You can have the 5 best players in the Conference on your team but if the next 9-11 players aren't very good, you won't even make the semis in this League. I've seen teams with a handful of 1-3rd team D1 AAs on the same team not make the playoffs much less win the A Conference championship. Its about having the top 15-17 players (AKA the best team) period plus a championship caliber coaching staff. Hot goalie play and a dominant FO game are often the deciding factor when the talent is somewhat equal among the top teams. Its hard to accumulate championship caliber critical mass. You need to have both great recruiting and strong player development along with a top flight coaching staff to win it all. Occasionally one team runs away with it because their second line middies are almost as good as everyone else's firsts but that's a rarity. | 
