Quote:
Originally Posted by Enoch Root
Teams can run with 21 players for short periods of time. The problem is that, if you sustain an injury, and your farm team is on the road in SoCal or somewhere, you might not get a replacement for 2 days.
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It just takes away options, you don't have the option of sitting multiple guys that aren't playing well or nursing minor issues... life also happens.... people get the flu just a few hours before (or the morning of) a game, or family issues (positive - child birth, or negative - health issues with family) can unexpectedly occur at the last minute.
So in a league where parity was encouraged and every team is just so close up and down the standings... these options take away advantages and can tip the scale... a losing streak can stretch a game or two longer, tired players getting too much ice time can lose a couple games spread over the entire season. This can add up to moving just 4 or 5 games from the win column to the loss one - that's the difference between Colorado finishing 1st to 3rd (where St. Louis finished) ... or Edmonton finishing 2nd to where Vegas was and missing the playoffs.