When the Pittsburgh Penguins lifted the Stanley Cup in 2016, it was clear to all NHL organizations that one aspect of a team’s game plan was a must to succeed.

Speed.

Already with the likes of Sidney Crosby leading the roster, the Penguins acquired wingers Phil Kessel and Carl Hagelin that year, providing them with three of the fastest skaters on NHL record at that point. 

Players such as Evgeni Malkin, Matt Cullen, Patric Hornqvist and defenseman Olli Maatta also have been clocked as extremely fast skaters, according to PowerScout Hockey, an optical-tracking company.

Sidney Crosby, right, celebrates his overtime goal with Penguins teammate Matt Cullen. (Charles LeClaire/USA Today Sports)

The next two winners (Penguins again in 2017 and the Washington Capitals in 2018), followed this philosophy, as well as the Stanley Cup runners-up, the Nashville Predators and Vegas Golden Knights.

Every team in the league seemed to follow this philosophy. The highly coveted Erik Karlsson, who possesses top-end speed from the defensive side of the play, was picked up by as the believed final piece for the San Jose Sharks to win the franchise’s first Stanley Cup. Jeff Skinner, a quick-footed right-winger, became a focus around the league before the Buffalo Sabres added him last summer.

Then, the St. Louis Blues happened.

"We play a fast game. We play with a lot of pressure. Now that we've won with speed, I think you'll see a lot of teams changing the way they play now."

-Penguins owner Mario Lemieux after Penguins’ 2016 Stanley Cup win

After a summer that saw the Blues retool what was a mediocre offense, the 2018-19 St. Louis team still seemed to lack that pivotal top-end speed, aside from forwards Robby Fabbri, Braden Schenn and Jaden Schwartz (among a few others). General manager Doug Armstrong did unload thumper-type players in Patrik Berglund and Vladimir Sobotka in place of a much quicker Ryan O’Reilly, but the team still lacked a full lineup that could fly up and down the ice.

This was evident early in the season. The Blues sputtered out of the gate, posting a sub-par 7-10-3 record through the first 20 games, being outscored 63-57 in that time. Head coach Mike Yeo found himself on the hot seat, as well as GM Armstrong, who seemingly promised a better end to the current campaign than 2017-18, which was the first non-playoff year for the franchise in seven seasons.

After watching four periods of the Chicago Blackhawks outskate the Blues, commentator Eddie Olczyk was vocal in the Blues’ slowness when the rival Blackhawks jumped out to a 2-0 lead early in the second period of their Oct. 13 matchup. 

“The first 1+ games the Hawks have played against the Blues,, (I’ve noticed) their team speed is average at best,” he said about the bottom-feeding Blues. “That’s really where you can see the difference between the two teams.

“Really tough for the Blues to change momentum in the game when you don’t have that foot speed.”

Alongside a few other issues, the Blues’ struggles led to Yeo’s firing and a few callups from AHL San Antonio. Armstrong’s mind had to be focused on multiple changes to philosophy, even after interim head coach Craig Berube’s new hard-hitting style didn’t seem to translate to wins.

No one saw what was coming next. Not only did the Blues turn their season around, they may have changed the course of NHL history.

“We’re simple, we get pucks in deep, we just play hockey that’s hard to play against and when we do that, we’re tough to beat.”

-Blues defenseman Colton Parayko ahead of Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final

Blues defenseman Colton Parayko jostles with Bruins center Patrice Bergeron |Steve Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images

Likely, you know the rest of the story. Coach Berube allowed Jordan Binnington to earn the starting job in net, players started playing the way the organization knew they could and the team went on an absolute barnstorming tear through the league to capture the organization’s first Stanley Cup championship in 52 years of existence.

How they did it is where the interest comes in.

Armstrong didn’t sell off anybody of significance. There was no big-name player brought in at the deadline. There wasn’t a philosophy change from Berube’s 9-10-1 record after 20 games at the helm.

It was a matter of believing in Berube’s system and staying the course. 

That system entailed a high-forecheck presence, standing opponents up at the blue line and not allowing teams to skate through the neutral zone. Berube’s system didn’t allow speed to dominate the game. 

Basically, defenseman Miro Heiskanen can’t burn you if he’s neutralized in his defensive zone. Star forward Logan Couture can’t score a magnificent goal with a burst of speed if he never receives the pass at the red line.

This suffocating system can only be played with skaters with big bodies, an ability to clog up the ice with large wingspans and a willingness to put their bodies in harm’s way if it means the puck doesn’t enter the defensive zone.

The flaw with this style is if the entire team doesn’t follow it to a T, the entire system breaks down. This is much like a faulty soldier in the phalanx battle formation: if even one warrior doesn’t lift his shield with everyone else to block any incoming bogies, then the entire army is doomed.

We saw this multiple times during the Blues’ 26-game playoff run. Whether it was an ill-timed penalty that led to a power-play goal for the opponents, or a sloppy defensive play that caused a sure goal, the Blues often found themselves in a big loss. In fact, of the Blues ‘ 10 postseason losses, four were decided by three or more goals. 

Compare that to Pittsburgh’s 13 losses in 2016 and 2017 that were decided by two or less goals (17 total losses), or all of Washington’s eight losses being decided by two or less goals in 2018.

For a system that won a team the championship, why does it seem to fail in such a big way?

“We got away from our system.”

- Every losing coach or player in history

The cliche of “getting away from a system” is often heard in the losing locker room, but it is a canned response that fits with the Blues possibly more than any team that has won a championship.

photo courtesy St. Louis BluesSure, let’s take into account that the Blues had a ridiculously resilient goaltender in Binnington, who posted a spectacular 14-2 record after losses in the regular season and playoffs. Let’s also give praise to the star players who put their teammates on their backs and carried them uphill at times, namely O’Reilly, Schwartz and Vladimir Tarasenko. Without them and their standout moments, no one is talking about the champion Blues.

But it was the losses that showed how important Berube’s system, as well as the personnel performing it, was to the team’s success. You can almost pinpoint every blowout loss to a moment or two within the game that led to a breakdown, which led to lost confidence and, oftentimes, a goal against. From there, the problems always seemed to magnify, leading to two or three more goals for the opposing roster. 

The Blues found themselves falling out of their system when this would happen. Ivan Barbashev wouldn’t be hemming Charlie McAvoy behind his net. David Perron wouldn’t be annoying Torey Krug in the offensive zone, despite the puck coming to center ice. Pat Maroon wouldn’t be laying the body on some unsuspecting defenseman before or just after a clearing pass was made.

The Blues truly would get off their game plan. When this happens, you saw the early-season Blues slowly creep out, causing mental breakdowns, excellent scoring chances against and a lack of offense from what is a dynamic cast of players when they are playing to their fullest potential.

The moral of the story: a team that plays this way neutralizes speed, which is what a lot of successful teams are built on, and brings a level of tenacity to the rink for which is difficult to prepare. When said team doesn’t have the tenacity, speed wins every time. 

The Columbus Blue Jackets displayed this very sentiment in their first round series with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

“Columbus’s 1-2-2 forecheck is not a particularly rare defensive formation, but the Blue Jackets’ players were fully committed, and it’s uniquely suited to counter what the Lightning want to do.”

-Barry Petchesky, Deadspin.com

There’s no doubt about it: the Blue Jackets brought a tenacious style in their four-game sweep against Tampa Bay. A team truly built on speed, the Lightning posted an NHL-record 62 wins to take the first seed into all four rounds of the playoffs. 

And the President’s Trophy-winning franchise was the talk of the NHL for the exact opposite reason after four playoff games.

Despite the narrative throughout this article, the Lightning’s fall from grace was shocking and uncommon. A team with that amount of firepower typically can still overcome a tenacious playstyle. In fact, they did in the regular season.

But Columbus kept at it and wouldn’t allow Tampa’s players to find any room to be creative. So how does a team battle this?

For one, you can hope that the matchup just swings in your favor next time, and build the team the same way, hoping for different results. This isn’t entirely insane, as the 2007 and 2008 Penguins would attest to. They battled the Detroit Red Wings in both Stanley Cup Finals with a very similar playstyle and formula, and were able to break through the second time to win the franchise’s first Stanley Cup since the Lemieux-Jagr era.

You can also hope to scrounge up players who play that similar style, while coaching your current players other ways to get around it. The Lightning fulfilled Part I of this plan with the signing of Stanley Cup winner, Pat Maroon. Time will tell if Part II is fulfilled come the 2020 NHL postseason.

Also following along with Part I of this plan? The Vancouver Canucks and Micheal Ferland. The Capitals and Garnet Hathaway. The Colorado Avalanche and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. The Dallas Stars and Corey Perry. All of these teams are looking to vastly improve their finish from last season and inked these meat-and-potato players this summer.

Playing into this philosophy, though, does counterpoint the “speed wins all” mentality, doesn’t it? 

The NHL certainly is a copycat league as the trend of the reigning Cup champ always seems to be the way other teams fall in line. For some, it has meant success before the NHL shifts, but almost all teams miss out on the highest level of achievement and await the next trend to take over. 

There’s always that one team that changes the game, though. And that roster is the one left standing at the end of the NHL postseason.

In a few short months, we will see if St. Louis’ style leads to someone new — or a repeater — is lifting the chalice, or if a new trend begins quickly and it’s out with the old.