As I was about to respond to a comment to my last article by Other Rick about the state of our defense, I decided to delve into the blue-line makeup of recent Stanley Cup winners as a way of demonstrating what an effective, balanced defense should look like. After all, if anyone should know a thing or two about constructing a defense, it’s teams that have hoisted Lord Stanley’s chalice.
As the old saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. Or in this case, a series of tables. I’ve listed the top six defensemen for each of the past four Cup champions, along with their height and weight and a brief description of each player’s basic attributes.