What factors made Florida two time Stanley Cup Champions?

[Zoller]

Being a young millionaire in state tax free Florida is also a plus

[dirk diggler]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

They had Sam Bennett and Matt Tkachuk on the same roster, and played them together.

Who knew that playing Bennett with quality players would be a good idea. Playing him AHL quality players in calgary wasnt the answer, who knew. On a different note, how does GG get a new head coaching gig? I thought Jim Nill was smarter than that

[Sylvanfan]

First off, it took them about 14 years to completely build this thing out, and they did have a few missteps getting there. But they used every avenue available to them to improve the team be it trades, or free agency.

To me the 2022 summer is the critical junction where they made bold moves that worked out. They moved on from Andrew Burnette despite him having a great record after Qunneville was forced to resign. They went with what this board would call a retread coach and moved out the sharp new comer. They made the Tkachuck deal which invloved trading a top offensive player plus Weegar for another player who is a different style. They did struggle for sure lot of that season to find their identity barely getting into the playoffs and losing 3 of their first 4 playoff games. But once they found it, they kept building on it.

I don't know if it could be copied, but they made bold moves that I don't know other teams would, and they worked out. But over the decade from 2013 to 2023 there would have been a lot of second guessing of some moves. But eventually it all came together. Having a selke center in Barkov to me is the key piece. Without him leading the way, I don't think this would have worked.

[Phaneuf_Phan]

Fleecing the Flames in a couple of trades

[joe_mullen]

Getting a Norris calibre D off waivers also helped (Forsling).

[ComixZone]

Sequencing.

They drafted an elite #1 centre, because outside of once in every two decades trades, it's the only actual way to find that player.

Between 2011 they drafted Huberdeau (3rd Overall), Matheson (23rd Overall), Barkov (2nd Overall), and Ekblad (1st Overall). So before anything else, they built their foundation.

After that foundation was built, they got extremely aggressive in taking advantage of poorly run organizations (Sabres, Flames). They traded away multiple high end assets to improve their team. This was bold, and generally not what you see from NHL GMs who are typically hyper conservative/reactionary in nature. You also didn't see them invest significant assets in bottom-roster players.

They also hired one of the few elite head coaches in this league to tie it all together.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

* Ownership that was committed to doing everything in their control to make Florida a desirable location, such as a practice rink and facility that's second-to-none.

* An executive team that includes three-former GMs (Rick Dudley, Paul Fenton, and Les Jackson) who have a wealth of experience in the league.

* A GM who is aggressive and not afraid to take big swings. Not a lot of GMs would move two star, core players in their prime, including their points leader, coming off a President's Trophy season.

* A braintrust that spots undervalued players on other teams (Verhaeghe, Bennett, Reinhart, Luostarinen, Forsling) and puts them in a position to thrive.

* A team-first culture fostered by its star players, starting with Barkov.

* The embrace of smash-mouth, win-at-all-costs hockey that came with Tkachuk.

* Hiring the right coach after a previous coach couldn't get them over the hump.


https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/...024-nhl-season

I think the smash-mouth, win at all costs hockey comes from Maurice, not Tkachuk, but otherwise, I agree with your points.

I would add: a great deal of luck - to be a winner in an EXTREMELY competitive league, you need some luck, and while the management team deserves a great deal of credit, it is also extremely fortunate that pretty much all of their moves worked out.

[Macho0978]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

-Every player buying in to the same stye of play; relentless high pressure.
-2 elite two way centres who can shut down the best players on the other team.
-Elite goalie

They remind me of successful Sutter teams which had those same elements.

For me it's the 2-way play across the whole team. Reinhart is as good as anyone, and he isn't a center. Young center like Lundell too.

When your best players are elite shut down players, they can be on the ice whenever you want them to be.

When trailing, if you want to shift to the 3rd line to checking and the top line to scoring, you can because you trust all 4 lines.

Same goes for D. All can chip in on O, but all are out against top line players and do very well.

They also have playoff style players.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Zoller

Being a young millionaire in state tax free Florida is also a plus

took the 2nd page for someone to mention geography lol

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Phaneuf_Phan

Fleecing the Flames in a couple of trades

Bennett for sure

Weegar, Huberdeau, Schwindt, Potter for Tkachuk is not a fleece...certainly not for a player who wouldn't sign and had a short list

[Badgers Nose]

Originally Posted by dino7c

took the 2nd page for someone to mention geography lol

Because it wasn't an asset all the years they sucked a no one wanted to go there.

When Bob went there lots of people laughed and said it was a country club retirement destination. Few expected him to back stop cup appearances.

[BagoPucks]

I dont know if anyone has mentioned the number of ex-military guys who bring wealth of leadership, values and openness that is shared in the post 4 of this thread

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Badgers Nose

Because it wasn't an asset all the years they sucked a no one wanted to go there.

When Bob went there lots of people laughed and said it was a country club retirement destination. Few expected him to back stop cup appearances.

Its certainly a factor, just because they screwed it up in the past doesn't mean there is no advantage.

I mean the NY Rangers and Leafs had a significant $$$ advantage for years and ####ed it up but that doesn't mean they didn't have an advantage

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Badgers Nose

Because it wasn't an asset all the years they sucked a no one wanted to go there.

When Bob went there lots of people laughed and said it was a country club retirement destination. Few expected him to back stop cup appearances.

Including the Panthers who were desperately trying to pay to get rid of him lol

[FlamesNightmare]

Thanks for the responses. I'm not good at following hockey details. So it was awesome you guys filled me in on the specifics.

[Locke]

Its clearly the weather.

The heat and humidity makes people absolutely insane so by the time the Panthers players make the playoffs they are so weather-crazed that they're basically berserkers ready to eat raw meat.

[Goriders]

Scoring depth and physicality

[dino7c]

Depth and goaltending are the obvious biggest factors

their 3rd line destroyed the other third line and their goalie was better than the other guy in every series

[Locke]

Its been mentioned before, but a relentless forecheck and the ability to bounce back from setbacks and losses.

Not to mention the ability to kick it up a gear when required.

You dont get too many bad games out of Bob. Bennett obviously steps up. Barkov is a legit star.

[Mathgod]

It's a long video and I'm not pressuring anyone to watch the whole thing. But I think this is a take worth listening to.