Completely disagree with that entire premise. I never said if you are an elite team you are guaranteed to win it, but it's your only legitimate chance as winning it. You can't rely on a hot goaltender to carry you through all the way each year. That's once in a hundred chance of happening, and you still need an elite goaltender like Price to do it, and still likely won't succeed either, and never get that same performance again from them. The Caps didn't just magically win out of nowhere, they were not a one and done team, they went deep several times until they finally broke through and won it. What are you arguing exactly? Because that's what contention looks like.
Doesn't matter if other didn't eventually win it, they at least had a legitimate chance to do it, and sometimes you fall short. Obviously it's not a guarantee. That's no argument against not going for it entirely lol. Might as well just give up and never really try because it's just really hard, we might not even win it either!! So let's not even bother. ROFL, what kind of attitude is that? I guess it should just be handed to everyone on rotating basis each year instead? That's the entire point, it's because it's hard it's worth chasing after and why winning it means everything. I didn't realize that needs to be spelled out. It's what makes it such a prize and worth the effort, why else would anyone care if it wasn't? I think we have completely different mindsets, and it seems yours is very different than most fans of any sporting club. WE IN IT TO WIN IT.
And no, making the playoffs is not that hard at all. If Dorion and Melnyk managed to do so repeatedly, so can anyone else. Half the league makes it every year. That's not a valid point. We already have a solid core regardless, we've drafted and developed well prior to 2021, all the main pieces are already here, we are only missing one major one upfront to round it out. It does't need to be based on a couple generational players, it can be a handful of great players with depth instead. We don't need to discuss the hypothetical of spending eternity to assemble the core of an elite team when the pieces are mostly already here and now.
The whole just try to make the playoffs and hope for the best strategy is really tiresome, and the reason why I keep on mentioning last decade is because we have our very own proof of why it's foolhardy to make that as your team's strategy. Sometimes, major additions/changes are really needed to get you to that next step, and small incremental change just doesn't cut it, and that is what a serious club will do for their team if they want to contend.
This entire argument frankly stinks of an owner's ruse using it to excuse away why skimping out on filling out the rest of the roster with the best supporting cast the core needs to perform to their fullest is completely fine. I'm just not buying that argument as being anything but a Melnyk level scam. No body looks at that strategy and says yes, I can get behind this, this our best ticket to contention and best chance at a cup during our window. There is a very good reason why legitimate contenders load up during their cores cup window and not go your rout, because that's what needs to be done if you want to sell the team and the fans that you are serious about competing for a cup in their most opportune time. I just don't see how anyone can genuinely argue otherwise with a straight face, unless actually contending and winning it is not important for you, which I'm starting to assume it isn't. I for one, can't stand that argument in favour of perpetual mediocrity, I would love to see a contender finally after 2 decades of waiting, and thats the point of tolerating a brutal rebuild anyhow, this is why teams and fanbases suffer through it, for the potential payoff. You have to at least make a genuine effort at going for it after all that when you have the opportunity. Telling them well making the playoffs is already hard enough and you should all be satisfied with just that, don't expect much else, and if more happens that's just an unexpected bonus, simply doesn't come close enough to cutting it.
Last edited:
