We’re now just a few days away from hearing who will form this year’s class of inductees into the Hockey Hall of Fame. There are a few new candidates this year including former Montreal Canadiens and Nashville Predators captain Shea Weber, former Detroit Red Wings Pavel Datsyuk, former San Jose Sharks, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Pittsburgh Penguins Patrick Marleau, former Atlanta Thrashers, New Jersey Devils, Los Angeles Kings, Canadiens and Washington Capitals Ilya Kovalchuk, former Buffalo Sabres, St. Louis Blues, Vancouver Canucks and Anaheim Ducks Ryan Miller, former Predators’ Pekka Rinne, former Blues, Boston Bruins, and Ducks David Backes, former long-time Minnesota Wild captain and Columbus Blue Jackets short-time player Mikko Koivu, former New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders Travis Zajac and finally, former Chicago Blackhawks and Arizona Coyotes Niklas Hjalmarsson.
Not all candidates deserve a look though and as per the HOF rules, only four male players can be inducted per induction class. As always there has been a lot of debating about candidates’ worthiness of induction and it is not easy to get a consensus. To get in, a player must receive 14 votes from the 18 committee members. Here is my opinion on whether Weber is worthy of induction. Weber's Statistics Weber’s career spanned 16 NHL seasons, 11 in Nashville with the team that drafted him 49th over all at the 2003 Draft and five in Montreal. In a total of 1,038 games played, Weber put up 589 points including 224 goals. Throughout his career, he also had a plus-79 rating and 714 penalty minutes.
A power play specialist thanks to his rocket of a shot, Weber scored 106 goals in that situation and added 133 assists for a total of 239 points with the man advantage. He also had 35 game-winning goals.
On average, he spent over 24 minutes on the ice every night and had an 8.1% shooting percentage, although that statistic varied a lot over the years. He went as high as 11.8% and as low as 4% so this stat should be taken with a grain of salt. The hulking defenceman also landed 2,212 hits over the course of his career and blocked 1,691 shots; he was never one to fear the physical side of the game. There’s a reason why Mike Babcock (biggest wank and cocksucker the League has ever seen!) once described him as a “Man Mountain” (from ‘Mike Babcock singing praises of defenceman Shea Weber,’ The Star, Sept. 6, 2016).
Numerically speaking, Weber has good totals, but there’s nothing overly impressive here. Of course, there’s more to a defenceman’s role than putting up points, but the modern-era defencemen inducted all appear to be more productive offensively. For instance, Mark Howe, who’s at the bottom of the ladder in points, still has a 0.80 points per game (P/G). As for Weber, he has 0.57 P/G, and Chris Pronger is at 0.60 P/G, but he has a lot more hardware trophies-wise.
Weber's Lack of Trophies While no one can deny that Weber was a good defender, he has not won a single trophy in the NHL. Pronger, who was mentioned in the previous paragraph, won the Stanley Cup and a Hart Trophy (the first blue liner to claim it since Bobby Orr). Furthermore, he’s a member of the Triple Gold Club. He’s got two Olympic gold medals and a gold medal at the World Championships. Meanwhile, Weber received votes for the Norris Trophy but never won it. On the international scene, Weber has two Olympic gold medals and a gold and a silver medal from the World Championships. While this is pretty to have on your resume, those are truly team awards. Canada didn’t win those titles solely because of Weber. Sure he was there and took part in the team effort, but that alone cannot get him into the Hall of Fame in my humble opinion (besides, Canada would have won with me on those fucking teams!). Personally, I do not think someone needs to have won a Stanley Cup to get in the HOF. It was fine when there were only six teams but, now with 32 teams chasing the ultimate goal, it doesn’t make sense. If it were the case, only players from the very best teams would win trophies. There’s already the Conn Smythe Trophy which can only be won by the players of the two teams that made it to the Final. I don’t think there’s a rule to that effect, it just always ends up like that. Weber's Character There is absolutely no debating possible when it comes to Weber’s character, he’s a great leader and captain. For a rebuilding team full of kids, he can even serve as a great dad and help them grow up in many ways. I remember an anecdote I read in Pierre Gervais and Mathias Brunet’s book, Tales from the Dressing Room, which I don’t have with me, but someone quoted it on X:
As for his leadership, when the Canadiens made that Stanley Cup run in 2021, they weren’t doing it for their coach or anybody but their captain, who could see the end of his career coming, and for Carey Price who was also battling knee problems. When they lost against the Tampa Bay Lightning, many Canadiens players went to console Weber, as if they knew it was the end of the line for him. Don’t get me wrong, I know Weber is a good player and leader, but the Hall of Fame should not be for good players, it should be for those who have truly marked the game. The fact he got to 1,000 games is great, but personally when I think of Weber what comes to mind first is the ridiculous offer sheet he received from the Philadelphia Flyers. Defenceman Raymond Bourque, who had the whole league pulling for him to win the Cup with the Colorado Avalanche, is a good example of the kind of defender I would like to see in the Hall of Fame. For me, Weber doesn’t make the cut, but everyone is entitled to their opinion.
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Mogilny being left out of the Hockey Hall of Fame remains one of life's great mysteries, especially when guys like Colin Campbell are being inducted as 'builders' Patrick Johnston THE PROVINCE It’s hard to imagine a better example of what a weird little club the National Hockey League is than Jennifer Botterill (fuck off), Alexander Mogilny, Patrik Elias (no) and Curtis Joseph (wank) remaining excluded from the Hockey Hall of Fame, but long time league executive Colin Campbell is now in. For years, many have called for the likes of Mogilny to be included — not just sports writers, but his old team mates. He was a driving, caring, highly skilled team mate who won. And winning is meant to be the most important thing. Many of Mogilny’s former Vancouver Canucks team mates have called for his inclusion. Markus Naslund and Corey Hirsch have both told Postmedia more than once they believe their old friend was truly one of the game’s greats. Their assessment is one shared by many around the league. His credentials stand in stark contrast to Campbell’s. But that doesn’t seem to matter. It never does. Tuesday, the vaunted hall announced its 2024 list and there’s lots that the hall’s curious cabal of voters got right: the three men — Sicamous’ Shea Weber (wank), Jeremy Roenick (wank) and Pavel Datsyuk — and two women (fuck right off!) — Natalie Darwitz and Krissy Wendell-Pohl — selected as players are all good choices. Notionally, so too is David Poile, who has run strong teams for years in Washington and Nashville, though it’s also notable he’s been a member of the HHOF’s selection committee for years. Absent, again, are Botterill (fuck off), Mogilny, Joseph (wank) and Elias (wank), players who all are comparable to peers who are already in the hall. It’s hard to fathom why they’re not in. And in Botterill’s case (no one fucking cares about girl fucking hockey!), it’s even more bizarre given how the hall’s selection committee had only picked one female player a year over the past 14 years, despite setting a standard for themselves to select two. (Why two? Why does it matter?) Like all things HHOF, the builder category is very much about the preferences and alliances of the committee of the day. Poile’s probably there on merit, notwithstanding his ongoing membership, but why Campbell is in is baffling. Is this the equivalent of handing out a participation ribbon? What notable things has Campbell done, other than get caught sending embarrassing emails that exposed his crude and brutal opinions of assorted players and officials, while also pressuring colleagues to intervene in incidents that affect his son and his son’s team? For a time he served as the league’s chief disciplinarian, but why he had the role other than because he was an out-of-work hockey man in need of a job was never clear. He wasn’t a particularly good coach and he’d been an unspectacular player. Being a good soldier to the boss appears to have been his main qualification. Here’s Gary Bettman in 1998, when Campbell was first hired by the NHL to replace Brian Burke as the league’s chief disciplinarian: “Colie (WTF is fucking "Colie"?) will work closely with Jim Gregory, Bryan Lewis and me in making sure that all aspects of our game are well looked after,” the commissioner said, referencing a pair of league executives; Gregory was the league’s vice-president of hockey operations and Lewis was the director of officiating. “We certainly believe that given Colie’s experience as an NHL player for 11 seasons, combined with his 13 years on the coaching side of the game, he’s the perfect fit for this job.” In a statement released after Campbell’s honour was announced, Bettman credited Campbell with being heavily involved in every positive rule change the NHL has instituted over the past two decades, creating the more offensively-oriented game we have today. That’s quite the claim, given he’s never been credited with this leadership before. Lots of organisations feature people who show up every day, who are involved in the trenches; but few would argue that you deserve to be handed the game’s highest honour just for showing up. Campbell’s inclusion is a reminder of the oddness of the hockey hall’s selection process. There are just 18 people on the HHOF selection committee, almost entirely former players and executives. It’s a very tight, very narrow group. It’s a setup that stands apart from the other North American pro sports halls. Baseball has a large panel of baseball writers doing the heavy lifting, with the hundreds of ballots subject to a vast amount of public scrutiny. Pro football’s committee features one writer from each NFL city (two from Los Angeles and New York City) plus an assortment of up to 17 others, be they media or other football types. Basketball has several committees with large memberships involved in their process, population by hall of famers and other experts in the game. Hockey’s process, as a result, is incoherent. Why Mogilny or Elias or Joseph isn’t in is unknown. All have strong cases — and it’s when you line them up against Roenick, for instance, that you really scratch your head. Roenick certainly always presented a huge, buoyant personality to go with his colourful on-ice playing style, but his case doesn’t scream “slam-dunk Hall of Famer.” (what with him being a wanker). He never won a Stanley Cup — which is, in fairness, a tough criticism in a hockey universe where more and more stars don’t win the cup despite their efforts — but he also never won an NHL award and was never named a first or second-team all-star. He never came all that close to leading the league in scoring, but he still did tally 1216 points in 1363 career games, many of those games played in an incredibly defensive era for hockey. So if he’s a Hall of Famer, and it’s not unreasonable to say he is (yes it is!), why isn’t Mogilny, who was twice named to an end-of-season all-star team, who won a Stanley Cup, who won a goal-scoring title, who changed the game by being the first player to defect from the Soviet hockey empire. Why isn’t he in? Why isn’t Joseph, who is seventh all-times in wins, in the Hall of Fame? (because he was shit?) Why isn’t Elias, who won several cups, was an end-of-season all-star (ONCE!), in the Hall of Fame? (because he was a wank, too!) At some level, it appears to be about kissing the ring. And that should be no criteria for what’s meant to be a serious honour. Instead, hockey just looks like a club of small town car dealers, patting each other on the back. No one will be holding their breath a year from now on whether Mogilny will get his due. Holy Sweet Fuck! I think this clown is reading HockeyChat!
And from the looks of it, he likes MY comments! Post Number 1 And Post Number 2. U.S. women's players (don't fucking care) ... executives Colin Campbell and David Poile, will also go into the hall. FUCKING ILLITERATE TWATS Former Montreal Canadiens captain Shea Weber (not deserving) and Detroit Red Wings winger Pavel Datsyuk, a two-time Stanley Cup champion, were elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility, while Jeremy Roenick (not deserving) is going into the hall after being eligible for more than a decade. They are part of the seven-member class of 2024, the first to include two women’s don't fucking care. It’s the first class with ... blah blah blah, more chick shit. Long time executives Colin Campbell and David Poile were chosen in the builder category. Roenick’s 1,216 points with Chicago, Phoenix, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and San Jose are fourth most of any U.S.-born player. He has been eligible since 2012 and passed over each year since (deservedly). Weber, who led the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2021, hasn’t played since. His contract was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights, then to the Arizona Coyotes. He still has two seasons left on a 14-year contract Poile signed him to in 2012 with the Nashville Predators, though he has effectively retired from the game. Lance Hornby TORONTO SCUM The Hockey Hall of Fame selection committee went off script Tuesday.
In announcing the induction of five players, two of them American females, the 18 members reached around perceived reluctance to recognise Russians in these turbulent geo-political times by choosing the very-qualified Pavel Datsyuk while adding hot-potato pick Jeremy Roenick. Datsyuk, the Detroit Red Wings’s Cup winner and international star, joined fellow first-year eligible Shea Weber, a well-established Canadian defenceman. In the builder category, retired David Poile, who won more games than any NHL general manager before leaving the Nashville Predators a year ago, was named, along with former player and league executive Colin Campbell, who worked in many levels such as discipline and hockey operations. No one can argue against the highly decorated Datsyuk, but when the 1,000-point scorer Alex Mogilny (WTF!!!) was not among those picked last year, it was thought the Hall was mirroring the isolation of Russia on the world sports stage and Datsyuk might join him in limbo. There was a chance that Ilya Kovalchuk (not deserving), in his first year, would have got some support on Tuesday, too. Roenick had 500-plus goals, but it was believed his controversial comments both during his playing days and as a media commentator in the 15 years since he retired were being held against him. Mike Gartner, chairman of the committee, mentioned that he was a team mate of Roenick in Phoenix and extolled his on-ice virtues on TSN after the announcement. To be inducted, nominees needed 14-of-18 votes from a member who had to bring their name up for debate. Winger Mogilny, netminder Curtis Joseph (wank) and forward Keith Tkachuk (wank) were among those snubbed again. Blah, blah, blah ... girl stuff. The Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers are among the top five NHL teams favoured to win the Stanley Cup in 2025, according to online sportsbook BetMGM.
The celebrations have just begun for the Florida Panthers, and they're already favored to win another Stanley Cup in 2025.
Online sportsbook BetMGM released its odds for the 2025 Stanley Cup champion on Monday night. The Panthers, which just won their first Cup by beating the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 in Game 7 of the final, are the favourites at 10.00 in decimal odds, or 9/1 in fractional odds and plus-900 moneyline odds. The Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars and Oilers are tied for second with 11.00 odds, while the Carolina Hurricanes round out the top five with 12.00 odds. Colorado won the Cup in 2022 and was eliminated in the second round of this year's playoffs by the Stars. The Stars made it to the Western Conference final before the Oilers eliminated them, while the Hurricanes lost in the second round to the New York Rangers. At the bottom of the list, the Anaheim Ducks, Chicago Blackhawks and San Jose Sharks are listed at 301.00 odds. Last year, the Panthers had 19.00 odds after the Vegas Golden Knights won the Cup, which ranked them 11th. The Avalanche were favoured at the time. Here's BetMGM's full ranking as of June 25 with odds: 1. Florida Panthers, 10.00 T-2. Colorado Avalanche, 11.00 T-2. Dallas Stars, 11.00 T-2. Edmonton Oilers, 11.00 5. Carolina Hurricanes, 12.00 6. Vegas Golden Knights, 13.00 T-7. New Jersey Devils, 14.00 T-7. New York Rangers, 14.00 9. Toronto Maple Leafs, 17.00 T-10. Boston Bruins, 21.00 T-10. Los Angeles Kings, 21.00 T-10. Tampa Bay Lightning, 21.00 T-10. Vancouver Canucks, 21.00 14. Winnipeg Jets, 23.00 T-15. Minnesota Wild, 36.00 T-15. Nashville Predators, 36.00 T-17. Detroit Red Wings, 41.00 T-17. New York Islanders, 41.00 T-17. Ottawa Senators, 41.00 T-17. Pittsburgh Penguins, 41.00 T-17. St. Louis Blues, 41.00 T-17. Buffalo Sabres, 41.00 23. Philadelphia Flyers, 51.00 24. Calgary Flames, 67.00 25. Seattle Kraken, 81.00 T-26. Washington Capitals, 101.00 T-26. Utah Hockey Club, 101.00 28. Montreal Canadiens, 151.00 29. Columbus Blue Jackets, 251.00 T-30. Anaheim Ducks, 301.00 T-30. Chicago Blackhawks, 301.00 T-30. San Jose Sharks, 301.00 The sportsbook also released odds for specific Cup final match-ups. The Panthers versus Avalanche, Panthers versus Stars and a rematch of the Panthers versus Oilers are the favoured match-ups at 29.00 odds. After twice rising from the dead this year, the Oilers let history slip through their outstretched fingers Monday in a heartbreaking 2-1 Game 7 defeat Robert Tychkowski EDMONTON JOURNAL It’s all over. A season defined by stunning comebacks, unbreakable resilience and unshakable belief ends with the Edmonton Oilers digging one last hole that they couldn’t escape. They got their fingers over the edge and almost pulled themselves out, but the Florida Panthers stomped their hands and sealed their fate, handing them a crushing 2-1 Game 7 defeat Monday in Sunrise. After twice rising from the dead this year — from 31st place in the standings and from 3-0 down in the Stanley Cup Final — the Oilers let history slip through their outstretched fingers. “Obviously it wasn’t meant to be,” said Leon Draisaitl, his face showing the emotion after the most painful loss of his career. “I don’t know what to say right now. It’s heartbreaking. We were right there. We battled all the way to the end. “We were one period, maybe one shot, away from winning the thing and now you have to go through 82 regular season games again.” It would have been the most incredible National Hockey League triumph of all time. Instead, while Matthew Tkachuk and the Panthers celebrated at centre ice, the Oilers and everyone in Edmonton struggled to process the result. “It’s tough to string four (wins) in a row against a good team like that, but we were right there,”
said Oilers captain Connor McDavid, the first player since Jean-Sébastien Giguère in 2003 to win the Conn Smythe trophy in a losing cause.
“It sucks. I’m proud of the way we fought all year. We were behind the 8-ball almost immediately and fought an uphill climb for months. We went through a lot, ups and downs, and came that close.” They were all certain this journey would end another way after the Oilers seemed to pull away in the series, winning 8-1, 5-3 and 5-1 in Games 4, 5 and 6. But Game 7 on the road against a team desperate to avoid one of the biggest collapses in sports history was the bridge too far. The Panthers drew one last line in the Florida sand and refused to budge. Florida scored first, lead 2-1 at the second intermission and kept the frantic Oilers at bay for the final 20 minutes. So Edmonton’s trip to the Stanley Cup Final ends without a trophy, just a silver lining (that is of absolutely no consolation right now), that this was a hell of a season and a hell of a run. McDavid had the most points by a forward since Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. Evan Bouchard had the most points by a defenceman since Paul Coffey and Brian Leetch. Hyman had the most goals by any active player in the league. They had best penalty killing in the playoffs, the best power play in the playoffs and their toughness and resilience got them one game away from being etched in Stanley Cup lore forever. When a team loses 10 of its first 12 games and sinks to the bottom of the standings, it’s not supposed to be sitting there in January wondering what all the fuss was about. When it falls behind 3-2 to Vancouver, 2-1 to Dallas and 3-0 to Florida, it’s not supposed to march its way a Game 7. But those were the Oilers. “It’s an amazing group of guys,” said Draisaitl. “It’s hard to put into words how much character there is in this room. We stuck with it all year.” Before Monday night, they faced elimination five times and went 5-0. They had the other team facing elimination three times and went 3-0. But on the one night they needed, they found themselves on the wrong side of the razor’s edge. “You can analyse it to death if you want to, when somebody beats you in a seven game series they’re the better team,” said defenceman Mattias Ekholm. “Good for them. But we were darn close and we’ll be back next year.” There is a lot they’ll be able to look back on and be extremely proud of, but for every player in Edmonton’s room who never wins a Stanley Cup, and it might be all of them, for all we know, the sense of loss will never go away. This was the most successful season in the McDavid-Draisaitl era and it hurts the worst. More than missing the playoffs, more than being knocked out in the first, second or third round. To battle so hard for two months and have everything they’ve dreamed of in this game since they were eight years old held in front of them and then yanked away the final day of the season is tough. Especially given the road they took to get here. And what happens next year is anyone’s guess. Is this the last and final growing pain before the Oilers get to where Florida is? It’s an easy narrative, but nothing is guaranteed in hockey. It might be a long time before they ever get this close again. Nobody knows that better than the Oilers.
ILLITERATE FUCKWITS
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — It's very simple for the Florida Panthers now: Win on Monday, and you're Stanley Cup champions. Lose on Monday, and you're the first team since World War II that blew a 3-0 lead in hockey's title series.
Either way, the outcome will last forever. “It’s probably the biggest NHL game in however many years,” Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk said. He's not wrong, and for the Panthers, the 2,464th game in franchise history is unquestionably the biggest one ever. It's for all the marbles, immortality awaiting with a win, ignominy awaiting with a loss. The fourth and final chance the Panthers will get this season to win the Stanley Cup has arrived, with Florida playing host to the Edmonton Oilers in the final game of this season on Monday night. Florida won the first three games. Edmonton won the next three. Not since 1945 has a Stanley Cup Final followed such a trajectory, and not since 1942 has a team trailed 3-0 in the title series and wound up winning — the fate that Florida is trying to avoid. “Doesn’t matter how it’s gone, doesn't matter how you draw it up,” Tkachuk said. “They lost the first three games. We lost the next three. It's even right now. It doesn’t matter what has happened to get to this point. ... This whole season comes down to one game. At home. How could you not be so jacked up for this? This is absolutely incredible, an incredible opportunity.” The first three games, all Florida. The Panthers outscored the Oilers 11-4, had more hits and more blocked shots and looked completely on their way. The last three games, all Edmonton. The Oilers outscored the Panthers 18-5, are scoring on 22.5% of their shots on goal — a video-game rate — and have nearly twice as many blocked shots in that span as Florida does. Add it all up, it's 3-3. Game 7 is here. “You can look at every storyline, you can analyse everything, you can say how we match up, they got the momentum, we’re on our heels. It doesn’t matter," Panthers forward Kyle Okposo said. "It’s your next game. You're only as good as your next game.” Never mind the roller-coaster ride the teams took to get here. It's only the 18th Game 7 in Stanley Cup Final history. Home teams have won 12 of the previous 17 (a good sign for the Panthers), but road teams have won each of the last three (a good sign for the Oilers). Panthers coach Paul Maurice was asked if Game 7 will define legacies, including his own, given the historical significance of potentially wasting a 3-0 series lead. “I will let you know at the end of it,” Maurice said. Maurice has spent this series hearing questions about winning the Cup (something people try not to talk about until they've actually won the thing), 3-0 leads, the pressure that comes when clinching opportunities were wasted as they were in Game 4, Game 5 and Game 6, and plenty more along those lines. He's a smart guy. He gets why those questions are coming. But when he was sidling over to players for quick chats during practice on Sunday, it wasn't about big-picture ramifications. It was taking the temperature of a team that he still fully believes in, especially going into Game 7. “There's a far bigger contextual story that means nothing to me now, but it means everything to you,” Maurice said. “That’s the stories you have to write. That’s actually what makes this whole thing awesome is the context of it. Nobody ever, ever, has played on a backdoor rink in Canada and scored the Game 3 overtime winner in the qualifying round. It's one game, always, that excites you. And that is the context of this game and we will live in that context.” Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov — it'll either be him or Oilers captain Connor McDavid accepting the Stanley Cup from NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman on Monday night — concurs. Indeed, this is it. Championship or collapse. By Monday night, the Panthers's story will be written. “I was one of those kids for sure that played by himself whenever I was outdoors or at home ... thinking, ‘This is Game 7 of the Stanley Cup playoffs, maybe even overtime,’" Barkov said. "You think about those moments. I’ve had many of those memories, but now it’s becoming a truth tomorrow for sure. Exciting. The most exciting time to be a hockey player.”
Paul Coffey had Wayne Gretzky on his side in 1984 as the Great One was trying to cement his legacy with a first Stanley Cup to bookend his 200-point seasons and his Hart trophies.
There was heat on 99 to win, just as it’s there today with 97. Gretzky won in his fifth year, and this is Connor McDavid’s ninth. “I don’t know if it’s pressure, it’s just wanting it so bad,” said Coffey, who looks after the defencemen as the Edmonton Oilers's assistant coach. “And nobody wants it more than 97 on our team.” He won’t say that publicly, of course. But, winning a championship for the greats is not always linear. It took Sidney Crosby four years after being draughted No. 1 in Pittsburgh, Gretzky five in Edmonton and Mario Lemieux seven with the Penguins. A good but long time, like Steve Yzerman taking 14 years in Detroit or Alex Ovechkin taking the same in Washington, so lots of “what-ifs” and “will-I-evers” as the years pass. “I still remember when the Islanders beat us four straight (in 1983), and Wayne had 196 points, and we’re leaving our dressing room, and Wayne was so down,” said Coffey. “I said, ‘What’s wrong with you?’ He says, ‘I’ll never be like Bryan Trottier or Guy Lafleur until I win a cup.’ It’s not the end-all be-all, but it certainly helps.” What was it like for Coffey to be in the dressing room for a big game knowing Gretzky would do something special? What does it do for a team knowing the best player is on their team? “I think it was in the L.A. series … where Wayne was asked, ‘Do you still get nervous going to the rink?'” Coffey said. “He said, ‘Absolutely, I’m nervous, until I walk in here and I see Connor, then it’s all good. He’s here!” The same thing happened back in the early Oiler days. “Looking back to our early days, we weren’t angels,” Coffey said. “But we always knew if the big guy was in bed by midnight, we had a chance. “That’s the truth, that’s the truth.” It isn’t just another game for McDavid — no Game 7 is. Not when you’re being compared to Gretzky, but he’s sticking with the process line of thought. “This (Game 7) is not your ordinary game,” he said. “Everybody understands that, but you’ve got to make it as ordinary as possible. You have to prepare like you always do, stick to your routine.” But, when asked how it feels to finally be here — one small step for mankind, from a cup after being the first pick in the 2015 draught — he takes a second to answer. “That’s a pretty broad question. What’s it like? Yeah, it’s been a long road to get to this point, it’s been a lot of ups and downs, a lot of lessons along the way, but it takes a lot of them. It really does,” he said. Corey Perry watched McDavid at work in Game 6, on a night when they didn’t need his points, but he saved a goal by Sasha Barkov with his checking. He knows how badly the Oilers captain wants this first cup. Yes, it is part of his legacy. It’s Perry’s 11th Game 7 in his career, but first in the finals, and nobody knows the thin line between winning and losing. Maybe not so much for the greats, who will find a way back, at some time, but maybe not. “You don’t take anything for granted. Half these guys may never be back. As I’ve said, I won one cup when I was 22, and it took me 12 years to get back for another shot. These chances — they don’t come along every day. I haven’t won a second one,” he said. But at least he’s won one. Does he feel McDavid is thinking this is his shot? “I’m not inside his head,” said Perry. “But you have to think that way. This is his chance,” he said. “All the greats have done it. He’s pretty much in that category.” Perry is comforted to know McDavid is on his side, though. As he says, “Everybody grows up wanting to be the hero in a Game 7, and hopefully, it’s in this room and you go down in history as being the hero.” There’s a good chance 97 will be that guy. “He can do more magical things at any point in the game,” said Perry. “Not just this year in the playoffs but throughout his career. It’s not a switch he flips, but all of a sudden, he’s dancing through three or four guys the other night (during Game 5 to set up Perry). We count on him a lot. That’s why he’s the greatest.” But Perry has seen the other side of McDavid as the playoffs have gone on, too. Like Crosby with the Penguins, his willingness to subjugate his offence to check, to do other things that don’t appear on the stats sheet. “Like that play he made on Barkov the other night. His speed does a lot of checking for him. That shift, there’s a turnover off the wall, Barkov has the puck, and Connor’s right there. Pretty much goes into the empty net if Connor doesn’t slash or whatever the call was (hooking),” said Perry.
Nobody on the current Oilers knows what McDavid is going through more than Leon Draisaitl, who was sitting beside 97 at the podium Sunday after practice as one of the top 10 players in the world.
But the eyeballs aren’t on him like they are McDavid. What’s it like having the No. 1 player in the game in an Oilers sweater? “Every game we go into, we know we have the best player in the world on our side,” said Draisaitl. “But the league is really, really hard to just go through one player or two or three. You need a whole team, like in these playoffs with our penalty kill winning us hockey games. But it is a great feeling having the best player in world on our side.” Going into a Game 7 with the best player on the planet, Kris Knoblauch? “Definitely an added bonus,” said the Oilers coach, with a big smile. “Not only having the best player but one who’s playing extremely well right now. Not only do you have the advantage with him on the ice, but it breeds confidence throughout the room. Players are looking around the room and saying, ‘Who’s ready to go, who’s contributing?’ and they see their leader, their best player ready to go. Yes, gives so much confidence to the rest of the group,” said Knoblauch. The NHL championship-deciding contest between the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers is just the 18th Game 7 in Stanley Cup final history. Here's all of them.
The biggest possible game in an NHL season has only happened 17 times in league history. Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final is when all past results, performances and other context are thrown out the window. It's one final do-or-die game in which one team skates off with the Stanley Cup and a dream come true while the other leaves with the runner-up title and endless thoughts about what could have been. The 18th Game 7 in Cup final history will happen on Monday, June 24, at 8 p.m. ET between the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers. With that, here's what happened in every Stanley Cup final Game 7 in NHL history, with snippets from The Hockey News covering 15 of them. June 24, 2024: Edmonton Oilers at Florida Panthers This series is just the third time in NHL history that a team has come back from a 3-0 deficit to force Game 7 in the Stanley Cup final. We'll either see the Edmonton Oilers become the second team ever to pull off the reverse sweep in the Cup final or the Florida Panthers become the second team ever to blow a 3-0 lead and still win. June 12, 2019: St. Louis Blues, 4, at Boston Bruins, 1 The St. Louis Blues trailed the Cup final on two occasions after losing Games 1 and 3, but they tied it each time. The Boston Bruins forced Game 7 with a 5-1 win, but the Blues took full control, scoring four unanswered goals. Captain Ryan O'Reilly had a goal and an assist to cap a Conn Smythe Trophy performance as the Blues won their first Cup in franchise history. O'Reilly revealed afterward he suffered a cracked rib in Round 2. From Vol. 72, Issue 16: Funny how lifting up 35 pounds of silver and nickel alloy high over his head didn’t seem to aggravate it. “I guess all the adrenaline made it feel pretty light,” O’Reilly said. June 15, 2011: Boston Bruins, 4, at Vancouver Canucks, 0 The Boston Bruins initially trailed 2-0 the Vancouver Canucks in the series before tying it up. In the final, with the Canucks having a chance to end Canada's Stanley Cup drought, they outshot the Bruins 37-21. Tim Thomas stopped every shot while Patrice Bergeron potted a goal and an assist about three years after missing most of the 2007-08 season due to concussion symptoms. As for what happened after the game... well... there's a 30 for 30 documentary on it now. From Vol. 65, Issue 1: “I always believed, always believed,” Bergeron said. “I believed in myself and I believed in this team. I wouldn’t be anywhere without this team.” June 12, 2009: Pittsburgh Penguins, 2, at Detroit Red Wings, 1 The Pittsburgh Penguins also trailed the final 2-0 at first, and they responded well from a 5-0 loss in Game 5 to force Game 7. Marc-Andre Fleury's diving save on a shot by Nicklas Lidstrom will live on as one of the greatest saves in NHL history in terms of significance. That was the first of three Cup wins so far for Sidney Crosby and long time team mates Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang. From Vol. 63, Issue 1: Malkin pointed to a picture of Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr celebrating the Penguins’ 1992 Stanley Cup in the visitor’s dressing room at the old Chicago Stadium. Seventeen years later, Crosby and Malkin are living the dream far earlier than they, or almost anyone else, expected they would. June 19, 2006: Edmonton Oilers, 1, at Carolina Hurricanes, 3 The Oilers faced elimination in Game 5 of this series and won in overtime to drag the Hurricanes back to Edmonton. They then won Game 6 by a 4-0 score to force Game 7. But a power-play goal by Frantisek Kaberle eight seconds after the Oilers took a holding penalty stood as the game-winner as the Carolina Hurricanes won their first Cup in franchise history. From Vol. 59, Issue 37: "We had too many guys that sacrificed their whole careers and weren't going to be denied." - Captain Rod Brind'Amour June 7, 2004: Calgary Flames, 1, at Tampa Bay Lightning, 2 Controversy erupted in Game 6 of the Cup final when it appeared Martin Gelinas had put the Calgary Flames up 3-2 in the third period. But the play continued, and the NHL couldn't stop the play to review the goal as they can now. One angle shows some white ice between the puck and goal line, but the overhead angle that would've had the best look appeared inconclusive. The Lightning scored in double-overtime to force Game 7, which was when Ruslan Fedotenko stole the show and scored twice to capture the Tampa Bay Lightning's first-ever Cup win. That was the last time the Cup was awarded before the 2004-05 lockout. From Vol. 57, Issue 38: At a time when the NHL’s future appears bleak, it was a thrill to see two deserving teams make it to the final. Too bad there was just one trophy. June 9, 2003: Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 0, at New Jersey Devils, 3 Mighty Ducks netminder Jean-Sebastien Giguere was so good in the playoffs that he earned the Conn Smythe Trophy as NHL playoff MVP despite losing the final. In Game 7, however, Martin Brodeur stopped all 24 shots he faced as the game-winning goal from call-up Mike Rupp sealed the deal for the New Jersey Devils. From Vol. 56, Issue 38: Minutes after the game ends, Stanley Cup-winning goal-scorer Michael Rupp is asked a perfectly logical question: Who are you? “Well, I’ve been in the organisation; this is my third year,” says the 6-foot-5, 235-pound left winger, who adds two assists in the Devils’ third 3-0 home victory of the series. June 9, 2001: New Jersey Devils, 1, at Colorado Avalanche, 3 The Colorado Avalanche led the series on two separate occasions but faced elimination in Game 6. They forced Game 7 with a 4-0 win, and Alex Tanguay factored in on all three Avalanche goals to win 3-1. "And after 22 years, Raymond Bourque!" From Volume 54, Issue 38: “I couldn’t breathe the last 30 seconds of the game,” Bourque said, ”and it wasn’t because I was tired. I was trying to hold off the tears, the emotions…I had to stay focused. I had tears in my eyes on the bench a few times. Lifting the Cup, what a feeling.” June 14, 1994: Vancouver Canucks, 2, at New York Rangers, 3 One round before the Cup final, Mark Messier guaranteed the New York Rangers would win Game 6 against the Devils, which they did, followed by Game 7 on a double-overtime winner by Stephane Matteau. The Rangers then had a 3-1 lead in the final before the Canucks came back to tie it. In the rubber match, Messier, Adam Graves and Sergei Zubov each recorded two points to end the Rangers' 54-year Stanley Cup drought. From Vol. 47, Issue 37: There would be no more running from the Cup curse. (Rangers coach Mike Keenan) wanted his players to feed off 1940, not fear it. May 31, 1987: Philadelphia Flyers, 1, at Edmonton Oilers, 3 A Stanley Cup final between the top two teams in the regular season came down to Game 7. The series was a rematch of the 1985 Cup final, which the Oilers won in five games. It was the first time the final required a Game 7 in 16 years, the longest gap on this list. The Flyers trailed 3-1 in the series before winning twice and scoring first in the decider. But the Oilers won 3-1 on goals by Messier, Jari Kurri and Glenn Anderson to win their third Cup in four years. From Vol. 40, Issue 36: The Oilers are no longer imprisoned by the memory of their stunning loss to Calgary in the division finals last year. They freed themselves May 31 with a complete, and convincing, 3-1 win over the stubborn Philadelphia Flyers in a Stanley Cup final series pushed to its outer limits. May 18, 1971: Montreal Canadiens, 3, at Chicago Black Hawks, 2 Game 7 marked the final game of Jean Beliveau's 20-year career as rookie goaltender Ken Dryden was just kicking off his. Chicago won two straight before Montreal tied it, and they traded Games 5 and 6 for it to come down to Game 7. Chicago then led 2-0 in the game until Henri Richard scored the tying and winning goals to win the Canadiens their fifth championship in seven seasons. From Vol. 24, Issue 32: Winning the Stanley Cup in the confines of your own rink is the thing to do, but the Montreal Canadiens don't believe in picking their spots. The Canadiens climaxed one of their most dramatic cup victories in the club's history by winning the playoff championship on the road. May 1, 1965: Chicago Black Hawks, 0, at Montreal Canadiens, 4 Beliveau had 16 points in 13 playoff games, including 10 in the Cup final, to be voted the first-ever winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy. He scored the opening goal of Game 7, which held up as the Cup-clincher as Gump Worsley stopped all 20 shots for the win. From Vol. 18, Issue 31: It’s difficult to remember a time when the noise in the Forum was more deafening…or when more bugles, whistles and assorted noise makers were in evidence. April 25, 1964: Detroit Red Wings, 0, at Toronto Maple Leafs, 4 Get ready to read about the Red Wings for the rest of this list. The first six Cup final games to require a Game 7 all featured Detroit. They also needed seven games to beat the Black Hawks in the semi-final, as did the Toronto Maple Leafs with the Canadiens. Each team alternated wins in the final until Games 6 and 7 when the Leafs won two straight. Johnny Bower recorded the 33-save shut out to earn the Leafs their third straight Stanley Cup. From Vol. 17, Issue 31: The Leafs’s room was as crowded as the CNE midway on Labour Day Weekend. Everyone and their friends were attempting to squeeze into the enclosure where the players were kicking up their heels, sipping champagne, lighting big cigars and playfully tossing club officials and members of the press into the steaming showers. April 14, 1955: Montreal Canadiens, 1, at Detroit Red Wings, 3 The Canadiens competed in the playoffs without star forward Maurice 'Rocket' Richard after he was suspended for breaking his stick over an opponent's back and then hitting a linesman, which led to the 'Richard Riot' in Montreal. Detroit won Games 1, 2 and 5 while Montreal won Games 2, 4 and 6 leading up to Game 7. Alex Delvecchio scored twice, while Gordie Howe also got a goal to win the Cup final rematch for the Red Wings. From Vol. 8, Issue 30: Bedlam reigned supreme in the Detroit dressing room following their second straight Stanley Cup triumph over the Montreal Canadiens. It was a hard-fought, down-to-the-wire series and the Wings were visibly dog-tired but happy that it was finally over — and in their favour. April 16, 1954: Montreal Canadiens, 1, at Detroit Red Wings, 2 (OT) After blowing a 3-1 series lead, the Red Wings trailed nine minutes into Game 7. Red Kelly tied the contest on the power play in the second period, and the score remained deadlocked heading into overtime. Tony Leswick scored the golden goal to win it all for Detroit. That was the last time Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final needed overtime. From Vol. 7, Issue 30: (NHL president Clarence Campbell) said it was one of the best-played series in Cup history, a credit to both clubs involved. There was a wild demonstration by the record Olympia crowd of 15,791 after the game, and the presentation was a hilarious affair that lasted far into the night. April 23, 1950: New York Rangers, 3, at Detroit Red Wings, 4 (2OT) The Red Wings played without Howe after he suffered a head injury in the first game of the playoffs against the Maple Leafs. They required overtime in Game 7 of the semi-final, which they won 1-0, and they required two overtime periods in Game 7 of the Cup final. Pete Babando scored the decider in the highest-scoring Game 7 in Cup final history. From Volume 3, Issue 30: Never before in the history of the 57-year-old trophy has a deciding Stanley Cup final possessed the drama, excitement and thrills that came with the Wings’ 4-3 overtime win over the New York Rangers. April 22, 1945: Toronto Maple Leafs, 2, at Detroit Red Wings, 1 Seventy-nine years before the Oilers came back down from 3-0 in the Stanley Cup final to force Game 7 against the Panthers, the Red Wings were the last team to pull off the feat. After being shut out three straight times by Toronto, they won 5-3, 2-0 and 1-0 in overtime to bring the series to a seventh match. The Leafs led 1-0 heading into the third period before Murray Armstrong tied it, but Babe Pratt scored on the power-play as Toronto avoided the reverse sweep. April 18, 1942: Detroit Red Wings, 1, at Toronto Maple Leafs, 3 Detroit did not avoid the reverse sweep. The first Game 7 in Stanley Cup final history was a result of the Red Wings winning the first three games before losing 4-3, 9-3 and 3-0 to the Maple Leafs. Syd Howe gave Detroit a lead early in the second period, but the Leafs took over in the third. Sweeney Schriner scored two of three third-period goals for the Maple Leafs as they completed the memorable comeback. Lance Hornby TORONTO SCUM Their names are usually invoked only in playoff desperation.
Yet the perfect mix of Hall of Famers and hard workers who were the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs are in the news again. While all Stanley Cup winners assure each other they’ll ‘walk together forever.’ this bunch — including Sweeney Schriner, Wally Stanowski, Bingo Kampman, Pete Langelle and the more-recognised Syl Apps, Turk Broda and coach Hap Day — stand a bit taller as the only team in pro sports to rally from an 0-3 hole in a championship best-of-seven series. “They came out of the series the fighting-est bunch in the history of hockey,” Day said of his players at the team victory banquet at the Royal York Hotel. The latest club bidding to join them is also Canadian: The no-quit Edmonton Oilers. Eighty-two years after Toronto stunned the Detroit Red Wings, as Postmedia’s Rob Tychkowski wrote Tuesday night in the Game 5 euphoria, Edmonton is halfway to the impossible. NHL teams have come back from deficits of 0-3 before — the 1975 New York Islanders over Pittsburgh, the 2010 Flyers against Boston and, the most recent, Los Angeles over San Jose a decade ago. An Isles fan hung a homemade sign reading “Remember the ‘42 Leafs” through their ‘75 playoffs when nine times New York won elimination games, beating the Rangers in a best-of-three preliminary and almost erasing 0-3 against the Flyers before losing Game 7. But none of those Lazerus-like revivals were on the big stage with the Cup constantly in the house but getting packed up again. After Tuesday, the Oilers joined the 1945 Wings and 2012 New Jersey Devils as the only teams to force at least a Game 6 in the final — Friday in front of their increasingly confident and intimidating fan base at the Rogers Place. But as with the Oilers and ‘42 Leafs, every great comeback has to start in a grave. That’s where the Leafs were knee-pad deep in April of ‘42, losing 3-2 and 4-2 at home then 5-2 in Game 3 at the Detroit Olympia. The Wings were killing Toronto with an effective dump-and-chase style. “Detroit had us buffaloed,” Day told writer Stan Fischler years later, part of Eric Zweig’s excellent book, Maple Leafs, The Complete Oral History. Day and manager Conn Smythe resorted to some tactical and motivational magic. Day ruffled feathers before Game 4 with controversial line up changes, including benching Gordie Drillon (who remains the last Leaf to win a scoring points title) and fellow forward Bucko McDonald, opting for healthy scratches Don Metz, Hank Goldup and inserted defenceman Bob Goldham, later a Hockey Night In Canada analyst. It remains in dispute whether Day and Smythe had heeded advice from Schriner to change tactics when they called the forward to their hotel breakfast table on the morning of Game 4. One of the team’s directors planted a story with Detroit reporters calling out the Leafs for gold-bricking, knowing it would add to Wings’s over confidence. In the dressing room before the game, Day is reputed to have read a letter from a teenaged girl, a Leafs fan getting mercilessly teased at school by Detroit supporters, but urging her team not to fold. Schriner is said to have leaped to his feet hearing her words and shouted at Day “tell that kid not to worry,” before getting an assist in the 4-3 season-saving win. Just like that, momentum shifted. In a as the Leafs began firing the puck right back out to elude Detroit forecheckers. Detroit manager Jack Adams took out post-game frustrations on referee Mel Harwood and was booted from the series, while two other Wings were fined. Someone at the Olympia made another huge mistake, jumping the gun on a large floral display to congratulate the pending Cup champions that was in full view of the Leafs arriving at the rink. The Wings had the lead twice in the final four games and couldn’t hold, as Toronto won back at home 9-3 and rode a 3-0 Broda shutout back in Detroit. “I know they talked about taking my dad out (after Game 3),” Broda’s daughter, Barb Tushingham, told the Toronto Sun last year. “Conn said ‘no, I brought him in, he stays.’ “I remember dad saying ‘you have to (hang) in there and just play with heart. Dad didn’t have a goalie coach, didn’t wear a mask and, at the end of every year, had lost his toenails, a couple of teeth and had a black eye.” His shutout set up Game 7 in front of what would be the largest crowd to watch a hockey game at the time — 16,218 at Maple Leaf Gardens. Radio legend Foster Hewitt’s excitement level also rose with each win and big Toronto goal. The Leafs hadn’t won a Cup since their inaugural season on Carlton Street 10 years earlier and, at a gloomy juncture of World War II with bad news on most battlefronts, their rally against the Wings lifted spirits in English Canada on either side of the Quebec border. Calls flooded the Gardens switchboard to wish the team luck or try and secure a ticket. “I couldn’t get a line out to my wife to save my husbandly neck,” Smythe’s assistant, Frank Selke, quipped to a reporter. Yet it was a nail-biter, the Leafs trailed 1-0 after two periods. Smythe, who was training his artillery regiment and unable to attend all the games, barged into the dressing room meaning to shake up his troops, but the laconic Schriner assured him the Leafs would prevail and tied the game himself against Detroit goalie Johnny Mowers. “A blind shot,” Schriner said after the game. “I didn’t know I’d scored until I heard the crowd shouting, then saw the (goal) light go on. It was the biggest light I ever saw in my life.” Langelle would get the eventual winner with Schriner adding another for insurance. “I’ll never forget the last minute of the game, skating around with a two-goal lead and the knowledge Detroit couldn’t win it,” Apps told Fischler. Presented with the Cup, which was then cylindrical with the bowl on top and nicknamed ‘the elephant’s leg,’ captain Apps immediately called Smythe to hold it, telling him “you’ve waited long enough, come and get it.” The time and technology of the era, a decade before Hockey Night in Canada televised the Leafs and Montreal Canadiens, means few visuals survive of the ‘42 team. Langelle and team mates with sticks raised after his goal and the crowd reacting does rank as one of the great black-and -white sports photos of the era. Stanowski was the last survivor of the ‘42 team, lasting until age 96 in 2015. “There wasn’t very much money when I signed,” he said in an earlier interview with the Sun. “I made about $1,500 in Syracuse and about $3,000 with the Leafs (in 1939, with $30 deducted for his team sweater). But it didn’t make any difference, I just wanted to play.” The ‘Whirling Dervish’ was one of the few defenders to rush the puck in his day, but ran afoul of the strict Smythe for sleeping at home with his own wife at training camp. Stanowski craftily orchestrated a newspaper story critical of Smythe he knew would enrage the boss enough to trade him to the Rangers. The Wings shook off blowing the 0-3 lead to win the Cup a year later, beating the Leafs in six along the way. But there was no escaping their role of ignominy. “Someone had to lose that series,” Detroit defenceman Jimmy Orlando said. “We just happened to be the unlucky ones.”
Luke Fox SPORTSNET
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — During one of his 100-some media sessions during what will be a 65-day playoff grind, Paul Maurice notices the attire of a questioner.
"Like the hat," the head coach of the Florida Panthers says, dryly. Which is how Maurice says most things. The reporter's cap is emblazoned with the perfect logo of the flawed Hartford Whalers, the franchise that gave Maurice his first job in the league that competes for the Stanley Cup, which will soon be hoisted and kissed and taken for a gleaming twirl on a legacy-defining Monday night at the edge of the Everglades. The stories of our sports heroes are written large in a Game 7. So, too, are the tales of goats. And while the tell-the-grandkids legends of resurrected Edmonton Oilers Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl and Stuart Skinner and Zach Hyman and the rest might well begin with the Miracle of '24, we'll argue that no singular reputation of an individual involved in the 1,400th and final hockey game of this never-ending season has more on the line than Maurice. From the Florida side, we'll listen to your case for the suddenly slumping Sergei Bobrovsky, a borderline Hall of Famer and the club's oldest player. Or even in-house goaltending czar Roberto Luongo, whose only rings are Olympic. But Aleksander Barkov, Gustav Forsling, Matthew Tkachuk and the rest still have runway. An Oilers victory — the first reverse sweep since Bing Crosby ruled the living-room radio — would cement the historic for McDavid & Co. But that core is firmly in its prime, and rookie head coach Kris Knoblauch has all of 93 NHL games on his résumé. Hey, win or lose, they gave us a ride. No, it's Maurice whose place in the game's lore will be most defined by the numbers frozen on the Amerant Bank Arena Jumbotron over the shredded ice and tears. The affable hockey lifer will either become the longest-serving coach in pro sports to win his first championship, or he will oversee the greatest title collapse of any living pro coach. Couple that with Maurice's dubious all-time NHL coaching record for most losses (736), and it's a hell of an investment into 60 minutes (or more) when the guy's feet won't even touch the ice until it's time to shake hands and swell up with grief or joy. Pick one. "Every coach is different," Maurice said, on the day before his Cats began their leap to a 3-0 lead and two weeks before they'd let it settle at 3-3. "And it seems to me, as you age, you get a different perspective on life and what’s important and valuable. "I need to win one. "Now, it’s not going to change the section of my life that’s not related to hockey at all. That’s the truth. That’s how I feel. I’m 30 years into this thing. Wouldn’t mind winning one." Maurice will tell you he believed his career was over and title-less when he and the Winnipeg Jets severed ties. He was fishing a bunch, sure. Enjoyed that. Yet he never reached "peaceful" in his failure to retire. "But I understand what it feels like — to feel like it’s over and didn’t win. Didn’t win. I know coaches that feel the opposite," he says. "I carry the losses. But that goes back to starting very, very young. So, I’m going to know when this thing’s all over either how good I got or how good I was. And I won’t need somebody else to tell me that or to value my career." He pauses, thinks, and repeats his truth: "Yeah, I’d like to really win one, man."
Let's go back to starting very, very young and the nostalgia triggered by some media guy's hat. In 1995 — a few months before Florida's leading goal-scorer, Sam Reinhart, was born — the up-and-coming Maurice guided his Detroit Jr. Red Wings to an OHL championship and a berth in the Memorial Cup final... where the host Kamloops Blazers waxed Maurice's teenagers 8-2. He'd shown enough to earn a promotion to the crummy Whalers that fall, where the 28-year-old became the second-youngest NHL coach in history, as the Draisaitls gave birth to a boy named Leon in Cologne, Germany. Maurice's first two trips to the final, with Carolina in 2002 and Florida in 2023, never got past Game 5. Heck, even he and Ralph Krueger's overachieving Team Europe fell just short, to his native Canada, in the 2016 World Cup gold-medal game. Neither Maurice's regular-season points percentage (.536) nor his winning percentage in 11 post-seasons (.507) will wow you as much as his razor wit or his all-in devotion to the gig. He freely admits that his work-life balance these days is as lopsided as playing teeter-totter with a sumo wrestler. But is that not the way it's supposed to be when your team is skating past the solstice? No Cup, and Maurice risks bowing out one day with a fistful of silver medals and a darn cool stat: youngest in NHL history to coach 1,000 games, which he achieved back in 2010. Feelings that his own legacy hangs in the balance on a Monday night in Sunrise? “I don’t fight them. If I did, it would have been after Game 3," Maurice says. "You could just feel it; it was right there. Dropping the next two games puts you right back into the series, and it gets right back to hockey forefront. So, I don’t have to fight any of those thoughts. There’s no daydreaming. This is all: Get the video right. Prep your team right.”
The 57-year-old was but five when his Stanley Cup wish was broadcast from one of the three channels that would come in clear enough on the family TV set in Sault Ste Marie, Ont. "Saturday night for us, if we didn’t play hockey, our parents would take us skating. My mom would make a pot of spaghetti or chili. We watched hockey. You knew you were getting older because you could make it to the third period. That’s the way it was," Maurice says. "My mom would make popcorn with a half-pound of butter. The half glass of Coke you got was smeared with butter. There was salt everywhere. You’d get up the next morning and eat the rest of what your dad didn’t eat." Maybe Maurice was too young to appreciate those early years, but when he hit his mid-teens, the run-and-gun Oilers ruled his world. Didn't hurt that Wayne Gretzky and Paul Coffey began stirring buzz as Greyhounds in the Soo. "They used to play street hockey sometimes in the tennis courts across the street from my house," Maurice says. "My parents still live there today. So, that was where it became the dream." Hang around this rock long enough, and you learn that plenty of dreams remain just that. Deferred indefinitely. Until you accept — or pretend to accept — they just weren't meant to be. Hours before Game 4 in Edmonton, when the Oilers had nine toes in the grave, Maurice was asked to think back one June ago, when his Panthers got crushed and inspired by their five-game Cup Final loss to Vegas. If someone had told Maurice on that gutting night that he'd be right back in the Final in 2024 with a 3-0 series lead, what would he think? "I’d be really, really happy not to have heard that," Maurice replied. "It would’ve made my life far worse to know that. You’d think that’s crazy, right?" The coach eschews the comfort of knowledge. "Because it would’ve taken every bit of joy, of adversity — of life — out of my life. The journey is where the friendships, all the funny stories that aren’t funny to anybody else that we think are hilarious, they happened in that year of not knowing," Maurice says. "The arduous pursuit of excellence without the guarantee of reward. I would absolutely not have wanted to know that." Just as none of us (gamblers excepted) want to know the result of Game 7. Or could possibly imagine how Maurice will feel as the buzzer blares. Either way. IN WHAT HAS TO BE THE SHITIEST FUCKING FOOTBALL MATCH I'VE EVER SEEN - AND I'VE WATCHED KIDS AND AMERICANS - SCOTLAND STILL FUCKING DOMINATED! AND LOST! THESE FUCKING TOILET HEADS PLAYED THE ONLY FUCKING TEAM IN THE FUCKING WORLD SHITTIER THAN THEM, AND STILL LOST! I LEFT EARLY THE VISITATION FOR MY PAL JUST TO WATCH THIS SHYTE. THANK FUCK HE IS DEID, SO HE DID NOT HAVE TO SEE THIS RUBBISH. AND THAT WAS A FUCKING PENALTY!
Luke Fox SPORTSNET
EDMONTON — Two high-powered dramas are unfolding in real time on the grandest stage.
In one corner, you have the believers: The Edmonton Oilers, whose attempt to complete just the second reverse-sweep in a championship series in the history of major North American pro sports is so romantic, Disney might turn down the script for being a little too rich. In the other corner, you have the shook: The Florida Panthers, staring directly into the abyss, facing the calibre of missed opportunity that could well haunt a man his entire life. General manager Bill Zito has switched from launching water bottles to delivering death stares so chilling, they could burn a hole through Stuart Skinner — except, the way he's going, the goalie would probably get a blocker on it.
Head coach Paul Maurice is hollering at officials and tightening his answers to the media, noting facetiously that he has "the opportunity to meet with you people five more times before the next game."
And fading star goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, he of three consecutive losses and three consecutive sub-.845-save-percentage efforts, is... well, who knows? Because the Panthers are sheltering a major character in this drama from the microphones and cameras. Four cracks at glory have shrivelled to one. After another rocking party for the home crowd Friday night at Rogers Place, where the Oilers thumped the Panthers 5-1 (with two empty-netters), a tightening is afoot. And not just in the 3-3 series count, which will give sports fans a best-of-one Monday in Sunrise. Silent and glassy-eyed, the Panthers cycled off some lactic acid and walked out of the rink from Game 6. “It’s tough. Obviously, a tough one to take," said Carter Verhaeghe, who said the right words. “I think we’re a confident group. They’re here for a reason, we’re here for a reason, and, I mean, it’s the Stanley Cup Final. They’re a really good team, and it’s for us to come back and respond next game.” Absolutely, the Panthers are capable of just that. Of making this column moot. Win in seven, and they'll be immortalised. We'll celebrate their mental fortitude and wait for the Stanley Cup to wind its way down the A1A to the Elbo Room. Lose four in a row — which is something these Panthers did in January and March — and they'll be immortalised as well. Most of our parents weren't alive to witness history's only collapse of this calibre: The 1942 Detroit Red Wings blew a 3-0 lead in the Stanley Cup Final to the Toronto Maple Leafs (Gods). How can the weight of the opportunity to lose not worm its way into players and coaches' minds, and take up space where the opportunity to win was the only thought eight days ago — before the Stanley Cup's airmiles began piling up like an Albertan 50/50 draw total? "Well, right now, if you walked into the room, there won’t be a lot of happy people," Maurice said. "I’m not worried about what it does tonight. It doesn’t have to be right tonight.
"You’ve suffered a defeat. You feel it. It hurts. You lick your wounds, and we start building that back tomorrow. But who you are tonight means nothing to who you’re going to be two days from now."
Who the Panthers were on Friday won't cut it. For the third straight game, they gave up the first goal and got chasing. Their power-play is in shambles. And as Edmonton has earned an edge in middle ice, Florida's first shot on goal by a forward didn't arrive until the contest was 31 minutes old. They also had their potential comeback moment thwarted by a painfully close off-side challenge by Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch, as a perceived, crowd-quieting Aleksander Barkov goal was wiped of the board in Period 2. Maurice was livid in the moment, maintaining that none of the angles available to his bench showed Sam Reinhart a sliver off-side. "The linesperson (WTF!?!) informed me that it was the last clip that they got where they made the decision that shows it’s off-side. I don’t have those," Maurice said, during his longest post-game answer. "I was upset after the call based on what I see at my feet, what my video person looks at. There was no way I would’ve challenged that if it was reversed. There was no way I thought you could conclusively say that was off-side. "I don’t know what the Oilers get; I don’t know what the league gets. I just know that when I would’ve had to have challenged that based on what I saw, I would not have challenged. I’m not saying it's not off-side. We’ll get still frames, bring in the CIA, we’ll figure it out. But in the 30 seconds that I would’ve made that call, I would not have challenged." In an alternate universe, perhaps Barkov's goal stands and the Panthers rally. But in this universe, Florida is facing its first elimination game of these playoffs. And the first time in 82 years that a hockey team could unravel in such spectacular fashion. “We’re going home to play a Game 7 for the Stanley Cup Final. I think any time you do that, everyone’s going to be jacked up and excited, and it’s going to be an awesome game," Verhaeghe said. "You dream of it as a little kid.” Little kids also have nightmares.
Move over Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin, there is a new playoff goal leader among active players.
With his breakaway goal in the second period of Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final on Friday, Edmonton Oilers forward Zach Hyman not only gave his team a 3-0 lead, but also set a new mark for most goals in a single post-season among active players with his 16th of the playoffs. Ovechkin (2018) and Crosby (2009) each had 15 goals one post-season, but have now been outdone by the 32-year-old Hyman. The all-time record for goals in a single post-season is held by Reggie Leach, who scored 19 goals in just 16 games during the 1976 playoffs with the Philadelphia Flyers.
In the last 30 years, only Joe Sakic (18) and Pavel Bure (16) have scored as many goals in the playoffs. Hyman finished the regular season with a career-high 54 goals, good for third-best in the league. With his 16 in the playoffs, Hyman has now tied Toronto Maple Leafs forward and former team mate Auston Matthews for the most combined regular season and playoff goals with 70. |
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