BestCanuck Posted November 9, 2023 Share Posted November 9, 2023 Looking to see if anyone can help figure out how many teams have scored their way to the cup… Watching Maple Leafs and Oilers this year is painful. Kinda reminds me of the 02-03’ Canucks, all skill but no goaltending and lack of depth. It seems like management doesn’t want to make any big moves to fix these problems. I think if they aren’t resolved and with teams like LA, Ducks, Canucks, Devils on the upcoming, they will drop off. Teams mentioned have either 1 of defense or goaltending. That’s something Leafs and Oilers lack. Which spikes my interest in how many times after 2005 have teams scored their way to championships? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HKSR Posted November 9, 2023 Share Posted November 9, 2023 14 minutes ago, BestCanuck said: Looking to see if anyone can help figure out how many teams have scored their way to the cup… Watching Maple Leafs and Oilers this year is painful. Kinda reminds me of the 02-03’ Canucks, all skill but no goaltending and lack of depth. It seems like management doesn’t want to make any big moves to fix these problems. I think if they aren’t resolved and with teams like LA, Ducks, Canucks, Devils on the upcoming, they will drop off. Teams mentioned have either 1 of defense or goaltending. That’s something Leafs and Oilers lack. Which spikes my interest in how many times after 2005 have teams scored their way to championships? Honestly, I don't think any championship team has only won from offence alone. Goaltending and defence is even more important than offence in the playoffs in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownUndaCanuck Posted November 9, 2023 Share Posted November 9, 2023 Pretty sure "defence wins championships" has rung true since the start of the Stanley Cup. There might be a couple of teams in there who were more offensive-based but even the teams with good forwards up front had solid team defence and goaltending. Teams like the Leafs and Oilers are such jokes because they prioritise spending their cap on star flashy forwards and then leave 1-2M per defencemen, and the top defencemen they have aren't very strong defensively, and worst of all - their team defence is atrocious and that comes down to coaching. Finally, their goalies get left out to dry. We're seeing the opposite with the Canucks - spending a big chunk of cap on defence, have one top puck mover and like 4-5 shutdown guys, have solid defensive centers and forwards who track back well and have a defence-first coaching mentality, backed up by a great goalie. We're leading the league in scoring right now but it all comes from solid defence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess Posted November 9, 2023 Share Posted November 9, 2023 Yeah, offense alone never wins championships. The 80s definitely skewed heavily that way, but even then, the championship winning teams had some good defense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamonds Posted November 9, 2023 Share Posted November 9, 2023 The 05-06 Carolina Hurricanes and the 16-17 Pittsburgh Penguins (no Letang the entire playoffs) are the only post-lockout teams I can think of that won a cup without a Norris caliber defenseman. The Carolina team had a red-hot Cam Ward who won the Conn Smythe and played great team defense. The 16-17 Penguins arguably was able to outscore any defensive problems, but while Dumoulin, Hainsey, and Cole weren't household names all three were very solid defensively (and Maatta also had a great playoffs). Plus Fleury and Murray for the most part were stellar (and Matt Cullen was a stud on their penalty kill). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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