I think this season also proved another point. Given a chance to play real minutes. Almost any player can improve. They don't necessarily plateau at 'such and such' an age.
Jooris, Engelland, Russell, Granlund and a few I am probably missing, these guys wouldn't even get table scraps on some teams. Hartley played them, and the continued to improve.
It cannot be said enough. Engelland, in my eyes has 100% earned his contract this year. Especially in light of all the WTFBBQ11!!1!1 reactions when he was signed. The guy has been a silent warrior, and has just done his meat and potatoes job, as good as you could ask of any d-man in the league. His first pass out of the zone has also been very good as of late.
These guys proved so many doubters wrong, and there is going to be a ton of crow eating. What the Corsians will never understand, is you cannot put a stat on desire, will to win, and chemistry. It is not quantifiable, it's just kinda... magic. And this team had that magic.
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I've been waiting to post this. Hey guys, one second into game 1 against Van, our group will have more playoff experience than Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
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"We played hard," said Kings head coach Darryl Sutter, who led the Flames to the Stanley Cup finals in 2004. "I got no complaints with anything to do with our team. I give the Calgary Flames lots of credit. Now I get to pull for them."
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Just to add on the Gaudreau discussion, he is such a big game player! He doesn't play scared and instead just rises to the occasion as usual. We are so spoiled to have a guy like him to watch for years to come... And Monahan, Bennett the list goes on...