EXTRA VALUE:

ADDITIONAL PLAYERS A MUST FOR REPLAYERS

 

By Glenn Guzzo

 

            If you know who Andy Delmore is then you know why, for board gamers who like to do season replays, Strat-O-Matic’s additional-player sets are much more than a luxury.

 

            Delmore, the quarterback of Nashville’s power play, scored 14 power-play goals and 16 overall as a defenseman – just one goal short of what the Predators’ five defensemen in Strat-O-Matic’s regular card set combined to score. And he played 71 of Nashville’s 82 games.

 

            Strat-O-Matic’s regular card set includes 18 players for each of the NHL’s 30 teams. That’s two goalies, 11 forwards and five defensemen – enough for three full lines, two defensive pairs and spare players. While Delmore was a fixture on Nashville’s blue line, five other Predator defensemen played more games than Delmore.

 

            The additional-player set has always been the place to find injured stars, like the Rangers’ Pavel Bure, the Flyers’ John LeClair, the Red Wings’ Steve Yzerman and the Blues’ Chris Pronger.     

 

But it now also is the place to find players like Bryan Marchment, who played 81 games, but fewer than 15 for his final team, Colorado. And Phil Housley, included with Toronto’s extra players after a late-season trade there, but who was injured at the time and never suited up with the Maple Leafs after playing 58 games with Chicago.

           

Result: A huge additional-player set, 207 players in all, including 9 goaltenders. Of the 198 extra skaters, an even 100 played at least half the NHL’s 82-game season.

           

Many replayers will want to use the NHL’s rule permitting 18 skaters and two goalies per game. You’ll need the additional players to do that. You’ll also need them to get Delmore and these guys:

n      A dozen double-figure goal scorers.

n      Pavel Bure, RW, Rangers: 19 goals in 39 games

n      Bryan Smolinski, forward, Ottawa: 21 goals, 46 points in 68 games, mostly for Los Angeles.

n      John LeClair, LW, Philadelphia: 18 goals in 35 games.

n      Adam Deadmarsh, W, Los Angeles: 13 goals in 20 games.

n      Brad Isbister, W, Edmonton: 13 goals and 15 assists in 66 games, mostly for the Islanders.

n      Alexsey Morozov, W, Pittsburgh: 25 points in 27 games.

n      Fred Brathwaite, G, St. Louis: 30 games. Most games of any goaltender not in the regular card set, he was the Blues’ No. 1 netminder until mid-December.

n      Brad Bombardir, D, Minnesota: 4-rated defenseman with 58 games for the Wild.

n      Glen Wesley, D, Toronto: 4-rated defense and 70 games, mostly for Carolina.

n      Bryan Marchment, D, Colorado: 81 games, mostly for San Jose.

n      Jason Woolley, D, Detroit: Joined the Wings in the first quarter of the season, ended up with 76 games and 26 points.

n      Lyle Odelein and Stephane Robidas, D, Dallas: 144 games of blue-line play. Robidas had 76, all with the Stars.

n      Brad Ference, Deron Quint and Danny Markov, D, Phoenix: 190 games on the blue line.

n      Ryan Johnson, Tyson Nash, etc, F, St. Louis: 308 games of forward-line play.

n      Grant Marshall, RW, New Jersey: 76 games, 32 points, mostly for Columbus.