Oooh so its because he said it confidently..although you are confidently stating the RNH will have 10 years of healthy top end caliber hockey. In stead of looking for small imperfections in others statements, try looking for the same imperfections amongst your argument. Your basically saying "your stupid to assume he wont be better" although your ASSUMING he will have 10 years of injury free, 1st line caliber hockey. so once again he never had a stupid comment, and if he did under your assessment of what a stupid comment is, so did you.
First, I NEVER said ''10 years of healthy top end caliber hockey''. I said 10 years. That's it.
But yes, I assume RNH will be as healthy as Spezza. You think that's a stupid comment?
Your assumption that RNH will be even more injury prone than Spezza is
So since you feel we cant beat Boston and Pittsburgh we should downgrade for a few years to then have that Spezza caliber 1st line player for years to come. MEANWHILE we hope Boston and Pittsburgh start sucking by each year, maybe we try black magic, maybe I hire a hitman to snipe their stars, who knows. Although those series are very tough, I think the main concern in our dressing room come playoff time is youth. We need experience, guys who have gone the distance, Spezza being one of those guys. So personally I would not at all consider this trade. Unless we are talking about making this trade happen in Spezzas final year when Zib and Turris have had more playoff experience. Unfortunately I don't know when Nuge will play in the playoffs because Edmonton hasn't been their in while.
Turris, Zibanejad, Cowen, Karlsson, Lehner, heck pretty much everyone on the team are far from their peak. As it stands, with Spezza, the Sens are unlikely to win the Cup. As the guys mentioned above gain more experience, when they are at their peaks or close to it, that's when the Sens' window to win will be biggest. But Spezza will be over the hill then.
Moving Spezza for RNH hurts short term (that is if Spezza is even in the lineup with his injuries), but RNH is closer to the core's age and they will peak together. Which will give the Sens a better shot in the future.
Not only that, but RNH is 10 years younger than Spezza. #1 centre for 15 more years >> #1 centre for 5 more years. He extends the window and will allow the Sens to be contenders past Spezza's tenure as the #1 centre.
Chicagos enforcer is Brandon Bollig. But once again by toughness I mean Skill and Grit combined not just a meat head punching bag. The guys Im talking about are much like the once you just said, in fact those 4 played major roles in chicago's cup run. Proving my point of having a great dynamic of skill(kane,toews) and skill+grit(shaw,seabrook,bolland,bickell) on your team come playoff time.
Bollig the enforcer that didn't play in the playoffs. Gee I wonder why he didn't play?
If you actually followed the conversation and not just randomly jumped in to attack me, you would know that this started with aragorn saying the Sens need to get bigger tougher players. Not only rejecting the RNH or Sedin proposals, but actually suggesting the current team needs more.
aragorn thinks the Sens need to get 1-bigger and 2-tougher. The current Sens team just as ''big and tough'' as the Hawks. The current Sens team is ''bigger and tougher'' than past Cup winners such Detroit, Carolina and Pittsburgh.
Therefore, I wholeheartedly disagree with what aragorn is saying. That's all I'm saying here, I've said it 3 times 3 different ways, it's really not hard to understand. Please re-read the above 2 paragraphs again and again until it gets engraved into your brain and stop questioning me about it.
Pittsburgh is always one of the top team in Hits during most season. Tough players who either fight or hit on a consistent basis on their playoff roster include: Cooke, Orpik, Engelland, Morrow, Murray, Iginla, Adams, Neal, Kunitz and Glass. As well their star players collectively involve themselves in the physical game come playoff time because they know that's what it takes to have a chance at victory. Not being able match Bostons physical play was A factor in there eventual defeat. Their skilled players were overwhelmed and put off their game due to Bostons physically and mentally intimidating strategy.
Cup winning roster:
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/seasons/teams/0000502009.html
Nothing special in terms of size and toughness. Detroit OUTHIT Pittsburgh in the playoffs in 2009. Guess who won? Drum roll please
This year, Pittsburgh lost because Boston is a better and more complete team. Bergeron, Marchand, Krejci, Kelly, Chara, Seidenberg, Rask..... Boston has better goaltending, better defense, better bottom 6 and better two-way forwards.
Chicago beat Boston, yet Boston is a much more physical team. Chicago is a better all around team even if they are less physical. Boston is a better all around team than Pittsburgh but are more physical. It's a playing style.
LA had 14.2% MORE hits than Chicago, despite playing a whole round less than the Hawks!!
Im sorry but judging by this post it is evident you have never played organized contact hockey in your past because you are arguing under a complete misconception. If finishing your checks is just a playing style then it is a style that every team employs. If you ask any coach in the league "do you think your team needs to finish their checks" they will give you a definite yes. This is a Fact, you are simply wrong in that statement. The reason Zetterberg and Krejci succeed in the playoffs is because they play bigger then themselves. Im not sure if you watched Detroit this playoffs but I never say Zetterberg miss a check because, in a CONTACT league(the NHL), it plays a major role in good offense and defense. How do you establish a fore check without hitting? putting pressure on the other teams defense is what causes them to make quicker decisions evidently leading to mistakes, misreads, and turnovers. Physicality or strength along the boards aids puck possession and movement in the offensive zone. As well as being hard around the net with a strong presence leads to most playoff goals. On the defensive side of things the only way to stop a speedy winger is to get your body in front of them. You need to drive players to the outside and completely dust any player trying to cut across the middle. Much like seen in Methot's hip check on Kadri, or Neils hit on Boyle last playoffs. As well you need to immobilize players along the boards so you can gain support in taking the puck from a fore checker to move out of your blue line, If you cant pin an offender its because they are establishing stronger board play much like seen in the weakness of lundin. When you stick to poke checking your watching the puck not the body and that's exactly when a skilled guy runs through a team (when Crosby blew past Karlsson in the playoffs or when Datsyuk deaked through Nashville whole team). Almost all embarrassing defensive mistakes are a result of misuse of their body, or too much pressure from an opposing forward leading to the defender having dumb turnover. You cant let physical play not affect you, it helps you win! why not employ it yourself. That's the exact reason it ramps up in the playoffs: it can change the dynamic of a game by major momentum swings, it wears down opposing players especially in a 7 game series, and it breads a successful offense and defense. That's all the evidence I need to thwart your statements. It works in the NHL..it ain't a game of sunshine and rainbows.
Please youtube my examples if you cant recall them.
Oh here we go, a former Midget player comparing that level of play to the NHL. Did you play against Karlsson, Datsyuk, Zetterberg and Lidstrom level players?
Of course every team employs the finish your check mentality. Every team has grinders, guys that are not skilled enough to play a skill oriented defensive game. And that includes me, you and the players at whatever level you played at.
Dude, there are certain times when a check is unnecessary. Chris Neil hits everything every chance he gets. That does NOT mean that is the best thing to do for every player. You think Pavel Datsyuk should be wasting his time checking every single player every chance he gets? No, he has more important things to do and doesn't need to waste energy doing that.
Defense can be played using speed, smarts, positioning and stick work. Karlsson is exhibit #1. When you played, you were a skillless scrub and had to use your body to be effective. Karlsson can strip the puck and prevent goals by other means.
The NHL is just on a completely different level and you need to realize that. Physical play isn't always effective at that level. The decision making these guys possess is so fast. They make plays despite the hitting and the physical play, in some situations it really doesn't hamper their play.
If you were thrown out onto NHL ice, I'm sure you'd be running around trying to hit everything. They'd dangle and skate right around you man, or make a nifty pass before you even got a sniff. Physical play and hitting is not always the answer. Skating, positioning and stick play is more important.
Zetterberg had 13 hits in 14 games in the playoffs, which is A LOT less than your average player. Sometimes a hit is the best thing to stop someone, which is why you'll never see someone with 0 hits. But having a Chris Neil hit count means you're doing something wrong imo.
I'm not saying establishing a forecheck and battling along the boards isn't important. But, being the best at that does NOT guarantee winning hockey games, it does NOT mean you're the best offensively or defensively. It's but one aspect of the game. Anyway, I'm arguing the ''big and tough'' part. You don't need to be big and tough. Small guys can still muck it up in the corner and create a nice forecheck. Enforcers on the other hand (big and tough guys) aren't very good at that.
Hey, I'm not arguing being physical, winning board battle, being a strong presence in front of the net, etc not useful. For some players, that's how they're effective. Grinders like Neil or defensive d-men like Methot NEED to play like that. For other players, that's not their bread and butter, that's not the strong parts of their games. Like Patrick Knae and Karlsson. But they still manage to be top notch players, because there's so much skill and skating involved in hockey. You can win with those players. It's happened many times.
I'm 100% convinced you can be the softest team in the league and you could still win the Cup.
