Quote:
Originally Posted by kirant
I see the same in Iginla: He can't force his way to the front of the net like he used to. He has given up that. He still does it every once in a while, but like Selanne, just isn't as consistent as past Iginla. Now he focuses on smart passing, shooting, and not relying on being able to reach the last 5 feet in front of the goalie.
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Yep. Iginla just hasn't been a dominant offensive threat for years. He's a great player still but not a guy who singlehandedly wins you many if any games. He used to win a much greater percentage of board battles and could drive the net and he really doesn't bring that aspect much anymore. The power is definitely gone from his powerforward game. I think I first noticed it when he talked a lot about trying to get quicker. I think he dropped a bit of upper body strength and it took away from his ability to power through defenders.
We have a bunch of guys up front with some talent but no one who can't be shut down. No one that just overpowers or outskills checking on a regular basis. We've got good offensive depth but no premiere talent.
If you look at this team the thing we really lack these days is strength/power up front and on the back end. We don't have a physical defenseman who can keep up (Sarich isn't the answer). We don't have a big strong centre, nor do we have a big strong powerforward. I think we could do without it if we had a gamebreaker up front like a Kane but we don't.