Quote:
Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger
Last year was what happens when every single player has a career year and is in a contract year with a fresh new coach and something to prove.
This year is what happens when every single player has a down year and has a long term contract with the same coach and a tired message.
It’s absurd to blame talent or the GM for a poorly constructed roster or mercenaries or any other ridiculous theory. We are down two forwards. Two. One of which who left because he only wants to wear sandals to the rink (and is basically the definition of a mercenary in it for the money) and yet our new guys are mercenaries and we don’t like them because they aren’t “homegrown”? Give me a break. We don’t like them because they aren’t performing.
And our poorly constructed roster is nearly identical to last year. Does anyone seriously think Johnny and Chucky on this team would make the other 20 guys play better? Lindy maybe because he’d be centering them. But their presence isn’t gonna make Marky stop the puck, or Mangi Coleman or Dube play better on their lines. And they sure as hell aren’t making Looch any less of a black hole.
Not to mention, thank god we did make the trade because without Weegs our defence would be ahl calibre right now.
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I don’t think you’re remembering just how crucial the top line was to the success of the team. I think last season, I counted only 2 wins where one of three top line players didn’t register at least a point. That means the top line figured in the scoring for 48 out of the 50 wins last season. That’s how important 13 and 19 were to the team last year. It wasn’t just the consistency in production, it was also how badly they’d outscore the other team’s lines matched up against them, they basically scored at will, while barely giving up anything. That can be seen in their historically dominant and gaudy +/- totals.
Even just looking at Johnny Gaudeau’s splits from last season alone, you can see just see the influence he and his line had on the team’s record:
in 50 Wins: 32G, 61A, 93P, +75
in 21 Losses: 5G, 8A, 13P, -12
in 11 OT/SO L: 3G, 6A, 9P, +1
The numbers would indicate that if the top line was shut down or contained that night, the team probably lost. So to answer the question, YES, Gadureau and Tkachuk would make a huge difference to this team right now. This team is basically losing a lot of close games, so to have a dominant line that tips the scales so heavily in our favor would surely add quite a few extra wins to our record.
...and lastly, the homegrown thing is more about risk then anything. Paying for homegrown talent means you know said player is having success on your team, with your coaches, the culture and etc etc. The problem with going after guys from different teams via the trade route or free agency means increased risk; the risk that the player won’t be able to gel with teammates or fit into the culture or the system which we’ve seen plenty of times (i.e. Brouwer, Neal, Elliott, Raymond and etc). That’s the reason for the homegrown conversation, because it’s the proven to be the best way to win Cups.