Quote:
Originally Posted by Fire of the Phoenix
Langkow was already be here. You're right, Tanguay would've likely not been acquired. Huselius may have still been acquired, can't remember if it was before or after the Thornton trade. Conroy and Aucoin weren't on the team. Acquiring a guy like Thornton would've altered the subsequent transactions so it's not even worth going into. My point is I would get that true #1 center and worry about the other stuff later. Build the foundation for the house before you build the kitchen and bathroom.
And I disagree that the defense would've been ugly, it would be average at best but teams have made the playoffs with worse. Teams don't win in the playoffs without a true #1 center though, so that absolutely would've been my priority. After that I would focus on defense, which might have taken a season or two to improve to contender status, but if that's the price for acquiring Thornton, I would've gladly paid it.
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They didn't win a cup but I recall a team in 04 that did fairly well with a mid-level number one centre. Some people even think they won it but the goal was disallowed.
Cup winners: Boston had Bergeron who is really really good, but not like Thornton or Toews IMO. Carolina had Koivu who is at that same level. The Devils won with no great centre but terrific D and goaltending.