With the second round of the NHL playoffs in full swing, just 21 players on clubs still alive in the tournament have Cup rings, and only 10 have lifted the trophy since 2015.There's a sprinkling of veterans with Cup pedigree and others that have been part of long playoff runs across the remaining rosters, but in a league that continues to get younger, many players are in the thick of the fight for the first time.
Vancouver's roster includes past Cup winners Tyler Toffoli, Tanner Pearson and Jay Beagle, but is led by the young core of Elias Pettersson, Quinn Hughes, Bo Horvat and Brock Boeser. Horvat was the only player from that group with any post-season experience prior to the NHL's summer restart to its pandemic-delayed campaign - six games with the Canucks as a rookie in 2015.
Philadelphia Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault, whose team has been backstopped by the stellar play of 22-year-old goalie Carter Hart, said every player in the NHL has been part of big games before.“There's no doubt that having that playoff experience, knowing the demands and the mental and physical demands and the pressure ... but you have to go through it,” Vigneault said. “We've got quite a few young players getting their first kick at the can.
“There's a lot of situations where experience goes a long way, but also being naive to those situations can help, too.”