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Hopefully Sutter can stay healthy. Will be interesting to see how he does with some better talent alongside him, albeit in a stronger league. ND had a bad record last year, but the vast majority of their losses came in a stacked Big 10. ND comfortably beat the ECAC teams on their schedule in road games.
We have filled two of the six spots with Russell and VanDamme if I am correct above.
it has been fairly obvious that we lacked size on defense for several years. I appreciate this attempt to rectify what I saw as one of our biggest problems (among several others).
Interestingly, I recently watched that '85 championship retrospective video with Pierre Langevin and he made mention of how big the D guys on that team were. Seems like a pretty critical ingredient.
Which is why, no matter how talented they were, Martin St. Louis and Brian Gionta did not play as defensemen. Different positions in hockey necessitate players have certain attributes. And as the old adage goes - you cannot teach size! The game has changed over the years. When I played a big D-man might be 5'10" and 185 pounds. Today, most D players are listed as 6'2" or taller and 210 or bigger, with the larger boys being a couple inches above that and 15 or more pounds of muscle heavier.
Lane Hutson is only 5'10" and 165 lb.
He might be the exception which proves the rule.To a certain extent...but puck movers like Makar, Gostisbehere, Spurgeon, Fox, Hutson, Quinn Hughes etc. have changed the blue line. They are catalysts for the offense from the blue line. Of course, they are normally paired with some beefy guys ...just to keep everyone honest !
.....to prove Doc's point ! Ha haAll those listed by you are really top notch-but none of them are really small guys. And certainly they play bigger than they are. Of course you need guys like them on the back line but as you point out, usually for them to succeed with what they do so well, they are paired with a mastodon. Newton's third law still holds in many areas of sports and especially on the ice. What else I have seen change is the size of the goalies. The days of the shorter, squatter tenders (think Gump Worsely) are no longer around. Now when the goalies get down into the butterfly, they are still taller than many of us!!!!!!!!!
A bit of both. But given equal talent and speed - give me the bigger guy on defense all the time. The forwards at the NCAA Division I are now just huge and strong. Not unusual any more to see guys over 6'3" and over 215. They are a handful and I just cannot imagine a defensive player being able to handle them any more without at least being of equal size. When i watch all the Stanley Cup games and look at their rosters, they list more like football teams in the NFL these days. Not as easy any more to find players under 6' or under 200 pounds. May not be so obvious to some of the younger fans following hockey but I go back to when the NY Rangers had a forward named Camille Henry! And i used to marvel at the 'big' Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Elmer 'Moose' Vasco who I though was simply huge. And I think he might be an average sized college D-man these day!!
Moose Vasko was 6'2", 201 lb, according to Elite Prospects. So, you are correct.
I stood next to Moose many years ago and have some stuff signed by him and later on, Bobby Hull and several other Blackhawks. was not a fan of that team but took every opportunity at the old Garden to get to see anyone and everyone. In those days you could find your way down near the locker rooms and if lucky, catch a couple players for an autograph or a puck or even a stick at times. With only 6 teams and not much changes made year to year in the rosters,, pretty easy to know almost all the players in the league.Moose Vasko was 6'2", 201 lb, according to Elite Prospects. So, you are correct.
He had a grandniece (brother's granddaughter) , Alexa Vasko, who played forward for Mercyhurst and graduated (including COVID year) in 2022. She is 5'5". NZ gave her 4.50 *'s.
That guy was always bailen out his teammates
Are you taking your medication??
Doc we need more mastodons! I’m with you. We need big guys on the backend. D1 forwards are just so big and fast now. Unless you have a Nick Bailen who is both good defensively with elite offense but those are the exceptions. Western Michigan had some real mastodons on the backend this year. Worked out good for them