1 Player Difference among Cup Winners?

MadLuke

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Jan 18, 2011
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I was thinking of Brian Leetch on the 94 Rangers, you guys think with him missing the Rangers still end the 54 year jinx? JUST before I developed my love/following of hockey, but I heard and seen a bit that Leetch was otherworldly in 94...

I doubt the Rangers win without Richter (.921 save percentage those day was quite elite) &Leetch or beat the devils without Messier either. they needed to win 3 in a row to beat the Devils 4-3 in the series.

Messier Hat trick and a pass in game 6, Leetch (on a Messier assist) for the lone goal in regulation on the game 7.

In the case of Rangers, they were in a game 7 overtime, it is hard to find a more thin win by the teeth situation than that, remove Kovalev and chance are good they do not win the cup.
 
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WingsFan95

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Mar 22, 2008
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I was thinking of Brian Leetch on the 94 Rangers, you guys think with him missing the Rangers still end the 54 year jinx? JUST before I developed my love/following of hockey, but I heard and seen a bit that Leetch was otherworldly in 94...

I was very young, has to be in retrospect, yeah he was too big a piece. I mean that team was deep but needed the depth. There's a reason they never made it back to the final.

they needed to win 3 in a row to beat the Devils 4-3 in the series.

Common misconception, they were only down 2-3 but yeah close margins on winning two double OTs. I think they can afford to lose Kovalev though.
 

Kyle McMahon

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May 10, 2006
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Any team that needed a razor-thin 7 game win in two series surely couldn't afford to lose any important player.

1981 Islanders are the most recent team I think you can say it about with a high degree of confidence. They had a relatively soft path and beat everyone quite convincingly. This was the year Goring won the Smythe. Hard to see them losing any of those series even if a major piece was removed.
 

WingsFan95

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Mar 22, 2008
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Any team that needed a razor-thin 7 game win in two series surely couldn't afford to lose any important player.

1981 Islanders are the most recent team I think you can say it about with a high degree of confidence. They had a relatively soft path and beat everyone quite convincingly. This was the year Goring won the Smythe. Hard to see them losing any of those series even if a major piece was removed.

Depends if it's the best player. Bryan Trottier or Mike Bossy would be hard.

The 2002 Wings could have lost multiple pieces and won. Obviously not Lidstrom, Hasek or Shanahan but could easily lose Yzerman despite his leadership as his contribution was limited on the ice and the team transitioned fairly well. Mind you Zetterberg and Datsyuk helped a ton but you're looking at the loss of Hull, Robitaille and Larionov. The Avs series would have been played differently if Detroit didn't have Yzerman & Hull for example. Man that team was stacked.
 

quoipourquoi

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Jan 26, 2009
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The 2002 Wings could have lost multiple pieces and won.

The team that trailed in three series, including 0-2 down to an 8th seed? I like their chances better in 1997 and 1998 if we’re stacking the odds against them in any way.

I think teams can totally win without their best players - without it being an indictment of that player’s contribution in other years. Detroit winning without Howe is probably the biggest example.
 

Kyle McMahon

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May 10, 2006
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Depends if it's the best player. Bryan Trottier or Mike Bossy would be hard.

The 2002 Wings could have lost multiple pieces and won. Obviously not Lidstrom, Hasek or Shanahan but could easily lose Yzerman despite his leadership as his contribution was limited on the ice and the team transitioned fairly well. Mind you Zetterberg and Datsyuk helped a ton but you're looking at the loss of Hull, Robitaille and Larionov. The Avs series would have been played differently if Detroit didn't have Yzerman & Hull for example. Man that team was stacked.

Zetterberg wasn't even in the NHL yet. Datsyuk was a rookie depth player. I highly doubt Detroit wins without Yzerman that year; many of us were expecting him to get the Conn Smythe for gutting it out through four rounds with one healthy knee.
 
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Tuna Tatarrrrrr

Here Is The Legendary Rat Of HFBoards! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Jun 13, 2012
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The 2002 Wings could have lost multiple pieces and won. Obviously not Lidstrom, Hasek or Shanahan but could easily lose Yzerman despite his leadership as his contribution was limited on the ice and the team transitioned fairly well. Mind you Zetterberg and Datsyuk helped a ton but you're looking at the loss of Hull, Robitaille and Larionov. The Avs series would have been played differently if Detroit didn't have Yzerman & Hull for example. Man that team was stacked.
LOL they were lucky enough to beat the Avalanche this year even with their current team...

But they would never have beaten the Avs if they lost one of their major pieces (Yzerman, Shanahan or whoever you want to) or if Bourque was still there this year because the Avalanche would have won in 5 or 6 games. So it's just ridiculous to think they would still have won it all if they lost multiple pieces. :laugh:
 

MadLuke

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Jan 18, 2011
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Not sure about lucky, they did outshoot them quite a bit and outscore them also during the series.

But yes a series that needed a game 7 with the Wings having a overtime win during it, maybe they can loose 1-2 major piece at the forward position considering what other foward would have had that ice time instead (would have been an other elite player and who knows what datsyuk with gained responsability instead of 10 min of ice time give them).

When you have robitaille, young Datsyuk, Draper, Holmstrom, Williams, McCarty, Maltby not playing big minutes.... maybe

Loosing Lidstrom playing 29+ minutes too while they were dressing only 5 defenseman.... or Hasek ? Men that team was stacked.....
 

GreatGonzo

Surrounded by Snowflakes
May 26, 2011
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I the last guy I can think of that made the biggest impact on his teams success as an individual was Thomas in ‘11. Next was definitely Crosby and Malkin in ‘09, take one of them out and they don’t win a cup.
 

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