Quote:
Originally Posted by troutman
WRGMG - TOR and MTL are winning, and they don't seem any better on paper.
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It's certainly not all about talent. I do think Hartley is trying to coach the wrong system given his personnel but that seems to be a organizational decision as well. Not blaming Hartley. Carlyle/Toronto have realized they need to play the way they do.
However, I look at the Leafs roster and while nothing really jumps out at you talent wise what does jump out is a few things:
-Grabovski has been a good second line center the last few years.
-Kessel while having ups and downs is young and a game changer....it lets them get by a lesser first line center.
-Jay McClement is a terrific bottom 6 center and PKer.
-most striking is that while again the names don't jump out at you on the wings the ages of those players certainly do. Kadri, van Riemsdyk, MacCarthur, Frattin, Kulemin....all 27 years or younger. I'd also point out that many of the forwards not named Kessel show a dedication to the defensive side of the game most of the flame forwards do not. So...talent wise no they aren't better but I think they are very very much a better group when it comes to those intangibles.
-they have received better goaltending.
Also....the Leafs can certainly still falter. We've seen this from them before but right now they are playing well as a TEAM. Something the flames under a multitude of coaches have never figured out how to do.
For the Habs I would argue that they have two forwards that are currently better than anything the Flames can put on the ice in Plekanec and Pacioretty and I think overall they have a good mix of players. The blueline IMO is better by a fairly good margin.