“We were allowed to spend the money, we always tried to win,” Clarke said. “We didn’t do what Pittsburgh did; lose seven years in a row so they could get good. They did it twice, in fact. They went through six or seven different owners. We’ve had one owner.”
Clarke finds the strategies of some current teams appalling when considering the way other organizations have built competitive teams.
“It’s somewhat embarrassing that three of the last teams (in the 2009 playoffs) missed the playoffs six or seven years in a row; Washington, Chicago, and Pittsburgh,” he said. “Now they’re good and the teams that try to win all the time get penalized. Our philosophy has never changed since 1967.”
First of all, thanks to
Japer's Rink for bringing this to our attention.
Second of all, let's get a couple facts out of the way right away.
The final four teams in the 2009 playoffs were Pittsburgh, Carolina, Chicago and Detroit. Washington lost in the second round.
Clarke probably didn't watch the Conference Finals because of how poorly his team performed in them in 2008.
Also, the Penguins did not miss the playoffs "six or seven years in a row." Neither did the Capitals. For that matter, neither did the Blackhawks. They iced some terrible teams over the past decade, but their longest recent playoff drought has been five seasons in a row. The Caps missed three playoffs in a row. The Pens missed four.
Now that we've gotten the technicalities out of the way, the fun can begin.
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