Tampa Bay: Are we witnessing the best roster in the cap era?

[GOilers88]

Can't they be the best roster asembled without winning the cup? A cup doesn't make your team better or worse.
There's a lot of factors in play to win the cup, roster just being one of them.

Of course winning the cup makes your team better. It literally goes to the best team every year.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

Of course winning the cup makes your team better. It literally goes to the best team every year.

I'd argue that people view the team who won the cup as the best team that year, rather than the cup actually going to the best team every time

 

[Big Daddy Cane]

The 05-06 Canes had 7 of the Top 90 scorers in terms of PPG (41 GP Min.) For the sake of comparison, the 2010 Blackhawks had 5. This year's Lightning team only has 3 so far.

People need to stop acting like the 05-06 Canes had mediocre talent. The talent was there, but it was more unbalanced than what the narrative about cup building prescribes.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

Of course winning the cup makes your team better. It literally goes to the best team every year.

Agree to an extent. In any given year the odds of a team winning the Cup aren’t great which is why you want to build a team that can compete for a long period of time. But unless and until you win a Cup during that window you can’t say it’s the best roster. Playoffs are s whole different thing than regular season success.

 

[GOilers88]

I'd argue that people view the team who won the cup as the best team that year, rather than the cup actually going to the best team every time

What sort of crazy rhetoric is this? The best team in the league every year is the team that wins the cup.

 

[GOilers88]

Agree to an extent. In any given year the odds of a team winning the Cup aren’t great which is why you want to build a team that can compete for a long period of time. But unless and until you win a Cup during that window you can’t say it’s the best roster. Playoffs are s whole different thing than regular season success.

In any given year the odds of any team winning the cup are 1 in 31. This is the same for every team.

 

[Advanced stats]

What sort of crazy rhetoric is this? The best team in the league every year is the team that wins the cup.

I'd disagree as well. There is a large amount of luck involved as well, making it impossible to say who really is "the best team"

Edit: health is another huge factor

 

[GOilers88]

I'd disagree as well. There is a large amount of luck involved as well, making it impossible to say who really is "the best team"

You can disagree. That's fine. But the fact is the Stanley Cup is awarded to the best team every season. It's that simple. If winning the entire championship doesn't mean you're the best team, then there is no discernable way for anyone to ever say any team is the best and it's an impossible question.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

In any given year the odds of any team winning the cup are 1 in 31. This is the same for every team.

yeah, this is not accurate at all

 

[Advanced stats]

You can disagree. That's fine. But the fact is the Stanley Cup is awarded to the best team every season. It's that simple. If winning the entire championship doesn't make you the best team, then there is no discernable way for anyone to ever say any team is the best and it's an impossible question.

So does the best team win every hockey game all season long? Or is luck and health and other factors involved?

 

[GOilers88]

yeah, this is not accurate at all

How is it not? At the start of every season each team is competing in a field of 31. That gives you a 1 in 31 chance of winning, no?

 

[Bozo Nicholson]

Tampa are cup favourites and it's not close

That's what worries me.

 

[Master P]

This smells like a Jinx thread

 

[kuzy92]

I think the playoffs are pretty luck based to be honest. Good teams lose in the playoffs all the time. Look at Washington or the Sharks for example

Oh please!! There is no championship harder to win than the Cup..

 

[GOilers88]

So does the best team win every hockey game all season long? Or is luck and health and other factors involved?

No team will ever win every game all season. You can't quantify luck or x factors so it really doesn't mean shit. If your team plays well enough to make the post season and survive four rounds to win the cup, you are the best team in the league. All the ifs and buts don't mean a damn thing. If you want to say the best team is the one that lost because of lucky bounces or injuries, you're just completely discrediting everything the team that actually won it all did to make it happen, which is a farce.

 

[Kennedys]

blah blah blah

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

How is it not? At the start of every season each team is competing in a field of 31. That gives you a 1 in 31 chance of winning, no?

no. the cup isn't awarded by rolling a 31 sided dice. some teams are better than others and have better chances to win

 

[Bozo Nicholson]

Around here you’re a choker if you don’t win the whole thing, regardless of how far you make it.

Some people fail to see the difference between the current Lightning and the pre-2017 Caps.

I definitely get your point, but to be fair, the final 2 games versus the Caps last post season were the epitome of a choke job.

 

[GOilers88]

no. the cup isn't awarded by rolling a 31 sided dice. some teams are better than others and have better chances to win

Did you watch any hockey last year? Vegas says f*** your stats and chemistry.

 

[koyvoo]

This smells like Jinx thread

 

[Thenameless]

I think the recent Blackhawks teams that won the Cup 3 times had the best overall roster.

Toews at his best was being compared to Crosby - Selke & Conn Smythe winner.
Kane - Art Ross, Hart, and Conn Smythe
Keith - 2 Norris & 1 Conn Smythe

A big difference between the above and the TBL stars is that these guys didn't just contend for the top awards, they actually won them. Hedman is the only TBL guy on the current squad who is at award level with his Norris last season. Stamkos' Rocket years are a thing of the past.

Then, the Blackhawks had a wicked and extremely deep supporting cast with the likes of Seabrook (forming the best pairing in recent history), Hossa, Bolland, Bickell, Byfuglien, Madden, Hjalmarsson, Ladd, Sharp, and Versteeg. Other good players came and went in this era.

It's really no surprise that they won 3 Cups. It was a marvelously built team.

 

[kuzy92]

Tampa are cup favourites and it's not close

Actually it’s kind of close considering the Caps dominated the same exact roster 7 months ago.

 

[JasonRoseEh]

How did they show they have what it takes anymore than the Sharks of years past? Lots of won rounds, all the checkboxes, even made it further than this Bolts going to the finals.

Last 5 years Sharks: made the final once, lost in round 1 twice, missed the playoffs once and lost in the second round.
Last 5 years Bolts: Conference finals twice, finals once, round 1 once and missed playoffs once.

The comparison is fair but I just feel this Tampa team is better in almost every way than the Sharks ever were and they're closer now.

 

[Bozo Nicholson]

I think the recent Blackhawks teams that won the Cup 3 times had the best overall roster.

Toews at his best was being compared to Crosby - Selke & Conn Smythe winner.
Kane - Art Ross, Hart, and Conn Smythe
Keith - 2 Norris & 1 Conn Smythe

A big difference between the above and the TBL stars is that these guys didn't just contend for the top awards, they actually won them. Hedman is the only TBL guy on the current squad who is at award level with his Norris last season. Stamkos' Rocket years are a thing of the past.

Then, the Blackhawks had a wicked and extremely deep supporting cast with the likes of Seabrook (forming the best pairing in recent history), Hossa, Bolland, Bickell, Byfuglien, Madden, Hjalmarsson, Ladd, Sharp, and Versteeg. Other good players came and went in this era.

It's really no surprise that they won 3 Cups. It was a marvelously built team.

I can see Kuch eventually winning an Art Ross.

 

[Sky04]

You could argue "best" because of lack of championships but as far as talent on a roster goes? They are if not one of the top assembled teams in the cap era.

Adding Ryan McDonagh at low value and having him pop back into top form has been huge for us on the backend.