Because they drafted and developed a lot of their own talent, and, Niemi played really well in 2010 and Crawfords played well in the last two?
- LeftCoaster

Kind of straight forward isn't it?

Kind of straight forward isn't it?
- bloatedmosquito

Stan Bowman is a smart smart smart man

Stan Bowman is a smart smart smart man
- Codes1087

So is Dale Tallon. Also, having two top-5 picks helps. I think my record just broke

I'd say Crawford has played good enough, but certainly not as good as Bloated is alluding to. I think he's right sometimes it works, but the team in front is much more important.
- neem55

Like Babcock said in Detroit, if you've got the run support, you can get by on good, not great, goaltending.

Kind of straight forward isn't it?
- bloatedmosquito

BFF

Stan Bowman is a smart smart smart man
- Codes1087

Sure, but my admiration goes to the brain trust that developed all that amazing talent after they were drafted.

Lots of examples of teams high draft picks not making the NHL. Is it just a matter of teams picking poorly, prospects tricking everyone into thinking they are better than they are, or is it a fault of the organization not developing properly?

Stan Bowman is a smart smart smart man
- Codes1087

Tallon dealt him a very good hand & should get lots of credit.

Tallon dealt him a very good hand & should get lots of credit.
- Nighthawk

Absolutely....Bowman walked into a very good situation there!

Tallon dealt him a very good hand & should get lots of credit.
- Nighthawk

you are absolutely right. What Dale Tallon has done in super short stint in Florida is nothing short of amazing as well.

If they win and draft Matthews, here comes Nucker and all his friends!


- LeftCoaster

So, played the canucks on EHM and finished 5 last overall and got the 6 overall pick where I picked the BPA Sergachev...

Yeah, team was not good.

Unrelated Hockey Post:

This X-Men trailer was released this morning for all you Marvel Fans:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jer8XjMrUB4

BFF
- LeftCoaster

First Booner, then us.

Summer of love.

Hey, any of you guys pickup truck aficionados?

Need to buy a truck but not sure which way to go.

Dodge Ram?
Chev/GMC Silverado/Sierra?
Ford?

I don't want a Toyota Tundra because of the fuel usage. I want a 3+ liter with a crew cab.

Any suggestions?

First Booner, then us.

Summer of love.
- bloatedmosquito

Watching Game of Thrones with a six week old is an odd experience. Especially since he's just learned to smile and now he does it all the time. I don't think I'll do that again.

Hey, any of you guys pickup truck aficionados?

Need to buy a truck but not sure which way to go.

Dodge Ram?
Chev/GMC Silverado/Sierra?
Ford?

I don't want a Toyota Tundra because of the fuel usage. I want a 3+ liter with a crew cab.

Any suggestions?
- bloatedmosquito

Depends what you want to use it for? Just light duty you can get a good deal on a used Toyota Tacoma. Not much cab room but they're good on fuel and last forever.

I've got a Ram Cummins Turbo Diesel because my boat is so big, awesome engine and cab but it's not really built for comfort. I'm a big Chey/GM guy for a good all around truck.

I think that's exactly what I just said?

They drafted and developed their own talent, as in Keith, Seabrook, Hjalmarsson, Toews, Kane, Shaw, Saad, Kruger, Bolland, Bickell, Brouwer, Byfuglien, Crawford etc.
- LeftCoaster

You missed a couple of key ingredients there.

1) Signing a UFA veteran leader and top 6 player in Hossa. His cap-circumventing contract isn't allowed anymore.

2) They also traded for another top 6 scorer in Sharp.

So being able to trade and sign UFA's is also necessary to build a championship caliber team.

Let's also not forget that Chicago sucked long and hard to assemble the productive group of young players they had. With the draft lottery changes, winning by losing is not as guaranteed a way to go as it was then.

There's some skill to drafting but it also requires a lot of luck. Chicago made some good choices but they were also extremely fortunate that many of those choices worked out as well as they did when they did. Not likely another team is going to be able to duplicate their success in the crapshoot that is drafting 18 year old hockey players.

Hey, any of you guys pickup truck aficionados?

Need to buy a truck but not sure which way to go.

Dodge Ram?
Chev/GMC Silverado/Sierra?
Ford?

I don't want a Toyota Tundra because of the fuel usage. I want a 3+ liter with a crew cab.

Any suggestions?
- bloatedmosquito

I just bought a new truck last year. I have always been a GM guy but went with a dodge 1500. Lots of power, over 10,000 towing and overall a very good truck. It was also 10k less then the GM and Ford.

You missed a couple of key ingredients there.

1) Signing a UFA veteran leader and top 6 player in Hossa. His cap-circumventing contract isn't allowed anymore.

2) They also traded for another top 6 scorer in Sharp.

So being able to trade and sign UFA's is also necessary to build a championship caliber team.

Let's also not forget that Chicago sucked long and hard to assemble the productive group of young players they had. With the draft lottery changes, winning by losing is not as guaranteed a way to go as it was then.

There's some skill to drafting but it also requires a lot of luck. Chicago made some good choices but they were also extremely fortunate that many of those choices worked out as well as they did when they did. Not likely another team is going to be able to duplicate their success in the crapshoot that is drafting 18 year old hockey players.
- YeOldTimer

1) sure it is, but, it's meaningless unless you FIRST establish a core of players, which they did thru drafting and developing. Sharp and Hossa were key contributors to their first two Cups but Toews won the Conn Smythe in 2010, Kane in 2013 & Keith in 2015.

2) they did suck for a long time due to ownership issues, however, that's not the sole reason they became Cup Champs. They didn't continually pick in the top five, in-fact, Toews and Patrick Kane are the only top ten picks they drafted as part of their core of players in the past 15 years. Cam Barker was the other, but we all know how that story went.

Keith was a 2nd rounder, Seabrook was a late 1st rounder, Saad was a 2nd rounder, Hjalmarsson was a 4th rounder, Bickell and Bolland were 2nd rounders, Brouwer was a 7th rounder, Crawford was a 2nd rounder, Shaw was a 5th rounders, etc.

Absolutely....Bowman walked into a very good situation there!
- LeftCoaster

That's why I've never been a huge fan of Bowman. In almost every situation (Pittsburgh, Detroit, Montreal, St. Louis - and now Chicago) he walked into a situation where pretty much all the pieces were in place (I'm talking about the senior Bowman, by the way, who co-managed the Hawks with his son, Stan). I would have liked to see what sort of success he would have had if he inherited a team like Vancouver or Edmonton or any of the bottom dwellers. It would of been highly unlikely he would be HOF material

That's why I've never been a huge fan of Bowman. In almost every situation (Pittsburgh, Detroit, Montreal, St. Louis - and now Chicago) he walked into a situation where pretty much all the pieces were in place (I'm talking about the senior Bowman, by the way, who co-managed the Hawks with his son, Stan). I would have liked to see what sort of success he would have had if he inherited a team like Vancouver or Edmonton or any of the bottom dwellers. It would of been highly unlikely he would be HOF material
- Zogg

Right place right time.

Congrats on the pool win BTW

1) sure it is, but, it's meaningless unless you FIRST establish a core of players, which they did thru drafting and developing. Sharp and Hossa were key contributors to their first two Cups but Toews won the Conn Smythe in 2010, Kane in 2013 & Keith in 2015.

2) they did suck for a long time due to ownership issues, however, that's not the sole reason they became Cup Champs. They didn't continually pick in the top five, in-fact, Toews and Patrick Kane are the only top ten picks they drafted as part of their core of players in the past 15 years. Cam Barker was the other, but we all know how that story went.

Keith was a 2nd rounder, Seabrook was a late 1st rounder, Saad was a 2nd rounder, Hjalmarsson was a 4th rounder, Bickell and Bolland were 2nd rounders, Brouwer was a 7th rounder, Crawford was a 2nd rounder, Shaw was a 5th rounders, etc.
- LeftCoaster

1) Chicken and egg debate. Was Hossa merely complementary or did their top end young guys benefit from having him and Sharp set an example to learn from?

2) Great players make others around them better. Having two very successful top 3 picks helped make all the other players they got in later rounds better than they would have been otherwise. What if either one of Toews or Kane end up being a dud like Barker or Beach? In my opinion, even with all the supporting cast you mention, things don't work out as well.

Sucking long and hard and then also getting lucky by having a bunch of draft picks exceed their trajectory isn't a model that can be followed or duplicated. A GM has to continue to construct the best possible team using every avenue available, including trades and signing UFA's.

Watching Game of Thrones with a six week old is an odd experience. Especially since he's just learned to smile and now he does it all the time. I don't think I'll do that again.
- CubanBuffet

When my mother-in-law was visiting my wife asked her if she would like to watch GoT with us. I gave her the look of "are you (frank)ing crazy".

Good episode last night. But you can tell the tone of the show is changing. The first couple of seasons were so well crafted. Flow between story lines worked really well. You could tell it was scripted from a well written novel.

Now, story lines are lurching ahead with anticlimactic outcomes. But it's still an awesome show.

Right place right time.

Congrats on the pool win BTW
- LeftCoaster

Thanks Lefty, it didn't hurt to have a little luck!

Thanks to five and lefty for their truck suggestions.