Nikita Kucherov is the clear favorite for the Art Ross Trophy

[Nathaniel Skywalker]

Nice……..

Granted I should have just addressed any of the pens “fans” that I referred to outright but I see you took great offense. Yeah I was stunned with your posts from the beginning to be honest because in one breath you do have knowledge of the sport but in another all you do is spread bias and hate towards players that threaten your favorites. I saw in one of your posts you said you were from Toronto if I remember correctly. I’ve also seen old posts in threads from years ago that have your old account names. SIDMIEUX, GOAT66, Ageless66 like come on we know your bias is insane.

If you really think that I need a lesson on the franchise I follow or the city I’m from then that’s absurd. I am a big pens fan just like you are. I personally know your idol Mario Lemieux. If you wanted to ever verify that I’d be okay with that our kids played hockey together at one point. I’ve met Crosby, Geno several other penguins just from being involved with youth hockey in the city. By the way it’s cool that you did come down and see a game/purchased that. I’m not your enemy my man.

Any interaction I’ve ever had with you I was respectful and nice. When you asked for adjustments I gave them and I’ve even liked several of your posts because not all I disagree with. Just the insane hatred toward McDavid and open bias towards Wayne are the areas of contention I’ve had with you. If you think that I’m gatekeeping as a pens fan then maybe that might be a fair criticism of me but that’s not my intention. I am also not on a “high horse”. You just disagree with a pens fan that says what an objective fan would say because it doesn’t fit your narrative and you are fed up. We are fans of THE SAME TEAM. If you really want to make a martyr one of your own on here have at it but genuinely I think your posts pertaining to McDavid are completely ridiculous and given the engagement with said posts virtually the entire site agrees.

Well said. BTW the words at the end probably seem harsh. But if you could hear me say them it would be in a more sarcastic tone. So I do apologize because it does look bad on paper. Cheers

 

[Warh1ppy]

In order to "blow past" Sid and Mario, he's going to not only need a ring and a Conn Smythe, but multiple. Until then, 97 is playing catch-up.

Unfortunately the league is littered with countless HoF worthy players who never sniffed a cup.

For McDavid it would be probably one of the greatest injustices to see him not even breathe a cup final for hockey fans.

But the organization he plays/played under did not surround him with the quality of depth at position as other such teams that had that level of first ballot players like

Colorado with Sakic, Forsberg, Roy Tanguay

Pittsburgh (90s) Lemieux Recchi Jagr Francis Coffey

Detroit Yzerman Lindstrom Fedorov Robataille Hasek

Pittsburgh 2000/2010s Crosby Letang Fleury Malkin Kessel

Chicago Toews Kane Hossa Keith

Devils Brodeur Stevens Neidermeyer Rafalski (yes he deserves to be in that list)

I'm a hockey fan first and foremost before a fan of any team. Watching McDavid play after being able to watch Gretzky Coffey Lemieux Jagr Crosby Kane and so many HoF players has been a treat. He might never make the actual dance because his team can not or will not support him the way he needs.

No 1st pairing D. No top flite Goaltender. No unsung middle 6 player to compliment everything and no real support. It's him and Draisatl who might arguably be two of the best players in the modern era

But they might never even make a cup finals and that would be a shame for all of us to never see them get a chance.

As for the discussion at hand, ya. If Kucherov stays healthy he's a top 3 lock for a hart without question. I'd say if Hughes picks it up again and drags Vancouver to a playoff spot with a 70+ point season he's a nominee too. Makar? Of course. But no way will McDavid not be a top 3 barring a catastrophic season or injury

 

[WalterLundy]

Well said. BTW the words at the end probably seem harsh. But if you could hear me say them it would be in a more sarcastic tone. So I do apologize because it does look bad on paper. Cheers

No problem man I totally get it. It’s really hard with text and a lot of what we try to convey gets lost or taken the wrong way. Nothing wrong with passion and you honestly do know your stuff and have a good hockey mind. Your favorites are my favorites too trust me.

 

[klefbombs shoulder]

In order to "blow past" Sid and Mario, he's going to not only need a ring and a Conn Smythe, but multiple. Until then, 97 is playing catch-up.

Likewise Malkin and Crosby need 3 more rings to pass K Lowe.

Lol. First of all you don't have to be from a city to be a fan of that team. Second of all without crosby there would be no team in Pittsburgh as they were on the brink of relocation thanks to being terrible and no fans attending. It is the generational player crosby who saved the franchise. So majority of the current fan base are only fans because of him and Malkin.
Lastly, I'm from Canada and I have driven to Pittsburgh to watch a live game at the consol energy center and bought an authentic 92 Mario jersey in town. So think a lil before you ramble and come off your high horse. Cause your shit doesn't smell like roses champ.

Someone took that personally.

 

[Zbynek]

Likewise Malkin and Crosby need 3 more rings to pass K Lowe.

Why do you keep ignoring the Conn Smythe part?

The Conn Smythe is by far the most important piece of hockey hardware. Don't friggin kid yourself dude.

 

[klefbombs shoulder]

Why do you keep ignoring the Conn Smythe part?

The Conn Smythe is by far the most important piece of hockey hardware. Don't friggin kid yourself dude.

Tell Giguere the Smythe is the most important.

Only one trophy matters. The Cup. Lowe has double Malkin and Crosby. Obviously better career.

 

[CupsOverCash]

Kuch is different than mcd and malkin. I understand the comparison on the elite levels because they're all so elite at what they do. I'd say mcd has everyone beat with his speed matching with the high iq. Malkin has skills as good as anyone you've seen and he pairs that with his high iq and his size. Although mcd is arguably better with skill. I'd say kuch is really dependent on his high iq and he maybe has the best of the 3 but I'd say he's also likely to be lazy as can be too. He will make plays look so effortless tho and we have a saying he sneezes points because of how easy he makes it look sometimes. At least how I see the 3.

 

[Video Nasty]

Going to be interesting to see how long Kucherov holds this lead. McDavid has 4 games in hand on him and that gap doesn't get made up until the end of March. Also going to be interesting to see what this entire week off does to the Oilers' small momentum were building. Can only hope McDavid is officially 100% by this point with a week of rest added to his noticeable improvement in previous weeks.

Some might think otherwise, but I'm a big fan of Kucherov. Of course I want to see McDavid scoop another Art Ross, but Kucherov is such a worthy prior winner, that there's no doubt that it would be cool to see them go toe to toe all season long, unless McDavid continues his nuclear streak and catches him before the calendar turns to 2024, because that brings along its own fun.

 

[Sentinel]

Colorado with Sakic, Forsberg, Roy Tanguay

Pittsburgh (90s) Lemieux Recchi Jagr Francis Coffey

Detroit Yzerman Lindstrom Fedorov Robataille Hasek

But no way will McDavid not be a top 3 barring a catastrophic season or injury

Actually, a mediocre or just "good" season from McDavid -- and he will not sniff the Top 3. Not after his last few seasons. It would be like Gretzky winning the Art Ross with 130 points in 1993-94 and not getting a single Hart vote. Not one.

 

[Warh1ppy]

Actually, a mediocre or just "good" season from McDavid -- and he will not sniff the Top 3. Not after his last few seasons. It would be like Gretzky winning the Art Ross with 130 points in 1993-94 and not getting a single Hart vote. Not one.

No need to be upset about the inclusion of Lucky Luc. I could have added about a dozen players to the Det list but used Luc as just an example of what surrounding a quality cast with depth does.

With the way the Oilers are playing and where they are at this stage of the season, if McDavid sees the playoffs with 100+ points; he's gonna get hart nominations.

 

[Coffey]

Well said. BTW the words at the end probably seem harsh. But if you could hear me say them it would be in a more sarcastic tone. So I do apologize because it does look bad on paper. Cheers

DAMN! Made him apologize.
You truly are the homer whisperer, @WalterLundy

 

[3074326]

Tell Giguere the Smythe is the most important.

Only one trophy matters. The Cup. Lowe has double Malkin and Crosby. Obviously better career.

Well, the only person taking you seriously at this point is you. Good luck with this strategy.

 

[WalterLundy]

I'm always happy you joined this site, Walt.

I’m happy to be here!

 

[WalterLundy]

DAMN! Made him apologize.
You truly are the homer whisperer, @WalterLundy

I will for sure gladly wear the homer whisperer label haha I have been doing it for years with some of my friends and fans I know from around my area but it’s all in good fun. I can definitely bring that to this site as well as I have been watching for a long time and just try to be objective. For all of the things that happened and our certain differing views and some of the crazy stuff I actually like Nate haha. I was going to ask him once about Star Wars but I didn’t think that would fit in a place like this. I like all of the people I’ve interacted with on here it’s a great place with a number of people who have a ton of knowledge.

 

[BostonBob]

35 points in 20 games (143 point pace), 4 more than Hughes. 15 more than McDavid

So a 4 point lead now makes somebody a " clear favorite " ????

 

[Score08]

I love Kucherov - but I still think the scoring race finishes similarly to how it did last year.

1. McDavid
2. Draisaitl
3. Kucherov

You got #3 wrong.

 

[Crosby2010]

It is hard to say right now. I will say barring injury it is more or less just McDavid that can overtake him. We are talking about 13 points right now between Kucherov and McDavid (42-29). While it doesn't seem like a lot, he never did relinquish that lead in 2019. Kucherov had 128 points to McDavid's 116. You can argue that McDavid is a better player since then, and I will agree, but it isn't as if a 13 point lead with 30% of the season gone isn't impressive. My money is still on McDavid, but you never know. I know there are people that assume McDavid will have 10 Art Rosses like Gretzky but he won't. Things happen, I can see him getting 6, maybe 7. But it is just so difficult to do this over and over in the NHL.

 

[Kerberos]

It feels like the Oilers haven't played in a week. How many games in hand does McDavid have now like 4 or 5?

 

[Sasha Orlov]

DAMN! Made him apologize.
You truly are the homer whisperer, @WalterLundy

Bro slayed the dragon

 

[Grifter3511]

Actually, a mediocre or just "good" season from McDavid -- and he will not sniff the Top 3. Not after his last few seasons. It would be like Gretzky winning the Art Ross with 130 points in 1993-94 and not getting a single Hart vote. Not one.

You don't remember how instrumental Robitaille was to Detroit's Cups? Much more valuable than that Niclaus Lindstrom character.

 

[wetcoast]

You got #3 wrong.

I'm also confused as to why people are talking about Hart voting here in the Art ross thread, the Hart voters have traditionally not favored Kuch for a variety of reasons.

He was tied for 3rd in scoring last year (or some people would put him fourth after Pasta who scored more goals but he was 12th in Hart voting.

In 19-20 he was 7th in points and 13th in Hart voting
In 17-18 he was 3rd in scoring and 6th in Hart voting

I highly doubt that he will be a Hart finalist and heck even if the voting happened right now he probably would be one as TB has played 26 games and when the other contenders play their 26th game he might be what maybe top 10 in Hart voting?

 

[Sentinel]

No need to be upset about the inclusion of Lucky Luc. I could have added about a dozen players to the Det list but used Luc as just an example of what surrounding a quality cast with depth does.

With the way the Oilers are playing and where they are at this stage of the season, if McDavid sees the playoffs with 100+ points; he's gonna get hart nominations.

I was upset about the spelling. *eyeroll*

You don't remember how instrumental Robitaille was to Detroit's Cups? Much more valuable than that Niclaus Lindstrom character.

I also remember how to spell their names.

 

[Warh1ppy]

I was upset about the spelling. *eyeroll*


I also remember how to spell their names.

Interesting

 

[Kuz]

McDavid are looking good now. 16 pts in his last 5. Looks like he is back to last years level.

32 in 21 vs 44 in 26 for Kucherov.

Edmonton have 3 games in hand so the distance beetween them will get closer.

With Kucherov's ppg of 1,69 from this year (0,31 higher than last year). He will get 93 more points in the last 55 games ending with 137 points in 81 games.

McDavid will with last years ppg of 1,87 get 110 more points and end with 142 points. So McDavid playing like he did last year still is in the race.

Edmonton have 4 games in hand on Tampa and in theory 4 hames should normally give him from 6-8 points.

 

[Czechboy]

Kuch really is killing it.. 1st in points and 2nd in .ppg. Curiuos how it plays out. I still say McDavid but he's also on a heater that may not be sustainable.

Pasta is keeping great company!