Quote:
Originally Posted by TheScorpion
Yup. Still pissed they kept Jokinen over Cammalleri.
Cammalleri - Jokinen - Iginla
Bertuzzi - Langkow - Bourque
Glencross - Conroy - Moss
Nystrom - Boyd - Primeau
Roy
Phaneuf - Aucoin
Regehr - Sarich
Giordano - Leopold
Vandermeer/Pardy
Kiprusoff
McElhinney
Very good team.
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This was the ultimate team Sutter created after years of building. How people can say he was bad is beyond me. That's a great team. I wish we had centre depth like that. Star goalie. Great top 6 D through and through. Forwards really deep and talented
People criticize Sutter for inheriting Iginla and Regehr. They forget that he had a huge role in developing Regehr from mediocre bottom/mid pairing guy to elite, tough shutdown guy, probably the best in the league in that role for a few years. So he inherited Iginla. Fortunate and also increased expectations far beyond what BT had initially. BT also inherited Gio, Johnny and Monahan, it's worth noting.
I would argue Sutter moved the needle quite well for a few years until it all fell apart. You almost have to evaluate Sutter from 04-09 separately from the 2010 disaster. Conjecture, but I believe there was stuff going on behind the scenes that helped trigger that mess. It's either that or Sutter went mad. Literally crazy, undoing years of building in a 48 hour period. I don't know, I remember it quite well and my reaction was more wondering why than being mad at Sutter. He treated Phaneuf like a hot potato. Apparently other GMs didn't even know he was available. I know the team was struggling but the whole thing reeked to me. Then the Jokinen for Higgins and Kotalik disaster. Trading a top 6 C and a top 2 D for a slew of depth? Yeah... there was more to the story there for sure. I'd bet on meddling owners but that's just me. Or player drama, one of the two. Phaneuf had to go for some reason and off he went in the worst trade in franchise history. His value was ridiculous at the time, probably could've netted a Jeff Carter type if Sutter was patient and waited until the offseason.