The 2004 Flames would never repeat that run in today's hockey. There's no more 4th lines carrying 2 goons. No more purely energetic 3rd lines. No more purely shut down defenseman on every pair. No more dump and chase champions. Trap champions.
Look at the two contenders and compare to the 04' Flames. That old squad had a brick wall, a rookie offensive defenseman, a top pairing shut down defenseman, and the best scoring winger in the game. But thats all they had, and you cant win nowadays with so little talent in the depths. That's like a team with Price, Stamkos, Ghost, and Hamonic. And the rest of the team filled with spare parts. No way they would beat either San Jose or Pittsburgh
I don't want to build another 04 Flames and their identity. I want an 04 TB Lightning, or a 06 Ducks or 09 Penguins or whoever else won a cup. Not a club who didn't.
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