Jim Matheson should have his voting privileges revoked

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

I suppose the charitable explanation is that he was assuming the Oilers would win Game 7 and just didn't bother to update his ballot. But even then...

He has to have his votes in by the 10 minutemark of the 3rd period of any potential clinching game.

Which means those were his votes at the 10 minute mark of the 3rd period of game 4.

I know that's how it works because CJ explained it on his podcast

 

[HockeyWooot]

Are people calling this out because they understand by disagree with his opinion, or simply that his votes were an outlier?

I mean, his choices are somewhat in line with the rationale of having McDavid as undisputed playoff mvp on the basis of individual point production.

McDavid- dominant totals nearly double the amount by a player on any other team, broke playoff assist record and closed in on points record.

Hyman- led the playoffs in goals scored by a significant margin, and a large total relative to playoff norms (50+goal pace)

Bouchard- second in playoff points as a defenceman, broke the record of playoff assists by a defenceman.

Obviously not who I would have picked but there probably is a rationale there that extends beyond being an Oilers homer, also voting before game 7 would bias to the swing in perceived momentum to the Oilers.

I would have voted the following.

McDavid
Barkov
Bobrovsky

hm: Forsling, Skinner

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

If players who lost in the finals weren't allowed to win playoff MVP, which they shouldn't be because they lost then we wouldn't have these issues.

The NHL should be more like the NBA, they gave finals MVP to a player on the losing team ONCE and never again because It's dumb.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

If players who lost in the finals weren't allowed to win playoff MVP, which they shouldn't be because they lost then we wouldn't have these issues.

The NHL should be more like the NBA, they gave finals MVP to a player on the losing team ONCE and never again because It's dumb.

It's a trophy for the best player of the playoffs though, all 4 rounds included. Not the best player on the wining team trophy no matter what anyone else did.

 

[ES]

Two journalists were voting from each side who could be classified as beat writers for that team.

Matheson and Nugent-Bowman for Oilers, Guy and McPherson for Panthers.

Three others all had McDavid 1st and Barkov 2nd with 3rd placed player different for everyone: Forsling, Verhaeghe and Bouchard.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

It's a trophy for the best player of the playoffs though, all 4 rounds included. Not the best player on the wining team trophy no matter what anyone else did.

but you need to get to the finals to get it

Even if somebody went off and had 50 points but lost in game 7 of the conference final in OT there is NO SHOT that player would get playoff MVP

 

[TruePowerSlave]

but you need to get to the finals to get it

Even if somebody went off and had 50 points but lost in game 7 of the conference final in OT there is NO SHOT that player would get playoff MVP

Sure there are some unwritten rules. Like making the finals and that the Smythe winning run has to be clearly much more impressive than any of the cup winners efforts. All checks out for McDavid.

 

[luiginb]

The more outrageous thing here is Skinner got two votes.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Dude has been dumb as shit for... probably 10 years at least.

 

[GeeoffBrown]

If they voted before the game is over, maybe Matheson thought voting for 3 Oilers would help them complete the comeback

 

[Warden of the North]

Matheson should retire but in this case it's really not that unreasonable to have McDavid and the top goal scorer of the playoffs and the top point-producing dman of the playoffs on the ballot. It's not how I would have voted, but others had two Oilers. Since the outcome is unknown, voting Skinner, for example, at that juncture is also perfectly reasonable.

Florida's win was a quintessential team effort. Ekblad might have garnered a vote as well.

I agree.

I find Matheson to be hilarious in his opinions generally but all three of his votes are justifiable.

For instance I find anyone who voted Skinner to be more questionable.

 

[Help]

I didn't think it was that bad a ballot

 

[RogerRoger]

NHL Player Stat Leaders, 2023-24 Postseason - ESPN kind of supports this claim if you're giving the Conn Smythe as a Playoff MVP award which, well, it is. Make a Finals MVP award and that solves the problem. Only issue I see with the quoted post is that if we're going purely on stats alone, Leon should be in there long before Hyman.

Like I said over a week ago, McDavid's winning the Conn Smythe and hell, how the hell doesn't he?

The only way you don't give it to McDavid is if you believe that McD did nothing in the Stanley Cup finals when Barkov didn't have if head scrambled (concussed) by an elbow. Which would lead you to believe that despite incredible stats, Barkov was more important. It's a stretch and be an homer take like having Hyman and Bouchard on there. Everyone clown on Nurse, but Bouchard's many mistakes lead to so many goals against.

 

[KevinRedkey]

It's somewhat justifiable if he never values who wins the actual cup. He essentially picked the best player, goal scorer, and defenceman of the playoffs.

That said - I doubt he normally does this, which is what makes is total BS.

 

[VistamarCroissants]

This stinks like a ridiculously biased vote. Can't handle the lost.

My version:

#1 Bobrovsky (did an aswesome job in the crucial game of the series)
Tied #2-3 McDavid, Barkov

McDavid didn't produce in the last two contests.

Anyway, he got the Smythe. He's a very important brand for the league.

 

[JianYang]

I think Matheson is pretty unprofessional, but if there was ever going to be a clean sweep of votes for the losing team, this would have been it.

It's a strange year where the top 4 scorers were all from the losing team, and the top 3 were just so far ahead of the rest of the field. The losing team was also +5 in goal differential which I suspect is also quite the anomaly.

I'm guessing it would be really difficult to find another example of this scenario in the past.

 

[BHD]

Meanwhile, other more respected writers have been excluded from the voting process. Frank Seravalli oversees the PHWA, as far as I know. I wonder if they will move on from Matheson.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

Almost like opinions about things will vary so the best bet is to throw all the opinions in and sort them out by counting.

 

[AslanRH]

interesting read here with the different opinions on JM's motivation.
I figured he was just doing his part to not give any 2nd and 3rd place points to the 2 Panther candidates who might have contested with McDavid.

Either way, it was a non-serious ballot

 

[DitchMarner]

Johnathan Bernier had votes for the Conn Smythe? I'm surprised he didn't vote for Nelson Mandela.

 

[Viqsi]

Almost like opinions about things will vary so the best bet is to throw all the opinions in and sort them out by counting.

I think the concern here is the degree to which opinions are weighted simply by way of the fact that only 17 people vote on this thing.

 

[CanadienShark]

Who's the idiot named Ryan Clark? McDavid absolutely slaughtered his competition and the fact that it wasn't unanimous is absurd. Matheson... Yeah, that's wrong in my view. Scratch Hyman and throw one of Barkov or Bob in his place.

Yeah an embarrassing ballot from a homer Edmonton writer. Considering what the Conn Smythe is, this is even worse than some of the other homer votes you see in other awards.

Smythes are held in such high regard... In some ways it's strange. Much like the Selke in some ways, where it just doesn't make any sense aside from a weird media narrative. There's definitely other similar examples.

 

[CanadienShark]

You're right Bobrovsky should have scored more points.

Or just stopped some more shots?

 

[GhostfaceWu]

Imagine a world where points aren't the deciding factor in a vote for PLAYOFF MVP.

Crazy, right?

Yeah it's not like goals help decide who wins the game or anything. All those points certainly didn't help the Oilers get to the finals despite their goalie rocking a sub .900 sv Percentage.

You're right Bobrovsky should have scored more points.

I mean he still almost put up as many points as Matthews and Marner so he's got that going for him.

 

[NyQuil]

This is where you can delineate between professional journalists and unabashed fanboys.