Quoting: pharrow
Sure and CBJ didn't just pound your lineup up and down the boards and all over the ice for 4 games.
Barré-Boulet, Point, Kucherov, (he's what 5'11 if that), Johnson. That's four of your top 6 who are small players.
Then you wonder why the other team comes out and beats on your lineup. Yeah I'm sure you will win a lot of games in the regular season. But if you haven't figured it out by now, come the playoffs the game is different. You better be ready to hit and be hit. This is two years now where TB was simply out physicaled up and down the ice.
Speed and skill only goes so far when the other team is willing to plaster you all over the boards.
I get that guys like Foligno/Anderson/Dubinsky make the Blue Jackets appear more heavy, but the only way Columbus pounded the Lightning up and down the boards was through effort and puck control. CBJ is actually a slightly lighter and younger team than TBL and the Lightning out-hit the Blue Jackets 144-117 in the series. Four of CBJ's Top 6 (Duchene, Atkinson, Panarin, and Dzingel) are all under 200lb, and their entire top line is under 6'0". Also, according to CapFriendly's depth charts, both teams have only 8 skaters above 200lb, so it's not like Columbus had an arsenal of big guys that would crush all of the small Lightning players.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not completely arguing against big players. I just don't get the argument that they need to be in the top 6 over more skilled players. Weight can be beneficial for defensemen (all of Tampa's D-men are over 200lbs by the way) and for bottom 6 players, who can't always rely on skill and need to win board battles or lay a hit to knock the opposition off the puck. With the way the league is now, most of the biggest point producers are smaller, and big players who can also score are becoming few and far between. I know the Lightning's big-3 didn't live up to expectations, but Panarin, Duchene, and Atkinson drove the offense for the whole series. If you gave the same minutes to the heavy bottom 6 guys like Foligno, Dubinsky and Jenner, I can guarantee you they would not have been able to out-score the Lighting.
TL;DR: The Lighting are actually bigger and hit more than Columbus did. Big players do have a place in hockey, but unless they also have the skill, they should not be in the top 6.
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