Eastern North Playoff Preview

Disclaimer: These are my opinions if you are butt hurt IDC. Enjoy.

Eastern North

Rochester Americans (1) vs. Utica Comets (4)

Season Series: 3-1 Rochester

We transition from a division that had all 4 playoff teams over 100 points, to a division that has all 4 playoff teams under 100. Solet’s nickname this division's playoffs Battle of the Shitters. Rochester comes into playoffs leading the season series against Utica 3-1 and all 3 wins have been very convincing. Including a 6-3 Rochester win this past week that’s most likely still fresh in the minds of both teams.

Rochester

Key Players: Chipy, Distraqted, Soupy

Forwards: As I looked through this forward group I really don’t understand why this team underperformed which is weird to say for a team that won their division. There are some good players and some big names. Chipy leads this team offensively with his 90 points and if he is in the game, you better have a game plan for him because he will quarterback the play most of the game. The top 2 lines here are pretty solid with Hra, LIfealert, Kitty, Chipy and Ranta even though some of them had subpar seasons. Hopefully the playoffs give some of these guys that fresh start they could use and get the ball rolling.

Defense: The D core Rochester has put together is headlined by Distraqted and goalscorer being their top 2 guys. These guys don’t quite have the win totals most top dmen have, but both are pretty tough to get by. Empty has some low numbers from playing on a bad San Diego team for a chunk of the season and a deteriorating Stockton team but is much more capable than his numbers this season show. Look for him to play a bigger role for Rochester later in the playoffs. All in all, I don’t see any weak dmen on the roster for the most part all can play but maybe they haven’t found the right fit through the season to maximize everybody’s output. Hopefully they can do that come playoffs.

Goalies: Another solid goalie tandem here in Soupy and Bullet and some of the stats are interesting here. Soupy is tough to get the puck past, on a team that hasn’t played very well in front of him for times this season he still was able to put up an 81.7% save percentage and a 2.42 GAA. Expect to see the Americans ride Soupy hard during the playoffs he is their number 1. Bullet is interesting to me when I dive deeper into him. He has 17 wins on the season and 8 of them are shutouts. Looking at the advanced player stats page, when he has won games he has a GAA of 1, when he’s lost games he has a GAA of 4 and not a lot of help in goal support during those games. If he’s on he looks like he can backstop his team to a win, but if he’s not the guys in front of him need to help him out a bit more.


Utica

Key Players: bonwl, igotskillz, The Ace

Forwards: Things you hate to see: a team like this making it in over teams like Bridgeport and Springfield. This team lacks depth as there’s an extreme drop off from their top line to their 2 and 3. Bonwl is one of the top players in the AHL this season and has carried this team to a playoff spot and will need to do the same if they want to have a chance. Igotskillz has also quietly put up a real solid season himself by just winning games, not necessarily setting the scoring pace but still contributing. Throw TheAce between them and you have a pretty decent top line but that’s about where it stops. Mikeyacoub is better than his numbers show and will need to step it up if his team has any shot of advancing but it’s hard to do if he’s got to carry. Rat and worf being in the management positions are going to have to be on point with their line matching to advance.

Defense: To say this D core lacks depth is an understatement. It also lacks any real stud just some average at best dmen. Only one dman was able to get to .500 on the season in Travi3y, that’s not a recipe for success. Only one dman is positive in the +/- department in justyno but he’s only played 8 games. TKDawesome has had some solid seasons in the past and he’s going to need to try to get back to that level of play to help shut down the Americans offense. Asura looked promising when he was first drafted and had a good start to his AHL campaign last season before getting called up but since then hasn’t shown much but also hasn’t gotten much help. He’ll need to tap into that potential people saw when he was first drafted.

Goalie: DT_Fade and Yatoupourvous make up this tandem and from previous seasons they look like they’re solid in the cage. This season Fade was hung out to dry by the warden himself Billey and had very little help. Looking at his CHL season last season he stepped up come playoff time, and he’ll need to do that again as he’ll probably see a lot of shots. Yatoupurvous is much of the same, he hasn’t gotten much help this season but managed to put 16 wins on the board. He had a terrific CHL season last season and will need to build off that.

Series:

Forwards: Rochester

Defense: Rochester

Goalies: Rochester

This series is going to come down to what team are we going to get out of Rochester. Towards the end of the season they were winning their games and come into playoffs 18-9 since the trade deadline. Rochester is deeper than Utica, but we’ve seen Rochester struggle at times this season. If bonwl can win a couple games, it’ll make this series interesting, but he’ll most likely have to go 3-0 to have them advance. If we get to see a Chipy v Bonwl matchup I will watch that game for sure but outside of that not much comes to the table for hype.

Prediction:

Rochester in 6


Toronto Marlies (2) vs. Laval Rocket (3)

Season Series: 2-2 Split

The Marlies come into playoffs underachieving compared to past seasons but still end up with the 2nd seed in a wide-open division. Laval comes into playoffs as a team under .500 and lucky the playoff system is the way it is or their season would have ended last week. The season series is interesting as all the games have been close and they’ve traded wins through the season. Expect some tight games through this series much like these 2 have done all season.

Toronto

Key Players: Noah, Deerhunter, Maximus

Forwards: I like this forward core a lot, there’s two solid duos in there with Noah and berardo as well as deerhunter and soul. Toronto swung a big trade at the deadline to bring in Noah and berardo that has helped them for the better with Noah leading the league in goals with 63 this season. Deer and soul have been around the AHL for some time now and have always put up solid seasons and this season has been no different. These four help give the Marlies a nice 1 2 punch on the forward lines. Add in guys like Vince, snipester and Speedy you got a pretty deep forward core. Dabbs was also a great late pickup off the waiver wire to give them three solid centers in their lineup. But these forwards better be ready to score.

Defense: Overall the Marlies D isn’t the strongest but with the forwards they have all they got to do is get them the puck. Chadp and jmorris are solid dmen that have had success in the past and put up respectable seasons this season. They’ll need more of the same to help them win games if they wish to make a deep run in the playoffs. GoodBurger and Stephens are both former teammates of mine and if put in the right spots will succeed. And if Rent-a-Goalie can stop pumping his tires long enough to play a game he can help contribute with his past CHL success he’s enjoyed talking about.


Goalies: Here is what’s going to make or break this team. Maximus is one of the best goalies in the AHL if not the best. This season hasn’t been as kind to him as previous seasons, but you can put some blame on the weaker D the Marlies have played at times this season. Expect to see the Marlies ride him through the playoffs as he’s one of the few goalies that can win games on his own. Their backup goaltending is a little iffy with Bigwhiskey. He hasn’t had a great season and don’t know if he can make that big save when the Marlies need it.

Laval

Key Players: Captain, Osama, TimmycDogg

Forwards: The forwards are led by Captain and fred_spence that’s been a solid duo through this season. Captain passing the 40-goal mark is impressive on a weaker team and will need to do more of the same if they look to make it past the Marlies. Robster is a dmantransitioned to a Center this season and hasn’t had a lot of offensive success so he will have to help shut down the slot in his games if he isn’t contributing to the offense as much as most centers. Realwheels only has a small sample size in the AHL but he’s been hot in the few games he's played averaging over 4 PPG but will need to keep up that pace. Jayscott and Mchew are both solid players but have had down seasons by their standards so look for them to get back to form.

Defense: This team’s D core is highlighted by Osama and Timmy. Osama saw some time in the NHL before being returned to the AHL and has played very well posting a 13-2-1 record in his first full season out of the CHL. Timmy has put up solid numbers bouncing between two bottom teams in Belleville and Ontario before landing in Laval. Together these two put together a solid top pair that should give the Marlies some fits in this series. Lost Codes and DCskins are going to have to be up to the task to help as a second pair and shut down the top 2 lines of the Marlies.

Goalies: Jcarlos and Lonelystar have both been better than their numbers show this season. Lonelystar was brought up from the CHL during the season and has done well given his circumstances. Laval is going to need more of that to keep the puck out of the net against a solid offense from the Marlies so expect him to see a lot of rubber. Jcarlos has had some success in the past as a tendy and will need to bring more of that to this series if Laval wishes to advance.

Series:

Forwards: Toronto

Defense: Laval

Goalies: Toronto

Expect this series to be entertaining just like their season series. With all but one game being a 1 goal game we should see some tight, hard fought games in between these two. It’ll be interesting to see if the Toronto forwards can overcome their weaker D core and get past that top pair of Osama and Timmy. They’re going to need Maximus to be on his game if the D hasn’t improved from the regular season to get past Laval. If Laval can get some grindy, sweaty wins out of Robster’s line they have a shot to take it, but they’ll need big performances out of their goalies. All in all, if the Marlies forwards come to play they can take over the series.

Prediction:

Marlies in 6

 

I think the Rochester/Utica match-up is closer than people think. Rochester played our 3rd line in all 4 games this season so those season stats are a bit biased, and we've had a constant rotation of players in Utica all season going up and down between the NHL but we finally have a set core that I think can compete against Rochester.

Edge to Rochester still, but it's not a walk in the park for them!

 

Nice write up

 

If Rochester wins in 4 AND you don't play a single game, I'll retire from LG

 

Yeah must be the rotation of players LOL

 

Nice write up Don. Nothing against the other teams but the Americans and Marlies advance here.

 

I'm not sure what you're getting at here

My point was that we had our good players go up to the NHL for anywhere from 1 to 6 weeks, leaving a hole in Utica's roster to be filled by ECU's or CHL level players. Now everyone is back and the roster is "optimized", as in it's the best it has been all season.

I think that's pretty clear as week 9 (first week with an optimized roster) we had the best week we've had all season.

Again, nothing special.. but we're a lot better than the season stats and season series indicates. Everyone is voting Rochester in 4 or 5 because they aren't aware of Utica's enhanced current situation.

 

I’m just a 3rd line shitter on , don’t mind me.

 

What bonwl is saying is that Canucks dropped any Ahl eligible NHL caliber player to the farm team for the playoff push since NHL team was poopoo.

 

Yes and no. Canucks were poopoo so they called up the top Utica players to fill in on the NHL squad until week 8 and then the good AHL players were dropped back down to the Utica

 

I’m just here to get carried. @me

 

If ur gud play like ur gud stop telling people ur gud we don’t wanna hear how gud u r

 

wat

 

You lost to a LW who played a game against the devils and didn’t get a point I can now say u r not gud

 

@bonwl = 0-2.

 

say it with me now: "OVERRR RATEEDDDD"

 

I heard you tried dodging bonwl. You can’t not call him good after nearly running lmfao