Quote:
Originally Posted by Textcritic
No, I don't agree that this could stand as an argument. Prior to the 90s, the level of play in the NHL was really, really marginal by comparison to the last post-expansion era, to say nothing of the original six league. The equipment was not as good for goalies, but they never had to contend with the kind of offence, speed, strength and coaching that accompanied expansion.
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You vastly under-estimate the skill and competitiveness of the pre-expansion era.
With only 6 teams, it was very difficult to crack lineups and some very good players spent a significant amount of time in the A.
Things changed a lot with expansion, but prior to it, depth was crazy.