Quote:
Originally Posted by theinfinitejar
Or maybe, hit totals are useless in determining which team is likely to win.
Also, Pittsburgh hit more than Boston all year, they were second in the league in road hits.
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My hypothesis is that teams can only have so many soft players before they begin to become ineffective.
Chicago was 30th in road hits and total hits..... however they only had 2 players that would fit in the soft category : Kane and Keith.
Sort of a gang mentality .. everyone plays hard and they don't get pushed around. The same works in reverse with so many small soft guys it becomes too hard and courageous for the remaining gang members to stand up on a continuous basis when you can see 5-6 guys never stepping up.....
The soft guys HAVE to justify their role in the gang by being exceptional at what they do good. Cammalleri and Hudler (and Tanguay and Cervenka) have to be 30-40 goal scorers to justify their role in the gang.
Stajan used to be a soft skilled guy but had a much better season 2012-13 when he competed harder and grittier. If he isn't going to kick in 60 pts then at least he is making other contributions.