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National Hockey League Thread

benchmark00

benchmark00

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Look far more likely with the Sedin's on the ice. Have had our chances since the goal but still need to put up more shots.
 
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Quaggas

Quaggas

State Captain
Turbinator said:
But the Wings also had guys like Shanahan and Yzerman (once again, Canadians) leading the pack. I'm not saying Europeans such as Lidstrom or Federov aren't valuable, all I'm saying is more often than not you need the hard hitting presence of North American players in the lineup if you want to be successful past the regular season.

Just take a look at the last two seasons, for example. Chicago won with a majority of Canadians in the lineup beating the Canucks in the conference final, under Toews' leadership. Year before that, Penguins won with a majority of North American players beating the European heavy Wings' lineup, and once again under the leadership of none other than Crosby.

Once again, I am not saying the European players aren't important to the team, guys like Lidstrom and Forsberg are legends. All I'm saying is that, in general, in the playoffs you need the strong physical presence and to exploit the soft style of play Europeans are accustomed to if you want to go all the way, more often than not.

EDIT: Oh and of course you don't mean to say North American players aren't skilled enough. There's a reason why Canada (and US to some extent) pretty much destroys other teams on the world stage, when our guys aren't playing in the NHL that is. :p And one important element to that is our physical prowess over the other teams. Especially at the World Juniors level, some of the hits the Canadian guys deliver on the others are just downright brutal, we literally toy with them most of the time. Except when we become complacent, like last year at the World Juniors against the Russians.
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I do not disagree that you need a "grind line," esp in the playoffs. But I think you'll find if you go overweight enforcer and underweight skill, you'll end up losing, on average.
 
Turbinator

Turbinator

Cricketer Of The Year
Quaggas said:
I do not disagree that you need a "grind line," esp in the playoffs. But I think you'll find if you go overweight enforcer and underweight skill, you'll end up losing, on average.
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Oh for sure, I completely agree with you there. All I'm saying is that you'll find skilled hockey players in both North America and Europe. But what sets the players in North America apart from the ones in Europe (in general) is their physical presence, which is an aspect that is crucial in NHL playoffs. And it all just comes down to the difference in the hockey culture between the two continents, and how the young players are taught the game.

Nonetheless, you're right in that striking a balance between the two aspects is crucial.
 
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