Here’s an excerpt from the Globesports.com article by Sean Gordon who talked to Guy Carbonneau and Saku Koivu about the new way of thinking and playing the game within the no clutching or hooking era of the NHL.
“The game has changed, styles have changed,” said Carbonneau, past winner of the Frank J. Selke Trophy for the NHL’s best defensive forward and a prototypical shutdown centre in his heyday. “It gives us more options to not have a strictly defensive line … it helps that we have a lot of guys who can do it all.”
Indeed, the forward-thinking Carbonneau believes we may be witnessing the end of an era in the NHL, and his theory will be put to the test tonight when the Canadiens travel to Buffalo for their season opener against the Sabres.
“In the old days, you usually had two offensive lines, a defensive line and an energy line. I don’t know if it was the strategy of that era or if there was just a lack of talent, but now we have a lot more depth,” he said.
With the clutch-and-grab epoch consigned to the history books by recent rule changes, Carbonneau said the modern game demands players who can both score and play strong defence.
Exhibit A: the Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings.
“Defensive players need to have more in their toolbox. They can’t say they’ve fulfilled their mission just because the big guns on the other side haven’t produced,” Carbonneau said. “It used to be that you could have a guy who could follow the other team’s best player around, and if they didn’t score, say after the game he had done his job. You can’t afford that any more.”