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NHL Comparisons for The Mighty Ducks characters

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How about a fun thread to take our minds off of free agency for a little bit?

Just as a preface, Jedi (one of the LGW mods) gave me the green light to start this thread. Thanks Jedi, btw! So, hopefully it doesn't get moved out of the General Discussion.

As part of the July 4th weekend celebration, my buddies and I along with our families blew up some fireworks (as well as 'sacrificed' a few old toys), had a few drinks and got into some random discussions. We're all hockey junkies and movie buffs and so eventually The Mighty Ducks movies came up in conversation and we wondered what the Mighty Ducks team would look like if those characters were in the NHL today based on their primary strengths/weaknesses. In terms of NHL comparisons, we decided to stick with players currently active in today's game.

For example, which NHL player would be most comparable to Adam Banks? We all immediately and unequivocally declared that the most fitting or perhaps ideal comparison would be Sidney Crosby. Steve Stamkos came up a little bit but only as a 2nd option if we felt later on that the Crosby comparison is too ridiculous...

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Thoughts? Ideas?

And let me get it out of the way now. Yes, we're a bunch of dorks and we're more than cool with it. :D

Defensemen

Greg Goldberg - He was a goalie for the first two movies but then had a true calling moment where he transformed into a defenseman. We prefer him as a defenseman. More specifically, a shutdown defenseman with decent size, stocky build and puck-moving ability along with some tenacity to play physical. NHL Comparison: Dan Girardi, Doug Murray.

Fulton Reed - We thought of him more as a defenseman since he seems to play around the blue line for the most part save for when he's running around terrorizing the ice with his fellow bash brother. He's a big minute defenseman with one of the hardest shots around who also has the size and nastiness to play physical. He went from one of the worst skaters in the first movie to a pretty good skater in the third movie. NHL Comparison: Shea Weber.

Dean Portman - Sigh... Yeah he lines up at right wing in the 2nd and 3rd movies but we eventually agreed that we wanted to keep the 'Bash Brothers' together. Therefore, if Fulton is best as a defenseman then Portman is a defenseman as well. As a true bash brother, he's like Fulton Reed without the high-end offensive ability. NHL Comparison: I said Luke Schenn but only one other guy agreed with me. The other two think he has more offense to his game and so they said Kevin Bieksa.

Russ Tyler - Like Fulton, he seems to play around the blue line for the most part. It's where he has to be to get off his knuckle puck. We decided that he has decent size, a big shot, good offensive skills and plays with tenacity while his mobility and anticipation in his own zone as a defenseman seems to be only adequate. NHL Comparison: A poor man's PK Subban, Anton Babchuk, Dion Phaneuf, or Dustin Byfuglien.

Dave Karp - He didn't make much of an impression since he was only in the first movie. He's a stocky kid who isn't afraid to fight back. His biggest moment on the ice was when he used his head to block a shot. Therefore, to us he's a defensive defenseman with decent size and anticipation in his own zone. He's also willing to block shots and play physical. NHL Comparison: Mark Fistric, Andreas Lilja

Peter Mark - He also didn't make much of an impression because he was only in the first movie. He's a short kid but pretty feisty and annoying while he had a moment or two moving the puck out of his own zone. So we think he's a small, undersized puck moving defenseman. NHL Comparison: Mike Weaver, perhaps Brett Lebda before he officially became Bart Lebderp.

Forwards

Adam Banks - NHL Comparison: Sidney Crosby.

Charlie Conway - Not the fastest or most skilled but is a team leader and the team's source for determination. By the third movie he showed some pretty awesome skill with the puck and turned out to be one of the team's most important players on the ice and not just off of it. NHL Comparison: Jonathan Toews, Henrik Zetterberg.

Guy Germaine - Like Wikipedia, we think he's the most skilled player on the team outside of Adam Banks but is perhaps the best two-way player on the team. He just always seems to be out there in the games most important moments, especially in the first two movies. We picture him as a candidate for the Lady Byng trophy at some point in his career. NHL Comparison: Overall but especially skill wise, Matt Duchene came to my mind; one of the guys brought up Joe Pavelski; another said Patrice Bergeron.

Les Averman - He has good skill and two-way ability. While he does his fair share of trash talking, he seems to agitate and annoy opponents simply with his presence alone. NHL Comparison: My friend's Mom brought up Sean Avery but most of us don't consider Averman as that type of annoying. I think of him more as a solid third line center and so I thought more in regards to Eric Belanger while another brought up Valtteri Filppula.

Connie Moreau - Arguably the most underrated player on the team and my little sister's favorite character. Since she always seemed to be taller than a lot of the guys in the movies, we consider her to be at least 6'2 in an NHL projection. We thought of her as a 2nd/3rd line tweener and can be a complimentary top-six forward. NHL Comparison: Mason Raymond, Dan Cleary, a poor man's Cory Stillman.

Dwayne Robertson - He could definitely dangle dangle but has somewhat of a tendency to be a "clown" as Tomas Jurco likes to say. My Dad absolutely HATED this character with a passion, haha. Although we do consider him to have good on-ice vision and creativity. We pegged him as a top-six or bust kind of player. NHL Comparison: I said a poor man's Patrick Kane. Another guy said a poor man's Jason Pominville. So, no specific names came to mind but now that I look at some of the threads here on LGW, perhaps Nikolay Zherdev could be a decent comparison.

Kenny Wu - He has elite skating ability, shiftiness along with an uncanny way of finding openings to go with top-six worthy vision and playmaking skills. He's also undersized and lacks strength. NHL Comparison: Perhaps Kris Versteeg, Radim Vrbata, Jan Mursak (if he pans out).

Luis Mendoza - Fastest skater on the team who by the end of the third movie still can't solve his issues in regards to developing some brakes. We only focused on the former part. NHL Comparison: Of course, because a couple of us are Wings fans we had to mention Darren Helm. Another name that came up was Andrew Cogliano.

Jesse Hall - It's a shame he wasn't in the third movie. He was the only true power forward on the team. He loves to play physical and fight everybody but can also score goals and make decent plays. NHL Comparison: I said Ryane Clowe with a touch better playmaking skills. Another guy brought up Johan Franzen but only in terms of offensive ability. Milan Lucic also came to mind.

Terry Hall - He was only in the first movie so we don't have much of an impression of him. However, since he was a member of "The Oreo Line" we labeled him as a generic complimentary top-six forward. NHL Comparison: See Connie Moreau's description.

Tommy Duncan - We don't have much to go on since he only had one or two moments in the first movie alone. We labeled him as a reserve forward who is versatile (can play center or wing) and has good skill for a bottom six guy. NHL Comparison: Based on the limited impression, we generally thought about a player who is on a two-way deal but one of the leading scorers in the AHL. Jason Krog, Darren Haydar, etc.

Tammy Duncan - Again, she was only in the first movie and had one or two memorable moments. We derived that she was a good skater and wasn't exactly afraid to get a little violent. NHL Comparison: See Tommy Duncan.

Goaltender

Julie Gafney - She has an incredibly quick glove and loves to battle for her territory. NHL Comparison: One guy brought up Roberto Luongo but then the whole room went silent. I thought about Jonathan Quick. Someone else mentioned Tim Thomas.

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Guy Germaine - inseparable from Connie. Kind of like Kopecky if Connie is Hossa.

This adds nothing significant to the thread so im sorry, but am i the only one that thought that one of the hall's was a girl?

YES! Terry Hall! That's even a girl's name! He had a girl's voice. All my life, I've never been entirely certain. I still don't fully believe he's a dude.

Great thread btw! NOW we're offseasoning!

A few others that could be compared:

Gordon Bombay -

"Coach" McKay -

Hans -

The Hawks -

Coach O'Reilly -

Team Iceland -

Wolf "The Dentist" Stansson -

Gunner Stahl -

Charlie's Mom -

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There was a time where - given his shift from the bad guys in black to the good guys - I would have lobbied for Adam Banks to be compared to Marian Hossa.

marian-hossa.jpg

Also, I think that given the fact that Luis Mendoza had only speed and not actual skating ability (he couldn't stop, remember) - he should be compared to Brett Lebda.

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A few others that could be compared:

Gordon Bombay -

Wolf "The Dentist" Stansson -

Even though its not quite the same position, with him being GM and all, but I'd say Stevie Y for Bombay, that sort of talented player, never gives up, promotes smart hockey, moral, good natured and that every body gets along with. The sort of person that everyone in the hockey world seems to like. Plus those dreadful knees.

Wolf = Milbury. Bit of a goon from player to bench.

Great thread. Mighty Ducks is my childhood

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So I compiled all the comparisons into a lineup. How would a team like this one fare in today's league?

Jonathan Toews-Sidney Crosby-Nikolay Zherdev

Dan Cleary-Matt Duchene-Ryane Clowe

Mason Raymond-Eric Belanger-Radim Vrbata

Darren Helm-Jason Krog-Darren Haydar

Shea Weber-Luke Schenn

Dustin Byfuglien-Dan Girardi

Mark Fistric-Mike Weaver

Jonathan Quick

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So I compiled all the comparisons into a lineup. How would a team like this one fare in today's league?

Jonathan Toews-Sidney Crosby-Nikolay Zherdev

Dan Cleary-Matt Duchene-Ryane Clowe

Mason Raymond-Eric Belanger-Radim Vrbata

Darren Helm-Jason Krog-Darren Haydar

Shea Weber-Luke Schenn

Dustin Byfuglien-Dan Girardi

Mark Fistric-Mike Weaver

Jonathan Quick

Pretty competitive. Especially if Bombay was coaching.

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Nicklas Backstrom as Gunnar Stahl.

They look alike, and Backstrom definitely favors the Triple Deke.

Strangely though, in D3, the same actor was the Varsity netminder. I know its highly unlikely, but have there been any goaltenders that were former-forwards?

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Strangely though, in D3, the same actor was the Varsity netminder. I know its highly unlikely, but have there been any goaltenders that were former-forwards?

Good question. Of course, I'm sure it happens all the time when kids are young and try every position but I bet you're asking in regards to perhaps going from a junior level to a men's league. Anyone?

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