[MissTeeks]

Here, Edmonton is no longer a bunch of weaklings:

http://edmontonjournal.com/sports/ho...-says-enforcer

This just in from NHL tough guy Shawn Thornton, an interview with the WEEI sports radio network where he says the Edmonton Oilers are now the toughest team in the entire league.
“Intimidation is still a part of life, it’s still definitely still part of the game of hockey,” said Thornton, now 40. “I’ve had this conversation with general managers, it’s not out yet. You look at the Edmonton Oilers, and they probably have one of the most talented young teams in the league, but they’re also the toughest team in the league, and I think that’s part of the reason why they had some success.”

My take

That is high praise coming from Thornton, one of the true hard men of hockey.

There were a handful of folks who claimed when the Oilers were one of the smallest and weakest teams in the NHL that size and toughness didn’t matter, that teams like the Chicago Blackhawks proved an NHL team could win without having a line-up loaded with intimidating players. I love great skilled players like Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa as much as the next hockey fan, but I never fully bought that line of thinking. It’s good to have skilled players on your team, but it’s even better to have skilled, tough and mean players — and the Edmonton Oilers were almost completely lacking in that category.

We also had commentator Don Cherry in the playoffs talking about Edmonton’s transformation from wimps to toughs. “They were sucks before. Let’s face it, they got all these big tough guys. I think they took them by surprise — #they won’t next year. But I’ll tell ya, nobody pushes them around with Lucic and guys like that. They are a team you don’t push around.”