Quote:
Originally Posted by The Cobra
I assume that young hockey players would have been trying to improve their skating their whole life.
At the age of 24, should we really expect a sudden improvement?
I expect it's his intensity level that really needs to improve.
I seem to recall that one of the reasons Chicago got Hossa (aside from his immense hockey abilities) was to give a good role model for guys like Toews, Kane, Keith, Seabrook and Sharp to help them learn what it takes to win in the playoffs.
Now Hossa lost the last 2 finals before he got to Chicago, but it wasn't his doing per se, and it takes a lot just to get there. Guys like Toews likely already had it, but I'm guessing Hossa taught those guys how to channel it and use it effectively.
Things like that can click in suddenly, and then, perhaps, everyone starts to buy in. Let's hope that's what happens to Calgary.
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I think we could expect an improvement in Monahan’s speed, as I assume the last couple of summers he was mostly strengthening his wrist/doing rehab and so on. He was also heavily sheltered in his first couple of years, as a result I think he was working on his release, his shot, and on getting bigger instead of his speed. A lot of speculation on my part, but I prefer to be a glass half full kind of guy.
As far as the Hossa analogy, that was supposed to be James Neal(or Jagr). The click is supposed to come from the players, not from a magic addition of one player.