Kucherov started off where he finished on top after being robbed of the Hart

[Ducati Boy]

Good ole' Covid Cup talk rearing its head again. Damn straight bro.
Here's five reasons why those cups were cheap and don't really count:

1. Tampa assembled their best ever team just as COVID hit. Coincidence? I think not.
2. Other teams didn't care as much about winning the COVID Cup because they knew it was Mickey Mouse. Evidence? Well, they didn't win it, did they?
3. To win the Stanley Cup in any season you have to 1) Qualify for the playoffs 2) Win four series of best of sevens against the other teams that advanced. Sure, Tampa did that... but COVID.
4. COVID favoured Tampa. The outcome shows that Tampa somehow thrived most in that environment so they must have had an advantage.
5. If there had been no COVID something else might have happened. So, we can logically surmise that COVID likely allowed Tampa to win.

BTW- Everything else that happened during the COVID seasons was legit -- scoring leaders, award winners, game stats, and so on. But the Stanley Cup? Nah. There was a disease out there in the public, so in that case, winning that trophy doesn't really count.

 

[benfranklin]

Where did you get these numbers from? Didn't MacKinnon have 51 goals last year? and how is Kucherov's compined primary and secondary assists only 91 and missing two goals.

You're right. They are off by a smidge for each. Not really sure why and other players are the same.

https://www.icydata.hockey/player_stats/primary-and-secondary/42/stats

I dont have the patience to double check it all for accuracy, but assuming the primary/secondary is correct or even 1-2 off for whatever reason, it hardly warrants MacKinnon earning a "secondary" nickname.

 

[benfranklin]

Good ole' Covid Cup talk rearing its head again. Damn straight bro.
Here's five reasons why those cups were cheap and don't really count:

1. Tampa assembled their best ever team just as COVID hit. Coincidence? I think not.
2. Other teams didn't care as much about winning the COVID Cup because they knew it was Mickey Mouse. Evidence? Well, they didn't win it, did they?
3. To win the Stanley Cup in any season you have to 1) Qualify for the playoffs 2) Win four series of best of sevens against the other teams that advanced. Sure, Tampa did that... but COVID.
4. COVID favoured Tampa. The outcome shows that Tampa somehow thrived most in that environment so they must have had an advantage.
5. If there had been no COVID something else might have happened. So, we can logically surmise that COVID likely allowed Tampa to win.

BTW- Everything else that happened during the COVID seasons was legit -- scoring leaders, award winners, game stats, and so on. But the Stanley Cup? Nah. There was a disease out there in the public, so in that case, winning that trophy doesn't really count.

1. I dont even know what youre arguing here. The fact that a lot of Tampa players happen to be in their prime in that specific year? That their cap situation was at its best in that specific year? What does that have to do with Covid. They may have won the Cup in a normal 2020 too.
2. Its not that they didnt care, but yes some players opted out of the bubble. A lot was off that year. Hell Montreal, who literally won the lottery the next year, made the finals. Politically and if you want to say scientifically, Florida was in a much better situation than a lot of other states and especially Canada to train for the Bubble Cup.
3. They did and they won the next year too. No one is taking that away from them, but a lot of people dont consider them on par with a normal season because it simply wasnt. Its not Tampa's fault.
4. Id argue Toronto with that awful Canadian division, but like Toronto does, they shit the bed. You can make the same argument for Dallas, Nashville, Florida, etc etc. Acting like being in a lenient state where teams/players can train like normal is an advantage where Canada was triple masked up staying inside.
5. Youre making it a Tampa thing where it was a league wide thing

If Colorado won in 2020, 2021, and 2022 I'd be saying 2022 was the "real" one. Its not Tampa's fault for winning nor the circumstances of the world, but those Cups in my eyes no matter who won would never be on par with a normal season.

 

[GreeningOil]

Kucherov is the best forward behind McDavid the way I see it.

But Anze Kopitar would shut both of them down while scoring a game winner on top of that the way he’s playing right now.

Doughty is going to come back stronger than ever. I think the Kings might be the dark horse pick no one’s talking about

Kopitar will lose during or before the 1st round

 

[crowfish]

The only robbery was that of the Art Ross trophy, when the empty net merchant stole it from Nathan MacKinnon.

 

[Ducati Boy]

As far as I'm concerned Kucherov has zero goals so far this year.

Two were empty-netters (that we know of, there may be more, something somehing Bettman something Florida teams), so they don't count.

Last night's winner went off a Vegas defender, so not really his.

The other three were all assisted by teammates known to be talented, so they shouldn't count either.

I'm willing to bet that if Kucherov was out there one-on-five against the opponent he'd get waaay fewer points.

 

[Kshahdoo]

Let's be honest, Kucherov robbed himself. If he had cared about fans at the All Stars weekend a little bit more, voters would have had way tougher time to not vote for him... They would have probably voted for MacKinnon anyway, but Kuch made their decision way easier...

 

[PeE eL DuBoiS]

He tore those 9 periods of hockey up.

 

[Rschmitz]

Let's be honest, Kucherov robbed him himself. If he had cared about fans at the All Stars weekend a little bit more, voters would have had way tougher time to not vote for him... They would have probably voted for MacKinnon anyway, but Kuch made their decision way easier...

This was explained at the time best by guys on the team like Stamkos, he didn't do anything different in the skills competition, this is how Kucherov plays. He looks lethargic and uninterested. It's not a style that is going excite and get votes, but the notion that he was pouting or didn't want to be there is BS and the idea clearly comes from fans who don't watch him on a regular basis. Kucherov is about as introverted and meloncholy of a guy as you are going to ever meet.

 

[Master P]

Let's be honest, Kucherov robbed him himself. If he had cared about fans at the All Stars weekend a little bit more, voters would have had way tougher time to not vote for him... They would have probably voted for MacKinnon anyway, but Kuch made their decision way easier...

He robbed himself of an award he wasn’t going to win either way? Brilliant post.

 

[EmptyNetAssassin]

Back to back games with no empty net points and still out producing Mackinnon points per game . New season and still the same old bias. Kucherov is +6 while Mackinnin is -6. I guess he isn't that good at defense as advertised.

 

[frederixx]

Not enough love for Kucherov, he's an amazing player. Regular season, playoffs, injured or not, always performing. I could see him play until he reaches 40

 

[kp61c]

Stamkos, on the other hand, has 0 points in 4 games. Not a very good start to his stint in Nashville.

 

[RussianGuyovich]

And ironically, I could argue the Avs could be going for 4 this year if Nuke didnt have a drug problem. Quit on them mid series two years in a row. Pretend like the Lightning lose Stamkos those two Cup runs. See what happens.

ummmmmmmmmm.....

 

[Video Nasty]

140 points over his past 74 games.