Playoffs: whom to cheer, whom to jeer

[norrisnick]

Enjoy another successful season with ChiaPet in the top 4. I'm sure it will work out this time.

The whole point of railing against the glacial pace of integrating kids is because when they come up they've got some adjustment to go through. Would have been nice if down the stretch Ed already had 50+ games of experience. Instead we get "steady vets" f***ing up all year long and then when injuries hit they get bumped up the lineup because they can be 'trusted".

 

[RabidBadger]

Same here. I'm sure people will laud his genius in signing Hyman and overlook his bad moves.

Whatever happens, Edmonton should not extend Holland. Send him off to pasture before he runs the team into the ground.

I'm not a Holland fan for the same reasons as most of his detractors. That out of the way, I have to ask how his tenure in Edmonton warrants termination?

Has he been perfect? No. But compared to every other GM Edmonton has had the past 30 years, including Sather, he looks like Sam Pollock in a sea of Mike Milburys. Unlike with other (Oilers) GMs overseeing multiple lottery picks, I think there has been progression.

 

[ricky0034]

Holland has certainly made some bad moves(and good ones) in Edmonton but I find it funny how the same people that never seem to get tired of mentioning Yzerman inheriting contracts like Abdelkader and Nielsen from him never even mention at all the cap mess Holland walked into in Edmonton with guys like Lucic and Koskinen

 

[DoMakc]

Now that it's the offseason the myth of Edvinsson has apparently returned. "The Wings would've gotten into the playoffs if they had only started him as a rookie in October coming off shoulder surgery ahead of schedule!"

To be clear I like Ed and thought he looked very good when he was in the lineup. He also made mistakes, as is to be expected. I think he's got the potential to be a great defenseman for the Wings. But the narrative that he would've stabilized the team enough to get them into the playoffs is fan fiction.

As is the myth that multiple players in the AHL have already surpassed the play of NHL regulars.

Yeah, sure, that stellar play by Petry and Holl surely carried Red Wings especially at the beginning of the season. Nobody saying Edvinsson would be Norris finalist, but i think he showed enough to be at lest better than hot garbage Red Wings were dressing as second and third pairing. At least he can skate and defend in transition, i'm not talking about executing zone exits. That cannot be said about a lot of "reliable veterans"

 

[Henkka]

And everybody has bad contracts. Florida had those Yandle buyouts and other dead weight earlier. Now Spencer Knight is dead weight.

Teams with bad contracts are reaching the finals, it tells everything how the League is. There's no perfect teams built.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

I'm not a Holland fan for the same reasons as most of his detractors. That out of the way, I have to ask how his tenure in Edmonton warrants termination?

Has he been perfect? No. But compared to every other GM Edmonton has had the past 30 years, including Sather, he looks like Sam Pollock in a sea of Mike Milburys. Unlike with other (Oilers) GMs overseeing multiple lottery picks, I think there has been progression.

It’s not termination. I’m pretty sure his contract ends this year. So if Edmonton wins I think it’s better he leave on a high rather than stick around too long and repeat what he did in Detroit.

 

[Henkka]

And if Holland wins 2024 Stanley Cup, that's more than any GM since Glen Sather.

2024
2008
2002
1998

1997 isn't even count, that's his fifth.

 

[RabidBadger]

It’s not termination. I’m pretty sure his contract ends this year. So if Edmonton wins I think it’s better he leave on a high rather than stick around too long and repeat what he did in Detroit.

Not renewing Blashill felt a lot like termination, eh? Semantics aside, I feel Edmonton was in a similar place as Toronto: forward heavy with said forwards eating up cap space and having a very suspect defense and goalie situation. Not to mention flaming out early in the playoffs.

Yet, Edmonton is a win away from the Cup. If they win I don't think the fans give a crap what kind of ridiculous contracts you give to anyone. They are a small market team who likely tops the list in no trade clauses.

I will shit on Kenny all day for the last five years of his Red Wings tenure. Most of us drafted better than him. Our picks would have yielded Chychyrun and any of Necas/Suzuki/Quinn Hughes/Dobson or Bouchard. Pathetic.

I laughed harder than anyone when he signed Duncan Keith, but I can't argue with the progress the franchise has taken since he's been there.

 

[Henkka]

Edmonton Oilers since 2017:

2017-18 - 0.482 pts% - out of playoffs
2018-19 - 0.476 pts% - out of playoffs
- GM change, Ken Holland in.

2019-20 - 0.585 pts% - lost in quali round
2020-21 - 0.643 pts% - lost in round 1
2021-22 - 0.634 pts% - lost in round 3
2022-23 - 0.664 pts% - lost in round 2
2023-24 - 0.634 pts% - SC finals (0.704 pts% record since the coaching change, NHL-best)

Definitely a clear progress, and nothing like Toronto who have already 8 years at the playoffs with 1 series win. That's a shit example, nothing what Holland has been doing.

 

[Peter Tosh]

I’m rooting for the Oilers tonight. Holland’s last 5-7 seasons in DET was negative for us, but I think it’s time for Canada and McDavid

 

[Axel Sandy Pelikan]

I’m rooting for the Oilers tonight. Holland’s last 5-7 seasons in DET was negative for us, but I think it’s time for Canada and McDavid

I am rooting for precisely the opposite.

I don't think any great player is owed a Cup and I'm not like "Oh good, McDavid has his Cup now."

Plus, I also like Sergei Bobrovsky more than anyone else in this series and it'll make me sick to my stomach to see "Bob turned into a pumpkin and choked the series away" when he's quite literally the only reason Edmonton didn't steamroll them in games 1-3 as well. Bob has been exceptional and even in the losses (besides 8-1, but let's be real, Roy got a 6 spot put on him by Detroit, Luongo a 7 spot when he was in Vancouver, Fleury got chased in game 5 of 2009 before turning into a brick wall for Game 6 and Game 7.

 

[norrisnick]

I am rooting for precisely the opposite.

I don't think any great player is owed a Cup and I'm not like "Oh good, McDavid has his Cup now."

Plus, I also like Sergei Bobrovsky more than anyone else in this series and it'll make me sick to my stomach to see "Bob turned into a pumpkin and choked the series away" when he's quite literally the only reason Edmonton didn't steamroll them in games 1-3 as well. Bob has been exceptional and even in the losses (besides 8-1, but let's be real, Roy got a 6 spot put on him by Detroit, Luongo a 7 spot when he was in Vancouver, Fleury got chased in game 5 of 2009 before turning into a brick wall for Game 6 and Game 7.

No, that is nothing more or less than what he deserves for what he's done to the Wings in his career.

 

[jkutswings]

Congrats Cats!

 

[Roomba With a Bauer]

EAT SHIT, HOLLAND

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

Oilers lose on terrible coverage by Kulak and a soft goal by Skinner after a big save by Bob and a Panthers player clearing the puck.

 

[Dotter]

Fk the Cats. They have sleazy players and get the advantage of players not having to pay their fair share of taxes.

 

[JediOrderPizza]

Oilers.

 

[Atoadaso]

Fk the Cats. They have sleazy players and get the advantage of players not having to pay their fair share of taxes.

Lmao they don’t have to pay state taxes like everyone else in Florida. They still have to pay into the war fund taxes tho

 

[JediOrderPizza]

I have to.

 

[GMR]

I have to.

Still got to bang Bedard's mom though.

 

[tabness]

so happy for POMO what a cup winning interview, with the shout out to his dad and all those Wings legends only to be followed by Barkov's "it's nice" lol

don't care much for the Oilers but I do want Holland to get some success elsewhere as well, still got a soft spot despite his last few years here

 

[SuperScript29]

It's a shame McDavid didn't get his cup, but I thought he had an absolute lousy game there in the end.

 

[SantosHalper]

Nice! Ekblad brings that cup winning experience along with him to next seasons team.

 

[norrisnick]

Oilers lose on terrible coverage by Kulak and a soft goal by Skinner after a big save by Bob and a Panthers player clearing the puck.

Pretty sure I used the phrase "ticking time bomb" many pages ago...

 

[OldnotDeadWings]

Congrats to both Panthers and Oilers. That was a great final.

The continuing enmity toward Holland is almost perverse. There are numerous things he did to get the Oilers to within a puck bounce of winning a Cup or at least OT in Game 7. Developing one half and trading for the other half of a perfect D pair to play with McDrai. Bouchard had some serious warts when drafted but they've worked many of them out and Ekholm is an ideal partner for him. They haven't had as good a D pair in Edmonton in decades. Signing Hyman and getting RNH on a good deal. Kane when healthy was a good acquisition. He made a coaching move that worked, the new guy getting the team to play a high pace puck pressure game that was effective even when McDavid wasn't on the ice. The Panthers had to work ridiculously hard to create good looks and were often bottled up in their own end for long stretches. The Holland-acquired support group of Henrique, Foegele, Janmark, Brown was a big part of the comeback in the series. Draft picks Broberg and Holloway, even if underwhelming for where they were picked, contributed. He stuck with Skinner rather than roll the dice on a TDL acquisition. Shaky on the Cup-winning goal but his team only scored one, which ain't going to be enough most nights. The Panthers overall were a bit lucky to get the jump in the series, mostly thanks to Bob, and barely hung on right to the final minute and a great chance for Bouchard that didn't get through.

Doesn't negate how bad a job Holland did the last seven, eight years in Detroit, nor some of the earlier moves in Edmonton. No one is trying to rewrite history by giving Holland well-deserved credit for how close the Oilers came to beating a really good team.