Not sure what the stats say...but Hedman wasn't that dominant to me, he was good, not great. He out-performed most of the relevant d-men here, thus the second-team nod. But McDonagh really stepped up. For a guy that basically quit playing offense in his 30's, he stepped up in a big way offensively (he was positively robbed of an all-time great goal vs the Isles too, which is too bad). I liked his transition game and his regroup game better than Hedman's at times actually. Obviously, he was much better defensively than Hedman - by, in my opinion, a huge margin...
But even with the puck, McDonagh's simple game was really useful in transition for a transition offense team. Not that Hedman didn't make a thousand good plays himself, but I thought Hedman sort of took the game for granted at times, holding on to the puck and trying to make a complex play in a simple situation...I felt he turned it over more often, especially near each blueline...I don't know, there's probably an element of expectation in this and, frankly, that's a little bit what the playoffs are all about...who is beating expectation and who is shrinking. So there's an element here that I'll admit...
I just thought all the details of McDonagh's game were more consistently better than Hedman's, his defensive game, his whole NZ game (by a lot), even puck retrievals - which should be a huge advantage for Hedman - really may well have been better handled by McDonagh overall...I was surprised...but I thought he was brilliant.
Now, Hedman looked hurt and that's fair enough...but I'm all about McD this playoff.
Love what McDonagh brought, but Pietrangelo was Vegas' best player by a freaking mile. Depends on how you weigh a disappointing CF team versus a Cup winning team to balance it out, but I don't think I'd have a problem with Pietrangelo there.
Take Toffoli of the contenders list. 0 points, -8 or something in the Final? No way, no matter how good he was leading up to it. Suzuki was the Habs best forward, and I feel like they deserve representation by virtue of being a finalist.
First-Team:
F: Point, Kucherov, Killorn
D: McDonagh, Pietrangelo
G: Vasilevskiy
Second-Team:
F: Suzuki, MacKinnon, Caufield
D: Theodore, Hedman
G: Price
HM: Pastrnak, Coleman, McAvoy, Fleury
Killorn, who has to be a man on every shift, fight through all the testosterone lost from playing with Stamkos every shift...
Vasilevski was definitely (more) beateable (than he was beaten) vs. Montreal. The CS really, really flatters him. Not a strong CS, though it'S not like he was a bad pick amongst realistic choices.
FWIW, I would've loved to see McDonagh get the Conn Smythe.
vasi reminded me a lot of 2011 tim thomas, tbh
i kinda feel like kucherov should have won the conn smythe. the finals was such a cakewalk that they should have given it to the best player of the first three rounds, à la sakic in 1996, even if he didn't blow anyone away in the finals.
on second thought, price might have been the best player of the first three rounds, but realistically you can't win a conn smythe if you lose in five
vasi reminded me a lot of 2011 tim thomas, tbh
Ok, I haven't posted here in probably six months...if I'm not welcomed back, that's fine, but just say it to my face...don't pull this ^ kind of stuff, pal...
The difference is, of course, that Vasy gave up about 2 (?) bad goals in the entire playoffs and Thomas gave up 208,000...
Thomas had no stand out skater performance (they were too busy diving along the goal line to block empty net rebound chances probably), whereas Vasy faced two on his own team...
Vasy, like Quick, locks doors. Thomas opens them.
Ok, I haven't posted here in probably six months...if I'm not welcomed back, that's fine, but just say it to my face...don't pull this ^ kind of stuff, pal...
The difference is, of course, that Vasy gave up about 2 (?) bad goals in the entire playoffs and Thomas gave up 208,000...
Thomas had no stand out skater performance (they were too busy diving along the goal line to block empty net rebound chances probably), whereas Vasy faced two on his own team...
Vasy, like Quick, locks doors. Thomas opens them.
*Raises Hand*First-Team:
F: Point, Kucherov, Suzuki
D: McDonagh, Pietrangelo
G: Vasilevskiy
Second-Team:
F: Killorn, MacKinnon, Caufield
D: Theodore, Hedman
G: Price
Who would've thought that Steven Stamkos would be considered below Cole Caufield at the start of the playoffs?
He's - by a mile now - the worst playoff player of this generation...you can't find him on the rink most of the time, it's horrific.
He's a PP threat (and the PP was not converting in the Finals). Even then, his shot isn't the same as it used to be.He still wasn't horrible. He had 18 points in 23 games.