Colin Fraser isn’t a star player by any stretch of the imagination, but he is a solid depth forward. As much as you need your stars to lead you in the postseason, they can’t carry a team all the way to the Stanley Cup finals on their own.
When talking about the similarities between the Los Angeles Kings and the team Fraser won the Stanley Cup with, the 2009-10 Chicago Blackhawks, it’s not surprising that he put an emphasis on both of those squads’ depth.
“Both teams had a lot of depth. Me and (Adam) Burish were sitting out the last game of the year in Chicago, and now we’re regulars on our (respective) teams,” Fraser said. “You need depth, because when guys get hurt or aren’t pulling their weight or whatever, someone else needs to step in.”
When Chicago had cap problems following their Stanley Cup run, they decided to keep their core intact, but shed several of their support players. They have lost in the first round of the playoffs in their subsequent two campaigns.
When Fraser scored in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals, it was just another example of how deep this Kings team really is. Every forward that has played at least 10 games in the 2012 playoffs has found the back of the net at least once during the postseason. Naturally, the same is true of their opponent, the New Jersey Devils.