LGAHl PSN Playoff Predictions Round 1 (Griffins vs Americans)

LGAHL PSN Playoff Predictions Round 1



(#3 seed) vs (#6 seed)

This one is in my opinion one of hardest matchups to predict (If not the hardest). Both teams have a crack at not only getting to the finals but taking home the hardware. This could be a pivotal matchup in determining how the East shakes out. Let's dive into the lines shall we?






Line 1:

C: @xDeedss
LW: @vipuhrs
RW: @Mckenney_4
D: @bryg20_
D: @DetAjax17

Line 1 in Grand Rapids runs a very similar make-up to Line 2 in Ontario. With the Middle-man facilitating the play and the wingers scoring the abundance of the goals. Deeds is the veteran presence on this line having 16 seasons under his belt. With that kind of experience comes the ability to buy into the 5-man game. He has no problem being the swingman in the group and has proven so to the tune of 58 assists. Vipuhrs has put up 38 goals in 18 games since getting sent down from the NHL and Mckenney has put up 35 of his own. It's not hard to tell how the offense on this line is created.

On the back-end we have LG veteran DetAjax who has put together a respectable AHL career. Ajax has had a cup of tea in the “N” but I would qualify him as an above-average AHL d-man. He is partnered with BryG20, a veteran in his own right of over 150 CHL games. He was able to average just over a point per game in the “C” but this is his first full season playing in the LGAHL. Bry did play 17 games in S17 going 7-9-1 but this season has been his coming out party as he went 18-4-3 with 18 points. A strong pairing for certain.

Line 2:

C: @RenewableBanned
LW: @KarlssonIsGod
Rw: @ll_19-toews
D: @TheBobbyOrr4
D: @msmth


There is an argument to be made that this is the first line, but like with any team that is set up to win in the playoffs; This is the case. 1A and 1B makes for occasional tough decisions but honestly, Who’s going to complain about having two first lines ?

RenewableBanned headlines the forward group. Renewable was a relatively unknown commodity having never cracked the 50 point mark at the AHL level prior to this season. With a 17-7-1 Record and 62 points he was able to break all of his personal bests and really make a name for himself as (one of) the best 750K contract(s) in the AHL (Shout out to my boy Chuddy). KarlssonIsGod and Toews set up shop on the wings on line two. Karlsson has played over 100 games in the LGNHL and played a handful of games at the CHL and AHL levels. He only began playing LG in S12 but dont be fooled, Karlsson is an OG leaderboard mongrel who has lived and breathed chel for years. He will add some experience to this line, however it has weirdly been a struggle for him since Columbus sent him down and subsequently flipped him to the Griffins. Toews is another guy who's been around forever, another S1 Veteran who’s played and succeeded at every level. He has spent the majority of his time in the “A” at center but looks to have had slightly more success on the wing. With 18 wins and 63 points, he’s put together a decent little season.

BobbyOrr4 and Msmth are what make this line intriguing. Sorry to keep referencing the Reign but its a very similar type of pairing to what Ontario has with an offensively gifted player on one side and a sound, smart, defensive player on the other. Bobby needs no introduction. The infamous, outspoken and sometimes toxic; BobbyFuckingOrr4. You never know what you’re going to get with this guy. Is he going to head-man the puck? Is he going to L2 into traffic at his own blue-line and turn it over? Is he going to rip a no-look slap pass that somehow hits Toews on the far wing behind the d-man for a breakaway? WHO FUCKING KNOWS. But it works a lot of the time and honestly you have to take the bad with the good here because overall he's a good player and he’s going to need to be good for the Griffins to be dangerous. Msmth is there because he's the best defensive guy on the team who has the eligibility to put a yellow-cursor over his head. He’s there to keep Bobby in check (Not that that is possible) and make up for his defensive lapses so Bobby can go do Bobby stuff.


Line 3:


C: @Lxpierre-
LW: @xBiscuit09
Rw: @Getlivebaby
D: @Kxngsb3rry_
D: @XxPasTrnack88

Getlive was the guy last season in Laval; going 17-6-2 with 63 points but has been less than sensational operating at below 2 PPG clip this year. With a low scoring defensive center-man in Lxpierre that puts a lot of pressure on Getlive and his opposite winger Biscuit to carry the offensive load. Live transitioned to forward from defense in the last couple of seasons so he will have a defense first mind. This means Biscuit is likely the guy on offense here. He does have back-to-back 90 and 106 point seasons in the not so distant past but can he be that guy for the Griffins 3rd in the playoffs? This line has the potential to steal some games in some less than favorable matchups for the Griffins simply because of Lxpierres frustrating defensive play style paired with a good defensive winger and a capable scorer on the other side. They won’t blow anyone out but they could steal a 1-0 or 2-1 game from a top line if they are underestimated.

Pastrnak and Kingsberry is a very very solid 3rd d pairing and I’ll be honest I think I may have underestimated the Griffins roster prior to doing this deep-dive. Pasta is just a very consistent player. Nothing too flashy but he is a good puck mover and he doesnt make alot of mistakes. He wins at all 3 levels although he hasn’t spent a full season in the NHL he does have a solid record there as well. Kingsberry is an NHL send-down who’s bounced around after a good showing in Hershey. I’m not 100 percent sure on this but I believe he was traded at the deadline and then flipped to the Griffins but this is a very strong 3rd d pair and its going to make it really tough for most any team to matchup against them.

Goaltending:

@Gunnerskale__ is the likely starter here and I only say that because I have heard it out of his backups mouth. Gunner is cocky, Gunner is toxic but Gunner has put up numbers the last couple of seasons to back it up and that's why he likely gets the nod here. He looked okay in Rochester, he looked phenomenal in Chicago and this season has been his worst full season in the AHL. Is the ego warranted? Or is he a product of a very good Wolves team? We will see what he’s made of in round 1 against a very strong opponent. Backing him up is my fellow Monctonian @Chamski_23 AKA: Jean-Guy Rubber boot. Cham is a former S16 Wolfpack Calder cup champion and has actually outperformed Gunner to this point, at least in terms of numbers. Maybe a goalie controversy? Who knows really but not a bad problem to have if they push each-other instead of fighting over that spot. Cham is too nice of a guy anyways so i’m sure he would be fine taking a backseat if he has to but he will shine when called upon.






Line 1 :


C: @Dugzz l67l
Lw: @iSHOOTSfromDEEPS
Rw: @XxHudon77xX
D: @MattAdoresDanna
D: @Buz v l77l

Dugzz is a veteran of nearly 500 games spread across different leagues on different platforms of LG. Since starting in the LGAHL PSN; Dugzz has averaged 3.19 points per game, has never had a losing season and has made the playoffs in all but one season. He has his name etched in the record books on several occasions but the one thing he hasn't had his name etched in is any cup in any league. Why is that? Bad luck? Nerves? Not everyone is built to be their best under pressure but Dugz has all the skill and the team to do it this season. Grammy on the left. Everyone knows him, a staple on the top scorers list, the ahl’s all time leading scorer. His hockey sense is off the charts, he can score goals, he can set-up plays and he does it all with the weirdest fucking build I’ve ever seen for a winger. He makes it work though and makes Rochester's top line awfully scary. Hudon on the right is the least experienced of the 3. This guy egoed us in Ontario and trolled games to get traded and we decided to turn a blind-eye and be the bigger men and just accommodate him. He’s cancerous for sure but maybe he’s different when he diva’s his way to the line he wants to be on? We’ll see. Either way his 2.3 ppg after saying he was too good for the AHL is mediocre at best but he is definitely a good player when his head is on straight.

MattAdoresDanna is a former Norris trophy winning defenseman who has averaged over a point per game in the AHL over a ridiculous 301 game sample size. He’s about as consistent as they come and he will be extremely important to this teams success. Buz had a lackluster time playing rw in the AHL but had a bit of success at C which explains the jump to defense. He’s just over a point per game himself but that could be a product of the line he’s playing on. I’ll be honest I dont know much about Buz but he looks to be a serviceable defenseman at-worst. This is arguably one of the better lines in these playoffs.


Line 2:

C: @Atkins77-
Lw: @HxnkHutchh
Rw: @Jags19-
D: @HoneyBakes
D: @cococamp15



Fresh off a Calder cup in S19 with the Monsters, Atkins put up his best AHL season to date with 67 points, a pretty solid 2C with two high profile new wingers. This line is probably the least experienced of any line I've previewed so far; having less combined games in LG than 3 individuals on their top line. Skill is important and these guys have a lot of that but experience is also a huge thing in this game especially in the playoffs and we will see how they measure up against lines who’ve been around the block in a hard-faught trap game in the playoffs.

With 133 games played HoneyBakes is the senior on this line and he is paired with another inexperienced but highly-touted newcomer. DP Cococamp was able to stay above the point per game mark in his AHL Rookie season. I actually really liked the add of Honeybakes at the deadline. He was definitely a guy we kicked tires on and I would be lying if I said I didn't curse dugz for making it happen. This is a nice pair.


Line 3:


C: @itsI3unt
Lw: @Yung_Dallo _Dallo
Rw: @Snaaake_11
D: @xShoot_N_Scores
D: @AngryTigers777



Another relatively inexperienced line here combining for maybe a couple hundred games across all leagues and platforms. l3unt has had 2 stellar seasons in the CHL playing left wing and an average to below average season this year with 36 points in 7 games. I believe he was moved around a few times so this could be influenced by bad teams but these aren't strong numbers. Snake has also had a very underwhelming experience in the AHL on the PSN side. Plays both consoles and hasn't really blown up yet but I have played with him a couple of times and Snake is a good player especially if he's on your 3rd line. I like Snake a lot as a 3RW. Dallo is a dp with similar numbers to l3unt but i do believe I saw him do some bouncing around on the trade front as well so the fact that I don't know those two players super well just leaves me to speculate as to whether they are 40 point players by their own accord or if its a product of their previous teams struggles.

This d-pair took a knock when ManBeastMark caught a ban. ShootsnScores is a forward recently turned defenseman with one average to slightly above average season on defense under his belt and AngryTigers777 is Mark's replacement. A 41 year old CHL lifer goaltender with spectacular CHL Goaltending stats who has just recently decided to become a defenseman. He has put together a nice little season in his first year away from the pipes but he’s now going to be thrown to the Wolves; playing his first career AHL game as a skater 12 seasons and over 600 games into his career. That's pressure right there.

Goaltending:

Considering how infrequently I've touched this game over the last couple of weeks; oddly enough I've played with both of these goalies recently and they are both fairly dependable. They don't quite have the numbers of some of the top guys and @JohnEWalker has barely had a cup of tea in the A yet but based on the eye test I would say they are serviceable. @Knxght31 may be more so than Walker but I would say they’re both not bad.


Summary:

Line 1: Advantage

Line 2: Advantage

Line 3: Advantage

Goaltending: Advantage

Official prediction:
in 6


I’ll say this. Rochester is a good team. They have tons of skill and they have the offensive prowess to score tons of goals and tons of points. I just don't think they stack up to GRG as far as the d-core and goaltending as a whole go. Forward lines are fairly evenly matched but I think Deeds line is right up there in terms of skill to match up with Line 1 for Rochester. So honestly this matchup could go either way. The deeper it goes the better the chance gets for Dugz and co in my opinion because it gives them an opportunity to get the Dugz line out there for Game 7. If it goes 7 its a 50/50 toss up but the Griffins have the depth and experience to actually have an outside shot at a sweep here. I don't think Rochester sweeping is really in the cards but I could be wrong.


Looking forward to catching some of the action and good luck to both teams !

 

Great writes bud, are you doing one for every series

 

I am going to get as many as I can in. I'm just trying to get some practice writing in and this is a good excuse to do that. If both teams give me their lines I'm going to do my best to get a preview out for those teams that are willing to provide that info but I dont know if I'll have the time in the day to actually churn out 8 of these. They take a lot of research and its exhausting to do one of these let alone multiple in a day haha. I should be able to get a one more most likely and possibly a 4th.

 

This is awesome Raple

 

Thank you buddy <3

 

Love this. great job brother <3

 

Yeah my 2 games at RW were very rough

 

good media

 

hahahaa my bad that should've said LW. Brain is totally fried at this point lol

 

Thank you sir!

 

I got Americans in 6

 

I got monsters in 4 ngl

 

better chance of you "lagging out" then the monsters in 4!

 

Lol it takes so much effort to do these.

And yeah, I still haven't recovered from S16 Rockford

 

Idk, those monsters tho

 

Great write up man, was a good read.

 

Great stuff dude. All you had to write for me was, “he’s a cone carried by 4 awesome linemates” and I would’ve nodded.

Should be a fun series for sure. Keep up the good work.

 

Lol agreed. My build is very odd for lw but ive always liked playin heavy and its a good 2 way mix. Nice write up bud!

 

Alright

 

I agree completely that’s why I run truculence on dangler.