Quote:
Originally Posted by Sandman
You can’t ice a team of gnomes, especially in the playoffs- it won’t matter how skilled they are, they will get killed. You can afford to carry a few smaller guys, but you have to surround them with some beef. I’m not necessarily talking about 6’5” and over, either. Hockey is a contact sport, and until that changes- size, strength, and truculence will matter, like it or not. Scouts and GM’s would agree with me, look at every trade deadline.
Skill and speed are obviously the most important, but you can’t sacrifice size.
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The Flames have sacrificed speed and skill in the name of size.
Honzek is different. He’s big and can move with skill, but injuries are piling up.
The playoffs are not as physical as people say. It’s still about speed. A lot of the game is about gaps, angles and good stick work now and less running people into the boards.
Just look at Winnipeg you get a team over focused on trying to make hits and it plays and a team with blazing speed and skill are overwhelming them.
Tampa and Vegas built big backends with more skill upfront and won. Colorado is harder to replicate as they are a special team with the speed, size and skill.