The right elements for a Cup winning team

[RonMexico]

And what elements would you consider key in developing a winning team?

Luck

[Ghostsof1915]

1-2 Norris calibre d-men, and a capable 3-6.

3 lines that are a threat to score, and can score. Not just create scoring chances but actually fill the net.

Above average goalie(s), that makes timely saves, as well as saves.

All players have a role to fill. Be it being physical, scoring goals, playmaking.

If McCann, Cassels, and Horvat all become great two way centres in the Toews mold. We develop a couple of top notch d-men.

And Demko turns out be as good as Schneider. Then the future's so bright we gotta wear shades.

[Mustapha]

It all starts with a franchise-quality defenseman. You need a Doughty, a Keith, Weber, someone of that calibre.

Then, you need a group of young, hungry players and a coach who is capable to motivate them and get them to buy into the team's identity. Leaders will emerge.

Finally, you need a goaltender who works hard. Doesn't have to be the best goalie on Earth, but is a good team guy and has the confidence of his teammates.

This describes so many of the great dynasties in hockey, whether it be the Hawks of today or the Isles and Oilers of the 80's or the Red Wings of the late 90's- Early 2000's.

[YEGCanuck]

Draft by position, and for character, skill, size in that order. Major investment in player development. Pay extra attention to quality third and fourth line players.

[5Fivehole0]

Storm, Earth, and Fire!! HEED MY CALL....

Oops wrong game.

[Captain_Burrows]

Build from the net out.

[CanuckleHorse]

Defence! Defence! Defence! The team with the best D wins that mug each year.

[numb3r 16]

Hahahahaha like this franchise is EVER winning a cup.

No one needs your negativity plaguing this community

[GreyHatnDart]

Just look at the modern era and the successful teams in that time span. People keep talking about the Red Wings being the model franchise but I believe the Blackhawks have well and truly replaced them as the new dynasty. 3 Cups in 6 years in todays game is unbelievable, and this is how they've done it:

1) Developed a brilliant core. That core consisted of Toews, Kane, Sharp, Hossa, Keith, Seabrook and Crawford. Of those players, most were high Chicago draft picks within a short span of time (when the team was really tanking it)

2) Acquired the right complementary players. That includes Teurovainen, Bickell, Shaw, Richards, Saad, Hjarlmasson, Timonen and Oduya. Again, most of those are high or even later Chicago draft picks, but others were acquired through trades as fill-ins or signings.

3) Replace organizational holes via trades. In particular, the moves that brought in Richards, Oduya and Hossa were key in creating Cup-winning teams. The Blackhawks needed a 2nd line center last season, they go out and nab a former Conne Smythe winner in Richards. Before that, they lacked firepower up front and needed some playoff experience so they bring in Hossa. Bowman is the best GM in the NHL and has been over the last half-decade because of moves like this that fix the team instantly.

4) Moving forward, trading away high-cap players just after they've used their prime in Chicago for valuable pieces that can help in the future. The most recent Saad trade is a prime example of this, where they get back a 40 point defenceman in return to replace Oduya. More importantly, the Blackhawks have youth (Teurovainen etc.) who can fill in for the traded away talent.

If you want to win a Cup in today's NHL, you follow these steps. Acquire a bunch of draft picks for a couple of seasons, build a core around those players (ideally 2 centers, 2 wingers, 2 defencemen and a goaltender of elite caliber), bring in complementary players through later draft picks/trades/UFA signings and then mould the team after that.

I have a couple of issues with this otherwise well written post.

First of all, I don't want to tank. I like watching competitive hockey and if you recall the Hawks while they were in the basement they were absolutely awful. I'd have a struggle watching 82 games of misery.

Secondly, Crawford IMO is nowhere near elite as far as goaltenders go.

You make a lot of good points otherwise. Trouble is that Chicago is a large enough city to still support a basement team, while I'm not sure Vancouver will survive more garbage for an extended period of time.

[VanNuck]

I would actually adopt a cross of Gillis' and Quinn's philosophies. PErsonality - what kind of personality? Selfless warriors, character guys, people who play for each other, the city, and this team - not for their own egos. They don't strut like gods to be worshiped, but as ordinary people who make themselves a part of their community, who would make their home with Vancouver - that already brings us to BC boys (and adopted BC boys) who would be proud to play at home. I'm happy so far that he's taken one of BC's best young players in Jake Virtanen and are drafting character guys.

[desiboynux4lifee*******]

I would actually adopt a cross of Gillis' and Quinn's philosophies. PErsonality - what kind of personality? Selfless warriors, character guys, people who play for each other, the city, and this team - not for their own egos. They don't strut like gods to be worshiped, but as ordinary people who make themselves a part of their community, who would make their home with Vancouver - that already brings us to BC boys (and adopted BC boys) who would be proud to play at home. I'm happy so far that he's taken one of BC's best young players in Jake Virtanen and are drafting character guys.

But Quinn had a guy named Pavel Bure, something Benning is shying away from is drafting skilled guys. So far 1st round picks have been big guys who are potential power forwards! well what about the skill?

We passed up Travis Konecy and Merkley who are more skilled than Boeser. So Benning is drafting size but my concern is when will he start drafting some skilled guys?

[Gaudette Celly]

We passed up Travis Konecy and Merkley who are more skilled than Boeser. So Benning is drafting size but my concern is when will he start drafting some skilled guys?

I liked Konecny but the concussion history is disconcerting. We already have Merkleys in Baertschi, Vey, and Shinkaruk. Boeser is a sniper, a goal scorer, a triggerman -- something we do NOT have. He was the right pick.

[William_Clarkson]

Faceoffs are an underrated ability (IMO), but they lead directly to possession. A lot of the Cup winners of late have been good on the draws. To add on top of that, all centers should be reliable in their own end, be good passers, and should be able to put up respectable numbers for the line they're on.

Need to have a D-Man who can lead the pack and play possibly 25+ minutes a night, successfully. Also, all D-Man should be good with breakout passes (limited turnovers) and responsible defensively (don't necessarily have to be big).

Wingers need to be competent in their own end, and ideally fill some sort of niche. Whether it's your big hitter, who can screen the net or your smaller skilled guy who can setup plays or just snipe it in the net. Although speed on the wings is generally important.

Your goalie has to be pretty good too.

Of course this is my opinion.

[dura_mater]

I have a couple of issues with this otherwise well written post.

First of all, I don't want to tank. I like watching competitive hockey and if you recall the Hawks while they were in the basement they were absolutely awful. I'd have a struggle watching 82 games of misery.

Secondly, Crawford IMO is nowhere near elite as far as goaltenders go.

You make a lot of good points otherwise. Trouble is that Chicago is a large enough city to still support a basement team, while I'm not sure Vancouver will survive more garbage for an extended period of time.

You do realise that during their "tank" years the owner would black out the games and you couldn't watch it on TV. They couldn't fill the arena so this was his solution. The whole Vancouver fan base will disappear if the Canucks suck for a year or two is a select group of people who want to think they are somehow more superior fans to the rest of us.

[RWMc1]

The main element is being an American large market team. Or we could we fool Buttman into thinking we are one of his Southern markets. Maybe we could secede and become part of America. Would that be worth a CUP?

[VanNuck]

But Quinn had a guy named Pavel Bure, something Benning is shying away from is drafting skilled guys. So far 1st round picks have been big guys who are potential power forwards! well what about the skill?

We passed up Travis Konecy and Merkley who are more skilled than Boeser. So Benning is drafting size but my concern is when will he start drafting some skilled guys?

You got to understand though - character comes before skill. It's what separates the Wayne Gretzkys from the Petr Nedveds. Character teams can go the distance with just a small dash of talent.

I just checked out Boeser, and frankly I'm impressed with him. Seems to be a strong character player, survived much adversity, and boasts a good amount of talent. I'd take a character player over a talented one any day. That said, I would have taken Jeremy Roy who is a character player, with good talent. Boeser will do though.

[DownUndaCanuck]

I have a couple of issues with this otherwise well written post.

First of all, I don't want to tank. I like watching competitive hockey and if you recall the Hawks while they were in the basement they were absolutely awful. I'd have a struggle watching 82 games of misery.

Secondly, Crawford IMO is nowhere near elite as far as goaltenders go.

You make a lot of good points otherwise. Trouble is that Chicago is a large enough city to still support a basement team, while I'm not sure Vancouver will survive more garbage for an extended period of time.

You don't necessarily need to tank to get these highly skilled players, but it helps. We could trade picks/prospects for them but the asking price would be far too high. The Blackhawks built their core on 2 or 3 years of bad hockey simultaneously. They stockpiled draft picks during those years and got their Kane, Toews, Keith and Seabrook.

The Canucks meanwhile sucked with Tortorella, got a high pick, and have hovered around the high picks every now and then. Benning made a big play for Reinhart which is what he needed to do, but couldnt get it done.

I don't condone losing year in year out, Boston and Los Angeles won Cups by building a core with later draft picks as their core, and we can (and will have to) too. There are players in the mid to late first round that can end up becoming stars (hopefully McCann will be one of them), and if Keith was a 2nd round pick, we can get a Norris-caliber defenceman anywhere. That just makes good drafting essential, but we need great drafting - better than 29 other teams to pick out those stars, and a bit of luck too.

As for Crawford, he's not elite at all and having an elite goalie isn't essential, but it helps. Combined with defence is what matters most. Quick was a star goalie behind a pretty good defence. Thomas was a star goalie behind a star defence. Crawford and Niemi were pretty good goalies behind a star defence. When you've got 2 Norris-trophy caliber defencemen, any slightly above average goalie will do. That's why we need either a star goalie, a star defenceman or ideally both.

[Baggins]

Every team making the playoffs has a share of talent. The real secret to success is: get hot at the right time and stay healthy.

[falcon45ca]

Strong goaltending, strong D, diverse set of offensive tools, good special teams & a clutch player here or there ought to do the trick.

Any team that has those elements should be able to challenge for a Cup every year.

[DownUndaCanuck]

To be honest the Canucks aren't too far away from becoming a Cup contender.

IMO we've got the set of forwards. Good two-way centers, some very elite and versatile wingers and size. We've got the goaltenders. Miller is still a star veteran, Markstrom was the best AHL goalie last season and Demko is one of the best goalie prospects. All we need is defence.

The Vancouver Canucks are, in my opinion, two star defencemen away from becoming a contender. You slot two stars in at the 1st pairing position, bump Edler-Tanev down to the 2nd pairing and suddenly we've got the best young core and team in the NHL in my books. Easier said than done, but that's what Benning should be going for.

Calgary's trade for Hamilton is the ballsy sort of move the Canucks need to make, and make twice, if we're to get to that elite level.

For example, if we were to trade a whole stack of picks and prospects away for two elite defencemen, we'd be a serious contender. Sure, you trade away decent players, but the Canucks have enough centers, wingers and goalies. Drafting defencemen is always dangerous because you never know how they're going to pan out - it's far better to trade for one that's developed properly like Hamilton has.