How to build a contender (Part 1)

Everyone has their own ideas on how to build their hockey team, some work some do not. Some teams look so talented that they are sure shots to win a cup but in the end miss the playoffs entirely. Some teams look so talent lacking that they should be farm teams and they make it to the finals. So how do you build a contender? What is the right mix? My ideals are purely based on my experience and by far are not the only way to build a contending team. In this three part series I will go over all the different attributes that make up a good forward, defenceman and goalie and how to mesh them all together to make a good team.

First off I like a team with alot of intensity, but not too much. There is nothing worse than a roster full of wet noodles, they will not hit anybody and in the end don't have that desire to score. But having a team too full of intensity means that everybody is too excited and focused on making the big hit and not interested in puttin the puck in the net. I personally like to have a team with alot of the depth players full of intensity with a decent amount of strength. It is good to have your stay at home defencemen full of intensity. For goaltenders intensity is definitely a nice to have but not a need to have. When it comes to forwards, it is good to have your grinder type players with alot of intensity, but it will never hurt to have your top line guys logging lots of hits.

Skating? Speed? It is nice to have a team that can skate well and can be speedy. But a slower player still has his place if he brings other intangibles to the team. I like to have all my slower guys on the same line and all my fast guys on the same line. This creates a good balance. Players who skate well tend to perform better with players that can keep up with him vice versa for the slow guys. When you break it down to your forwards and skaters it is pretty much the same thing, try and match your speed and skating together. Speed is very important when it comes to your goaltenders. A slow goaltender? Have you ever seen a slow goaltender excel... anywhere? Skating is nice to have with your goaltender, but it is by far not the most important factor with your goaltender.

Next week we will focus on some of the more overrated abilities of a hockey players. They may be very important but passing, puck control, defense and scoring are not the be all end all. Many rookie GMs like to focus on these stats alone and often find themselves building a team of underachievers. That's next week in the Hawkeynut's FNHL Insider Report.