A Rookie Maattas

Take a look back at the Stanley Cup finalists (the last two teams remaining) for say, the past five seasons.  Chances are at least one of them every year has something in common.  An overlying factor commonly overlooked in the grand scheme of things when looking back on the the series as a whole.

A rookie.

Not just any rookie of course.  The type of rookie I'm referring to is one that makes a significant enough impact but, more importantly, was not part of the teams original plans at the start of the season.  Take, for example, rookie Boston D-Man Torey Krug, who spent the better part of his short first season in the NHL playing for the Bruins in their run to the finals last year - and looking pretty good in the process. On the opposite end, look at Pittsburgh native and Chicago Blackhawks rookie forward Brandon Saad. 

Throughout the playoffs last year, both players gained their far share of recognition by the league, and rightfully so.  Neither team would have made it to where they were last year without them, I'm convinced of that.  But is wasn't simply the play of these rookies that made them so vital to the team, but, more importantly, their unexpected presence.  

When looking at a team, and I know every hockey fan (coach, player, GM, etc) has done this either pre-season, pre-trade deadline or pre-playoffs (or all three for that matter), you look for possible weaknesses in your lineup.  On the flip side, you look for possible weaknesses in the lineups of your most hated rivals.  Having a rookie surprisingly, and unexpectedly, fill a top NHL spot at any point of the season is something that you simply cannot predict.  It would be like counting your chickens before they hatched, if you were.  But this random even, this unexplained stroke of luck is something that, in my opinion, you need nowadays in order to be a serious Stanley Cup contender.  

Lets go back to our Torey Krug example.  Going into the playoffs, the Boston Bruins lacked a true puck moving, offensive defenseman ala Kris Letang.  Sure they had (and still have for that matter) many above par Dmen that could execute puck movement efficiently, but none that truly excelled in the process like some other star NHL Dmen do.

Enter Torey Krug.

Do you think for a moment that the likes of the Maple Leafs, Rangers and Penguins thought to themselves going into the playoffs: "Hey, better watch for that Torey Krug fella. I hear he's pretty good at scoring goals."  

No, of course not.  They had no idea who he was and, if they did, it was just from AHL reports which by no means translates into guaranteed NHL success.  

A player like Krug can be applied to any team, any where in the NHL.  A rookie who, at some point in the season, steps in and makes the roster unexpectedly better without so much as a draft pick going out the door to another team.  It's a random event, a stroke of luck that few teams are able to conjure up year after year.

But when they do it, in my opinion, provides that extra boost on and off the ice - off the ice referring as how opposing teams look to prepare against you - that takes teams from being Stanley Cup players to serious Stanley Cup contenders.  

So as your watching this upcoming NHL post-season, take a look at all the surprising rookies sprinkled throughout the rosters of all the teams.  There has been a plethora of them this year.  

Guarantee by the end of this hockey enriched gauntlet that one of them will be the, although unsung, hero for their team. 

It just the way it works these days.  

In the NHL playoffs.  

A rookie Maattas.