But you need guys who really want to play that role. I would love to get players like Steve Begin, Denis Gauthier, Tyson Nash, etc. Those guys are not your enforcers, but they do get the other team off their game.
You need a couple of legit enforcers AND some guys who are willing to stir things up. It will not really help to have, say, Belanger + Grenier around to handle the fights and a bunch of finesse players to go along with them. The balance the B's need is to have skill players, bangers/pluggers/grinders and some tough guys. It doesn't make any sense to hope that Cam Mann will be a very physical player. He will have the odd scrap and will hit sometimes. But his game is clearly more about offense. Let the guys play the game they are good at and get the guys you need to cover all the bases.
It keeps coming back to management and chemistry issues. The management has to know the blueprint for constructing a well-rounded team. Until they do, other teams with better balance will succeed against the B's.
Posted on Aug 22, 2000, 5:35 PM from IP address 140.239.213.132