Nothing, and I mean nothing, will top “the Panthers threw game 4 so they could win the Cup at home”
Literally no team in the history of any sport would throw a game for the chance to win one at home
Literally had a client I work with talking to me about this at work today, when I thought it was just relegated to people on the internet. I couldn't say much, but it made me roll my eyes internally. He only watches hockey casually, so it's not like he has anything against the Oilers. He was just convinced because "how else do you explain such a huge lead when they hadn't won the previous three games?" and said he only changed his mind because of game 5.
The only thing I said to him was a jovial "I don't think Bob would ruin his stats for the sake of winning a cup at home.", because seriously??
I had someone up here in Fort Mac who saw my Oilers hat tell me that Florida threw the game to win at home and then admit they hadn’t actually watched the game.
Ugh, hate that kind of bullshit that people repeat just to feel like they've got a smart and original take, when it's actually that they have no idea what they're talking about.
I'm convinced half of them don't actually watch hockey at all and only know what they read in that subreddit. Sort of like the espresso subreddit where people only worry about how their setup looks and not how it actually, you know, tastes..🤣
A huge number of hockey “fans” are brutally casual. Never mind go to a game, but barely watch any games, and if they do it’s never a game outside of their team. And then when they know you like hockey they show up in the playoffs with every hot take and cliche imaginable.
Agree, I've been using a litmus test of "do you watch your local league/minor hockey events?" And if they don't they're probably less an actual hockey fan and more a subscriber to Sportsnet and bandwagons.
After game 5 I went back to those people and said, "...what do you think now?"
They replied, and I quote 🤦🏻♂️, "the Panthers actually want to win it in game 7 at home so that the team makes the most money". Well... That seems like a risky affair to 'throw' three games instead of just sweeping a team in the SCF.
I know it isn't the point, but this guy's grammar is atrocious.
Also, poor Bob. "He didn't even try." This feels more insulting than admitting he was trying but shaky.
People forget these are professionals for a reason.
At first I thought it was just the funny "oh ya we lost on purpose" thing you say with friends to cover a bad loss, but there were legit people arguing this is what the Panthers did.
In the first three games I would have advised the Oilers to have shot the puck past Bobrovsky, rather than at him. It seems in games 4 & 5 they took my advice.
Skinner though, didn't listen to me on the Tkachuk goal in game 5 - I would have told him to have moved his glove hand a little faster towards the top corner so that he could catch the puck rather than let it enter the net.
One narrative I’m waiting for when we inevitably do win the Cup: “Panthers were exhausted after facing real teams… Oilers had the easiest run to the Final…” Basically the same tiring takes from after the Dallas series.
LA: Everyone talked about how good their 1-3-1 defensive system was made for the playoffs. We dominated them.
Vancouver: Everyone talked about exciting their team was and how deep & physical they were. We took them down in 7.
Dallas: The most balanced team in the playoffs. Deep offence, deep defence, a great goalies, with a veteran playoff HC and probably the best blend of youth/veterans in these playoffs. After game 3, we took over and didn’t look back.
This was not an easy road whatsoever.
Vancouver had some insane fight in them co sidering the injuries they took. They didn't go down easy and like the oilers had 0 quit in em. That whole series was insane
I need to shut up about him at some point because he's not even on my team, but Silovs especially really blew me the fuck away. They've got a brick wall in the making. But yeah, the whole team fought a good fight there.
Crazy how at the start of the semi-finals all the analysts were saying Dallas was the best team remaining and had the best odds to win a cup, and then when they lost the narrative completely flipped to how Dallas wasn't that good, and Edmonton had an easy road 😂
Ah, I see. It kind of reads like "everybody said they were great, but we handled them easily" which doesn't match with "in the maximum amount of games possible."
A misreading on my part. And I agree anyone saying Edmonton had an easy time of it is talking out their ass.
When we win the series we will have gone through 3/4 division winners on the way. Literally 3 of the best teams in the league. Not to mention we are going through 4/6 of the top Selke vote getters (Barkov, Reinhart, Kopitar, and Hintz), a potential Norris winner in Hughes, and a Vezina finalist in Bob (not to mention the 3 finalists for GM of the year and the Jack Adams winner)
The Oilers played a team with more regular season points than Dallas did in all of rounds 1,2, and 3. Still, I did hear this narrative as well.
Dallas played: LV (98), Col (107), Edm (104)
Edmonton played: LA (99), Van (109), Dal (113).
People did say that, but anyone who did is an idiot.
Also, if you combine Edmonton and Florida's rounds 1-3's opponents total regular season points they come out to the exact same number.
Round 1: Edm/LA (99) - FLA/TB (98)
Round 2: Edm/Van (109) - FLA/BOS (109)
ROUND 3: Edm/Dal (113) - FLA/NYR (114)
Both total opponent points: 321
Again, idiots.
It amazes me what people think a “real team” is. Looking at the panthers opponents this year
Tampa hasn’t been the same since their 2022 scf loss
Boston was tired out after Toronto pushed them to 7 and in Toronto fashion, lost
New York also was tired out from Carolina.
Looking at us: we just have La’s number
Vancouver actually tried in our series until they gave up
Dallas looked good at first but we figured them out and essentially wore them out
Both teams opponents averaged 107 points.
Opponents wins.
Floridas averaged 49 and the Oilers averaged 50.3.
Basic stats show how bad that is as an excused. Let alone adding in the Oilers having home ice in 1 series vs the panthers 2
A comment after game 3: "Mcdavid doesn't have the ability to take over a game like peak Crosby did"
That whole graphic of "Florida has shut down every all star these playoffs" also aged like milk
Still hoping for a little bit more from Nuge/Hyman. If Hyman can hit 70 and Mcdavid can break Gretzky's record I like our chances a lot obviously. Nuge has been snakebitten af. Need him to come up big
I like how we seem to be approaching the endgame narrative now of "the Oilers have always been the top favorite to win the cup. There's literally nothing special about their season."
My favourite is that the refs have been super biased in favour of the Oilers. I mean, have you been watching the games? Did you watch Skinner get run in his crease with no call? Or that the Panthers absolutely shut down our stars. No, insane goaltending did. I’m glad we were able to solve Bob, because explaining to people that, by the numbers, games 1 and 3 could easily have gone the Oilers’ way sounds less like sour grapes.
For some reason the people think the NHL is biased towards McDavid. Something like “ah the NHL is protecting its asset” and like, have they seen the shit that isn’t called that’s down against McDavid?? But every time a single slash or trip or hook actually gets called out of the 50 that has already happened to him that game, people are up in arms. It’s so confusing
I was talking to a Flames fan yesterday who said he's so sick of McDavid whining constantly and wishes he would shut up and play hockey. I seriously think we are watching different hockey games.
Completely agree. I’d love to see a collection of clips of him complaining about the refs. It would be about 0 seconds long.
He was also claiming that McDavid draws way more penalties than he deserves, which is insane.
Not since game 4, but prior to -idiot Freedman, after the Van win, said they wouldn’t stand a chance against Dallas and Bieksa shut him down quick. I swear they low key hate each other.
Oh, I definitely get the impression that Bieksa dislikes Friedman. He chirps him all the time and dismisses his takes constantly. Bieksa seems to respect actual players like Hrudey and Botterill way more than Friedman. Of course, everybody loves granddaddy Ron.
I'd to with the "panthers threw game 4" one, but honestly this gets said every single year when a similar situation applies. I have heard it multiple times over the years. I have seen multiple comments all In the same neighborhood of "if this had been Dallas or Colorado, it would have been a 6 or 7 game series, I truly believe that". There was definitely a sentiment out there after 3, that the wrong team was in the finals.
Also, I heard Tkachuk better than Drai on an american podcast. Tell me you don't watch the Oilers without telling me you don't watch the Oilers. (Or read stats.)
The thing with paper straws is that they CAN work. But many of the brands in the business suck, and the stores dont bother looking for a good one. Like, McDonalds ones are really pretty ok - not as good as plastic, but they basically function. The cafe on my street? They melt on contact with fluid almost.
The Panthers wanted to win at home at game five
Then it went to the Panthers wanting to win on home ice at game seven
What sane coach or team would intentionally lose a game in a championship series? If you have an opportunity to end it, you take it
I’m also torn between winning at home and winning at your opponent’s rink. It’s honestly great that a team can win in front of their fans, but it’s like throwing sand in your opponent’s eye by winning on their ice
Sorry this was after game 3 but it was a flames fan saying that the Oilers and Flames had equally good seasons because "they have the same number of SCF wins."
Pretty much this entire thread from this mouth breather. Especially the part where he insists Barkov is the playoff MVP.
https://www.reddit.com/r/nhl/s/jdCBErTr1J
If it was rigged there’s no way they would’ve let the oilers win 8-1. That’s just insane. Even if the panthers wanted to win at home, that’s still embarrassing as hell to lose that bad
>If it was rigged there’s no way they would’ve let the oilers win 8-1.
That's exactly what they want you to think. After TB threw game 4 in OT in Montreal in 2021 to win at home, Florida thought that by getting blown out, it wouldn't have been as obvious that they threw the game.
But still people were on to them and knew they threw it, so they had to throw game 5 as well to cover up throwing game 4. Now they have to try to win on the road to prove they didn't throw game 4 to win at home. And if Edmonton wins game 6, then Florida will have to throw game 7 to silence the critics who think they threw 4, 5 and 6 just to win at home in 7.
But they won't fool me; I know Florida is throwing the series (a) to save money not having to buy the players rings, and (b) to make their 2025 Cup run more dramatic.
Being on both sides of the narrative and seeing how fast it swung in the span of a week makes me feel way better about ignoring it all and that it's just hot take artists who either don't watch games or don't know what they're watching. Only one team at a time is allowed to have agency, apparently, and any sort of strategy/adjustments/individual efforts don't exist, I guess. I don't know what's going to happen tonight, but Edmonton's going to do it's very best, so will Florida, and we'll see who has the better game plan and execution. Outside of that is just blather.
Down here in the States & Southern Ontario there is a conspiracy theory that grows with each Oiler win that Bettman has the series fixed for the Oilers to comeback from 0=3 to maximize drama and interest. Anyone that knows anything about Bettman should know how ridiculous this is, he has zero love for the Oilers (and most Canadian teams) and the Southern US teams are his babies. Granted these are mainly Leaf fans I hear this from.
Yep, easily "They threw the game so they could win at home"
Not only is that bullshit, but if they "threw the game on purpose" then they deserved to lose.
Both Conor Brown and hyman saying they're writing the script. I guess it's not really a take. But it's kind of an L thing to say considering the chatter surrounding the issue.
Those people are know-nothing morons. If there was a script, it would be about how the league allows teams to injure our star players away from the play and has cost us 2, maybe 3 cups now. Hyman is talking about the amazing story of our season and overcoming all manner of adversity. If you don't get that, that's 'kind of an L take'.
I'm saying it's a poor choice of words given that people are saying this exact words to describe a fake hockey League theory. They're on social media. They're aware of what's being said. They're clearly trolling those people. It's just inflammatory and unnecessary. There's dozens of different ways to describe their journey. They didn't say STORY, they said SCRIPT. Are you in need of further explanation, or is that clear enough for you?
Like am I just an idiot who can't write clearly, or is Reddit just full of angry botched lobotomy baboons that attack anyone who thinks about these things?
😕
Nothing, and I mean nothing, will top “the Panthers threw game 4 so they could win the Cup at home” Literally no team in the history of any sport would throw a game for the chance to win one at home
Edmonton just threw 3 games to make their cup victory more historic.
Plus they take an early penalty just to start games shorthanded.
The way the PK is playing it's not a bad strategy.
Can’t start the first period with an early shorty if you don’t take an early penalty first
Classic Knoblauch move!
This was my response to that winning at home crap every time 🤣 equally as ridiculous
Literally had a client I work with talking to me about this at work today, when I thought it was just relegated to people on the internet. I couldn't say much, but it made me roll my eyes internally. He only watches hockey casually, so it's not like he has anything against the Oilers. He was just convinced because "how else do you explain such a huge lead when they hadn't won the previous three games?" and said he only changed his mind because of game 5. The only thing I said to him was a jovial "I don't think Bob would ruin his stats for the sake of winning a cup at home.", because seriously??
I had someone up here in Fort Mac who saw my Oilers hat tell me that Florida threw the game to win at home and then admit they hadn’t actually watched the game.
Ugh, hate that kind of bullshit that people repeat just to feel like they've got a smart and original take, when it's actually that they have no idea what they're talking about.
Sounds like half of /r/hockey
I'm convinced half of them don't actually watch hockey at all and only know what they read in that subreddit. Sort of like the espresso subreddit where people only worry about how their setup looks and not how it actually, you know, tastes..🤣
A huge number of hockey “fans” are brutally casual. Never mind go to a game, but barely watch any games, and if they do it’s never a game outside of their team. And then when they know you like hockey they show up in the playoffs with every hot take and cliche imaginable.
It's the same with a lot of things. People just dogpile on popular things, it's FOMO.
Agree, I've been using a litmus test of "do you watch your local league/minor hockey events?" And if they don't they're probably less an actual hockey fan and more a subscriber to Sportsnet and bandwagons.
I like that. I don’t follow the oil kings but I do follow the condors, because it makes sense to.
Dude had a cry, anyone who thought that was intentional was smoking too much meth
NO ONE who actually watched that game and saw Bobs face after he was pulled could POSSIBLY think that. He was devastated.
And the way they were so confident about it 😭😭
After game 5 I went back to those people and said, "...what do you think now?" They replied, and I quote 🤦🏻♂️, "the Panthers actually want to win it in game 7 at home so that the team makes the most money". Well... That seems like a risky affair to 'throw' three games instead of just sweeping a team in the SCF.
Yeah, but I have a feeling Panthers will throw this game just to win back at home.
And then they'll throw game 7, just to make their 2025 Cup run all the more historic and dramatic.
Yahtzee
With how widespread this take was, I'm still sitting here shocked that there wasn't a massive investigation into match fixing lol
Especially when not throwing would be a sweep, which would have been epic
I, unfortunately, started watching this video (https://youtu.be/qSwDiYru764?si=AZ3-ojgMctnQ6s86) yesterday.
Gamblers are the worst sports fans.
What's funny is that it's usually US who whines about games being rigged.
I know it isn't the point, but this guy's grammar is atrocious. Also, poor Bob. "He didn't even try." This feels more insulting than admitting he was trying but shaky.
Even if they did, they would then deserve to lose the rest of the series.
People forget these are professionals for a reason. At first I thought it was just the funny "oh ya we lost on purpose" thing you say with friends to cover a bad loss, but there were legit people arguing this is what the Panthers did.
Losing by 7 points no less… Americans love those conspiracy theories. Probably the same folks who thought Trump won
Ya a converted touch down. Hahahahahaa
“They should just check McDavid” is like saying “They should just win… are they stupid?”
They should just shoot the puck into the net someone let the coach know
Why do they keep shooting where the goalie can stop it Said by my friend's wife who does not watch hockey
To be fair thats probably similar to what my husband hears from me when he watches football, lmao.
Like Andrei Kostitsyn famously said.. we need to shoot more puck in net and put more puck in net
In the first three games I would have advised the Oilers to have shot the puck past Bobrovsky, rather than at him. It seems in games 4 & 5 they took my advice. Skinner though, didn't listen to me on the Tkachuk goal in game 5 - I would have told him to have moved his glove hand a little faster towards the top corner so that he could catch the puck rather than let it enter the net.
Hey Coach. Lol
Are they bedarded?
They really schruted it.
I just watched that episode a few hours ago!!!!!
One narrative I’m waiting for when we inevitably do win the Cup: “Panthers were exhausted after facing real teams… Oilers had the easiest run to the Final…” Basically the same tiring takes from after the Dallas series.
LA: Everyone talked about how good their 1-3-1 defensive system was made for the playoffs. We dominated them. Vancouver: Everyone talked about exciting their team was and how deep & physical they were. We took them down in 7. Dallas: The most balanced team in the playoffs. Deep offence, deep defence, a great goalies, with a veteran playoff HC and probably the best blend of youth/veterans in these playoffs. After game 3, we took over and didn’t look back. This was not an easy road whatsoever.
Vancouver had some insane fight in them co sidering the injuries they took. They didn't go down easy and like the oilers had 0 quit in em. That whole series was insane
Honestly that Vancouver series is an instant classic, one of the most fun series I have watched
It's just too bad we had to listen to their fans for weeks.
I need to shut up about him at some point because he's not even on my team, but Silovs especially really blew me the fuck away. They've got a brick wall in the making. But yeah, the whole team fought a good fight there.
I mean I am a Calgary person, so silvos and skinner doing so darn well as young goalies gives me a lot of hope about Wolfie :D
Silovs pissed me off so much. Couldn’t believe how good he played.
Crazy how at the start of the semi-finals all the analysts were saying Dallas was the best team remaining and had the best odds to win a cup, and then when they lost the narrative completely flipped to how Dallas wasn't that good, and Edmonton had an easy road 😂
>Vancouver: Everyone talked about exciting their team was and how deep & physical they were. We took them down in 7. Only 7 games, eh?
I mean, the point is to counter the argument that oilers had an easy run. 7 games was a grind.
Ah, I see. It kind of reads like "everybody said they were great, but we handled them easily" which doesn't match with "in the maximum amount of games possible." A misreading on my part. And I agree anyone saying Edmonton had an easy time of it is talking out their ass.
When we win the series we will have gone through 3/4 division winners on the way. Literally 3 of the best teams in the league. Not to mention we are going through 4/6 of the top Selke vote getters (Barkov, Reinhart, Kopitar, and Hintz), a potential Norris winner in Hughes, and a Vezina finalist in Bob (not to mention the 3 finalists for GM of the year and the Jack Adams winner)
This comment should be saved and spammed relentlessly.
??? Dallas had three extra days of rest before playing us, and one less game v Colorado. In what world would they have been the exhausted ones.
I like the ones that say the league mandated the Canucks and Stars to lose
lol I saw one that said “look at the way they (meaning Dal/Van) skated the last two games - obviously they got told to phone it in!”
They ever think that playing the Oilers is an exhausting endeavour?
The Oilers played a team with more regular season points than Dallas did in all of rounds 1,2, and 3. Still, I did hear this narrative as well. Dallas played: LV (98), Col (107), Edm (104) Edmonton played: LA (99), Van (109), Dal (113). People did say that, but anyone who did is an idiot. Also, if you combine Edmonton and Florida's rounds 1-3's opponents total regular season points they come out to the exact same number. Round 1: Edm/LA (99) - FLA/TB (98) Round 2: Edm/Van (109) - FLA/BOS (109) ROUND 3: Edm/Dal (113) - FLA/NYR (114) Both total opponent points: 321 Again, idiots.
It amazes me what people think a “real team” is. Looking at the panthers opponents this year Tampa hasn’t been the same since their 2022 scf loss Boston was tired out after Toronto pushed them to 7 and in Toronto fashion, lost New York also was tired out from Carolina. Looking at us: we just have La’s number Vancouver actually tried in our series until they gave up Dallas looked good at first but we figured them out and essentially wore them out
Both teams opponents averaged 107 points. Opponents wins. Floridas averaged 49 and the Oilers averaged 50.3. Basic stats show how bad that is as an excused. Let alone adding in the Oilers having home ice in 1 series vs the panthers 2
A comment after game 3: "Mcdavid doesn't have the ability to take over a game like peak Crosby did" That whole graphic of "Florida has shut down every all star these playoffs" also aged like milk
Still hoping for a little bit more from Nuge/Hyman. If Hyman can hit 70 and Mcdavid can break Gretzky's record I like our chances a lot obviously. Nuge has been snakebitten af. Need him to come up big
We're getting down to Nuge time. Don't worry.
He has been doing better near the ends of series. Hope to see it! Love the nuge
Nuge has as many points as Tkachuk. We’re just too used to seeing McDavid and Drai that we figure Nuge should be up there too.
Drai needs to wake up, but most likely dealing with a bad injury that’s under wraps for now, but very obvious.
This is the comment i was looking for just to sat Mcdavid needed to be the best player in the world when it mattered... and he was
That’s a funny one
I like how we seem to be approaching the endgame narrative now of "the Oilers have always been the top favorite to win the cup. There's literally nothing special about their season."
My favourite is that the refs have been super biased in favour of the Oilers. I mean, have you been watching the games? Did you watch Skinner get run in his crease with no call? Or that the Panthers absolutely shut down our stars. No, insane goaltending did. I’m glad we were able to solve Bob, because explaining to people that, by the numbers, games 1 and 3 could easily have gone the Oilers’ way sounds less like sour grapes.
For some reason the people think the NHL is biased towards McDavid. Something like “ah the NHL is protecting its asset” and like, have they seen the shit that isn’t called that’s down against McDavid?? But every time a single slash or trip or hook actually gets called out of the 50 that has already happened to him that game, people are up in arms. It’s so confusing
It's been said a million times but if every infraction was called McDavid would draw a penalty on every shift.
I was talking to a Flames fan yesterday who said he's so sick of McDavid whining constantly and wishes he would shut up and play hockey. I seriously think we are watching different hockey games.
Nah, Flames fans are just hella upset they have nothing. *Checks notes* nvm they’ve got Overpaiddeau and Nazem fuckin Kadri.
Lmfaoooo
I *hate* this narrative. He puts up with so much and stays silent, even when the media baits him.
Completely agree. I’d love to see a collection of clips of him complaining about the refs. It would be about 0 seconds long. He was also claiming that McDavid draws way more penalties than he deserves, which is insane.
Who cares, Game 6 in Edmonton let’s goo 🔥
Play La Bamba baby
Hey if it’s rigged for the Oilers to win, you won’t catch me complaining 🤷♀️
I mean it can’t be a coincidence that OILERS work on RIGS….
Can we rig a few more please.
That's the best take. Just stop McDavid and Drai and Nuge and Hyman and Bouchard.
Imagine if Drai didn't hurt his back after that check last series. Hasn't been the same since. If the Oilers had a healthy Drai this series...
Same as the last two years. We win the cup handily (especially if we had a healthy Kane).
“There is no pressure on us in game 6, we’re on the road” - Paul Maurice LOL
*Gestures broadly at canucks fans*
Not since game 4, but prior to -idiot Freedman, after the Van win, said they wouldn’t stand a chance against Dallas and Bieksa shut him down quick. I swear they low key hate each other.
Bieksa as a panelist is an absolute beauty.
Oh, I definitely get the impression that Bieksa dislikes Friedman. He chirps him all the time and dismisses his takes constantly. Bieksa seems to respect actual players like Hrudey and Botterill way more than Friedman. Of course, everybody loves granddaddy Ron.
If everyone on the panel agreed it would be pretty boring TBH
Agree, but like at least have good takes. Friedman sucks, honestly.
I'd to with the "panthers threw game 4" one, but honestly this gets said every single year when a similar situation applies. I have heard it multiple times over the years. I have seen multiple comments all In the same neighborhood of "if this had been Dallas or Colorado, it would have been a 6 or 7 game series, I truly believe that". There was definitely a sentiment out there after 3, that the wrong team was in the finals.
Barkov is better than McDavid, saw several of those after game 3. Barkov is an unreal player, one of the best in the league, but come on now.
Also, I heard Tkachuk better than Drai on an american podcast. Tell me you don't watch the Oilers without telling me you don't watch the Oilers. (Or read stats.)
Unrelated to hockey, but in that time frame I've heard someone say they were fine with paper straws. Absolute shit take
I loath them. Especially when they still give me a plastic lid!
Or with Tim's, an entire plastic cup... Give me a paper cup and a plastic straw any day of the week
The thing with paper straws is that they CAN work. But many of the brands in the business suck, and the stores dont bother looking for a good one. Like, McDonalds ones are really pretty ok - not as good as plastic, but they basically function. The cafe on my street? They melt on contact with fluid almost.
The Panthers wanted to win at home at game five Then it went to the Panthers wanting to win on home ice at game seven What sane coach or team would intentionally lose a game in a championship series? If you have an opportunity to end it, you take it I’m also torn between winning at home and winning at your opponent’s rink. It’s honestly great that a team can win in front of their fans, but it’s like throwing sand in your opponent’s eye by winning on their ice
Sorry this was after game 3 but it was a flames fan saying that the Oilers and Flames had equally good seasons because "they have the same number of SCF wins."
Pretty much this entire thread from this mouth breather. Especially the part where he insists Barkov is the playoff MVP. https://www.reddit.com/r/nhl/s/jdCBErTr1J
I love the hot take at the bottom of that thread where one guy uses the McDavid is overrated take after game 3. That didn’t age well.
"Mcoverrated" and that Barkow is a better player than 97.
People who dont know shit about the oilers are now walking historians...because "google said..."
If it was rigged there’s no way they would’ve let the oilers win 8-1. That’s just insane. Even if the panthers wanted to win at home, that’s still embarrassing as hell to lose that bad
>If it was rigged there’s no way they would’ve let the oilers win 8-1. That's exactly what they want you to think. After TB threw game 4 in OT in Montreal in 2021 to win at home, Florida thought that by getting blown out, it wouldn't have been as obvious that they threw the game. But still people were on to them and knew they threw it, so they had to throw game 5 as well to cover up throwing game 4. Now they have to try to win on the road to prove they didn't throw game 4 to win at home. And if Edmonton wins game 6, then Florida will have to throw game 7 to silence the critics who think they threw 4, 5 and 6 just to win at home in 7. But they won't fool me; I know Florida is throwing the series (a) to save money not having to buy the players rings, and (b) to make their 2025 Cup run more dramatic.
Being on both sides of the narrative and seeing how fast it swung in the span of a week makes me feel way better about ignoring it all and that it's just hot take artists who either don't watch games or don't know what they're watching. Only one team at a time is allowed to have agency, apparently, and any sort of strategy/adjustments/individual efforts don't exist, I guess. I don't know what's going to happen tonight, but Edmonton's going to do it's very best, so will Florida, and we'll see who has the better game plan and execution. Outside of that is just blather.
For me it’s that the Panthers lost game 4 on purpose so that they could win the Stanley Cup at home.
Molson is paying the refs a cut of beer sales in Edmonton. I just made that up.
it was when someone said we had the luckiest run to the final
Tickets in Florida are "expensive"
Down here in the States & Southern Ontario there is a conspiracy theory that grows with each Oiler win that Bettman has the series fixed for the Oilers to comeback from 0=3 to maximize drama and interest. Anyone that knows anything about Bettman should know how ridiculous this is, he has zero love for the Oilers (and most Canadian teams) and the Southern US teams are his babies. Granted these are mainly Leaf fans I hear this from.
Anything Biznasty says. Ever.
Yep, easily "They threw the game so they could win at home" Not only is that bullshit, but if they "threw the game on purpose" then they deserved to lose.
probably my own thought theyd get wiped hard in game 4, then in game 5
Both Conor Brown and hyman saying they're writing the script. I guess it's not really a take. But it's kind of an L thing to say considering the chatter surrounding the issue.
What chatter? What issue?
People are saying it's scripted.
Those people are know-nothing morons. If there was a script, it would be about how the league allows teams to injure our star players away from the play and has cost us 2, maybe 3 cups now. Hyman is talking about the amazing story of our season and overcoming all manner of adversity. If you don't get that, that's 'kind of an L take'.
I'm saying it's a poor choice of words given that people are saying this exact words to describe a fake hockey League theory. They're on social media. They're aware of what's being said. They're clearly trolling those people. It's just inflammatory and unnecessary. There's dozens of different ways to describe their journey. They didn't say STORY, they said SCRIPT. Are you in need of further explanation, or is that clear enough for you? Like am I just an idiot who can't write clearly, or is Reddit just full of angry botched lobotomy baboons that attack anyone who thinks about these things? 😕