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So Then...Where Is The Game Going?

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You need elite players in their prime, with a good supporting cast.  

It doesn't matter if your great players are big, small, forwards, D or a goalie.  

A lot of teams win with a great goalie and defense.  Last time Pens won their only top end D (Letang) hurt the whole playoffs.  

 

Though obviously the game is getting faster.  So it will be harder and harder to win just by playing a all out defensive game.  Also, your D needs to be more mobile than ever. 

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Personally I like a deep team than a team that's top heavy with superstars .....rolling four strong lines that can play at both ends of the ice .  Three great centers is what I like . 

I like the fact we are.getting deep with goalies 

When was the last time a team won the cup without great goaltending ?  

Defense is the part of the game that I think has changed the most.  Like the previous poster said they need to be very mobile and getting the puck out of your own zone in a hurry has become a defensive system. 

Gone are the days of Garth butcher and Harold snepts 

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43 minutes ago, CanadianRugby said:

It doesn't matter if your great players are big, small,

I agree with your post, though not quite this.  Yes, you can win with your stars not being big, but they need to be durable.  I don't believe that if we somehow made the playoffs that Petey would be enjoying himself much.  He would be a physical target and I would be SO worried about injury. We also don't have the size overall that would be ideal to punish the stars on another team either. So I think size itself does help. 

 

I also agree that you can win largely with a good d and goalie.  In fact, I view goaltending as THE most important position.  An elite goalie can steal you games virtually singlehandedly.

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I think elite mobile defensemen will be how this league will be going.  

Good defense means there is secondary scoring.  Good defense will almost automatically be very competent goaltending.  

 

Crappy defense core almost always mean the goaltending feels suspect and the top-6 being unable to generate sustained pressure.  

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Good post and food for thought.

 

Just off of recent memory there are a number of 'models' that have been admired for replication.

 

- Cup winners can influence that. When the 2011 Bruins and 2012 Kings sent a message that you had to be tough and strong. That it didn't matter how skilled you are if you didn't have BIG, MEAN players.

- Then there's today where everybody wants their small, speedy skill-guy. 

 

- Developmentally, the failure of the Oilers "proved" that you couldn't just have young players thrown together without putting them in a winning environment. So, enter Lindennig saying that we had to win and develop at the same time. 

- Well, how well did that work out? Our re-jig became a retool became a reboot became a rebuild and we're nowhere.

 

- For a while, the Detroit model was looked up to: slowly introduce players only after they have payed their dues in the minors, even if your high picks are there until their 20's.

- Now...get your kids in as soon as possible. In our case, Utica isn't even being used, really. We just go the college route.

 

Point is, a lot of this stuff seems reactionary, and in many cases that fails. You have to be proactive, and (just as you said) determine what the future is going to be like. Problem there? What if you're dead wrong? These people (scouts, GM's, etc.) are excellent at their jobs, but their not prophets, and don't possess a crystal ball. So, basically, if you guess wrong, you're hooped. Like in a lot of situations, I doubt there is only one way...but there are more and less effective ways. And after all that...I can't claim to know them.

 

 

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Hot goaltending, good defense, and rolling 4 lines is a given. Some people think the NHL is moving towards pure speed and skill but that is far from it. Almost every team right now in the playoffs is balanced with speed/skill/toughness throughout their fwd lines and defense. Hughes, Pettersson, and Boeser will have targets on their backs and we need guys who will protect them. Tom Wilson, Josh Anderson, Evander Kane, etc. type players who can play top 6, hit hard and chuck the mitts when the whistles blown. Right now our team is too soft to even make it a reg season without key injuries, IMO it isn’t a fluke that this happening year after year there needs to be a culture change. Play with a pack mentality and Start drafting/developing some players who are strong on the puck, hit to hurt, and don’t stand there when Petey or Boeser are on the wrong end of dirty hits. 

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Edmonton messed up when they clearly gad scoring power , with Hall and Eberle.  They should have stayed the course and added a bonified goalie instead of taking chances on a talbot,darling type goalie. Bad management haha , makes me proud to see other canadian teams fail

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Your stars are opportunity driven. Grab them when you can & be thankful. Build around them. The balance is systematic.

 

The rest of the team includes a balance of vets to show the way.  And youth on ELC to make the team sustainable. But also sustainable in terms of athleticism. Role players, see Tanev, ultimately get worn out. Younger, faster, stronger players need to be in waves. Carefully constructed by management & deployed effectively to counteract opposing stars.Speed and size on its own wont stop Ovechkin? But can make it harder for him to operate. Enough speed and athleticism on ELC's? Allows you to compliment you stars qith the odd strategic UFA.

 

Draft as many outstanding athletes as possible. Outstanding athletes that compete their arses off to fill out the team. 

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you need a defenseman that can eat up 25+ mins a night that can produce at both ends aka the norris caliber ones... or you need at least 3 "good" defenseman that's capable of playing around 20 mins a night.. you also need bottom 6 forwards that can chip in here and there not a bunch of top 6 that are just shutdown players that doesn't provide offense.. 

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4 hours ago, 189lb enforcers? said:

The best role players win teams cups.

I think the 96 Avs and same circa Wings showed us that. 

That’s true providing the teams’ elite guys are a saw-off.  A team still needs their elite guys to be close to as good as the other teams’. Plus, the goalie needs to be playing well.  The more you examine the equation, there is a lot that goes into winning a Cup, isn’t there?

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13 hours ago, We Are All Cucks said:

Good post and food for thought.

 

Just off of recent memory there are a number of 'models' that have been admired for replication.

 

- Cup winners can influence that. When the 2011 Bruins and 2012 Kings sent a message that you had to be tough and strong. That it didn't matter how skilled you are if you didn't have BIG, MEAN players.

- Then there's today where everybody wants their small, speedy skill-guy. 

 

- Developmentally, the failure of the Oilers "proved" that you couldn't just have young players thrown together without putting them in a winning environment. So, enter Lindennig saying that we had to win and develop at the same time. 

- Well, how well did that work out? Our re-jig became a retool became a reboot became a rebuild and we're nowhere.

 

- For a while, the Detroit model was looked up to: slowly introduce players only after they have payed their dues in the minors, even if your high picks are there until their 20's.

- Now...get your kids in as soon as possible. In our case, Utica isn't even being used, really. We just go the college route.

 

Point is, a lot of this stuff seems reactionary, and in many cases that fails. You have to be proactive, and (just as you said) determine what the future is going to be like. Problem there? What if you're dead wrong? These people (scouts, GM's, etc.) are excellent at their jobs, but their not prophets, and don't possess a crystal ball. So, basically, if you guess wrong, you're hooped. Like in a lot of situations, I doubt there is only one way...but there are more and less effective ways. And after all that...I can't claim to know them.

 

 

You don't how the last three years would have worked out had they been able to stay healthy.

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8 minutes ago, spur1 said:

I think last night we learned that the refs will still put the whistle away in the playoffs to let goon teams win. 

We need a few players that can play that way. 

Depends on officials honestly some series have had really minor stuff called over and over while others seem like anything goes.

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