[thefoss1957]

While the 'Hawks top end guys are and have been spectacular, it has been the "depth" guys that made a huge difference during the playoff runs...in 2010, Brent Sopel was a shot blocking machine, and a key to the PK...in 2013, it was Hjarlmasson in that shot lane clogging role...Kruger/Frolik on the PK in 2013...guys with little hype, coming into their careers, like the aforementioned Kruger and Hjarlmasson, and guys like Saad, and Crawford ate minutes effectively.

And to this day, Q doesn't get nearly enough credit, for allowing the team to play a flowing and energetic style, with enough trust to roll 4 lines and 3 pairs, even in crunch time.

The question for the Flames, or any other team that would emulate the Blackhawk team building model, would be that kind of top to bottom trust in an entire roster, with confidence that mismatches aren't that big a deal, and that a team's worst line can hold it's own defensively.