solidmotion
Registered User
- Jun 5, 2012
- 614
- 297
no, i probably wouldn't say that. consider that in the 06 era, there were only 18 first liners in the entire league, 12 top pair defensemen, six starting goalies. even earning an opportunity in that situation would be an accomplishment: hall of famer johnny bower toiled in the minor leagues until he was in his 30s before finally breaking in with the leafs. and then you're playing the same players 14 times a year, year in, year out—lots of pressure to keep improving and adjusting. and look at how o6 players did after expansion: hull, howe, mikita, keon, mahovlich, bucyk, lots of them still great through the 70s in a totally different environment. (similar story with 80s players like bourque and macinnis; similar story maybe playing out right now with crosby, kane, ovechkin staying relevant as top players even with a new generation coming in under them and the style of play changing drastically.)It doesn't seem as straight forward when again you're now comparing 6 teams and like 100 players all from NA versus 640+ players from around the world and 32 teams.
Would you agree its vastly different and harder to dominate today versus 1950?