2024 NHL Thread

[Cobra Mgr]

Carolina Panthers WR Xavier Leggette @ game 5.

[Cobra Mgr]

Great skate last night. I thought it was important the Oilers get game one if they are to win this series. This was the 1st playoff loss for the Panthers under Paul Maurice after holding a lead after any period. Hopefully this series continues to have games like this.

[Cobra Mgr]

Another great game tonight.

Screw Marchand

[LD84]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

Carolina Panthers WR Xavier Leggette @ game 5.

I have no idea what this accent is, but I love it.

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by LD84

I have no idea what this accent is, but I love it.

Same here. He is from Mullins, SC. A town in between the "triangle" of Florence, Myrtle Beach, SC & Wilmington, NC. And I know no one who speaks like him.

[Cobra Mgr]

I never understood the reasoning of thinking players in other sports should keep their cool, but they accept hockey players doing this.

[Amazin69]

Very nice presentation during the awards show to give Sean Monahan the Masterton. Well-deserved.

Always great to see Kopitar pick up another Lady Byng. A bit tacky they wouldn't bring the actual trophy to Slovenia, though. Yes, they all go back to Toronto, but let Anze and his family hold the real thing, lol.

[Cobra Mgr]

This Cup feels like 1960 WS. The Yanks (Florida) looks dominant, but the Pirates (Oilers) are still hanging even.

[Amazin69]

I don't need this ****.

(The result aside, I was so busy clearing out last week's Welcome to Wrexham that I had to put this on delay, conked out during the OT intermission, had to sit through the TruTV rerun, and in the Wee Small Hours, was checking out the Mets highlights and got spoiled for the result by the Steve Dangle recap video popping up in my YouTube flow. FFS.

And yes, that's on me, because I have to set my default to Theatre View to avoid such issues and I forgot. But still.)

Even watching Jackie Redmond fangirl over Taylor Swift can't save my mood. Grr.

Whom do the Panthers have backing up Bobrosksieve? (Stolarz is in Toronto, Spencer Knight in Chicago). 3.5 GAA is enough to make me start thinking about alternatives.

(It's 4.33 if you disregard Game 3. Just saying.)

First team EVER to blow a 3-0 lead at first intermission in a Final, apparently. Oh, vomit.

(And yes, if Sucker-punch Sam Bennett hadn't hit the damn post, I wouldn't be whining this way. I know. But SO many chances to put those scum in a hole so I can relax a bit, and now this. FFS.)

[Bluenoser]

What a gr8 comeback - no quit in this team. Back to Edmonton for a very crucial game 5. Gotta keep the momentum now, can't be coming out flat like the last 2 games.

Go Oilers Go.

[thehef]

Originally Posted by Amazin69

I don't need this ****.
... But SO many chances to put those scum in a hole so I can relax a bit, and now this. FFS.)

I am SO with you

[Cobra Mgr]

Is Edmonton interested in Game 5?

[Amazin69]

Apparently not.

All five games have seen at least 7 goals scored. Yoicks, not a lot of defense.

One more, Cats…one more. :fingcross:

ETA: Oh, and Chris Kreider is now a Duck. Holy Quack!!

[Bluenoser]

Well, have to eat a few of my words this morning. No quit??? Not an Oliers fan by any means, but my grandson is a die hard, so I'm supporting him.

How do you manage to get to the Stanley Cup final and then, for 3 straight games, not show up in the 1st period? Unbelievable.

Look at your opponent - you would be hard pressed to find any cracks in Florida's line up. Top to bottom they play a complete game, offense, defense, special teams, coaching - they have it all.

This series should have ended last night. The Oilers were very fortunate to come back and win game 4. They look like a badly defeated bunch with no heart or desire.

I'll be surprised if they show up Tues, and even if they do it won't matter. Panthers are just too good.

Tip my cap to Florida, 3 trips in a row to the final, and very very likely 2 Cups in a row for their efforts.

[Cobra Mgr]

I found the lack of a sense of urgency in Game 5 of a tied Cup final disturbing.

[Bluenoser]

Congrats Florida Panthers, you defended your Championship in fine style and deservedly so. Three straight trips to the finals and two titles, very well done.

Congrats Edmonton Oilers for making it back to the finals for a 2nd consecutive season. You bested 3 very good teams on the way there. Unfortunately you couldn't overcome the very talented and skilled Panthers.

On to the off season, looking forward to the draft and FA. Can't wait to see how next season goes for the Habs. They're building something special there and am excited to see more growth in 25/26.

To all hockey fans, hope you enjoyed the season and playoffs, was an enjoyable time to be a fan. Wishing your team well going forward.

Cheers

[Cobra Mgr]

Is McDavid overrated?

[Bluenoser]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

Is McDavid overrated?

Not in my opinion. I get that people jump on him for Edmonton's failure to win the Cup. However it's a "Team" game, not 1 player wins it by themself. Gretzky never won it by himself. He had a lot of top talent around him. It's an extremely hard trophy to win, and a lot has to go right. The team has to play at a top level, such as Tampa did in their run to 3 finals and now Florida is doing.

Get an unfortunate injury at the wrong time, your team suffers. I'm not going to claim Edmonton would have won, but had RNH been at 100% and had Hyman been healthy, I think it would have been much closer. But injuries happen to all teams, and when they do other players have to step up. Hyman led the playoffs in hits when he got injured, and his hits weren't the softy type. That can make a huge difference in a series.

McDavid is the best player in the game, just my opinion, and he shows up in the playoffs. His 2 way game has improved a lot the past few years. Maybe he'll get to lift the Cup one day. Maybe not, but I won't and don't judge individual players on Championships won/lost.

Plus the way the media hypes certain players, it's no wonder people find it easy to blame that player for a teams failures. There's many ways to look at it, and it's always easy to point fingers and lay blame. That's just a fact of Professional Sports, and life in general.

[Cobra Mgr]

Yeah. But one meaningless goal? I agree you can't blame him for the Oilers not winning. But if you are the best in the league, you shouldn't be shutout by an opponent. Not saying he isn't good. But best in the NHL?...............

[Bluenoser]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

Yeah. But one meaningless goal? I agree you can't blame him for the Oilers not winning. But if you are the best in the league, you shouldn't be shutout by an opponent. Not saying he isn't good. But best in the NHL?...............

Well, if you want to measure his greatness based on goals only in the final, that's your choice. I choose to look at the big picture when measuring a player. McDavid and Draisaitl led all scorers in the playoffs with 33 points.

Florida figured out how to shut those 2 down and did a real good job of it. I give credit to the Panthers for being able to do that. It's not easy.

Look back at the 93 final, against Montreal Gretzky had 2 goals in the 5 games. Do we say he wasn't the best player in the game because of that?

Opinions will vary, there's no doubt about that. Look at social media this morning, the amount of blame being put on McDavid is endless. Most of it comes from social media trolls who have nothing better to do than judge and criticize, but there's no shortage of it.

I've followed hockey religiously since the early 60's. To this day I still refuse to judge a player based on his performance in 1 or 2 play off series.

Big picture for me.