In Brian Burke's book Burke's Law: A Life in Hockey, he has a segment that talks about positional skills and performance. Every position on the roster, from the first-line forwards to the backup goalie are covered. While I personally might disagree with some of these assessments, I thought it would be interesting to build a team that would fit his philosophy. If you are not familiar with Brian Burke, he is currently the president of hockey operations for the Pittsburgh Penguins. He has been the general manager for the Hartford Whalers, Vancouver Canucks, Anaheim Ducks and the Toronto Maple Leafs. He has also been the president of hockey operations for the Calgary Flames. I am sure that if you are someone that spends time on CapFriendly, you are aware of Brian Burke.
I am going to list the following descriptions for each position in the lineup, and then you can compare the description with the player I have put there. I tried to not use any player on their ELC to make the challenge a little harder.
First Line: One guy with size.
1LW: Top skill, size (even if not a black-and-blue player), ability to finish. = Miller.
1C: Top skill, Foot speed, first power-play unit, 65 points or better, leader. = Couturier.
1RW: Sniper, Foot speed, green light to score, first power-play unit. = Nylander.
Second Line: Two guys with size.
2LW: Size (even if skilled), secondary scoring, second power-play unit. = Hintz.
2C: Second skill level, responsible defensively, face-off skill. = Danault.
2RW: Size (with some bite), scoring ability, second power-play unit. = Anderson.
Third Line: Size, fighter disciples.
3LW: Must be smart, above average skating, ability to move, shootout skill. = Bratt.
3C: Penalty killer, face-off guy, high hockey IQ, foot speed a must, workaholic, right-handed shot. = Sissons.
3RW: Size, Second fighter, middleweight, skilled and smart enough to shut people down, penalty killer. = Hartman.
Fourth Line: Grit, fighter disciples.
4LW: Penalty killer, responsible, hard to play against, last minute of each period. = Aston-Reese.
4C: Size, face-off skill, shot blocker, shutdown role, agitator. = Bellemare.
4RW: Fighter and can play, penalty killer, speed, last minute of each period. = Aubé-Kubel.
13th Forward: Tougness, fight in any weight class. = Gabriel.
First Defence Pair: Skill.
1LD: Can move puck, or lug it out of trouble, top-end foot speed, high hockey IQ. = Heiskanen.
1RD: Size, play against top line, hard shot, can shut people down and move the puck, right-handed shot. = Pesce.
Second Defence Pair: Size.
2LD: Skill, second power-play unit, good decision-maker, eliminate/pin (even if no hard finish), some penalty killing. = Schmidt.
2RD: Smart, mobile, finish and pin/eliminate, some bite, penalty killer, right-hand shot. = Roy.
Third Defence Pair: Big size, one fighter.
3LD: Penalty Killer, hard minutes against bottom-six forwards, third fighter. = Cole.
3RD: Size, hard to play against, fights when needed, finish checks hard, penalty killer. = Mayfield.
Goaltenders.
Starter: Play 60-65 games, battles, elite athlete, great mechanics. = Demko.
Backup: Great work ethic in practice, push the starter, makes shooters better, survive with low workload, popular. = DeSmith.
Let me know what you guys think, and maybe give me a link to your team if you decide to take on this challenge.
But seriously, thanks for creating this idea BallPuckFellow10
Haha that is awesome! I just read about it last night and thought it would be really cool to implement the idea into ACGM lol. Thanks for the shootout! Much appreciated.
Stupid question, but how do I tag someone on a post lol
Haha that is awesome! I just read about it last night and thought it would be really cool to implement the idea into ACGM lol. Thanks for the shootout! Much appreciated.
Stupid question, but how do I tag someone on a post lol
All you have to do is type an @ and then somebody's username, it automatically creates a link with no hassle.
This is pretty interesting. I usually don't equate Burke with success, especially anything recently (that I'm aware of), but it is definitely interesting to see how he builds his team. I'd love to see other gm's opinions on this, like Stan Bowman, Lamoriello, Sakic, or Yzerman.
This is pretty interesting. I usually don't equate Burke with success, especially anything recently (that I'm aware of), but it is definitely interesting to see how he builds his team. I'd love to see other gm's opinions on this, like Stan Bowman, Lamoriello, Sakic, or Yzerman.
Ill say 1 thing. It looks damn similar to the islanders of the past couple of years.
Ill say 1 thing. It looks damn similar to the islanders of the past couple of years.
It really does. It looks like it is a perennial cup contending roster, but it looks like it's missing something. Not sure what it is, and it could just be due to looking at all the other Burke challenge rosters, but they all seem like they're not quite there.
This is pretty interesting. I usually don't equate Burke with success, especially anything recently (that I'm aware of), but it is definitely interesting to see how he builds his team. I'd love to see other gm's opinions on this, like Stan Bowman, Lamoriello, Sakic, or Yzerman.
Quoting: UBS_ARENA
Ill say 1 thing. It looks damn similar to the islanders of the past couple of years.
I think what would make this work is that everyone has their specific roles to fulfill. It is not like on some teams when you have guys on the third/fourth line with limited skill trying to play a game they don't have the ability for. This team is balanced with players that are confident in their abilities while their role also matches their play style. While there are some things from Burke's philosophy that might be a little weird or outdated, I think the base pretty much is there for a cup winning team. He won the cup with the Ducks so obviously he knows what it takes. I always loved listening to him on TV and when my friend let me read his book I was so happy when I found this segment. Also makes me a little sad as a Leafs fan because this is very far from how our roster is constructed :/
It really does. It looks like it is a perennial cup contending roster, but it looks like it's missing something. Not sure what it is, and it could just be due to looking at all the other Burke challenge rosters, but they all seem like they're not quite there.
I completely get where you are coming from here. It is kinda hard to picture it in your head, but I do really think this team would be a cup contender in this years NHL season.
I think what would make this work is that everyone has their specific roles to fulfill. It is not like on some teams when you have guys on the third/fourth line with limited skill trying to play a game they don't have the ability for. This team is balanced with players that are confident in their abilities while their role also matches their play style. While there are some things from Burke's philosophy that might be a little weird or outdated, I think the base pretty much is there for a cup winning team. He won the cup with the Ducks so obviously he knows what it takes. I always loved listening to him on TV and when my friend let me read his book I was so happy when I found this segment. Also makes me a little sad as a Leafs fan because this is very far from how our roster is constructed :/
Yes that much is certainly true. But what burkie doesnt say in this book is how impossible this team is to build bc ypure always going to have that prospect (nyi its dobson, tor its sandin and so on) that has the skillset of a top 6/top 4 player but isnt at that level. So they dont fit the bottom of the lineup bc their skillset is totally different but they also dont have the talent to play at the top of the lineup.
I completely get where you are coming from here. It is kinda hard to picture it in your head, but I do really think this team would be a cup contender in this years NHL season.
I dont. Massive weak spot at 3C. This team is based on depth not top end talent so you cant get by with an ok 3C. You need a top player there. Also a team like this could use a guy like vasilevskiy to take the pressure of a solid but not amazing group of skaters. If you swap sissons for JGP (or someone like him) and demko for vasi, this team has a great chance. You also have the cap for those swaps.
Yes that much is certainly true. But what burkie doesnt say in this book is how impossible this team is to build bc ypure always going to have that prospect (nyi its dobson, tor its sandin and so on) that has the skillset of a top 6/top 4 player but isnt at that level. So they dont fit the bottom of the lineup bc their skillset is totally different but they also dont have the talent to play at the top of the lineup.
That is an excellent point. The ''only'' logical thing for me is that GM's should let the young guys take as much time as possible to develop before they ''throw'' them into the depend. I like how Detroit did it a few years back when they always seemed to have guys ready to step in from Grand Rapids and play for the big club. Tampa seem to be doing that now with Syracuse as well.
I think we as fans maybe have a role to play in all this with all the pressure we have to see this young talents. It might make the players think they are ready or the coaches/GM's think they are ready when they not are. I would like to think that front offices don't listen to media pressure, but crazier things have happened.
I dont. Massive weak spot at 3C. This team is based on depth not top end talent so you cant get by with an ok 3C. You need a top player there. Also a team like this could use a guy like vasilevskiy to take the pressure of a solid but not amazing group of skaters. If you swap sissons for JGP (or someone like him) and demko for vasi, this team has a great chance. You also have the cap for those swaps.
Great points! I just wanted to try some different players here, but those two absolutely make sense!
This is pretty interesting. I usually don't equate Burke with success, especially anything recently (that I'm aware of), but it is definitely interesting to see how he builds his team. I'd love to see other gm's opinions on this, like Stan Bowman, Lamoriello, Sakic, or Yzerman.
Quickly, I would say Bowman is all about a skilled core and cycling through the role players.
Sakic has made pretty much every move to add speed, the slower/sandpaper guys came for cheap acquisition costs.
Lou probably isn't too different from Burke, altho he doesn't seem to value height as much as two-way mentality.
Yzerman is pretty interesting - I don't think he's building Detroit similar to his TB. He's getting a lot more size and balance to his prospects.
Things I've noticed about Armstrong - he values having more than 1 center per line, and we'll probably see that in his Team Canada again. And his defense has become oriented around a small puckmover and a big tree on each pair... I just wished he valued team speed more.
It would be interesting to make some armchair challenges for the m.o.'s of certain GMs.
Quickly, I would say Bowman is all about a skilled core and cycling through the role players.
Sakic has made pretty much every move to add speed, the slower/sandpaper guys came for cheap acquisition costs.
Lou probably isn't too different from Burke, altho he doesn't seem to value height as much as two-way mentality.
Yzerman is pretty interesting - I don't think he's building Detroit similar to his TB. He's getting a lot more size and balance to his prospects.
Things I've noticed about Armstrong - he values having more than 1 center per line, and we'll probably see that in his Team Canada again. And his defense has become oriented around a small puckmover and a big tree on each pair... I just wished he valued team speed more.
It would be interesting to make some armchair challenges for the m.o.'s of certain GMs.
It all sounds about right. I mentioned that Burke doesn't seem to be very successful lately and his plan seems to be missing something. I think the difference between him and other gm's really is size. I'm making my own roster with these guidelines, and the desire for grit everywhere is pretty demanding. I'm scrolling through these lists of advanced analytics, basic stats, etc, and it seems like Burke (and probably) Lou would pass over better players just for grit. It's how guys like Debrincat drop so far. So, my own honest opinion, I think that is the drawback of Burke's plan.
It all sounds about right. I mentioned that Burke doesn't seem to be very successful lately and his plan seems to be missing something. I think the difference between him and other gm's really is size. I'm making my own roster with these guidelines, and the desire for grit everywhere is pretty demanding. I'm scrolling through these lists of advanced analytics, basic stats, etc, and it seems like Burke (and probably) Lou would pass over better players just for grit. It's how guys like Debrincat drop so far. So, my own honest opinion, I think that is the drawback of Burke's plan.
For sure. Too many guys are selected for their size when in reality it means very little. You can find clips of Barzal knocking over ristolainen, for example. And you can find clips of Yamamoto working way harder than Tage Thompson to win puck battles. Balance, technique, and timing/sense are much more valuable than being tall and having a reach. Sure it's nice when an elite player has size (like a Hedman or Ovi) but it would be a mistake to overlook guys that have other facets to their game just bc they're short (like the Burke construction does). That opportunity seems to be dwindling more and more each draft, but it still exists.
BallPuckFellow10, JackAce91 and UBS_ARENA liked this.
Reply
CapFriendly
CapFriendly