Trois Rivieres Athletic Club
Pittsburgh, PA
1 (15) - Maurice Richard, RW
2 (26) - Bobby Clarke, C
3 (55) - Martin Brodeur, G
4 (66) - Dit Clapper, D/RW
6 (104) - Bill Quackenbush, D
6 (106) - Jack Stewart, D
7 (135) - Moose Johnson, D/W
8 (146) - Russell Bowie, C
9 (171) - Mark Recchi, RW
10 (186) - Sergei Zubov, D
10 (190) - Woody Dumart, LW
12 (230) - Jacques Lemaire, C
13 (247) - Mickey MacKay, C/RW
14 (270) - Punch Imlach, coach
15 (295) - Kevin Lowe, D
17 (335) - Bun Cook, LW
18 (346) - Hugh Lehman, G
18 (354) - Steve Shutt, LW
19 (375) - Don Marcotte, F
20 (386) - Joe Mullen, RW
21 (415) - Joe Nieuwendyk, C
22 (426) - Derek Sanderson, C
23 (455) - Si Griffis, D/F
24 (466) - King Clancy, assistant coach
*Click on name below for link to bio.
Coaches:
Punch Imlach - head coach
King Clancy -
assistant coach
-Imlach's biggest gains based on my research aren't the wins and losses we already knew about, rather the contemporary praise which really pulled the lid off a man who was probably typecast with too firm a hand previously. Imlach was no more a taskmaster than Toe Blake or Hap Day before him. He was extremely colorful, and didn't mince words, be it with his players or press, but he cared deeply for hockey and the players he coached. Hockey was his entire life, the bio really highlighted the bond he shared with assistant GM/coach, King Clancy, beyond just hockey season. Jean Beliveau was coached by Imlach (Quebec Aces) prior to turning pro and spoke very highly of Imlach and the impact he had on developing his game. Writers highlighted the "genius" of Imlach's handling of Beliveau, backing up what Jean said. Willie O'ree, the first black player in league history, cited Imlach as being very supportive despite dealing with more overt racism in society in the mid 1950's. A nuance of Imlach's career shows exceptionally strong coaching accomplishments in the 1950's (Aces) and 60's (Leafs), this occurring while he was also simultaneously acting as the GM for these franchises. He did it all. Signed players. Traded players. Made roster decisions and then coached those teams, often to significant success.
There are numerous entries and quotes that show Imlach to be quite flexible in how he deployed lines (often shifted people around looking for chemistry/hot hands, even extreme cases like Red Kelly being shifted to C) and goal tenders (early career he used Bower heavily, then moved to a tandem system). Ralph Mellanby is directly quoted in 1998 as saying he'd tie Blake and Imlach for best coach of all time. "I would tie them for first place. Toe had the firepower, Punch was the motivator and innovator." And he wasn't alone in putting Imlach on Blake's level. When Imlach took over in Toronto, the 50's had been dominated by the Wings and Habs, Toronto's dynasty under Hap Day in the 40's, a distant memory. Imlach immediately turned around a club that hadn't made the playoffs the previous 2 seasons, taking the Leafs all the way to the finals in both 1959 and 1960, losing in those instances to the juggernaut Habs. Year 4 saw the Leafs win their first of 3 consecutive titles (62-64), finally removing the Blake led Habs from hockey's pinnacle. And despite an aging team who were written off, Imlach won his 4th championship in a thrilling 6 game series vs Montreal, in 1967.
His MO actually lends itself to a single season style format that we use in the ATD. While he had some detractors over his career as a coach (Carl Brewer, Frank Mahovlich, Tiger Williams, Lanny McDonald are the most prominent), Imlach had far more who supported his methods and accomplishments, dating back to Beliveau in the early 50's and this praise continues frequently for most years over the next decade plus. There were some heavy hitters at his funeral, and as pallbearers. Unlike someone such as Toe Blake, who could focus solely on coaching, Imlach also carried GM duties and was the chief architect in quickly rebuilding the Leafs into a dynasty level franchise that could go toe to toe against Blake and the Habs, winning 4 titles over a 6 year span. Being able to quickly build and blend a roster, motivating it to rapid heights, seems like a strong suit for Punch and in this case, I had an even better understanding of what he liked/didn't in players and tactically speaking. With this being said, I feel the roster at his disposal in 2025, is even more tailored to his MO, than the one that brought home the Milt Dunnell win in a 7 game thriller, last year. Our leadership group is significantly stronger, led by Clapper, who mirrors George Armstrong in style, with the indomitable duo of Clarke/Richard wearing the A's, neither of whom Imlach will need to spend a second thought on effort and will to win. The F group this year is geared more towards a 2-way footprint, which jives with what Imlach preached. Intense and close checking, both ways. Richard, a winger, is the offensive focal point, which mirrors Imlach's real life Leaf squads with Frank Mahovlich, though I feel Richard's aggressive style and unrelenting will to win, will appeal to Imlach more than Mahovlich's passive and reserved approach. Punch had and utilized an all time great face-off artist and defensive wizard in Dave Keon who he praised often as the best all around player in the league. Clarke represents those same qualities, while bringing a much higher offensive ceiling to boot.
Captain - Dit Clapper
Alternate Captain - Bobby Clarke
Alternate Captain - Maurice Richard
Forwards:
Bun Cook - Bobby Clarke (A) - Maurice Richard (A)
-This line is built to win in transition or cycling the puck. Richard obviously being the centerpiece and focal point, he needs no introduction, and thrived when playing with a C (first Lach, then brother Henri) precisely in the mold of a Bobby Clarke, who is obviously superior in stature to those 2. Bun Cook spent a career running with 2 superstars in Frank Boucher and Bill Cook, and can reprise the same role here, with superior players to boot. Cook's aggressive style, and noted ability in the fore/back checking game, allows Clarke to work deeper in the offensive zone, knowing he'll be well covered (and vice versa). This is also true when Three Rivers achieves possession in their own end, having speed to burn on both wings, able to push defenders on their heels. It's an incredibly aggressive line, with tremendous goal scoring, playmaking, an elite defensive C who is also an all time great face-off artist, and good defensive LW. Three Rivers feels confident this line will impact games in both directions, especially with a playoff legend like Rocket.
Woody Dumart - Russell Bowie - Mark Recchi
-Cycle, cycle, cycle. This unit will make the most of their bones on possession at the opponents end of the ice. Russell Bowie is one of the most dominant offensive players in hockey history, rmartin doing a fabulous job of highlighting just how dominant he was vs his peers. But beyond goal scoring and playmaking, Bowie's most noted strength was his stick/puck handling, and ability to drive a line. Furthermore, having a dominant presence like the Rocket on the 1st line, will only help to free up Bowie from top pairings/tougher mathups. Dumart and Recchi bring plenty of truculence when it comes to getting in on the fore-check and establishing possession. Dumart was one of the best defensive forwards of his day and key glue man of the famous Kraut line in Boston. Recchi also provides fantastic playmaking ability from the wing, a key in getting the puck to Bowie in prime scoring positions.
Steve Shutt - Jacques Lemaire - Mickey MacKay
-This group is designed after the real life combination of Shutt-Lemaire-Lafleur, with the obvious caveat, that MacKay isn't on Lafleur's level offensively, who was consistently dominant vs MacKay who was consistently good/great. But MacKay does bring elements of Lafleur, having elite skating, and puck handling skills and just general offensive balance. MacKay can absolutely drive a line, especially a 3rd group. And while MacKay obviously can't touch the peak of Lalfeur's offensive game, his defensive ability is very strong, adding a unique balance to the position. Lemaire, with MacKay (like Clarke with Cook) can do what he did well and that is engage on the fore-check without needing to worry about having coverage behind him. No different if MacKay flies the zone in transition. Shutt, for half a decade was absolutely brilliant at finding rebounds, and soft spots in between opponents. His shot was noted often but just as much was his offensive IQ, being spatially aware. There is obviously real life chemistry between Shutt/Lemaire, coupled with a RW who brings a lot of the same offensive qualities that Lafleur did while adding a defensive element that will be sure to please Imlach.
Don Marcotte - Joe Nieuwendyk - Joe Mullen
-Three Rivers rounds out its forward group with some more real life chemistry. this time linking Nieuwendyk and Mullen from their days in Calgary, where they both won a title together. Nieuwendyk leads the charge on this 2 way unit, a theme with all 4 lines. It's imperative when building a Punch Imlach led team that you focus on checking, in both directions. Nieuwy brings all the traits you want for that sort of scheme, and lastly will be one of the most clutch 4th liners in the ATD. Like Clarke he was also a master in the dot. Mullen is a player Terry Crisp said "he'd go to war with", Sounds like a Punch Imlach player to me. He led the playoffs in goals, twice, no small feat for a winger. Played a lot bigger than his size and can be counted on to go hard, every shift, physical/finesse, Mullen will show up. Lastly, Marcotte was a Selke level defensive winger/checker, an absolute animal on the boards and in pursuit of the puck. There is confidence this line has the make up and resume to make a significant impact in a limited role, offensively, or defensively.
Spare:
Derek Sanderson, C
-Will occasionally spell Nieuwendyk on the 4th line during the year, as well as rotate in when we need an even more aggressive defensive posture. One of the all time greats in the dot, he gives the squad 3 of the best ever, along with Clarke and Nieuwendyk, a nice advantage, especially when it comes to special teams. Had real life chemistry with Don Marcotte in Boston, which helps make the swap a more seamless process, especially for a player who's not playing every game.
Defensemen:
Moose Johnson - Dit Clapper (C)
-I spent a significant amount of time researching both of these players (would greatly appreciate voters reading those by clicking on their names), and feel even better about the duo after concluding that research. Clapper was a multi time AS at RW in the age of Bill Cook/Charlie Conacher, no small feat. However, he peaked even higher as a defensemen, garnering strong comparisons to Doug Harvey (HOF Montreal writers Baz O'Meara and Dink Carroll) and Earl Seibert by very reputable folks. He was physically speaking, a very big player for his day, and despite his size, was one of the faster skaters in the league. Clapper was a quintessential 2 way lynchpin, with effusive praise for his on ice generalship., team leadership, elite body checking, and elite fighting/intimidation factor that made even Eddie Shore (O'Meara said Clapper was a better defensive player than Shore) and other tough hombres of that time, think long and hard before challenging him or his teammates. He's the only player in NHL history, post consolidation (1926 to present), to have achieved postseason AS berths at F and D, multiple times. He's one of 10 players to have the waiting period waived to gain entry in the HOF.
And while Clapper's style was more similar to Harvey, his partner, Moose Johnson, played the game, as long time western writer Andy Lytle described in 1943, "with the zest of King Clancy, in the body of Dit Clapper", ironically enough. Like Clapper, Johnson was one of the biggest players of the era, and yet still one of the swiftest skaters (he was in a speed contest while in the PCHA and came in 4th behind Ken Mallen, Cyclone Taylor, and Si Griffis), though his style was far more colorful than Dit, a wonderful contrast in this pairing. Moose, in my estimation was one of the best pure defensive players of the pre-consolidation era (40+ years) and quite frankly, ever, his poke-check, being legendary, and certainly in the same class as Frank Nighbor's hook-check. Alf Smith and others were directly quoted as saying it was Moose who invented the poke-check while a F in Montreal in the mid/late 1900's. He was nearly impossible to beat 1 on 1 due to his size, reach, and ability to skate well backwards, keeping himself in between the goal and puck, unlike hook-check artists, who often skated beside or behind opposing players to relieve them of the puck. Like Clapper he was a devastating body checker and both of them act as very strong deterrents if opposing teams have ideas of crossing the line, physically, with anyone else on our roster. Johnson's skating and puck handling ability made him an oft-noted sensational rusher, though his offensive value was more tied to facilitating than shooting, due to missing multiple fingers on one of his hands, which in this case, meshes well with Clapper, who had a renowned howitzer of a shot. And I'm not sure I've ever encountered a tougher hockey player than Moose in all my years of research and participating in the ATD. Three Rivers feels fortunate to have these 2 men anchoring the top pair, especially considering how invested we were at the F and G positions in round 1-3. This is a physically imposing, yet fast duo, with a nice blend of passing/shooting and exceptionally strong defense on both sides of the ice. Both are battled tested, Clapper winning a title as a RW, and two at D, with Moose being a key figure on the Montreal Wanderer dynasty that directly followed the Ottawa Silver Seven's.
Jack Stewart - Bill Quackenbush - (real life pairing in Detroit)
-This unit is very familiar with one another, having paired together for 4 seasons, from 1945-46 through 1948-49. In 46-47 they were both on the 2nd team AS squad. The following 2 seasons they both occupied the 1st team AS posts, signaling them as 1-2 defensemen in the world, before Quackenbush would be traded to Boston prior to the 1950 campaign, in large part because Jack Adams detested the Lady Byng trophy (as it was construed by some to mean a player was soft), which Quackenbush had just won. Quackenbush was the finesse and positionally sound player who relied on stick work and constantly being in the right place at the right time to achieve notoriety, though there is nothing to suggest he was soft whatsoever. Punch Imlach had no issue with Lady Byng winners as Dave Keon won multiple times under Imlach's rule. Red Kelly also won in 1960. Quack's offensive prowess is often underappreciated considering he was top 3 in defensemen scoring 5 times (2, 2, 2, 2, 3) and was noted as a very smooth transitional rusher with pinpoint passing. He's also, by far, the least penalized defenseman in NHL history with a 0.12/game ratio. Stewart was the Scott Stevens of his day, and is the only D in history to be an AS both before and after the red line was introduced. He didn't rush much but was noted as rarely making a bad pass and was strong at getting the puck out of danger with few mistakes. Despite being known as arguably the nastiest body checker and most physical player over his career, Stewart was not considered dirty, his presence alone was enough to keep opposing players keenly aware of where he was on the ice. He acts as yet another shield against opposing players running roughshod on any of our F's. This was the best pairing in the hockey world for multiple seasons.
Kevin Lowe - Sergei Zubov - (real life pairing in New York)
-Like the 2nd pairing, this is another dip into past reality, when Lowe-Zubov were teamed up for the 93-94 Ranger run to being Cup winners. Zubov became the only defensemen in NHL history to lead his team in regular season scoring on an eventual Cup winner and as I posted during the draft, there were plenty of direct quotes from Zubov and Lowe complimenting one another on how easy it was to play with the other guy, Lowe's stay at home style gave/gives Zubov the freedom to attack more freely and generate transition, which are his best attributes and in a limited role, especially with their chemistry and history on many SC winners, Three Rivers feels confident in this duo making a difference, even in a more limited role.
Spare:
Si Griffis, D/F
Goalies:
Martin Brodeur
Hugh Lehman
-Brodeur is one of the few returning members from last year's Milt Dunnell title squad, but his draft position and style was just too good to pass up in pairing with Punch again. Imlach showed he was more than willing to ride a starter with a heavy workload as he did Johnny Bower early in his career (1st 3 seasons which all resulted in SCF appearances, loss, loss, win) before switching to a tandem approach as Bower aged into his late 30'/early 40's. Brodeur, in many ways is an upgraded version of Bower. Bower was noted as being aggressive and strong in playing the puck and using his stick to poke-check, and his stand up style, while not an exact match to Brodeur's, is certainly more mirrored than someone who played a butterfly dominant style. I've long said Brodeur's elite ability in playing the puck (the league literally changed the rules in large part because of how successful Marty was in this area) has underrated him, though I think he's finally edging closer to where I personally put him (around 20th all time). Three Rivers didn't have the luxury of a top pick and decided to build in a different manner, so with no Doug Harvey, getting a goalie that can handle the puck and generate possession and transition better than anyone in the business was imperative in trying to build a rare repeat winner here in the ATD. As I said in the draft thread, Lehman represented great value IMO (had no path to being a starter when I drafted him) and the fit makes sense for a number of reasons. In a single season+playoff, it is easier to sell a long term starter on the role of being back up, vs being stuck in that situation for years on end if you were say building a franchise from scratch. Take Punch Imlach's 66-67 title winning Leaf squad. He famously split Bower and Terry Sawchuk's reps over the course of the year, in both the regular season and playoffs. You also see great starters playing back up roles in best on best tournaments like the Olympics. Those squads are not taking the 34th best G as their primary back up simply because that person is playing a back up role in the NHL. While one would expect Brodeur to take the lion's share of the reps over the course of the year, in the event of an odd injury or load management needs down the stretch. Lehman represents strong return on value if he ends up in the crease given his resume.
Special Teams:
PK1:
Marcotte-MacKay (Sanderson when in lineup)
Johnson-Clapper
MacKay's elite skating and defensive ability makes him a great fit in this role, and his offensive chops + that speed should worry opposing teams on the counter if they get carless with their passing. Marcotte was a Selke caliber winger, who excelled on the PK. Johnson and Clapper's exploits defensively are well documented and the physicality of both are well used in this arena. Sanderson, when in the line-up will replace MacKay, linking up with his long time running mate, Marcotte.
PK2:
Cook-Clarke
Lowe-Stewart
PP1:
Richard - right side trigger
Nieuwendyk - net/slot
Clarke - left wall
Bowie - bumper
Zubov - QB point
-Three Rivers is utilizing the 1-3-1, umbrella formation for the top PP unit. Puck retrieval begins, in a lot of cases with the goalie, and nobody did it better than Martin Brodeur, in league history. He can be counted on to play the puck as well or better than anyone, transitioning the disc in the quickest manner possible. Sergei Zubov's greatest contributions, in a lot of cases, will be on the PP, and in that role he's as good as anyone not named Bobby Orr. His skating, vision, and passing were top notch, and coupled with the quad grouping of forwards, should make for a tough assignment for any PK unit out there. Clark is among the best playmakers you'll find below the dots, and the set up of Bowie in the bumper, Nieuwyendyk in the goal mouth, and Rocket Richard roaming between the right goal line and blueline, will test PK boxes and force them to pick an area to cheat to. Focusing on Richard will leave gaps to Bowie, one of the all time greatest goal scorers in hockey history, in between the dots. Three Rivers feels confident that Bowie's presence in this set up will force the box to shrink thus opening avenues to the wings, and back out to the point, putting significant pressure on PK forwards to skate and tire over time. Nieuwendyk was exceptionally strong at playing around the net in this set up and deflecting shot coming in. A further nuanced look at this unit also sees Three Rivers sport 2 all time great face-off artists in Clarke and Nieuwendyk. Winning draws is critical here and our squad will often have an advantage, sometimes a significant one, in gaining possession.
PP2:
Recchi - right wall
Lemaire/Shutt - slot
MacKay - left wall
Clapper - trigger point
Quackenbush - QB point
