Quote:
Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan
I disagree with this a little. When he came on we had to deal with very large and physical teams in our division: L.A., Anaheim, and even San Jose. It was clear that we needed to have that element on the team in the early part of the rebuild just to make sure our young guys weren't getting run over. It worked too. The team played with more confidence than their talents allowed, resulting in some early success.
Even as we have moved into a phase of real playoff contention, there is little doubt that we were pushed around physically in that 2nd-most recent Anaheim playoff series. Having a few more players who have physicality, but are also good players, would have made that a much more even series. It wasn't much better in that 4 game sweep either. We played with more jam, but overall Anaheim had that in spades and we struggled to match it.
You do need a little bit of size and physicality in the modern NHL, but you definitely have to be able to skate and chip in some offense. That's why getting a guy like Bollig didn't make much sense.
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I just look at the way Las Vegas absolutely took it to L.A, San Jose and the Jets who were bigger and stronger than the Knights. To me, the path is speed, skill and forward depth. If the modern game, the team that can slot their forwards the best has the best chance of winning.
Ideally, I would love it if we could find to slot a 1st line, two 2nd lines and a 3rd line. Wave after wave of attack could give us the edge over a lot of other Western Conference opponents.