Quote:
Originally Posted by GranteedEV
You make some good points but you're off about the need for a strong D core. Chicago built around a strong D core in Keith / *Campbell / Seabrook / Hjalmarsson. L.A. built around a strong D-core in Doughty / Voynov / Mitchell / *Muzzin / *Regehr. Pittsburgh's 2016 Cup came off a very strong top six D of Letang / Dumoulin / Daley / Maatta / Cole / Schultz each of whom played their role to perfection. Boston, again you're talking about guys like Chara and Boychuk, although goaltending carried them that one year in particular. You can go back further and find the 08 Red wings with Lidstrom, Rafalski, Kronwall being an elite trio. And the year before that, the 07 Ducks with Pronger / Neidermayer / Beauchemin. There's no doubt that it's a prerequisite to the vast majority of good teams.
Really, the only teams to win cups without elite defense have been the 2017 Penguins (because Letang was hurt and their goalies played at an unreal level), and even that comes with the asterisk that Justin Schultz was a top Norris vote getter.
The problem is that our coaches in both scenarios you've named - Phaneuf / Regehr / Bouwmeester and Giordano / Brodie / Hamilton - have been Brent Sutter and Glen Gulutzan. Two coaches who are simpy braindead when it comes to utilization of defensemen.
As far as up front - yes those were good teams - all those good teams had true number one centers - guys like Getzlaf, Datsyuk/Zetterberg, Crosby/Malkin, Bergeron, Toews, Kopitar. You don't acquire a player like that by "GMing", you have to tank or hit the jackpot, and we never tanked and we never hit the jackpot with a #1 center. It's just the reality of the situation although I'm sure someone will tell me how Sean Monahan is great at scoring 3 on 3 goals or power play snap shots which means we can just ignore the completeness of his game and pretend he impacts the game like the aformentioned group.
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Never said you don't need a strong D core. Just stated you don't need to "load up" on D and spend every strong asset you have on making sure its "elite". This team has to grow out of the mentality that D takes priority over forwards.
As for the D cores you mentioned:
Chicago had the best top 9 any team has seen in the last decade, they were built from the forward group out. Sure Keith is elite but the fortunes of that team turned around when they could fill the net with ease.
LA had a strong D but nothing over powering, Doughty was elite but the rest if you ask me was good not great.
Pittsburgh pretty meh if you ask me, Letang didn't even suit up last year in the playoffs and they still won being led by Schultz.
Management just needs to stop prioritizing D over forwards. You win in the NHL today with skill and speed. Every top team in the league has 1 thing in common and thats speed up front. The Flames severely lack in that department yet management hasn't even acknowledged it, let alone addressed it.
As for the "GMing" comment, this is exactly why you don't trade 1st round picks for #4 dmen, especially when your honest with yourself and know your team isn't close to being a cup contender. With the way the draft is setup now, BT deserves to be fired for that gaff.