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Heading into the 1989 NHL Entry Draft, fictional Saskatoon Westerns GM Ardal Ekrub is a bit concerned about the makeup of his team's Reserve List. Among the 78 players thereon, he has eight goaltenders, 23 centers, 14 left wings, and 20 right wings, but only 13 defensemen. His Project-a-Tron objective draft ranking system is designed to rank players from each position on the same basis, so he's unsure whether there's some flaw in the system, or if it's merely a fluke. Maybe the other teams have just done a better job of picking his top-ranked blueliners before he had the chance to do so. From 1983-84 through 1986-87, he had between 17 and 18 defensemen on the reserve list before dropping to 15 and then 13, so it may just be a fluke.
At any rate, his team is in need of more defensemen. As such, for the foreseeable future, he decides to increase the ratings of all defensemen by 15%, in an attempt to reflect the greater value the position has for a team short on the position, such as his. (Note that the table below does not reflect this adjustment, showing only the output from the system. For Ekrub's purposes, Patrice Brisebois has a rating of 9.4, not 8.2.)
Top 30 Players Available at 1989 Entry Draft
Rank Player Pos League PGVT+ Drafted
1 Reichel, Robert F Cze 17.1 70
2 Holik, Bobby F Cze 12.4 10
3 Larouche, Steve F QMJHL 8.5 41
4 Brisebois, Patrice D QMJHL 8.2 30
5 Andersson, Niklas F Swe 8.2 68
6 Potvin, Felix G QMJHL 7.4 -
7 Lebeau, Patrick F QMJHL 7.4 167
8 Alatalo, Mika F Fin 7.1 -
9 Morin, Stephane F QMJHL 6.7 43
10 Barnes, Stu F WHL 6.6 4
11 Sillinger, Mike F WHL 6.5 11
12 Rob, Lubos F Cze 6.5 -
13 Chalifoux, Denis F QMJHL 6.4 -
14 Kautonen, Ville-Pekka D Fin 6.3 50
15 Heward, Jamie D WHL 6.1 16
16 Suvanto, Harri F Fin 6.1 -
17 Corriveau, Rick D WHL 6.0 31
18 Gagnon, Pierre G QMJHL 5.9 -
19 Tormanen, Antti F Fin 5.8 -
20 Miller, Jason F WHL 5.7 18
21 Miller, Colin F OHL 5.6 -
22 Sundin, Mats F Swe 5.6 1
23 Chyzowski, David F WHL 5.5 2
24 Sailynoja, Keijo F Fin 5.5 -
25 Perreault, Yanic F QMJHL 5.4 -
26 Picard, Michel F QMJHL 5.4 178
27 Tanner, John G OHL 5.3 54
28 Rydmark, Daniel F Swe 5.2 123
29 Neilsen, Jens F Swe 5.0 -
30 Udvari, Steve G OHL 4.9 -
As it turns out, this adjustment makes no difference in the 1989 draft. There are few good blueline prospects (according to the system), and even with a 15% bump to their ratings none of them are the best player available when it comes time for the Westerns to make a pick.
The list of top-ranked draft-eligible players is very unusual this year. Of the top 20 players, 12 are from Canadian major junior leagues, which is fairly typical. However, of these 12, the first five are all from the QMJHL, and there are no OHL players at all. The top-ranked OHLer is found in 21st place. This didn't stop NHL teams from drafting seven OHL players in the first round, of course. Below is a list of these players, with their projected peak GVT, and their actual peak GVT.
Overrated OHL Talent in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft
Pick Player Height Pos PGVT+ Actual
3 Thornton, Scott 6'3" F 3.1 2.7
6 Bennett, Adam 6'4" D 3.2 1.1
12 Pearson, Rob 6'1" F 2.0 3.3
15 Soules, Jason 6'3" D 3.6 -4.2
17 Stevenson, Shayne 6'1" F 4.4 -0.7
20 Rice, Steven 6'0" F 3.5 5.0
21 Bancroft, Steve 6'1" D 3.7 4.9
The system is quite accurate in projecting these players, overall. The table also lists the players' heights. It's probably just a coincidence, though, right?
Saskatoon Westerns 1989 Entry Draft Picks
Pick Player Pos League PGVT+
19 Reichel, Robert C Cze 17.1
40 Larouche, Steve C QMJHL 8.5
43 Andersson, Niklas LW Swe 8.2
61 Potvin, Felix G QMJHL 7.4
82 Lebeau, Patrick RW QMJHL 7.4
103 Alatalo, Mika LW Fin 7.1
145 Rob, Lubos LW Cze 6.5
166 Suvanto, Harri LW Fin 6.1
187 Tormanen, Antti LW Fin 5.8
208 Sailynoja, Keijo LW Fin 5.5
229 Neilsen, Jens RW Swe 5.0
250 Udvari, Steve G OHL 4.9
Although Ekrub makes no deals for draft picks this offseason (there aren't any veteran players he wants to move for draft picks), he does complete the annual purge of players required to make room on the reserve list for newly-drafted players. He releases Raimo Helminen, Dale Derkatch, Rich Chernomaz, Darren Beals, Sean Evoy, Jason Glickman, Jock Callander, Esa Keskinen, Claude Gosselin, Vladimir Kames, Joakim Pehrsson, and Petr Rosol.
Saskatoon Westerns 1989-90 Reserve List
Pos Name Age (1989-90)
G Beaupre, Don (k) 27
G Bergeron, J-C (k) 20
G Fiset, Stephane (k) 19
G Potvin, Felix 18
G Racicot, Andre (k) 20
G Riendeau, Vincent (k) 23
G Udvari, Steve 18
D Albelin, Tommy (k) 25
D Andersson, Peter (k) 24
D Bodger, Doug (k) 23
D Brown, Jeff (k) 23
D Friman, Kari-Pekka (k) 22
D Hawgood, Greg (k) 21
D Lambert, Dan (k) 19
D Maciver, Norm (k) 26
D McCrimmon, Brad (k) 30
D Norwood, Lee (k) 29
D Numminen, Teppo (k) 21
D Taylor, Randy (k) 24
D Whitham, Sean (k) 22
C Bradley, Brian (k) 24
C Conroy, Al (k) 23
C Federko, Bernie (k) 33
C Gilmour, Doug (k) 26
C Goodall, Glen (k) 19
C Johansson, Mikael 23
C Kivela, Teppo 21
C Kron, Robert (k) 22
C Kucera, Jiri 23
C Laaksonen, Mikko (k) 22
C Lapointe, Claude (k) 20
C Larouche, Steve 18
C Larter, Tyler (k) 21
C Lebeau, Stephan (k) 21
C Maurice, Daniel (k) 20
C Nielsen, Len (k) 22
C Nieuwendyk, Joe (k) 23
C Raitanen, Pauli 19
C Reichel, Robert 18
C Stone, Don 20
LW Alatalo, Mika 18
LW Andersson, Niklas 18
LW Endean, Craig (k) 21
LW Horak, Roman 19
LW Jurik, Juraj 21
LW Kastak, Kamil 23
LW Kiuru, Marko 20
LW Lubina, Ladislav (k) 22
LW MacDonald, Lane (k) 23
LW Nemcicky, Roman 21
LW Norton, Darcy (k) 21
LW Propp, Brian (k) 30
LW Recchi, Mark (k) 21
LW Rob, Lubos 19
LW Sailynoja, Keijo 19
LW Suvanto, Harri 18
LW Tikkanen, Esa (k) 24
LW Torkki, Jari (k) 24
LW Tormanen, Antti 18
RW Akerblom, Markus 19
RW Audette, Donald (k) 19
RW Beausoleil, Luc (k) 21
RW Brown, Rob (k) 21
RW Drulia, Stan (k) 21
RW Elvenes, Stefan 19
RW Fleury, Theoren (k) 21
RW Ganchar, Perry (k) 25
RW Graham, Dirk (k) 29
RW Klima, Petr (k) 24
RW Lebeau, Patrick 19
RW Lefebvre, Patrice (k) 21
RW Mullen, Joe (k) 32
RW Neilsen, Jens 19
RW Nilsson, Henrik 19
RW Sjogren, Thomas 21
RW Tremblay, Patrice (k) 21
RW Wahlsten, Sami 21
Players on Reserve List (Maximum 80): 77
Players Under Contract (Maximum 50): 50
On the ice, the Westerns have another excellent season. Following their 99-point effort in 1988-89, they record 98 points in 1989-90, good for second in the Smythe Division and fourth overall. By the end of the season, Mark Recchi and Donald Audette have claimed regular spots in the lineup, pushing Rob Brown to the pressbox for most of the playoffs, his defensive lapses being a bit too much to take.
Saskatoon Westerns 1989-90 NHL Season Results
GP W L T GF GA Pts Finish
80 45 27 8 344 277 98 2nd place, Smythe; 4th overall
Player Pos GP OGVT DGVT GVT
Nieuwendyk, Joe C 79 14.7 5.0 19.7
Gilmour, Doug C 78 10.8 5.8 16.6
Beaupre, Don G 48 0.0 14.0 14.0
Fleury, Theoren RW 80 9.4 3.6 13.0
Mullen, Joe RW 78 7.4 3.5 10.9
Tikkanen, Esa LW 79 6.5 4.2 10.7
Hawgood, Greg D 77 6.2 4.1 10.3
Numminen, Teppo D 79 5.9 3.8 9.7
Graham, Dirk RW 73 4.3 4.4 8.7
Brown, Jeff D 77 5.8 1.6 7.4
Klima, Petr LW 76 5.7 0.8 6.5
Bodger, Doug D 71 2.5 3.6 6.1
Propp, Brian LW 54 3.5 2.3 5.8
McCrimmon, Brad D 79 0.2 5.5 5.7
Bradley, Brian C 67 2.3 2.5 4.8
Riendeau, Vincent G 32 0.0 4.7 4.7
Brown, Rob RW 80 4.3 0.2 4.5
Federko, Bernie C 73 3.7 0.4 4.1
Lebeau, Stephan LW 50 1.8 1.3 3.1
Audette, Donald RW 36 2.2 0.4 2.6
Maciver, Norm D 71 1.0 1.1 2.1
Recchi, Mark LW 30 1.2 0.3 1.5
Albelin, Tommy D 26 0.4 0.6 1.0
Kron, Robert C 8 0.1 0.3 0.4
Torkki, Jari LW 7 0.1 0.1 0.2
Laaksonen, Mikko LW 4 0.1 0.0 0.1
Conroy, Al RW 3 0.0 0.0 0.0
Lubina, Ladislav LW 6 0.0 0.0 0.0
Total 80 100.0 74.1 174.1
Playoffs, First Round
Once again, the Westerns face their rival Edmonton Oilers in the first round in the playoffs. This time, of course, Saskatoon is the favorite. Even so, the Oilers take the first game 8-2. The Westerns come back to win 4-2 in the second game, but then Bill Ranford stonewalls the Saskatchewan club for two consecutive games, as Edmonton wins 3-0 and 1-0. Down three games to one, and facing a very hot goaltender, Ekrub's boys manage three consecutive one-goal victories (3-2, 4-3 and 3-2) to advance to the second round.
Playoffs, Second Round
With the Oilers done away with, the Westerns must still face Wayne Gretzky once again. This series goes back and forth, before Saskatoon finally advances out of their division with a seventh-game victory (0-1, 7-4, 6-8, 3-1, 5-0, 0-1, 4-3).
Playoffs, Third Round
The Blackhawks are up next, and this time, the Saskatoon goaltender takes over to begin the series, as his team manages a pair of 1-0 wins. They have a fairly easy time the rest of the way, with the remainder of the series going 7-3, 1-3, and 6-1. The Westerns are demonstrating their ability to play defense, showing they're not a purely offensive club. Will that be enough to defeat the Bruins in the Finals?
Playoffs, Final Round
It doesn't start well for Saskatoon, as Boston takes the first two games by scores of 3-1. After a 7-1 Westerns win, the Bruins take a three games to one lead with a 4-1 win in Game 4. Saskatoon pours on the scoring in Game 5, taking it 7-4, and then thrills their home crowd with a narrow 2-1 win in Game 6, with Beaupre again shining, setting up a deciding game seven in Boston.
Tied 3-3 late in the third period, tenacious Finn Esa Tikkanen puts his team ahead on a beautiful pass from Doug Gilmour. These two are then on the ice again, along with linemate Dirk Graham, Brad McCrimmon, and Teppo Numminen, in the dying moments of the game, as one final save from Beaupre earns the Stanley Cup for his team, and the Conn Smythe Trophy for himself.
Basking in the victory, Ekrub was heard to say, "I knew we had a great team. We just had to prove it to everyone else. I may have put the team together, but it wasn't me out there scoring the goals. Our guys earned it."
The 1990 Stanley Cup Champion Saskatoon Westerns
Player Pos GP G A Pts
Mullen, Joe RW 25 13 7 20
Gilmour, Doug C 26 10 10 20
Tikkanen, Esa LW 26 9 11 20
Nieuwendyk, Joe C 26 10 8 18
Federko, Bernie C 26 4 14 18
Propp, Brian LW 25 4 10 14
Brown, Jeff D 25 3 11 14
Graham, Dirk RW 25 3 10 13
Fleury, Theoren RW 26 4 7 11
Recchi, Mark LW 26 3 8 11
Numminen, Teppo D 26 3 6 9
Bodger, Doug D 24 1 8 9
Audette, Donald RW 23 4 4 8
Bradley, Brian C 24 2 5 7
Hawgood, Greg D 25 1 5 6
Klima, Petr LW 25 3 2 5
Maciver, Norm D 24 0 4 4
McCrimmon, Brad D 26 0 4 4
Lebeau, Stephan C 5 2 0 2
Brown, Rob RW 4 1 0 1
Albelin, Tommy D 6 0 1 1
Total 26 80 135 215
Player Pos GP MIN GAA SO
Beaupre, Don G 25 1475 2.44 3
Riendeau, Vincent G 2 100 3.00 0
Total 26 1575 2.48 3
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