Quote:
Originally Posted by GGG
I think what this is showing is Hockey success is driven by your worst player on your roster rather than by your best. Basketball is a best player driven sport.
Vegas got the 6th best forward, 2nd best goalie, and 4th best defensemen off of each team so they should have the best 3rd and 4th lines in the league.
|
I don't agree.
First of all, the bolded isn't exactly true, as it ignores the fact that talented young players were excluded from the process. For most teams, it was more like the 9th or 10th forward, or 6th defenseman. Yes, there were a few exceptions, but not many.
It also ignores some pretty incredible happenings. No one - NO ONE - could have ever predicted that a 25 year old with 163 games and 18 goals and 32 assists for his career! and a previous high of 9 goals, would become a 43 goal, PPG player. And it's not because he was suddenly playing with Crosby either. Think about Ferland being taken in the expansion draft, and then suddenly not only becoming the best player on his team, but one of the top players in the league.
Or that a 27 year old, with 60 career points, would put up 75 points. Yes, Marchessault blossomed in Florida last year (for his first and only good season), but again, no one could have seen that happening. It's one thing to get 50 points as a secondary piece, but it's another to become a top-level, #1 C.
Or that 9 or 10 different players would have career years. And we're not talking career years for 23 year olds, we're talking career years for journeymen.
They also got A+ goaltending.
In hindsight, everyone likes to look at this and claim that the Knights are super deep and pretty talented. But I think it is more a case of chemistry, heart, an us-against-the-world attitude, a great coaching job, and a little bit of magic.
Pretty damn fun to watch, though.