 goals, 29 assists).
Kris Versteeg-Mike Santorelli-Scottie Upshall
Dmitry Kulikov-Keaton Ellerby
Kulikov has 15 PP points (2G,13A) and Ellerby is best option left. Versteeg has 41 PP points (16G,25A), Santorelli has 13 of 41 points on PP, and Upshall has 26 points with the extra man (14G,12A).
by Alexander Calloway on Jul 7, 2011 4:21 PM EDT reply actions
If he’s at the development camp, I’ll bring it up as much as possible.
by Alexander Calloway on Jul 8, 2011 1:57 AM EDT up reply actions
You can put a forward on the point. There was a time in the 90’s, I think the Red Wings put out 5 forwards on the powerplay unit. So you don’t need to put someone like Ellerby because he is the “best option left” when you can stick Goc or Santorelli there and the other at center.
Goc and Santorelli have nothing on Sergei Fedorov.
by Alexander Calloway on Jul 8, 2011 1:57 AM EDT up reply actions
Fleischmann—Weiss—Upshall…I see this as the power line, the other team will expend a lot of energy trying to match speed/passing…
Booth—Santorelli—Kopecky…then when Weiss’s line goes off, Santorelli’s line can come in and bang around while closing in towards the net.
Campbell—Garrison…Brings a lot of offensive talent (Garry was huge last year) and shots from the point
Jovanovski—Kulikov…Both can make good passes/hold it in while the other three are collapsing.
Extra attacker would be Versteeg or Dadonov
This is a little different...
But I’d like to see this:
Booth-Kopecky-Versteeg
Weiss-Campbell
then…
Fleischmann-Santorelli-Upshall
Jovo-Kulikov (or Garrison)
Dadonov and Bergenheim as Extra Attackers
Booth and Versteeg can both score. Plain and simple. Kopecky (who also does play center), will be the guy we have in front of the net.
I think it’s important to have Weiss on the point because of how well he can keep the puck in the zone and make smart passes and find ways of getting the puck on net. And then Campbell is obviously a no-brainer.
The second power play unit is just the second tier guys (although I think Fleishmann also has the ability to play on PP1. Jovo should be QBing one of the units, and Kulikov should grow into a PP role, but not thrown into the first set… not yet at least. He’s still maturing. Let Garrison and Weaver stick to the PK. That’s not a bad thing, it’s just their role and it’s a very important one.
Here’s the powerplay lines I set up in NHL 11. Keep in mind it’s a video game and I don’t know these units’ % effectiveness off the top of my head so feel free to ridicule me up and down.
I have both Jovanovski and Campbell manning the point on PP1 basically because in my version of things I have yet to bring Gudbranson up from Juniors and outside of him don’t have a really offensive minded right handed defenseman to put on the unit for one-timers. This unit basically sets up on shots from the point while the forwards are quick and pass well. I’m not married to the forward assignments because both Weiss and Fleischmann are “pass first” type of guys, but they’ve scored enough to not bother me over much.
Booth – Weiss – Fleischmann
Campbell – Jovanovski
On the second unit I have Ellerby and Weaver manning the points. For the most part I rely on Weaver to feed Ellerby the puck for one-timers and occasionally the setup goes the other way. Versteeg and Upshall pass and shoot quite well on this unit and I always like a righty holding down the left side while Goc camps in front of the net and picks up rebounds.
Versteeg – Goc – Upshall
Weaver – Ellerby
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