OT: Around the NHL - Cat Scratch Fever

[SomeDude]

Coyotes were protected from the same bs for a long time until recently.
Edmonton was as well.

Atlanta never got even a fraction of that kind of support from the NHL.

Yes it is odd that it felt like it went from 0 to 100 with the Thrashers moving.

Winnipeg honestly is not looking like a viable long term plan either. Their owner was basically begging for people to buy tickets and then luckily their team started playing great.

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

Sid and Malkin played 159 minutes together in the 09 run.

McDavid and Drai played 250 minutes together this playoffs.

Let's not pretend Sid didn't benefit from Malkin and vice versa in 09.

If the argument is Drai vs Malkin, I think Drai has a long, long way to go before he's in the conversation with Evgeni Malkin.

I don't recall Sid and Malkin being together for that long. Did you parse out PP time in those comparisons?

 

[Jaded-Fan]

as far as I am concerned McDavid is just pure pleasure to watch. ways above the second best player in NHL, he is that good. Still, you can not award the trophy to a guy from the losing team. No way, No how. McDavis is the best player in the play offs, but he should not win CS trophy.

Aside from the whole 'deserve' idiocy which is opinion anyways, people forget that in the end the NHL is simply a competitor for people's entertainment dollars.

If stars help grow the sport and that plays into being a factor as a tie breaker on decisions on things like these, so what?

Reminds of of the whole keeping Caitlin Clark off the Olympics thing. Is she more deserving than others? Debatable. But not undeserving. Would having her on the team grow the sport? No debate at all.

People need to stop losing sight of the forest for the trees.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Yes it is odd that it felt like it went from 0 to 100 with the Thrashers moving.

Winnipeg honestly is not looking like a viable long term plan either. Their owner was basically begging for people to buy tickets and then luckily their team started playing great.

Winnipeg's issue is that the city is literally awful to live in and the weather is brutal. It might have worked in the rabid years in the 80s but it moved because it wasn't viable then either.

Canadians have this weird desire to put teams in absolute taint of cities and assume it'll be fine because Johnny No Teeth will watch no matter where it is, even if it's in Saskatchoon

 

[Gurglesons]

I don't recall Sid and Malkin being together for that long. Did you parse out PP time in those comparisons?

Yes, that includes powerplay time.

 

[SomeDude]

Winnipeg's issue is that the city is literally awful to live in and the weather is brutal. It might have worked in the rabid years in the 80s but it moved because it wasn't viable then either.

Canadians have this weird desire to put teams in absolute taint of cities and assume it'll be fine because Johnny No Teeth will watch no matter where it is, even if it's in Saskatchoon

Unless they move to a barter system where tickets are sold and players are paid in maple syrup and ketchup chips, they don’t need anymore teams.

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

Agree, Florida really did not have anyone that really stood out, not even close, and I do agree, that had probably a lot of weight in decesion to give it to 97. Either way rats got the main prize

Probably some similarities to the Pens run in 2016. To me, there were a handful of Pens worthy of the CS and you could make a case for AND against each of them

Sid
Kessel
Murray
Letang even

 

[Lara Emily]

This Smythe win and playoff run in the losing effort to me kind of erases the championship argument.

Absolutely not

 

[canadianguy77]

People arguing Mcavid is so much better than Sid lol. Where was McDavid in the last moments of game 7? His line-mates were doggedly trying to get the puck out of the corner and he’s just chilling by the front of the net all by himself.

It’s not all about the scoreboard. There’s much more to the game than piling on points when you already have the lead.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Probably some similarities to the Pens run in 2016. To me, there were a handful of Pens worthy of the CS and you could make a case for AND against each of them

Sid
Kessel
Murray
Letang even

2016 was Kessel's and he was robbed.
2017 was Malkin leading the Pens and again, robbed.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

as far as I am concerned McDavid is just pure pleasure to watch. ways above the second best player in NHL, he is that good. Still, you can not award the trophy to a guy from the losing team. No way, No how. McDavis is the best player in the play offs, but he should not win CS trophy.

I recognize Mcdavid is the best in the league right now but honestly I don't really enjoy watching him play. Might be an odd comment but each time I've seen his games I'm not in awe of his game. It's the same stuff over and over. He's fast, he blows by blokes and scores. It's like putting up the game settings for user to high and the CPU to low and it's boring because now you blow past players and score all the time.

It's like ok cool, he puts up a ton of points. But it's been obvious for a very long time that it takes a different skill to get your team engraved on the cup. I don't see that in his game and I don't care how many are bothered by it.

If Mcdavid can grow a f***ing personality that isn't as interesting as a blank piece of paper, he might actually grow the sport the way Wayne did in the US. Mcdavid has the personality equivalent to corn flakes. Just a bland tosser that puts up loads of points and wins individual awards for it but can't will his team to the team award.

At least be f***ing interesting.

 

[Gurglesons]

People arguing Mcavid is so much better than Sid lol. Where was McDavid in the last moments of game 7? His line-mates were doggedly trying to get the puck out of the corner and he’s just chilling by the front of the net all by himself.

It’s not all about the scoreboard. There’s much more to the game than piling on points when you already have the lead.

Where was Sid in the entirety of the 2009 playoffs outside of G4 if you are going to make that argument?

Crosby was on the god damn bench in the dying moments of G7.

I recognize Mcdavid is the best in the league right now but honestly I don't really enjoy watching him play. Might be an odd comment but each time I've seen his games I'm not in awe of his game. It's the same stuff over and over. He's fast, he blows by blokes and scores. It's like putting up the game settings for user to high and the CPU to low and it's boring because now you blow past players and score all the time.

It's like ok cool, he puts up a ton of points. But it's been obvious for a very long time that it takes a different skill to get your team engraved on the cup. I don't see that in his game and I don't care how many are bothered by it.

If Mcdavid can grow a f***ing personality that isn't as interesting as a blank piece of paper, he might actually grow the sport the way Wayne did in the US. Mcdavid has the personality equivalent to corn flakes. Just a bland tosser that puts up loads of points and wins individual awards for it but can't will his team to the team award.

At least be f***ing interesting.

I agree with this a lot. McDavid is a villian. Way more so than Sid ever was.

His game visually is also not really that impressive to me. I am curious how he ages since a lot of his abilities seem to be based around him being the best skater in the game.

 

[Tom Hanks]

Unless they move to a barter system where tickets are sold and players are paid in maple syrup and ketchup chips, they don’t need anymore teams.

Winnipeg moved on from ketchup chips…..

 

[hiptanaka]

Paul Maurice is such a likeable guy.

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

Crosby was on the god damn bench in the dying moments of G7.

You do remember he was injured mid way through the game, right?

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Crosby at the get go had Ovechkin as his foil, or rather, counterpart/nemesis that the NHL leaned into with ads and marketing each time they played.

McDavid has....no one. Because as a personality, he's just incredibly boring and has nothing to offer. Half the time he's giving you a blank stare and generic answers or whining about not getting a call that should have gone his way in his mind. That's about it. Matthews isn't his nemesis, Matthews is too busy being over hyped by his own team's media and then doesn't do jack shit to justify any of it when it matters most.

Sid & Ovechkin faced off a lot each season because both were in the East. In the West, who else is there? Bedard and his dwarf ass that plays for a Pedophile enabling and sexual assault hiding organization that no one gives a shit about? Bedard is about as boring as McDavid is.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Even Draisaitl is boring as shit when you hear him talk. The OIlers personality on the team is an absolute garbage of a human being in Evander Kane. That's never good. Penguins at least had a lovable goof in Malkin, Crosby who let out his frustrations often and had to endure a ton of abuse from rivals but always came out on top. Sid was the good lad that was smart, polite, but also had a temper and was petty about things that showed he wasn't teflon, his issues with the Flyers and that hilarious glove swipe to Giroux, etc. It endears him to fans. That was fun, also a ratings hit, spurred tv shows about both teams.

Wtf does Edmonton have in their career span? Nothing.

McDavid endears himself to psycho's that stare blankly into things and show no emotion.

 

[Tom Hanks]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1805651286970237106

 

[bambamcam4ever]

Outside of 09, Sid had Hossa or Kessel and Evgeni Malkin in every cup final win.

The 2009 Penguins were comparable to this Oilers team.

I don't buy the argument that Sid just didn't have the roster help to put up McDavid numbers and let's be honest, McDavid hasn't necessarily had rosters that are levels above what Sid had.

The Oilers this year and last are clearly a better roster than the 09 Penguins outside of Crosby and Malkin.

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1805651286970237106

Can't believe Mogilny isn't in yet considering some other dudes who are.

Datsyuk is a lock. No one else really gets my jimmies raised

 

[Gurglesons]

The Oilers this year and last are clearly a better roster than the 09 Penguins outside of Crosby and Malkin.

I'd give the 09 Oilers the forward a benefit over the 09 Pens.

Our defense in 09 was much better than the Oilers is and I'd say MAF despite his mediocre performance that year was a better goalie.

Even Draisaitl is boring as shit when you hear him talk. The OIlers personality on the team is an absolute garbage of a human being in Evander Kane. That's never good. Penguins at least had a lovable goof in Malkin, Crosby who let out his frustrations often and had to endure a ton of abuse from rivals but always came out on top. Sid was the good lad that was smart, polite, but also had a temper and was petty about things that showed he wasn't teflon, his issues with the Flyers and that hilarious glove swipe to Giroux, etc. It endears him to fans. That was fun, also a ratings hit, spurred tv shows about both teams.

Wtf does Edmonton have in their career span? Nothing.

McDavid endears himself to psycho's that stare blankly into things and show no emotion.

I love Draisaitl.

 

[bambamcam4ever]

Sid and Malkin played 159 minutes together in the 09 run.

McDavid and Drai played 250 minutes together this playoffs.

Let's not pretend Sid didn't benefit from Malkin and vice versa in 09.

If the argument is Drai vs Malkin, I think Drai has a long, long way to go before he's in the conversation with Evgeni Malkin.

They played 40 minutes at 5v5 together in 09. McDavid and Draisaitl played together over 3 times that.

I don't recall Sid and Malkin being together for that long. Did you parse out PP time in those comparisons?

He did not

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

They played 40 minutes at 5v5 together in 09. McDavid and Draisaitl played together over 3 times that.

Thanks- that's what I seem to remember. Sid/Geno barely were together at ES. McD and Drai seemed to be on the ice together a TON

 

[Jaded-Fan]

Crosby at the get go had Ovechkin as his foil, or rather, counterpart/nemesis that the NHL leaned into with ads and marketing each time they played.

McDavid has....no one. Because as a personality, he's just incredibly boring and has nothing to offer. Half the time he's giving you a blank stare and generic answers or whining about not getting a call that should have gone his way in his mind. That's about it. Matthews isn't his nemesis, Matthews is too busy being over hyped by his own team's media and then doesn't do jack shit to justify any of it when it matters most.

Sid & Ovechkin faced off a lot each season because both were in the East. In the West, who else is there? Bedard and his dwarf ass that plays for a Pedophile enabling and sexual assault hiding organization that no one gives a shit about? Bedard is about as boring as McDavid is.

Wasn't that the old Crosby trope used to attack him constantly? How supposedly boring he was?

McDavid does things on the ice that other players simply can't. Crosby STILL does the same, but obviously not to the degree he did a decade ago.

I can appreciate both. I do not need to pick.

I can appreciate anything done amazingly. Hell, I will even watch women's gymnastics during the Olympics. Because you will see mere mortals become something special and do things no one else can even attempt.

I am primarily a fan of the Pens.

But I also am a fan of the game. And as a fan of the game I can appreciate greatness. I even appreciated Ovechkin. If he was not constantly trying to injure Malkin and others in his career I would have appreciated him even more.



That said, isn't loving to hate part of the entertainment?

 

[CascadiaPenguin]

McDavid had 8 points in 2 games. How much more can you be "the catalyst"?

He disappeared in G6 and G7, but Penguins fans trying to level that against him and what Sid has done in his SCF appearances is bizarre, revisionist history.

4 of those 8 points were irrelevant and had zero to do with the outcome of the game as they came after Oil was up 3-1 on the way to a 8-1 thrashing. McJesus was the catayst to a blowout in that instance, but not a final's win, that was already in the bag.

That's one of the big problems with focusing solely on points. All points are created equal, but some are more equal than others. And of course, we count secondary assists.