WTG
December 5th
Apologies if this is a cringe post. Emotions are high right now, analyzing how the team has played game 6 and game 7. But I think a lot of people need to take a more holistic approach to the season.
The goal was to be a wildcard team
I think everyone would agree that before the season, nobody expected this team to win their division and almost challenge for the president's trophy. Management has done an excellent job adding the right players to the team. Some of them underperformed when it came down to crunch time, but it's not like they were committing to them long-term or giving them big, long-term contracts.
Inexperienced Teams Almost Never Win the Cup.
I think a big thing to consider is experience. This includes both the coach and the players. Teams that don't have playoff experience never win the cup. I am going to self plaguirize a post in January about teams in the past 10+ seasons.
Has there ever been an inexperienced NHL team that goes out and wins the Stanley Cup after they haven't been in the playoffs?
2023 Vegas had shit ton of experience (made playoffs all but one year)
2022 Colorado had shit ton of experience (made playoffs 4 years prior to winning cup)
2020 Tampa had shit ton of experience (under Cooper only out of the playoffs once since 2023-24)
2019 St Louis had shit ton of experience (Didn't make it the year before but 6 consecutive seasons they were in the playoffs)
2018 Capitals had shit ton of experience (only once missed the playoffs in 10 seasons prior to winning the cup)
2009 Pittsburgh had shit ton of experience (basically never miss the playoffs)
2010 Chicago had experience (One deep run the year prior in the 3rd round prior to winning the cup in 2009-10)
2012 LA had experience (made the playoffs twice before their first cup run.
You can argue the first cup runs from Chicago and LA were teams that didn't have much playoff experience from their core before winning a cup. But that's over a decade ago now. The core (except for Miller) has no playoff experience other than a gimmick season without any fans.
The window just opened
Take a look at the age of the core:
Hughes 24, Pettersson 25, Boeser 27, Demko 28. The only one that might have a shorter window is Miller at 31. But I think still he has plenty left in the tank.
This team will be better because of what happened in this playoffs and season.
The goal was to be a wildcard team
I think everyone would agree that before the season, nobody expected this team to win their division and almost challenge for the president's trophy. Management has done an excellent job adding the right players to the team. Some of them underperformed when it came down to crunch time, but it's not like they were committing to them long-term or giving them big, long-term contracts.
Inexperienced Teams Almost Never Win the Cup.
I think a big thing to consider is experience. This includes both the coach and the players. Teams that don't have playoff experience never win the cup. I am going to self plaguirize a post in January about teams in the past 10+ seasons.
Has there ever been an inexperienced NHL team that goes out and wins the Stanley Cup after they haven't been in the playoffs?
2023 Vegas had shit ton of experience (made playoffs all but one year)
2022 Colorado had shit ton of experience (made playoffs 4 years prior to winning cup)
2020 Tampa had shit ton of experience (under Cooper only out of the playoffs once since 2023-24)
2019 St Louis had shit ton of experience (Didn't make it the year before but 6 consecutive seasons they were in the playoffs)
2018 Capitals had shit ton of experience (only once missed the playoffs in 10 seasons prior to winning the cup)
2009 Pittsburgh had shit ton of experience (basically never miss the playoffs)
2010 Chicago had experience (One deep run the year prior in the 3rd round prior to winning the cup in 2009-10)
2012 LA had experience (made the playoffs twice before their first cup run.
You can argue the first cup runs from Chicago and LA were teams that didn't have much playoff experience from their core before winning a cup. But that's over a decade ago now. The core (except for Miller) has no playoff experience other than a gimmick season without any fans.
The window just opened
Take a look at the age of the core:
Hughes 24, Pettersson 25, Boeser 27, Demko 28. The only one that might have a shorter window is Miller at 31. But I think still he has plenty left in the tank.
This team will be better because of what happened in this playoffs and season.