Obviously, players are in much better shape today, than several decades ago, and remain in good shape well into their 30s.
However, while health and fitness have changed drastically, the game itself has changed even more. Players used to be able to coast at times, and pick their spots. This gave an advantage to experience. Now, every shift is contested at top speed, which favours fitness and speed over experience.
Then there are the playoffs themselves, which have gone from 2 rounds to 4 - the physical toll is immense. This also favours youth.
So it isn't at all surprising that we don't see older teams lifting the cup anymore. And the idea of going to the cup final, back to back, as the oldest team in the league, is a really big ask.
Then factor in that you have a team that relies more on its top players than any other team does.
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