Jarome Iginla and 5 other players who will never win a Stanley Cup

[Fighting Banana Slug]

There are no locks for the cup (even though LA and Chicago look strong). Remember Hossa chased a cup, flipping between Pitt and Detroit before it worked out for him. Pretty lucky of him, if you ask me. As solid as Pitt and Boston were when iggy picked, it didn't work out. No guarantees with this stuff.

[Rick M.]

Originally Posted by Cole436

I don't know why people are so down on Colorado. They have a young team that's only going to get better.

Landeskog-Duchene-Iginla
Tanguay-Mackinnon-O'Reilly
McLeod-Briere-Mitchell

Johnson-Barrie
Hejda-Wilson

Varlamov

That seems like a pretty solid top 9, 4 and goalie.

It reminds me of Chicago after 08-09.

Who do they have down on the farm team?

[FlameZilla]

Mackinnon, Duchene, O'Reilly, Johnson as a young core, with Iginla (19-year vet), Tanguay (18-year vet), Briere (17-year vet) and Patrick Roy as coach?

I don't see how the Avs can be written off. Seems like a perfect balance of dynamic young talent and savvy veteran former all-stars to me.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by FlameZilla

Mackinnon, Duchene, O'Reilly, Johnson as a young core, with Iginla (19-year vet), Tanguay (18-year vet), Briere (17-year vet) and Patrick Roy as coach?

I don't see how the Avs can be written off. Seems like a perfect balance of dynamic young talent and savvy veteran former all-stars to me.

Stastny out and Iginla in. Seems like a down grade to me.

Tanguay and Briere have gone well past their best before dates and if you are counting on both for offensive production you will be dissapointed.

Add in Brad stuart on the blueline and you have a decidely much older club.

[doctajones428]

I wouldn't be shocked to see Ovechkin, Weber, Thorton and Iginla win a cup

[The Fonz]

Horrible article.

Avs will be perennial cup contenders in my opinion. If not this coming season, then the one after. That's a fantastic group of young players.

[The Fonz]

Originally Posted by The Fonz

Horrible article.

FYI, I didn't read the article.

[GoJetsGo]

Originally Posted by Dion

Stastny out and Iginla in. Seems like a down grade to me.

Iggy had 30 goals 31 assists for 61 points last season and was +34.

Statsney had 25 goals 35 assissts for 60 points and was +9.

It's not so much that isn't a valid opinion... its that you were high enough on Iggy when you wanted him to stay on Boston. You're allowing your but-hurt to effect your opinion here. It's just painful it's that apparent.

[RyZ]

The only way Ovechkin wins a cup is later in his career when he is a 2nd or 3rd option on his team. I can't see him ever leading a team to a cup as the primary player and go to guy.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Slow days of summer bring out the worst thought-out articles.

Avs are an up and coming power in the west. Signing gave Iginla stability for himself and his family (I am sure they weren't happy with having to move every summer, or wonder if they were going to move), and he gets to go on a team that is seeming on the rise.

I still say this is much like 'a Hossa'. Marian Hossa went to Pittsburgh one season, then Detroit, trying to pick the team most likely to win the cup. Then he just went to a team that was on the rise. Seemed to work out.

There is no guarantee of Iginla ever winning a cup by bouncing around from team to team. Pick a young team that looks like it is on the rise, and hope for the best.

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

I still say this is much like 'a Hossa'. Marian Hossa went to Pittsburgh one season, then Detroit, trying to pick the team most likely to win the cup. Then he just went to a team that was on the rise. Seemed to work out.

There is no guarantee of Iginla ever winning a cup by bouncing around from team to team. Pick a young team that looks like it is on the rise, and hope for the best.

A lot of people point out Marian Hossa as a comparable, but Hossa signed a 6(?) year contract at 30 years old. Iginla signed a 3 year contract at 37 years old.

The comparable I use is Mark Messier signing with the Canucks. Signed as a 36 year old, 3 year contract with a "up and coming team" (Pavel Bure at 26, Molgilny at 28, Naslund at 24, Trevor Linden at 27 traded for Todd Bertuzzi at 22, Ohlund at 22) and they rode Kirk McLean. The 2 obvious power houses were Detriot an Colorado but and Canucks were probably a tier behind with potential to move up with a lot of flashy talent in Bure/Molgilny/Naslund.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

A lot of people point out Marian Hossa as a comparable, but Hossa signed a 6(?) year contract at 30 years old. Iginla signed a 3 year contract at 37 years old.

The comparable I use is Mark Messier signing with the Canucks. Signed as a 36 year old, 3 year contract with a "up and coming team" (Pavel Bure at 26, Molgilny at 28, Naslund at 24, Trevor Linden at 27 traded for Todd Bertuzzi at 22, Ohlund at 22) and they rode Kirk McLean. The 2 obvious power houses were Detriot an Colorado but and Canucks were probably a tier behind with potential to move up with a lot of flashy talent in Bure/Molgilny/Naslund.

Good comparable.. until you see how that team got torn apart shortly after. I don't think Colorado will be tearing that team apart to appease Iginla (and I don't think Iginla will be anything like Messier).

[Dion]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

Good comparable.. until you see how that team got torn apart shortly after. I don't think Colorado will be tearing that team apart to appease Iginla (and I don't think Iginla will be anything like Messier).

Can Iginla keep up with the younger Avs players when you consider he has lost a step in his foot speed? That's a serious issue for me.

[GoJetsGo]

Originally Posted by Dion

Can Iginla keep up with the younger Avs players when you consider he has lost a step in his foot speed? That's a serious issue for me.

Are there any comments you can point out where you questioned Iginla's speed issues and down trending before he decided not to re-sign in Boston?

Iggy looked fine last season. Colorado has enough speed through out all their lines that it won't hamper Iggy in his 18 mins and power play time.

[Ped]

Colorado massively overachieved last season and unless they drastically improve their blueline, will have to again rely on a Vezina performance from Varlamov.

Great young pieces but they had a ton of puckluck last season.

Maybe in the East they would be a decent choice to make it far but as of right now, they fall behind the big guys in the west.

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

Good comparable.. until you see how that team got torn apart shortly after. I don't think Colorado will be tearing that team apart to appease Iginla (and I don't think Iginla will be anything like Messier).

your guess is really as good as mine

I think there is a big difference between a team that has potential to get there, and a team that is already there. I've seen so many up and coming "young" teams (Philly with Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Hartnell, Giroux, Briere-again, SJ with Thornton, Marleau, Heatley, Boyle etc) that end up going no where. Besides just flashy talent, you need so much leadership and intangibles and there is a huge step between the names on paper and what you show on the ice. Things like toughness and heart, and I don't see a ton of that on Colorado - at least not yet. To me, the safer bet - the "blue chip stock" - is LA, Chicago, Boston. I'm not even sure I put St Louis and Anahaim there, though Anahaim is close. Anything is possible but everybody knows that experience and leadership is huge. This is, after all, a team of "tankers" the year before that was last place and critisized by a teammate in Giguere for caring more about going on vacation to Las Vegas then their careers. Colorado just seems like a huge gamble when there were safer bets to me (granted much lower salary). The next great team could be Colorado, but it could also be the NYI, or Minnisota, Edmonton, Montreal, St Louis or Calgary. Who frickin knows?

All we can go by is what we see on the ice. We saw a regular season warrior team, but we also saw a team that looked outclassed by a tier 3 team in the playoffs. That jump from pretenders to contenders is so large and I've seen so many teams fail, I don't count on anyone doing it until they've done it. And there are 3 that stand out and were able to ramp up their game when it mattered most - LA, Chicago, Boston (no idea how they crapped the bed vs a inferior Montreal team).

BTW: if you are referring to Vancouver "appeasing" Messier, we did that for years for Iginla... who knows right? Its summer so we're all just guessing.

[The Fonz]

Originally Posted by Ped

Colorado massively overachieved last season and unless they drastically improve their blueline, will have to again rely on a Vezina performance from Varlamov.

Goaltenders don't get Vezina nominations playing behind weak defensive teams.

They may not have rockstars on the back end, but Roy obviously has them playing the right way.

[#-3]

Originally Posted by cKy

riiight, got my Game 6 and 7 mixed up. Probably cause won Game 6.

We lost game 6.

Thats why everyone says, if the Gelinas goal had counted in the last few minutes of regulation the Flames could have won the cup, on a Saturday night in Calgary. It would have been madness.

It didn't get counted, St Louis won in Overtime, forced a game 7.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by The Fonz

Goaltenders don't get Vezina nominations playing behind weak defensive teams.

Grant Fuhr did with the Oilers of the late 80's.

They may not have rockstars on the back end, but Roy obviously has them playing the right way.

Let's wait and see how Roy and the Avs do this season.

Lets wait and see how they do this upcoming season before we rush to judgement.

[Jacks]

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

Extending the same logic, Edmonton/Vancouver has a 55:1 odd (lets be pessimistic and say 66:1) = 1.5% chance of winning. If Edmonton paid another 10M (so 20M) would it be worth it?

For reference, Tampa is listed as 23:1 (lets be pessimistic and say 25:1) = 4%, Columbas is 33:1 = 3%... for an extra $5M, would it be worth it?

Edm isn't likely to even make the playoffs so it's not a very good comparable, TB or CLB are okay comparables but they don't have the upward trajectory of COL IMO.