Yea we could use a couple of those. Throw in a 1st line center with a 56% faceoff percentage we could contend.
I should have said an Olympic Size rink. I stand corrected.
In no way does the Wild need goons. It does need toughness and grit to win a playoff series.
Ericsson Ek and others show tremendous grit. They are an excellent team but after Ek at Center Rask, Johanssen and Bonino are pretty easy to play against. Brings down the whole line. Wild played great against Vegas all year and their compete level overall was very high. You can t lose that many face offs.
Brodin’s speed keeps him from getting blasted in the corners most of the time. Spurgeon is not afraid very true. But that doesn’t keep players from throwing him down like a rag doll. Suter has never hit anyone hard in his life. Lol. He doesn’t believe in it. Most of the time he has great positioning and stick technique and running a guy through the boards isn’t necessary. I am however convinced that an element of nasty is needed in order to win a playoff series where teams like Blues , Avs and Vegas can get very chippy.personally I hate dirty play but it seems the NHL doesn’t share my sentiments.
I might make the argument that 13.4 extra feet to work with East-West is pretty substantial. It's at least a couple of strides for most players. I actually was on the side of international rink size to NHL rink size being overblown until I saw this stat, now I'm not so sure. It seems obvious to me that with that much extra space, good skaters like Marcus Johansson, Jonas Brodin, Kirill Kaprizov etc. would have an advantage. Of course, that blade cuts both ways. Marchessault is a pretty good skater, too. Then you've got your big guys that can also skate, like Pietrangelo, who would have even more advantage than they already do.
I'm a little surprised Kaprizov wasn't able to fight through it, given that he'd been able to battle through checks all season and maintain possession of the puck, yet suddenly wasn't able to in this series.I might make the argument that 13.4 extra feet to work with East-West is pretty substantial. It's at least a couple of strides for most players. I actually was on the side of international rink size to NHL rink size being overblown until I saw this stat, now I'm not so sure. It seems obvious to me that with that much extra space, good skaters like Marcus Johansson, Jonas Brodin, Kirill Kaprizov etc. would have an advantage. Of course, that blade cuts both ways. Marchessault is a pretty good skater, too. Then you've got your big guys that can also skate, like Pietrangelo, who would have even more advantage than they already do.
Doesn't really matter, though, as the NHL rink size is what they play on, and it's there to stay (you can fit more ticket holders in if you have smaller ice). I am a little concerned about any future playoff series if most of our prime-time players are under 6'0", as that did not seem to go well for Kaprizov in this last series. Fiala fought through it though, so maybe there's a lesson to be learned there by our other small guys.
My point wasn’t so much if Minnesota would gain an advantage by a larger rink necessarily. Avs and Vegas have plenty of speed and skill.I might make the argument that 13.4 extra feet to work with East-West is pretty substantial. It's at least a couple of strides for most players. I actually was on the side of international rink size to NHL rink size being overblown until I saw this stat, now I'm not so sure. It seems obvious to me that with that much extra space, good skaters like Marcus Johansson, Jonas Brodin, Kirill Kaprizov etc. would have an advantage. Of course, that blade cuts both ways. Marchessault is a pretty good skater, too. Then you've got your big guys that can also skate, like Pietrangelo, who would have even more advantage than they already do.
Doesn't really matter, though, as the NHL rink size is what they play on, and it's there to stay (you can fit more ticket holders in if you have smaller ice). I am a little concerned about any future playoff series if most of our prime-time players are under 6'0", as that did not seem to go well for Kaprizov in this last series. Fiala fought through it though, so maybe there's a lesson to be learned there by our other small guys.
Kaprizov is NHL ready. The problem is he knew his Center was a turnover machine. Fiala had more success because he seldom played against their top 6.
I agree. No reason to. Looks to me like the owners are making plenty of money exactly how it is.
I don't think you are, but because the owners have a disincentive to go to a big ice surface it won't happen.
