TheTechNoir
fall 2021 bull, probably
- Feb 18, 2013
- 4,668
- 1,795
I was talking to my buddy and sent him this message:
Man, wanna know something great about Makar?
His career points per game average is 1.06 in the regular season
His career points per game average is 1.11 in playoffs.
Keep in mind, he started his career in the playoffs. So it’s not like he only started in the playoffs after getting some seasoning and improvement, too
Then I ended up adding this:
Nathan MacKinnon?
Career ppg regular season: 1.14
Career ppg playoffs:1.31
Let’s compare that to Mitch Marner
Regular season ppg:1.11
Playoff ppg:0.91
Finally, I ended up just listing some things off the top of my head that I consider as some keys for a cup win, with examples (or examples of lacking it):
For cup dreams:
You need a good team (see McDavid - not on a good team for a lot of his career)
You need a playoff built team (see Edmonton - they can be good at this point in the regular season, but they haven't been built for a cup run)
A minimum of an average goalie helps tremendously (see Philly - they got to the finals with a sub-NHL calibre tandem because of being an elite team, but they lost to prime Chicago in a goal Kane didn't even know he scored, in game 6 of OT because their goaltending was horrible, and they had a really incompetent bottom d pair - if they had a playable bottom pair their top-4 wouldn't be burnt out, and/or if they had a league average goaltender, they probably win the cup; underrated great team and play-off built, minus those 2 crucial kinks in the armour)
Without an elite big game performing goaltender, you need a playable bottom defense pairing to win the cup, no matter how good your top-4 and fwd group is (see Philly from above example)
You need clutch, big game performers (see Justin Williams and his positive impact in multiple cup runs for multiple teams - Williams was never a superstar forward, and he never played on a prime Tampa Bay or Chicago or anything, but:
"Williams won the Stanley Cup three times: in 2006 with the Hurricanes and in 2012 and 2014 with the Kings. Nicknamed "Mr. Game 7", Williams played nine game seven playoff games in his NHL career, with his team sporting a 8–1 record in these games. He currently is tied for most goals in these games with Glenn Anderson at seven, and has the outright record for most game seven points, with 15. Williams won the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the playoffs in 2014 with the Kings.")
You need your higher-end players to perform at their best in the biggest games (see Daniel Briere - a star forward in the regular season during his prime who became even better in the playoffs, especially at the most high pressure times)
If you don’t have an elite AND big game goaltender (see Patrick Roy in Montreal who won the cup in Montreal and had 10 straight play-off OT wins + Conn Smythe for a team that was over-wise not the best team in multiple series they played)
Then you need elite offence to outscore your problems, as well as star dmen who can log major minutes, or at least one Selke-level Fwd who can log major minutes (see Flyers with 6 20++ goal scoring fwds, timonen and pronger who almost won the cup with legit 2 average-good AHL goalies and a bottom d pair who didn’t belong in the nhl)
Having above average offence AND an elite big game goalie really helps a lot, and provides flexibility if your bottom d pair isn’t competent at all (see Tim Thomas in Boston - altho their bottom pair wasn’t THAT bad, and they didn’t have much star power at D, but they did have a game breaking Tim Thomas, and a prime Patrice Bergeron eating tons of minutes)
Also, mobile but physically strong forwards are crucial in the playoffs (see Montreal vs Philly sweep, Montreal was the tiniest teams in the league, and you had guys like Mike Richards and Scott Hartnell sit in front of Price at will with no chance for the Habs to do anything about it, much less stand up to Pronger in front of the Flyers end, or beat in for a puck in the corner)
I'm sure there are more, but I would bet that for the most part, any modern cup winning team more or less falls in line with these keys.
Like: This year's Toronto Maple Leafs: They don't have a true #1 D, and their defensive core overall is not very strong. They do have elite offence, but they have historically under-performed in the playoffs (see Marner), and to his credit, Matthews is one of the best defensive fwds this season, but he hasn't shown to be a consistently prominent big-pressure game player. Finally, they don't have a game-breaking goal-tender, so they don't have the keys. I think if your team is primarily offence as a strength, it's harder to satisfy all of these keys for a cup, then if your team is built out with physicality, goaltending, showing up to big games, and defense.
Compared to last years' cup winner, Vegas:
Alex Pietrangelo, a #1 D
Shea Theodore who can eat big minutes
A selke-calibre forward who can eat big minutes in Mark Stone
You had a star forward in Jack Eichel show up in big games
you had Jonathan Marchessault who is a bit underrated, but not generally looked at quite as a star player, really show up clutch
And you had Adin Hill put in a league average-or better goaltending performance in the playoffs.
You had big bodies that could handle physical edge
I suppose I should add that an adaptable coach, especially when it comes to playing a match-up against a team that you don't match-up well against stylistically can be crucial, as well. This has been demonstrated by some of the best teams many times when turning a series around, or running away with it.
I figured I would share here. It's really basic, but still figured I would.
Man, wanna know something great about Makar?
His career points per game average is 1.06 in the regular season
His career points per game average is 1.11 in playoffs.
Keep in mind, he started his career in the playoffs. So it’s not like he only started in the playoffs after getting some seasoning and improvement, too
Then I ended up adding this:
Nathan MacKinnon?
Career ppg regular season: 1.14
Career ppg playoffs:1.31
Let’s compare that to Mitch Marner
Regular season ppg:1.11
Playoff ppg:0.91
Finally, I ended up just listing some things off the top of my head that I consider as some keys for a cup win, with examples (or examples of lacking it):
For cup dreams:
You need a good team (see McDavid - not on a good team for a lot of his career)
You need a playoff built team (see Edmonton - they can be good at this point in the regular season, but they haven't been built for a cup run)
A minimum of an average goalie helps tremendously (see Philly - they got to the finals with a sub-NHL calibre tandem because of being an elite team, but they lost to prime Chicago in a goal Kane didn't even know he scored, in game 6 of OT because their goaltending was horrible, and they had a really incompetent bottom d pair - if they had a playable bottom pair their top-4 wouldn't be burnt out, and/or if they had a league average goaltender, they probably win the cup; underrated great team and play-off built, minus those 2 crucial kinks in the armour)
Without an elite big game performing goaltender, you need a playable bottom defense pairing to win the cup, no matter how good your top-4 and fwd group is (see Philly from above example)
You need clutch, big game performers (see Justin Williams and his positive impact in multiple cup runs for multiple teams - Williams was never a superstar forward, and he never played on a prime Tampa Bay or Chicago or anything, but:
"Williams won the Stanley Cup three times: in 2006 with the Hurricanes and in 2012 and 2014 with the Kings. Nicknamed "Mr. Game 7", Williams played nine game seven playoff games in his NHL career, with his team sporting a 8–1 record in these games. He currently is tied for most goals in these games with Glenn Anderson at seven, and has the outright record for most game seven points, with 15. Williams won the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the playoffs in 2014 with the Kings.")
You need your higher-end players to perform at their best in the biggest games (see Daniel Briere - a star forward in the regular season during his prime who became even better in the playoffs, especially at the most high pressure times)
If you don’t have an elite AND big game goaltender (see Patrick Roy in Montreal who won the cup in Montreal and had 10 straight play-off OT wins + Conn Smythe for a team that was over-wise not the best team in multiple series they played)
Then you need elite offence to outscore your problems, as well as star dmen who can log major minutes, or at least one Selke-level Fwd who can log major minutes (see Flyers with 6 20++ goal scoring fwds, timonen and pronger who almost won the cup with legit 2 average-good AHL goalies and a bottom d pair who didn’t belong in the nhl)
Having above average offence AND an elite big game goalie really helps a lot, and provides flexibility if your bottom d pair isn’t competent at all (see Tim Thomas in Boston - altho their bottom pair wasn’t THAT bad, and they didn’t have much star power at D, but they did have a game breaking Tim Thomas, and a prime Patrice Bergeron eating tons of minutes)
Also, mobile but physically strong forwards are crucial in the playoffs (see Montreal vs Philly sweep, Montreal was the tiniest teams in the league, and you had guys like Mike Richards and Scott Hartnell sit in front of Price at will with no chance for the Habs to do anything about it, much less stand up to Pronger in front of the Flyers end, or beat in for a puck in the corner)
I'm sure there are more, but I would bet that for the most part, any modern cup winning team more or less falls in line with these keys.
Like: This year's Toronto Maple Leafs: They don't have a true #1 D, and their defensive core overall is not very strong. They do have elite offence, but they have historically under-performed in the playoffs (see Marner), and to his credit, Matthews is one of the best defensive fwds this season, but he hasn't shown to be a consistently prominent big-pressure game player. Finally, they don't have a game-breaking goal-tender, so they don't have the keys. I think if your team is primarily offence as a strength, it's harder to satisfy all of these keys for a cup, then if your team is built out with physicality, goaltending, showing up to big games, and defense.
Compared to last years' cup winner, Vegas:
Alex Pietrangelo, a #1 D
Shea Theodore who can eat big minutes
A selke-calibre forward who can eat big minutes in Mark Stone
You had a star forward in Jack Eichel show up in big games
you had Jonathan Marchessault who is a bit underrated, but not generally looked at quite as a star player, really show up clutch
And you had Adin Hill put in a league average-or better goaltending performance in the playoffs.
You had big bodies that could handle physical edge
I suppose I should add that an adaptable coach, especially when it comes to playing a match-up against a team that you don't match-up well against stylistically can be crucial, as well. This has been demonstrated by some of the best teams many times when turning a series around, or running away with it.
I figured I would share here. It's really basic, but still figured I would.
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