Lets be clear about one thing, with nearly one year of the ‘new NHL’ having passed, there’s no clear-cut formula for building a champion. That said, some things have become abundantly apparent, particularly amongst those who have enjoyed success by embracing the league’s new style of play. Speed trumps toughness, while intelligence and discipline triumph over brawn and physical intimidation.
“More than anything, the biggest shift is the style in the past was about thinking, size, hooking, holding and blocking and now it has moved from the head to the feet,” says Buffalo Sabres GM Darcy Regier. “It has shifted back to a skating game. Before it was largely about thinking and all the things you could get away with.”
If having a strong defense were all it took to be champion, then the Calgary Flames surely would have gotten out of the first round of the playoffs. The Flames, after all, have one of the best goalies in the business in Miikka Kiprusoff and a defense corps rivaled by few.
The Flames simply couldn’t score enough goals and they’ll be in the same boat next season if they fail to bring in support for Jarome Iginla.
Likewise, if it were all about offense, the high-octane Ottawa Senators wouldn’t have been sent packing with a humiliating second round defeat. The Sens were the NHL’s highest-scoring team in the regular season, but when their machine guns turned into pop guns and their usually reliable defense wilted, they were no match for the upstart Buffalo Sabres.
Talk to players, coaches and GMs and they will tell you the two most common denominators for success in today’s game are good goaltending and team speed. You might argue that has always been the case, but in the old NHL you could neutralize speed by cheating. In today’s game, cheaters no longer prosper.
Good goaltending is still a no brainer. No matter how the game is being played, or more importantly, officiated, you need a dependable last line of defense. Goaltending still separates the winners from the losers. Where would the Edmonton Oilers be without Dwayne Roloson? Some felt a first round draft pick was too high a price to pay for a 36-year-old backup goalie, but Roloson has made Edmonton GM Kevin Lowe look like a genius.
“We can sit here and talk about a lot of different things and they’d probably be accurate, but the bottom line is, to have the success, goaltending is the key,” says Carolina GM Jim Rutherford, whose Hurricanes have been one of the most surprising teams, benefitting from a solid 1-2 punch in net with Martin Gerber and rookie Cam Ward.
“That is always at the end of every conversation. Everybody talks about the ‘old game’ and the ‘new game’ and the bottom line is there is one main factor here – goaltending.”
Many assumed that goalies, who had to deal with streamlined equipment, restrictions on where they can play the puck and rules that encouraged more offense, would be hardest hit in the new NHL. They were not.
Defensemen, who had grown accustomed to hooking and holding (not to mention cross-checking in front of the net), were asked to basically relearn their position. They could not rely on old habits and those who did put their teams in jeopardy by taking penalties.
“Defensemen have to be more mobile,” says Edmonton blueliner Chris Pronger. “They have to be able to skate…to get to the puck and they need to be able to move it. You can’t just keep banging it out of your zone off the boards and glass anymore. The game is more about puck possession than ever.”
Adds Rutherford: “In the new NHL, good skating and puckhandling defensemen are keys to successful teams. You don’t want to turn the puck over; you want puck possession. The more skill your team has, the more you have possession of the puck and that makes you a better team.”
It used to be the team with the biggest and most physically intimidating defense could neutralize an opponent’s skill and speed. That is no longer the case; just ask the Philadelphia Flyers, who stocked up on blueline giants Derian Hatcher, Mike Rathje and Chris Therien prior to this season.
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