Who Is The Toughest Team 2013

[slashtrey]

Originally Posted by I_am_Belak_2

Of course you didn't read my whole post.

Well I did. And I do not think the fact that most players on the Bruins have at least 1 FM "speaks volumes." It doesn't really mean anything towards having the toughest team in the league.

[rondo]

Have to say its up for grabs with Scott mauling Thornton the bruins have lost a little mojo and are turning turn their cheeks when they play buffalo::

[V12_Bi-Turbo]

Where on the 1-30 chart do we rank Colorado with big Bordeleau and McLeod playing every game with a fair ammount of time?

Top 10 for sure I guess

PS: plus we have Downie on the roster but he does not fight even if he´s not injured lol

[Ciccarelli]

Talking about the toughest team I usually take into consideration the whole regular line-up. So the initially mentioned Sabres are no way the toughest team, they shouldn't even be considered. They have toughness in Scott, Ott, Kaleta, McCormick, eventually Foligno and Weber not bad, but look at the rest of the team, the first line might be one of the softest line in the NHL, don't even start to talk about the rest of the bunch with Ennis, Gerbe, Grigorenko, Leino. Also the defense is pretty soft, Ehrhoff, Myers, Sekera, Leopold, Sulzer...bah. No way one of the toughest teams.

I still say the Bruins remain the toughest team, Lucic, Horton, Campbell, Thornton, Chara, McQuaid eventually MacDermid, you basically have a pretty tough player on the ice most shifts. The rest of the bunch like Kelly, Marchand, Ference, Boychuk may not tough but they'll stand up for themselves (well Marchand maybe not) and fight eventually. Guess no other team can say that for so many players.

Right now, also because of the way they play and although their scoring lines are pretty soft the Leafs still are probably making a run for the title. Orr, McLaren, Brown, Fraser is pretty impressive to have in the lineup. Not tough but still physical Phaneuf, Komisarek, eventually VanRiemsdyk can help out too.

[pmcginty]

Originally Posted by Ciccarelli

Talking about the toughest team I usually take into consideration the whole regular line-up. So the initially mentioned Sabres are no way the toughest team, they shouldn't even be considered. They have toughness in Scott, Ott, Kaleta, McCormick, eventually Foligno and Weber not bad, but look at the rest of the team, the first line might be one of the softest line in the NHL, don't even start to talk about the rest of the bunch with Ennis, Gerbe, Grigorenko, Leino. Also the defense is pretty soft, Ehrhoff, Myers, Sekera, Leopold, Sulzer...bah. No way one of the toughest teams.

I still say the Bruins remain the toughest team, Lucic, Horton, Campbell, Thornton, Chara, McQuaid eventually MacDermid, you basically have a pretty tough player on the ice most shifts. The rest of the bunch like Kelly, Marchand, Ference, Boychuk may not tough but they'll stand up for themselves (well Marchand maybe not) and fight eventually. Guess no other team can say that for so many players.

Right now, also because of the way they play and although their scoring lines are pretty soft the Leafs still are probably making a run for the title. Orr, McLaren, Brown, Fraser is pretty impressive to have in the lineup. Not tough but still physical Phaneuf, Komisarek, eventually VanRiemsdyk can help out too.

the bruins look good on paper,but they haven't been playing that way.

[straka91]

Hands down Toronto. Orr, Mclaren, Fraiser, Brown, and Kozmorov. I find it ironic they start playing Burke hockey once Burke got sacked.

[I_am_Belak_2]

Originally Posted by slashtrey

Well I did. And I do not think the fact that most players on the Bruins have at least 1 FM "speaks volumes." It doesn't really mean anything towards having the toughest team in the league.

I said right in the post that I'm not saying all of them are tough, like Bergeron, Krejci, etc. But it does indeed speak volumes that they are at least willing to fight and play dirty. As for Buffalo, players like Vanek, Ennis, Pominville, etc are not.

But let's compare...

Scott > Thornton, but I'd say not by much. Yes Scott dropped him but that was just one sampling. I don't think many say Carcillo is tougher than Thornton but he did drop him.

McCormick > Campbell

Lucic > Ott & Kaleta

McQuaid > Weber & Regehr

Plus Boston still has Horton, Chara, MacDermid.

[brawls16]

Originally Posted by straka91

Hands down Toronto. Orr, Mclaren, Fraiser, Brown, and Kozmorov. I find it ironic they start playing Burke hockey once Burke got sacked.

They're all Burke's guys he brought to the team one way or another, outside of McLaren. Wasn't Brian's fault his close buddy Wilson didn't want any part of that kind of hockey. Carlyle was the guy Burke wanted from the get go, it just didn't pan out in the timely manner he needed. This is what Burke wanted and created, it's just in full movement now that Wilson is gone. It would have been like this for this season regardless had Burke stayed.

Boston to me is the toughest team all around, but Toronto has the best 4th line in the league. No one can beat it.

Islanders also are up there. Those 3 teams combined can take on the entire West.

[Flyers2001]

JVR and fighting should never go together. He avoids conflict. Plus with year he is having he should continue focusing putting the puck in the net.

[hockey doc]

If the title of the thread is "toughest team" then that's the criteria.

Boston wins this hands down. No team with two or three guys doing all of the heavy lifting should even be mentioned here, that doesn't make the toughest "team" at all.

[mikebflorida]

Why do people keep mentioning Nathan Horton as if he is some kind of tough guy who fights?

He's done, he's gun shy, and he's not even half the player he used to be either. he still bangs around a bit and doesn't mind the gang up mentality of his team but he's damaged goods, he shouldn't even be part of the equation anymore.

Hopefully this doesn't happen to Thornton as well, getting your bell rung can put triggers in someone's head that weren't there before.

I used to go cave diving and wasn't afraid of it until I got stuck in a passageway with no visibility and luckily crawled my way out to safety. Needless to say, I don't cave dive anymore. Same goes for fighters in the NHL, one bad beating can change their whole outlook.

[ThemsFightinWords]

I'm not sure if Toronto would be the toughest out of the entire league but they're definately close. They were just outright bullying Montreal in the last Habs/Leafs game to the point I almost felt sorry for Montreal lol. Orr is a legit heavy who could potentially take a run at being champ if he'd fight more. Brown is a solid fighter. Frazer and McLaren haven't impressed me that much tho. McLaren went from lookin like a legit heavyweight contender to looking like a princess in the space of one game though.

[Ciccarelli]

Originally Posted by mikebflorida

Why do people keep mentioning Nathan Horton as if he is some kind of tough guy who fights?

He's done, he's gun shy, and he's not even half the player he used to be either. he still bangs around a bit and doesn't mind the gang up mentality of his team but he's damaged goods, he shouldn't even be part of the equation anymore.

Hopefully this doesn't happen to Thornton as well, getting your bell rung can put triggers in someone's head that weren't there before.

I used to go cave diving and wasn't afraid of it until I got stuck in a passageway with no visibility and luckily crawled my way out to safety. Needless to say, I don't cave dive anymore. Same goes for fighters in the NHL, one bad beating can change their whole outlook.

Nobody is considering him a tough guy but he is a guy that plays a tough game, he hits he is willing to drop the gloves if needed.

He is not damaged goods, he actually plays like he always did, still playing a physical game without hesitation (have you even see him play this season?)

Besides that after his first severe concussion in the playoffs 2011 he returned like nothing happened and even fought twice the following season (that's is average number since in the NHL, he only fought more once in his career).

Saying he is damaged for good is nonsense. He never fought much besides that one season, but considering the NHL of today Horton is a powerforward that can be considered tough and that's why he is mentioned here as a Bruins player that is part of their overall team toughness.

[Ciccarelli]

Originally Posted by pmcginty

the bruins look good on paper,but they haven't been playing that way.

True, right now considering how they play its the Leafs, the Bruins have room to show up and get back the title IMO.

[pmcginty]

Originally Posted by hockey doc

If the title of the thread is "toughest team" then that's the criteria.

Boston wins this hands down. No team with two or three guys doing all of the heavy lifting should even be mentioned here, that doesn't make the toughest "team" at all.

you left part of the thread title out. it's not just 'toughest team',it's toughest team '2013'. the bruins certainly haven't been plaing like the toughest team in 2013. if you base it on past seasons or how they stack up on paper then yeah,they may wing hands down. if you base it on actions in 2013 then they aren't in the running.