Nashville lost because they didn't have Weber

Evegni Malkin

6'3", 225 lbs.

Too much for most teams to handle.

Too big for the tiny Nashville Predators blueline.
Oh yes, they can move the puck on the Predators blueline.
But the fundamentals?
Putting a body in front of a forward?
Boxing out? Hitting? Punching? Slashing? Mean? Tough? Size?
Uhh. No, not exactly.
But they skate very prettily.

"Size doesn't matter in today's game."

You hear this garbage from Vancouver media all the time on the radio.

Yeah.

Tell that to Nashville.

Tell them that if they had Shea Weber they wouldn't have won the Stanley Cup.

But of course, that's the case. If Weber was on the blueline 30 minutes per night against Malkin... they'd be drinking from the Cup. But they went tiny.

The Predators were way, way too small on the blueline to handle Malkin.

And the NHL's leading playoff scorer went to town.

Malkin of course should have won the Conn Smythe but it's a narrative Canadian media won't accept. They won't accept Malkin better than Crosby.

And they won't accept Ovechkin better than Crosby.

But of course, they both are miles ahead of him.

And so it when you here Canucks media or management talk about needing skill.

Well, you do, but you need the horses too.

Malkin took the Predators to town and freed up space for Crosby.

They just couldn't handle Malkin.

If they'd had Shea Weber, well... now you're talking.

Now you've got a guy who can skate with Malkin and punish him out there.

But they didn't. While Subban was a good player for them, he was overpowered by Malkin and destroyed by Crosby.

He was terrible to be honest.

Let's face it.

So don't let anyone tell you size doesn't matter. It does if you want to win the Stanley Cup.

You'd better have size up front.

And you'd better have size on the blueline.

And you'd better have size in net too.