[sureLoss]

Eric Duhatschek on Treliving

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sport...board/follows/

According to Treliving, to compete in the Pacific, “It’s important to have a blueprint of how you’re going to have some success. To be able to compete with those teams, not only throughout an 82-game season … but how are you going to have success against those teams in a seven-game series? Anybody that’s watched the hockey out here, I don’t think it’s a real big secret. It’s a hard game. Use any description you want. They’re heavy teams. You have to be physically prepared, engaged and ready to go into these games. It’s size, strength and speed. It’s not like these are lumbering teams. They come at you with quickness. And so, without question, when you put together your roster and look at building your teams, you keep those things in mind.

“The entire West now, you look at the Chicagos and the St. Louises. It’s hard. Colorado’s having a heck of a year. And you have developing teams like Edmonton and Calgary. Calgary’s been as a tough an out as anybody the last two months. Obviously, those teams in California have shown they are elite teams in the league. To make the playoffs and to go far in the playoffs, you’re going to have to compete with them.”