So it was a rainy miserable afternoon here is Boston and so it was decided that the afternoon would be dedicated to watching a pick-me-up movie. We decided on one of the classics of our generation: D2 The Mighty Ducks. D2 is clearly the best out of the trilogy of Mighty Ducks movies, this point cannot be argued as it is a scientific fact. As we were watching the movie though we were trying to figure out who the best players on the team were. Clearly Charlie gets the most notoriety on the team but he is definitely not one of the top skilled players. Banks is, in my opinion, the best player on the team; to make a baseball reference, he's the equivalent of a 5 tool player. He is solid in all facets of the game: skating, puck handling, passing, and scoring. He is the silent leader of the team, always coming up big plays when called upon. Under Banks, I would have to put Guy and Jesse as the next two best players. Neither of them gets any recognition for their play but consistently outperform the rest of the team. Jesse leads the flying-V, which is not a position Coach Bombay would just give away. It's a meaningful spot and Jesse earned it with solid play. Guy plays on the same line as Jesse and those two plus Charlie make up a very solid first line. Guy gets no publicity for his great play, although he does have a thing with Connie, which is nice for him. Coach Bombay also chooses Jesse and Guy to shoot first and second respectively in the shootout, a move showing Bombay's faith in them to start the shootout strongly. Quick note about the shootout: why would Bombay choose Dwayne to be in the shootout? Sure he's a good puck handler, but the shootout is all about finishing and Dwayne does not have the finishing skill of Connie or Russ, who were both overlooked as possible shooters at the end of the game. As far as defensemen go, Averman seems to do an above average job, bit it's boring to make a hockey movie about great defense so we don't see him in action very often. Fulton is an undervalued member of the team; he is a solid enforcer willing to do whatever is needed to be loyal to his teammates. In addition to being the enforcer, he's got a lethal slap shot which is a great weapon in junior hockey. Portman on the other hand isn't of great value to the team. It's ridiculous to waste two spots on the ice on enforcers when Fulton and Portman were both playing at the same time. Portman adds nothing to the team except his ability to make big hits, almost all of which are illegal yet he's not penalized. Connie seems to be one of the pieces holding the team together; she's not flashy and doesn't put up huge stats but she's consistent and rarely makes mistakes. Her only big mistake was her inability to get the puck out of the corner when Samuelson is bearing down upon her. Luckily Dwayne comes out to save her, which seems like a nice thing to do but he's moving in on Guy's territory, kind of a dick move. Dwayne's puck handling works to distract players on opposing teams at the junior level but once he moves up to higher levels of hockey, I don't see him having a very successful future. Opposing players will become more disciplined and he doesn't have any other great skills to fall back on. Luis and Kenny both have one tremendous skill that adds to the team dynamic but neither are particularly valuable members of the team because if opposing teams do any scouting whatsoever, they'd know exactly what to expect from those two the second they stepped onto the ice. Charlie is one of the two central characters in the movie, along with Bombay, but he is vastly overrated. Charlie is not a particularly skilled hockey player but he is the outspoken leader of the team. His leadership skills are the only thing keeping him around on the team. When he says he'd make a better coach than player he is completely right; as far as skills go he is not a very valuable member to the team. As far as the two goalies go, Goldberg got more playing time throughout, but this was only to enhance the entertainment value in the movie. Clearly Julie the Cat was a better goalie and Bombay makes a terrible mistake by keeping Goldberg in goal once she joins the team. Here's the lineup as I see it for the US team at the Junior Goodwill Games:
Goalie: Goldberg Julie
DLine1: Averman Dwayne
DLine2: Portman Luis
Line1: Jesse Guy Charlie
Line2: Banks (Russ) Connie Fulton/Kenny (depending on what style of player was needed)
*In the final game when Charlie gives up his spot...Banks moves up to the first line and Russ plays on the second line.