While all the attention is on Staal getting the Smythe, Rod The Bod winning both as a player and now as a coach, players like Stankoven, Hall, Blake and Ehlers exceeding expectations and Bussi being a bus, people have forgotten to talk about Aho and Slavin. While Carolina's win was a team effort first and foremost, these two deserve more credit for their contributions to the Canes and this Cup than they've gotten.
I'm a Florida fan, but Carolina has been one of the secondary teams I've followed over the years, and these two have been the absolute backbone of the Franchise for years. While newer guys like Stanky and company absolutely deserve their flowers, I think (playoff) hockey narratives are sometimes plagued by recency bias, small sample sizes, stat watching and lack of matchup understanding. Let's look at both players:
Slavin. The fact that players like him never get Norris consideration is a disgrace. I've argued for years that offensive numbers are overrated when it comes to assessing defenders; not that high scoring defenders would necessarily be overrated, but that the importance of solid defensive defenders is still underrated. Look at the recent Stanley Cup winners and their D-cores, and you'll find guys like Slavin and Forsling. Unfortunately for Slavin, he made uncharacteristic mistakes these playoffs under more watchful eyes than usual, and was fatigued from the Olympics and injury suffered earlier in the season. Despite this, he still locked in big minutes and hard matchups all playoffs long, and had a great game 6 in a crucial moment.
Aho. From a second round pick to one of the greatest players in Franchise history. He has lead the Canes in scoring in 8 out of the last 10 seasons (!), and is the Canes all time goal, assist and point leader in the Playoffs. A PPG two-way #1 center. Yet like Slavin, he unfortunately seemed to play under his usual level and had bad puck luck now that everybody was watching. Everyone following the Canes for longer knows that he can (and usually does) play way better. He, like Slavin, was possibly fatigued from the Olympics. But let's take a closer look: Aho played the most minutes out of all Carolina forwards in the playoffs, had some of the hardest matchups, and he scored 5 points in 6 games in the Finals, including scoring an important game 5 winner with an elite skill play. Like Bennett's line last year was enabled by Barkov's and Lundell's lines matchups, a part of the reason why Stankoven's line coul feast on opponents so much was Aho and Staal taking hard matchups. It's so hard to stop 3 great lines rolling on, this is the template that unites Florida and Carolina.
Carolina doesn't win the Cup without Aho and Slavin.
I'm a Florida fan, but Carolina has been one of the secondary teams I've followed over the years, and these two have been the absolute backbone of the Franchise for years. While newer guys like Stanky and company absolutely deserve their flowers, I think (playoff) hockey narratives are sometimes plagued by recency bias, small sample sizes, stat watching and lack of matchup understanding. Let's look at both players:
Slavin. The fact that players like him never get Norris consideration is a disgrace. I've argued for years that offensive numbers are overrated when it comes to assessing defenders; not that high scoring defenders would necessarily be overrated, but that the importance of solid defensive defenders is still underrated. Look at the recent Stanley Cup winners and their D-cores, and you'll find guys like Slavin and Forsling. Unfortunately for Slavin, he made uncharacteristic mistakes these playoffs under more watchful eyes than usual, and was fatigued from the Olympics and injury suffered earlier in the season. Despite this, he still locked in big minutes and hard matchups all playoffs long, and had a great game 6 in a crucial moment.
Aho. From a second round pick to one of the greatest players in Franchise history. He has lead the Canes in scoring in 8 out of the last 10 seasons (!), and is the Canes all time goal, assist and point leader in the Playoffs. A PPG two-way #1 center. Yet like Slavin, he unfortunately seemed to play under his usual level and had bad puck luck now that everybody was watching. Everyone following the Canes for longer knows that he can (and usually does) play way better. He, like Slavin, was possibly fatigued from the Olympics. But let's take a closer look: Aho played the most minutes out of all Carolina forwards in the playoffs, had some of the hardest matchups, and he scored 5 points in 6 games in the Finals, including scoring an important game 5 winner with an elite skill play. Like Bennett's line last year was enabled by Barkov's and Lundell's lines matchups, a part of the reason why Stankoven's line coul feast on opponents so much was Aho and Staal taking hard matchups. It's so hard to stop 3 great lines rolling on, this is the template that unites Florida and Carolina.
Carolina doesn't win the Cup without Aho and Slavin.
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