Series Talk: Stanley Cup Playoffs 2024

[redacted]

You guys are f***ing crazy. The media head won't shut the f*** up about McDavid. He gets more than enough recognition.

You don’t remember (or lived in) the Jordan days if you think this is anywhere near that.

 

[The Abusement Park]

You don’t remember (or lived in) the Jordan days if you think this is anywhere near that.

Or Patrick Mahomes right now. McDavid rightly gets his attention but Mahomes gets 15x the attention McDavid does.

 

[sethro109]

You don’t remember (or lived in) the Jordan days if you think this is anywhere near that.

He's not a Jordan level talent. There's no denying he's the best, but he's not revolutionizing the game. He's just more skilled than everyone else.

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

McDavid does things at high speed that no one else has ever come close to doing. I think that’s revolutionizing it. Dude is going to hit 1,000 points before he even turns 28.

And no, the hype isn’t out of control. This is nothing compared to the Crosby prime years.

 

[Alienblood]

Or Patrick Mahomes right now. McDavid rightly gets his attention but Mahomes gets 15x the attention McDavid does.

true but not in Kanata

 

[myperbixhurts]

McDavid is rightfully and undeniably the 2nd best player in the NHL after Makar

 

[redacted]

He's not a Jordan level talent. There's no denying he's the best, but he's not revolutionizing the game. He's just more skilled than everyone else.

He’s pretty close. The next tiny step down. He’s Bird, Magic, Griffey. One of the all time greats and the best player in over 30 years. He deserves the hype and praise. More than he gets today.

 

[NOTENOUGHRYJOTHINGS]

The overlap of people saying Florida is the favourite are the same people who said Dallas was the favourite.

Bouchard is elite. And his playoff run this season is going to leave Makar's in the dust. Nurse is the Nick Kypreos of the 2020s. Ceci will be a Stanley Cup champion playing top 4 minutes. You will see it happen. And you will like it.

 

[dahrougem2]

I think he is revolutionizing it. Nobody can do what he does. Nobody.

IMO the guy was hell bent on getting 100 assists this season and did it as the entire city asked why he stopped shooting.

He is insane.

 

[PAZ]

Honestly, the NHL doesn't do nearly enough to market McDavid. Or the rest of their stars for that matter. The entire way the NHL markets itself is just plain dumb.

I've no problem with McDavid winning the Cup, if anything it takes some real managerial incompetence NOT to win the Cup with a talent of that caliber on your roster (and we most certainly saw just that under Chiarelli). I have a problem with Evander Kane getting his name on the Cup because he's a horrible human being, but I won't lose any sleep over that.

I do take some smug satisfaction knowing Jamie Benn and Joe Pavelski got denied for another year. DeBoer too. On the other side I'm glad that moronic headhunter who everyone thinks is this great leader also got denied.

This might be controversial but I wish the NHL also gave stars a bit more... preferential treatment. I'm not saying call a penalty if they get touched, but if they're hooked/slashed/etc. i'd like it to be called rather than forcing them to 'play through it'.

 

[The Abusement Park]

I think he is revolutionizing it. Nobody can do what he does. Nobody.

IMO the guy was hell bent on getting 100 assists this season and did it as the entire city asked why he stopped shooting.

He is insane.

100pts in the 50 game season was supposedly impossible. He did it.

He’s not a good enough scorer. Scores 64.

Puts up 100 assists in a season.

On track to break Gretzky assist record for a playoff run this year.

Will have 1000pts by 28.

Already has 5 Rosses and 3 Harts and is only 27.

It might be annoying that the media hypes him up a ton, but theres a good chance he’s gonna make it a big 5 in the NHL once he’s retired.

 

[GeoRox89]

Or Patrick Mahomes right now. McDavid rightly gets his attention but Mahomes gets 15x the attention McDavid does.

I swear somehow in the WCF, there was more focus on Mahomes sitting courtside every time the play was stopped (in game 3) than there was on the actual game. McDavid hype isn’t even in the stratosphere of Mahomes hype.

100pts in the 50 game season was supposedly impossible. He did it.

He’s not a good enough scorer. Scores 64.

Puts up 100 assists in a season.

On track to break Gretzky assist record for a playoff run this year.

Will have 1000pts by 28.

Already has 5 Rosses and 3 Harts and is only 27.

It might be annoying that the media hypes him up a ton, but theres a good chance he’s gonna make it a big 5 in the NHL once he’s retired.

As a huge Crosby fan (he’s my all time favourite non Av), if McDavid gets one Cup and doesn’t immediately fall off a cliff in the next year or two he’s a near lock for top 5.

Get that one Cup and continue his phenomenal play for a few more seasons before aging gracefully in his thirties, the debate over him at number 4 will end when the boomers who watched Howe die off.

Get multiple Cups and dominate several more years before aging well, he’ll get some real backers in a fight between him, Lemieux and Orr.

I don’t like the Oilers and he can definitely be whiny but he is very clearly the best player since Lemieux and we’ve seen Crosby and the guy who will break Gretzky’s goal record in that time.

 

[The Abusement Park]

As a huge Crosby fan (he’s my all time favourite non Av), if McDavid gets one Cup and doesn’t immediately fall off a cliff in the next year or two he’s a near lock for top 5.

Get that one Cup and continue his phenomenal play for a few more seasons before aging gracefully in his thirties, the debate over him at number 4 will end when the boomers who watched Howe die off.

Get multiple Cups and dominate several more years before aging well, he’ll get some real backers in a fight between him, Lemieux and Orr.

I don’t like the Oilers and he can definitely be whiny but he is very clearly the best player since Lemieux and we’ve seen Crosby and the guy who will break Gretzky’s goal record in that time.

The craziest thing to me is that 1 more Art Ross and he’s tied for 2nd most all time with Mario and Howe. He doesn’t beat Gretzky almost assuredly, but he could easily create some space at 2nd with 8.

 

[Balthazar]

That's the shittiest schedule for a cup final. Play once every 3 days for most of it.

 

[The Kingslayer]

I have no issues with the media glazing elite players.

 

[El Travo]

I mean absolutely no disrespect to McDavid, but is it really revolutionizing the game if it's just a matter of being faster and more skilled than the pack? What does McDavid do differently that other players can look at and realistically model their game around? Get good? He's not changing the game. The game is already built around speed and skill. McDavid simply does it better than everyone else.

 

[dahrougem2]

I mean absolutely no disrespect to McDavid, but is it really revolutionizing the game if it's just a matter of being faster and more skilled than the pack? What does McDavid do differently that other players can look at and realistically model their game around? Get good? He's not changing the game. The game is already built around speed and skill. McDavid simply does it better than everyone else.

Gretzky/Mario didn't exactly change the game because nobody could emulate them.

Orr didn't change the game because defensemen couldn't do what he did.

If that's the criteria for revolutionary, none of those guys were revolutionary.

 

[El Travo]

Gretzky/Mario didn't exactly change the game because nobody could emulate them.

Orr didn't change the game because defensemen couldn't do what he did.

If that's the criteria for revolutionary, none of those guys were revolutionary.

Revolutionizing:
1. Things are done within a system for an amount of time.
2. An individual or group challenges how things are done by doing them differently.
3. What they do differently is successful.
4. The things they do differently can be imitated by others,
5. The amount of people who imitate said individual or group grows to the point where it's normal.

vs.

Enhancing:
1. Things are done within a system for an amount of time.
2. An individual or group takes what is being done and excels at it beyond what others are capable.
3. Others keep playing the same way as the system hasn't been challenged, but rather we have been shown the upper echelon of what the system is capable of.
4. People strive to reach that level.

Bobby Orr changed the game because nobody even thought about playing the position the way he did. He changed how people viewed the position and how it was taught. - "In contrast to the style of hanging-back defensive play common in the later 1950s and 1960s, Orr was known for his fluid skating and end-to-end rushing. Orr's rushing enabled him to be where the puck was, allowing him not only to score effectively but also to defend when necessary."

The Russian Five revolutionized the game because they redefined how hockey was taught in North America, and also changed how North Americans viewed European players. - "the five also changed how hockey was taught in North America, in no small part because of the value they placed on puck possession. In the words of Jim Lites, "Everybody used to dump the puck in and chase it down behind the net. The Russians changed that. They changed our game.""

Wayne Gretzky revolutionized the game because he really changed how people viewed the utilization of the team around him. - ""He was, I think, the first Canadian forward to play a true team game", said hockey writer and former NHL goaltender Ken Dryden. The focus of the game before Gretzky's arrival, he said, especially among the Canadian teams, was on the player with the puck—getting the puck to a star player who would make the big play."

What exactly is McDavid revolutionizing? What is he changing about the current game? It was already trending towards speed and skill before he came along. He's simply the best at it.

 

[Pokecheque]

This might be controversial but I wish the NHL also gave stars a bit more... preferential treatment. I'm not saying call a penalty if they get touched, but if they're hooked/slashed/etc. i'd like it to be called rather than forcing them to 'play through it'.

I just wish they quit turning the playoffs into such a f***ing slog every year.

 

[MacKaRtin]

It might be annoying that the media hypes him up a ton, but theres a good chance he’s gonna make it a big 5 in the NHL once he’s retired.

Would be the first non-Av in the big 5. Sakic, Forsberg, Roy, Makar, and...McDavid

 

[Iceberg]

To think the Avs never went after Bennett is maddening

Glorified forth liner.

 

[Spilot23]

Jeez, lot of Oiler hate in this thread. Are their fans that bad?

You know there's something wrong in a fanbase when they whine about reffing after getting swept. Yup that's Oilers fans for you. Not to mention that if you dare touch McDavid and don't get a penalty that means Bettman hates Canada. I would probably be rooting for Oilers as a Canadian and they're a fun team to watch but their fans makes it near impossible

 

[Grigowski]

The overlap of people saying Florida is the favourite are the same people who said Dallas was the favourite.

Dallas, as winner of the west, had to go through Vegas AND Colorado.. (thanks to this bullshit-seeding) While Edmonton had a bye-week with LA and getting Vancounver on the 3rd goalie......Just one reason why Dallas seemed to run out of gas....

That still does not explain why the AVS run out of gas by Game 5 in that series......

Florida had to go through Tampa, Boston and Rangers on their way.

So yeah, i am rooting for Florida to win it all because, imho, they deserve it (after losing last year).

And I dont want to live in a world where that fanbase over there in Canada get rewarded with a cup. They can have their personal records and whatever as long as the cup goes to Florida this year.

And imagine the meltdown on this board when Edmonton finally gets over the hump and loses in the finals.....

 

[Chiarelli]

That's the shittiest schedule for a cup final. Play once every 3 days for most of it.

the travel is insane. I'd rather see good hockey than a game every other day. Probably helps Edmonton ride their top guys more and make the series more even too. Operating under the assumption Florida is the fav here.

Jordan was The Beatles of pro sports. Doubt anyone ever comes close to touching his level even if they dominate a sport at a higher level.


I think Edmonton loses to Dallas if they played in the first round.
If my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle too tho.

 

[redacted]

The only complaint I’d personally have is that it starts on Saturday instead of Wednesday or Thursday. Both teams will be rusty for a the first game or two.