07/08:
Laraque
Ruutu
Roberts
Malone
Talbot
08/09:
Godard
Cooke
Gill
Guerin
Talbot
09/10
Godard
Rupp
Engelland
Cooke
Talbot
10/11
Godard
Rupp
Engelland
Asham
Cooke
Talbot
Plus those years we had Orpik in his prime.
To compare any of those teams physicality to the current roster is laughable.
If Talbot and Gill count as tough, so do Sundqvist, Plotnikov, Cole and Dumoulin. And in all that time, Godard played exactly 0 minutes of playoff time for us. Laraque was only tough if someone signed off on his gentleman's agreement to fight; he was useless as a real enforcer.
We're missing a guy like Orpik, sure. I'm not too worried about that. I'm more worried about dealing with guys in the crease, which isn't something Orpik was ever especially good at. I'm sure Cole and Dumoulin can do as well as he did at that. I'm fine with less big open ice hits from D if it means we have smarter players who are better with the puck.
We don't have a real agitator like Cooke or Ruutu. Can't argue that. I'm also not sure if that bothers me. I'd be happy to see Farnham get some games if we think we need a guy to do that.
Asham was fine, but I'd rather have Plotnikov or Sundqvist. They'll fight less, but they're almost certainly going to be better hockey players.
You make it seem like we have a team full of guys who will avoid checks like the plague, play on the perimeter, avoid the boards and never crash the net. Its simply not the case. Bonino and Kessel are soft. That's it for forwards. Not many guys are overtly aggressive in terms of hits, but they will all get their noses dirty on the walls and in the crease. On D, Lovejoy and Maatta are on the softer end. Pouliot needs to add size, but he doesn't play soft.