When you break down the two remaining teams still standing in these playoffs; as well as the Blues last year; they have one thing in common. And that ingredient is a Class A group of d-men. In fact it could be argued it was their bluelines that carried them through to the promised land.
On the other side of the ledger are the Canucks. Basically one up and coming superstar; but the rest a collection of mediocre d-men who are either aging out; or were signed off the UFA scrap-heap and weren't good enough to begin with. I suppose there's some hope the likes of Juolevi, Rathbone and Rafferty might transform this blueline going forward, but that's a pretty forlorn hope.
So posters who point out that a Cup is unlikely in the next couple of seasons are only being realistic. Until the bloated bottom-six roster contracts are cleaned out and Benning can fill in around Hughes with some impact d-men, this team will fall short. Just the way it is.
