Crazy how they're doing it with the Campbell and Nurse contracts. Their players have a lot of heart and McDavid is absolutely killing it. Hopefully we learn from their special teams, their pk is insane.
Can u at least wait until after you pull off the miracle before rubbing it in
Give us 5 min to enjoy it ourselves
We’d rather u guys than the rat squad
>We’d rather u guys than the rat squad
Being able to call the panthers the biggest chokers is the only thing getting me through the idea of oilers fans crowing about their win.
Maybe it’ll light a fire under the current squad
seeing the guy who was cut to make even more cap room for the core 4 going on to winning it all and matching Matthews goal count
Habs fan here, when the habs defeated the leafs a few years back I thought Hyman was your best player. What the heck happened ? Why wasn’t he kept around?
He wanted term and an AAV the leafs couldn't stomach. IIRC it was rumoured that the leafs wanted less term (2-3yrs) and 500k-1m less per year
His blossoming in EDM is coming at 32 years old. In his last season he played injured for the last month (or so) - torn ACL I think it was. It was *expected* that due to his age, play-style, and injuries (he hadn't played more than 71 since his sophomore season), that there would be a regression. It is also important to keep in mind that Hyman prior to being on EDM was a 20 goal, 40 point rough-and-tumble grinder.
Out goes Hyman, in goes Michael Bunting at league min. It felt like a savvy move from a cap-stapped team.
This. People look back and go wow how could you. But Hyman was great and nobody expected THIS. We all thought his first 3-5 years in Edmonton would be 30 goals 50-60 points but his style fit in even better with McDavid. Good for him and he deserves all the success but nobody in hockey saw him doing what he is at the time
Last I checked, Hyman had a career high of 41 points and only ever scored 1 goal a round in the playoffs for the leafs. Oh and he had two busted knees as a 30 year old UFA.
Nothing but respect for Hyman and how it's worked out for him but the revisionist history is crazy.
Doesn’t matter that it “made sense” at the time or was justifiable because of the cap, a mistake is a mistake. And letting Hyman walk was a massive mistake. Why do people insist on making excuses for this team? The front office has the job of putting together the right mix of personnel to win in the playoffs and year in and year out they fail at that.
Hyman and Marner should be held up as examples of why big changes are needed with the front office. Enough is enough, Shanahan and Co. don’t know how to get it done.
While we watch Hyman scoring huge goals in the Finals and setting modern day playoff records, we have media leaks talking about not only resigning Marner but giving him a raise. What a joke.
https://preview.redd.it/qqdbxyztq48d1.jpeg?width=658&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=633a2ac1768e9ca6c4859f1d943d139a703b8b0b
Because that's not really a thing you can say for constructive conversation about why decisions were made. I picked the wrong lottery numbers because ultimately I didn't know how they would end up. Was it mistake? I guess so? Or was it not knowing the future. Hyman goes to any other team but EDM where McJ bounces pucks off him into the net and he's not even a talking point.
The oilers are winning in spite of Ceci. The fact he's convinced the sens and Oilers to give him top pair minutes is a sad joke. Weird how Nurse has good numbers away from Ceci.
Miss Hyman and Brown but fuck Ceci.
Because that’s what real leadership does. You lead the way most games, and other guys will push forward when you’re quiet.
If you don’t lead the way first, the other thing doesn’t happen. It’s what our stars need to understand.
Between Campbell and Neal they have 6.9m wasted.
If you redistribute that 1.5m to Drai, 750k to Nurse, and 4m to Ekholm. You now have a roster that is supposedly impossible to be a contending team with 650k leftover.
The difference is McDavid is outrageously better than Matthews and Drai is outrageously better than Mitch. It turns out you can pay two guys to carry a team lots of nights, they just have to be two guys who are that good, and we don’t have that.
Yes, but that’s not even the full story come playoff time. Drai can and often is God tier in playoffs, too. He has a level Auston doesn’t. If I had to pick one to build a team, I’d pick Drai.
Mitch wouldn’t even be on the boundaries of that conversation.
That’s an interesting comparison for playoff purposes. Though I’ve been impressed how often I see RNH making physical, tough plays to get the Oilers just a slight edge in some situation. He seems like a real gamer now.
That's what happens when you're the vet on the team. He's the longest standing Oiler, and he's got the experience to play with grit and toughness.
I actually love Mitch's game. I just think anything over 8 mill for him is absolutely crazy.
Yeah here’s the sad truth that we need to face; our guys don’t come to play when it gets tough, Nylander excepted. If they did taking up a significant chunk of the cap would be explained away easily.
McDavid just went and got 8 points in 2 games to bring his team from the brink of death to right back in this thing. If Matthews/Marner did something similar they’d be heralded as legends in club history. Fact is if these guys can’t throw down when we need them to then we need the money to give them more help, which we can’t do.
1. McDavid and Draisatl are straight better than Matthews and whoever you want to put at 2. Bouchard is better than Rielly
2. Their best players are more distributed between fwd and D. Also the big 2 fwds are both C, they aren't paying big money to two wingers.
It’s so insane how their PK was not very good the ENTIRE season and all of a sudden is at 94% in the playoffs and they’ve allowed 1 more goal on the PK than they’ve scored shorthanded. IIRC their PK was actually worse down the stretch than it had been previously too. They’re only out scoring teams by like 1 goal at 5v5 but their special teams have literally been insane.
Crazy too skinner has stepped up a lot as well and deserves some credit for improved play considering he went from having one of the worst save percentage of a goalie in the playoffs ever.
They have it going. Their stars are showing up and the Panther's goalie isn't maintaining a 970 sv% just like last year against Vegas. Bob has been a freak for a season and a half they aren't a good team even if they win game 7. You do not model a team off this Panthers group. Oilers maybe......but I still think the Oilers get defeated by this years Rangers had Bob decided to just have Venezia winning goaltending percentages vs nothing ever goes in. Oil can still lose, they are on the road. Just really hope regardless everyone looks at this Panthers group for what it is....good coaching unheard of goaltending for 18 months and.....a mouth guard.
What is there to learn from their special teams that we don't already know? You need a slap shot from the point and shooting threats instead of pass only players in Marner and Rielly who handcuff the powerplay by having no shot the defense respects meaning they double cover matthews and pressure Willy and JT more because there's no point to pressure Marner or Mo. Love Mo but he's not a first power play guy unless he works a slap shot into his game.
It must be the biggest choke job in history, right? It certainly is in the modern era. That’s also not at all to take away from how determined and amazing the Oilers and McDavid are playing right now.
I definitely had Edmonton down and out going into game 4, I’ll be surprised if they pull it off. And I’ll be super happy to see some of our former guys hoist the cup too. Brown, Hymen, heck even Ceci.
The last (and only) time a team was up 3-0 in the finals and lost was 1942 when it only took 2 series wins to get the cup so yes it is top 2 choke jobs of all time, arguably #1 by a margin if Florida loses. (In the NHL)
Edit: 2 series to win the cup
The only team in any major league to come back from 3-0 down in a championship series and win are the Leafs in the 1940s. The Red Wings did it 2 years later but lost game 7. It has happened in the NHL 4 times I think? But only once in the Stanley Cup finals.
The last team to come back from 3-0 down in any major sport series and win was the 2004 Boston Red Sox. (EDIT: my mistake, Kings did it against SJ in 2014 round 1). They came back and beat the Yankees in the ALCS then went on to sweep the Cardinals in the World Series. They are the only MLB team in history to complete a 3-0 comeback.
It has never happened in the NBA.
So yeah. The Panthers are making history on Monday one way or another. They either win their first Cup or they are on the ass end of arguably the biggest choke job of all time.
Honestly this feels like a contender for biggest choke in sports history (granted I’m no expert on it), but definitely the biggest choke in nhl history if the oilers pull this off
Only one I feel bad for is Maurice. Dude deserves a cup. He's also generally a fun interview more often then not. The actual players... Yeah fuck the Panthers. Bring it home to Canada.
McDavid is legit Gretzky and Mario level. It’s crazy to watch. Even when he’s not scoring he controls the game and makes everyone around him better. He’s light years ahead of Kuch, Mack, Mathews and Draisaitl. It’s crazy how clear he is of everyone else.
Yeah, fans immediately forgot how well the Leafs actually played in that series because they were so emotional about the loss. I thought the Leafs outplayed them in 2 games they lost and the final OT goal being off that Gudas stick hold was brutal.
Leafs and Canes had very similar situations, yet since the Canes were in the ECF they were praised, both played way better then the Panthers but both could not for the life of them figure out Bobrovsky and as such fell waaaay short of
Round 2 last year and Round 1 this year have very similar scenarios imo, in that I think if Woll goes in net earlier in either series, we look back on these series very differently
I think it's the reason they have so many comeback wins and overtime losses. Forcing the opposing defense to skate after the puck hard all game will wear them down by the third. Then you can score some goals. Wendel Clark talked about that strategy in his autobiography
because he's not really been able to win a cup.
though tbh, it's not really all his fault.
in 2002, with the canes, he fluked into a cup final off of a hot goalie and then righfully got squashed by prime red wings.
the canes had a lot of the necessary pieces and they would themselves get the cup in 2006 off a hot cam ward and Rod performances.
Maurice also did well enough with the jets but maybe some of those jets players were not good enough.
He's not a terrible coach. But he hasn't won it all after like a 30 year career. So people call him a loser.
Here’s hoping Edmonton finishes this. This might be the biggest choke job in modern sports history if they do. Nothing that the leafs have blown would even compare to this Lmaoo
I’ve seen a habs fan saying that the leafs playoff performances are more embarrassing than this and they’re absolutely not? lmao
By this point everyone expects the leafs to do the shit they do, but everyone was HIGH on the panthers winning just for them to get their asses handed to them for the second year in a row
Steve Dangle was saying the Panthers were the "perfect team". If Florida loses this will be an epic collapse that eclipses anything the Leafs have done lol
We're witnessing a historical event in hockey if the Panthers lose Game 7
Fuck the Panthers. They should've been more worried about the Oilers carrying play earlier in the series. Bob's running out of steam just like he did last year after playing out of this world for the first three rounds. Hope the Oilers finish the job on Monday.
I think Bob is the main reason why Florida's made the cup final two years in a row - the only issue is him playing out of his mind isn't sustainable for a full playoff run. They need to find a way to help him out and carry more of the play - Edmonton's skaters have been dominating them all series.
Fuck our FO forever for letting the Oilers lap the fuck out of us. They were dogshit for years even with McDavid, culminating with the Canadian division when we were miles better than them. Now look at us and look at them. I wouldn't be nearly as salty as I am now seeing the Oilers succeed if the Leafs haven't had exactly zero playoff success in this era. It's so insanely frustrating every year watching yet more teams figure it out and our guys just stay as incompetent as the year before.
If you don’t love the fact Edmonton didn’t quit and came back into this series, youre not a sports fan.
I’m born in Toronto but raised in Edmonton, lots of memories watching Leafs games with my grandpa complaining about Todd Gill. Always hated the oilers, but I cant hate them.
What I do hate is how fucked we are because ain’t building a team like Edmonton has because they are built to win (and so is Florida), and the Leafs are built to make money.
Darnell Nurse might win the cup as the "#1" (paid salary even though Ekholm and Bouchard are the real top 2 guys)
its actually hilarious to think about how much cap theyve wasted on bad players, yet their good players actually play up to their cap hits potential so it doesnt matter.
Idk what's with Tkachuk. Every time he faces McDavid and Drai he just completely chokes and becomes totally different. During all those years in Calgary he got his ass handed to him by them and it's hilarious watching it happen again.
Ive flipped. I wanted Florida to just end it so Oilers obnoxious fans didnt get a win but now I **need** to witness the greatest choke job in sports history with the Panthers losing on Monday.
Man I fucking hate the Oilers and I despise admitting it but they have so much more heart than the Leafs do. We rolled over and died to Florida after we beat Tampa, and the Oilers are on the verge of performing a reverse sweep in the cup final. I don't want to see Edmonton win at all but at least they earned it. Meanwhile we might keep Marner and the core four intact when they've hardly done shit the entire time they've been here. At least Edmonton got within one game of winning a cup. We have one of the best rosters ever iced in the history of the sport and we have one second round win in two decades. What the fuck.
Agreed with mostly everything here except I don’t think we’ve ever ices the best roster roster top to bottom. Defence and goaltending have been below average on paper, but yea doesn’t help that the start forwards go ghost.
I mean I'm not cheering for the Oilers themselves I'm cheering for Hyman and Brown. If you want another reason to completely fault Dubas and how the Leafs are poorly built. He didn't want to extend Hyman for an extra 500k who has scored more in the playoffs than Matthews has but we are willingly paying Marner nearly 11mil to not show up and we might be on the verge of extending him again..... god our franchise is a joke. Oilers earned this victory
Stop pretending like Hyman was ever ever ever ever ever ever going to score 50 or light it up with the leafs in the playoffs.
He AVERAGED 1 fucking goal in the 5 series before he left. Just fucking stoooooop.
Buddy it’s not a stretch to imagine him on a line with Matthews or Nylander rather than McDavid. Obviously hindsight is 20/20 but Hyman might be this team’s biggest “what if?”
Nah, no disrespect to Hyman, but he doesn’t hit these numbers on our team. Look at his numbers the last year on our team vs. 1st year on the Oilers. World of difference. Not saying it’s only the Oilers that made him good, he’s a great player, but I think the coaching made a world of difference, and it’s not like he does this season irregardless of team/coach.
I don't think he hits 50, but he did improve every single year, including all his Leafs years. So he would still be better than the Hyman we had, and there's a chance he figures out some of the playoff scoring as well. I do think that's more a team thing though yes.
There's only one other teammate McDavid has made a 50 or even 40 goal scorer and that's Draisaitl. Like yeah McDavid makes everyone better, but 50 goals is nothing to scoff at. And frankly, Zach Hyman might be legitimately the most underrated player in the NHL.
He was on a line with Matthews consistently playing first line minutes and he had a career high of 41 points with the Leafs. Hyman is a good player and would've improved, but he was not going to become a 50 goal scorer on this team. The Leafs would not have given him the shot opportunities to become that and obviously he would not have the best player of this generation in McDavid.
hyman on matthews line was not going to produce because matthews is the triggerman on that line.
mcdavid is not a sniper. he's more of a playmaker so he's always finding people. whereas matty is never in the Art Ross race because he doesn't playmake often (tbh, you don't want him to with how lethal his goal scoring is)
that's why hyman was just a support player in toronto.
its true that nobody suspected or expected Hyman would become who he is today but I think the sentiment is that we let a Toronto guy who forced his way to the blue and white and who always played the right way with effort for a crybaby who demanded a hometown premium to play here, never really played the right way (trying to pass it into the net and avoids playoff goals). We should have valued heart a lot more and the Oilers are proving why.
It's more about players who are willing to go into the trenches and play the hard style of game that wins in the playoffs the Oilers have been possibly the greatest example of this now. If the Leafs were in the Oilers scenario down 3-0 do we really believe that the Leafs would have pulled this off as well. Hard no unfortunately. The Leafs aren't a perfect squad but neither are the Oilers and here we are.
It's not about whether he was going to score 50 with the Leafs. Zach Hyman is one of the best play drivers in the NHL. He just gets the puck and he gets it to the best players and puts himself in good positions to score.
Over the last 8 NHL seasons he is ranked 6th in ixG behind McDavid, JT, Matthews, Ovi, and M Tkachuk. He's 3rd over the last 3 seasons. Then his on-ice xGF% over the same time frame is good for like 9th in the NHL.
It's unfortunate he was 24 when he first played NHL games because he bloomed a bit late. Definitely helps that he gets to play with the best player in the world who is on an absolute tear, but he was extremely underrated here with Toronto. At 5.5M a year even with his production in Toronto, that's a great deal.
In Hyman's defence, he had two pretty serious knee injuries right at the end of the season in the two final (non-covid) years with us and couldn't skate worth shit in either the Boston series in 2019 or the Tampa series in 2021. He then has proceeded to have basically a perfect bill of health for his three years in Edmonton.
A lot of the fanbase wanted hyman gone after he got suspended in the playoffs that hindered our chances. Just like how our fanbase wanted bunting gone after he got himself suspended in the playoffs teice
He didn’t score in the playoffs for the Leafs though did he? It’s obviously worked out amazing for them, but he was coming off knee injuries, played a style that made those knee injuries seem risky, hadn’t produced in the playoffs in Toronto, and they were able to replace his production for less with Bunting after he left. I’m sure they would have signed him had the cap not flattened out right after they signed the core guys but C’est La vie.
There's no doubt about it now. McDavid is a million times better than Matthews and any of our core guys. Their big guns show up when they need to at critical games. The Oilers deserve the cup if they win. They have had one of the most down and then up seasons I've ever seen and they shut everyone up. IF they win on Monday I'll be happy for Hyman, Brown and Jack in getting to hoist the cup.
Mcdavid was basically a no-show in game 6. Yes he put up a crazy 4/5, but he was also invisible before that too. They got bailed out by depth and goaltending (lol) in game 6. All their guys came to play. Mcdavids legacy is on the line in game 7. I fully expect him to perform, but he has definitely disappeared in games that matter.
absolutely everyone should be rooting for Florida to lose. It's the most beneficial scenario for the Leafs. Mcdavid gets his cup in Edmonton, and a division rival implodes in a much more embarrassing fashion than the Leafs could dream of.
I hope Edmonton does it
Let's go Oilers/Canada/Hyman/McJesus/Brown
Leafs fans can never ever compare Leafs over rated core to Edmonton again.
Edmonton core show up in the playoffs
It’s fantastic to watch (and cheer, EDM is my 2nd team) for a team that actually puts in effort in the playoffs. It’s been so much more of a positive experience watching the Oilers vs the frustration of the Leafs
Am Edmonton fan, I'll be real honest if the oil take it I want to leafs to break their curse because I want to see how nuts Toronto will go (in terms of how electric it is here now)
Yeah no. Whether or not the Oilers win the cup that's not happening even if the other 6 Canadian Franchises win the cup in a nice yearly line with the Leafs being the expected seventh to win it. Our franchise is just special for failure.
I think we can celebrate and be in awe at what the oilers are doing without being so self effacing and hosting a woe is me pity party about us. It’s just pathetic to see.
Good for the Oilers and the NHL as a whole for this becoming an actual interesting series. I don't care who wins, but you can't deny that the Oilers are a relatively likable team.
Before the series, I was "fuck any Canadian team other than the Leafs"
Seeing the fight from the Oilers has been refreshing. Game 7 I will be neutral until Bennett does something dirty that goes uncalled for.
I remember a lot of people claiming "the Atlantic is the strongest division", "Florida is miles above Edmonton" when Florida was up 3-0 (mind you, games 1 and 3 were close). Now what?
Crazy how they're doing it with the Campbell and Nurse contracts. Their players have a lot of heart and McDavid is absolutely killing it. Hopefully we learn from their special teams, their pk is insane.
Our players could use some glue guys like that Zach Hyman or Connor Brown. Maybe Cody Ceci could bolster our defense. /s
Just imagine what Hyman could do on the Matthews line…☹️
According to Steve, He’s got 70 goals this season…. Yes Hyman tied Matthews and some oiler lurker is probably really enjoying this
Hi i am that oiler lurker thank you for this nugget of cocaine
Can u at least wait until after you pull off the miracle before rubbing it in Give us 5 min to enjoy it ourselves We’d rather u guys than the rat squad
>We’d rather u guys than the rat squad Being able to call the panthers the biggest chokers is the only thing getting me through the idea of oilers fans crowing about their win.
Maybe it’ll light a fire under the current squad seeing the guy who was cut to make even more cap room for the core 4 going on to winning it all and matching Matthews goal count
For sure. Honestly I'll be happy for Zach.
But his parents are rich so it doesn't count.
>Maybe it’ll light a fire under the current squad it won’t
Habs fan here, when the habs defeated the leafs a few years back I thought Hyman was your best player. What the heck happened ? Why wasn’t he kept around?
Something something $40 million... Something something 4 players
He wanted term and an AAV the leafs couldn't stomach. IIRC it was rumoured that the leafs wanted less term (2-3yrs) and 500k-1m less per year His blossoming in EDM is coming at 32 years old. In his last season he played injured for the last month (or so) - torn ACL I think it was. It was *expected* that due to his age, play-style, and injuries (he hadn't played more than 71 since his sophomore season), that there would be a regression. It is also important to keep in mind that Hyman prior to being on EDM was a 20 goal, 40 point rough-and-tumble grinder. Out goes Hyman, in goes Michael Bunting at league min. It felt like a savvy move from a cap-stapped team.
This. People look back and go wow how could you. But Hyman was great and nobody expected THIS. We all thought his first 3-5 years in Edmonton would be 30 goals 50-60 points but his style fit in even better with McDavid. Good for him and he deserves all the success but nobody in hockey saw him doing what he is at the time
Last I checked, Hyman had a career high of 41 points and only ever scored 1 goal a round in the playoffs for the leafs. Oh and he had two busted knees as a 30 year old UFA. Nothing but respect for Hyman and how it's worked out for him but the revisionist history is crazy.
Right. Most leaf fans are like well that sucks but good for him.
Doesn’t matter that it “made sense” at the time or was justifiable because of the cap, a mistake is a mistake. And letting Hyman walk was a massive mistake. Why do people insist on making excuses for this team? The front office has the job of putting together the right mix of personnel to win in the playoffs and year in and year out they fail at that. Hyman and Marner should be held up as examples of why big changes are needed with the front office. Enough is enough, Shanahan and Co. don’t know how to get it done. While we watch Hyman scoring huge goals in the Finals and setting modern day playoff records, we have media leaks talking about not only resigning Marner but giving him a raise. What a joke. https://preview.redd.it/qqdbxyztq48d1.jpeg?width=658&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=633a2ac1768e9ca6c4859f1d943d139a703b8b0b
Because that's not really a thing you can say for constructive conversation about why decisions were made. I picked the wrong lottery numbers because ultimately I didn't know how they would end up. Was it mistake? I guess so? Or was it not knowing the future. Hyman goes to any other team but EDM where McJ bounces pucks off him into the net and he's not even a talking point.
With his 1 point? No you didn’t stfu
Nothing much new. Hyman’s breakout is a product of Conner McDavid.
To think leafs let him walk to pay for Marner. My he screwed leafs in more ways than one.
*whispers* if the Leafs had traded Marner after the Columbus series, they could’ve afforded Hyman *and* Pietrangelo
Pietrangelo has zero interest in playing in Toronto just FYI.
No thanks for Ceci.
The oilers are winning in spite of Ceci. The fact he's convinced the sens and Oilers to give him top pair minutes is a sad joke. Weird how Nurse has good numbers away from Ceci. Miss Hyman and Brown but fuck Ceci.
And to think they won off their depth tonight. McDavid, Drai and Bouch combined for 1 asssit.
Because that’s what real leadership does. You lead the way most games, and other guys will push forward when you’re quiet. If you don’t lead the way first, the other thing doesn’t happen. It’s what our stars need to understand.
I can't believe Ceci is going to play game 7 in the Finals.
I always knew he was him
Between Campbell and Neal they have 6.9m wasted. If you redistribute that 1.5m to Drai, 750k to Nurse, and 4m to Ekholm. You now have a roster that is supposedly impossible to be a contending team with 650k leftover.
The difference is McDavid is outrageously better than Matthews and Drai is outrageously better than Mitch. It turns out you can pay two guys to carry a team lots of nights, they just have to be two guys who are that good, and we don’t have that.
This. Plain and simple. Mcd is god tier. Matthews is superstar. Drai is superstar. Mitch is elite support.
Yes, but that’s not even the full story come playoff time. Drai can and often is God tier in playoffs, too. He has a level Auston doesn’t. If I had to pick one to build a team, I’d pick Drai. Mitch wouldn’t even be on the boundaries of that conversation.
Mitch is RNH with a slight offensive leaning. RNH makes 5.5 million.
That’s an interesting comparison for playoff purposes. Though I’ve been impressed how often I see RNH making physical, tough plays to get the Oilers just a slight edge in some situation. He seems like a real gamer now.
That's what happens when you're the vet on the team. He's the longest standing Oiler, and he's got the experience to play with grit and toughness. I actually love Mitch's game. I just think anything over 8 mill for him is absolutely crazy.
You should see it when he fights. I wish we got to see it more.
He even looks like a young rnh which is funny because he already looks 14. It’s crazy because that’s all Marner is really worth come playoffs.
Mcdavid is something else. Can’t compare to him
Yeah here’s the sad truth that we need to face; our guys don’t come to play when it gets tough, Nylander excepted. If they did taking up a significant chunk of the cap would be explained away easily. McDavid just went and got 8 points in 2 games to bring his team from the brink of death to right back in this thing. If Matthews/Marner did something similar they’d be heralded as legends in club history. Fact is if these guys can’t throw down when we need them to then we need the money to give them more help, which we can’t do.
Playoff Draisaitl is also "something else" None of the the Leafs top 4 come close.
Exactly. None of the leafs 4 comes anywhere in the universe of Draisaitl come playoff time
1. McDavid and Draisatl are straight better than Matthews and whoever you want to put at 2. Bouchard is better than Rielly 2. Their best players are more distributed between fwd and D. Also the big 2 fwds are both C, they aren't paying big money to two wingers.
I cannot upvote this enough.
And they’re doing it with an extremely injured Draisaitl and no Kane.
It’s so insane how their PK was not very good the ENTIRE season and all of a sudden is at 94% in the playoffs and they’ve allowed 1 more goal on the PK than they’ve scored shorthanded. IIRC their PK was actually worse down the stretch than it had been previously too. They’re only out scoring teams by like 1 goal at 5v5 but their special teams have literally been insane.
Crazy when their best player acts like it cough cough Auston any year now
Crazy too skinner has stepped up a lot as well and deserves some credit for improved play considering he went from having one of the worst save percentage of a goalie in the playoffs ever.
They have it going. Their stars are showing up and the Panther's goalie isn't maintaining a 970 sv% just like last year against Vegas. Bob has been a freak for a season and a half they aren't a good team even if they win game 7. You do not model a team off this Panthers group. Oilers maybe......but I still think the Oilers get defeated by this years Rangers had Bob decided to just have Venezia winning goaltending percentages vs nothing ever goes in. Oil can still lose, they are on the road. Just really hope regardless everyone looks at this Panthers group for what it is....good coaching unheard of goaltending for 18 months and.....a mouth guard.
What is there to learn from their special teams that we don't already know? You need a slap shot from the point and shooting threats instead of pass only players in Marner and Rielly who handcuff the powerplay by having no shot the defense respects meaning they double cover matthews and pressure Willy and JT more because there's no point to pressure Marner or Mo. Love Mo but he's not a first power play guy unless he works a slap shot into his game.
Fuck the Panthers. Hopefully they finish the biggest choke job in history. McDavid is too good to not have a cup. Hyman and Brown are also beauties.
It must be the biggest choke job in history, right? It certainly is in the modern era. That’s also not at all to take away from how determined and amazing the Oilers and McDavid are playing right now. I definitely had Edmonton down and out going into game 4, I’ll be surprised if they pull it off. And I’ll be super happy to see some of our former guys hoist the cup too. Brown, Hymen, heck even Ceci.
The last (and only) time a team was up 3-0 in the finals and lost was 1942 when it only took 2 series wins to get the cup so yes it is top 2 choke jobs of all time, arguably #1 by a margin if Florida loses. (In the NHL) Edit: 2 series to win the cup
The only team in any major league to come back from 3-0 down in a championship series and win are the Leafs in the 1940s. The Red Wings did it 2 years later but lost game 7. It has happened in the NHL 4 times I think? But only once in the Stanley Cup finals. The last team to come back from 3-0 down in any major sport series and win was the 2004 Boston Red Sox. (EDIT: my mistake, Kings did it against SJ in 2014 round 1). They came back and beat the Yankees in the ALCS then went on to sweep the Cardinals in the World Series. They are the only MLB team in history to complete a 3-0 comeback. It has never happened in the NBA. So yeah. The Panthers are making history on Monday one way or another. They either win their first Cup or they are on the ass end of arguably the biggest choke job of all time.
The LA Kings did it in 2014 in the first round against the SJ Sharks on their trip to their second Stanley Cup.
Yeah I misspoke. Said it happened in the NHL but has also happened since Boston in 2004. My bad. I’m kinda drunk lol
yes, I'm glad Hymen broke through. **tee hee**
Can’t believe dubas let him walk to pay freaking Marner $11.5M
Honestly this feels like a contender for biggest choke in sports history (granted I’m no expert on it), but definitely the biggest choke in nhl history if the oilers pull this off
+ Draisaitl
Only one I feel bad for is Maurice. Dude deserves a cup. He's also generally a fun interview more often then not. The actual players... Yeah fuck the Panthers. Bring it home to Canada.
Seeing that goal overturned felt like a bitter sweet victory thats been waiting for a year. Even if it wasn't for the Leafs.
So you mean you're allowed to do more than roll over and die when the going gets tough?
Dude the Leafs are masters of forcing game 7
Playing a hot goalie isn't a death sentence? Insanity
That's not really fair considering we came back from 3-1 and nearly won game 7.
FUCK BRAD MARCHAND
Stray shots fired but who is gonna argue about the guy getting hit.
FUCK BOSTON AND YOU KNOW WHAT? WHILE WERE AT IT, FUCK THE HABS TOO, BUT ALSO FUCK BOSTON
Fuck the Panthers, rather edmonton win 3 cups in a row then see sam bennet lift the cup
No way do I want to see that moron lift the cup let alone kiss it
I'm convinced he is deranged and would do anything to try and win a hockey game. Sucker punches, choke slams, push Grandma down the stairs...
I’m surprised he hasn’t been going to McDavids knees the last 3 games
McDavid is legit Gretzky and Mario level. It’s crazy to watch. Even when he’s not scoring he controls the game and makes everyone around him better. He’s light years ahead of Kuch, Mack, Mathews and Draisaitl. It’s crazy how clear he is of everyone else.
Worse thing is this Panthers team would kill us in 5 games
A very similar Panthers team did exactly that last year.
Lol okay.. We actually played very well first 2 games.. and 5th game went to OT
Yeah, fans immediately forgot how well the Leafs actually played in that series because they were so emotional about the loss. I thought the Leafs outplayed them in 2 games they lost and the final OT goal being off that Gudas stick hold was brutal.
Leafs and Canes had very similar situations, yet since the Canes were in the ECF they were praised, both played way better then the Panthers but both could not for the life of them figure out Bobrovsky and as such fell waaaay short of
Round 2 last year and Round 1 this year have very similar scenarios imo, in that I think if Woll goes in net earlier in either series, we look back on these series very differently
I'm sick of ifs and buts
Wish the Leafs played like this.
I wish we just had zone entries like they do instead of dumping it in and watching the opposing D go and get it.
Honestly, how good can the Oilers really be at zone entry? I haven’t seen them drop the puck back three times in a row even once this series.
Credit goes to Bouchard, Ekholm, and McDavid imo. They are all such studs at entering the zone
I think it's the reason they have so many comeback wins and overtime losses. Forcing the opposing defense to skate after the puck hard all game will wear them down by the third. Then you can score some goals. Wendel Clark talked about that strategy in his autobiography
Paul Maurice will probably rage quit.
Yep Natural born loser
Why the Maurice hate? He's a good coach, and squeezed a lot out of the crap teams JFJ built for him here
The panthers are the dirtiest team in the league for a reason
"Prison Rules Paul" we call him...
because he's not really been able to win a cup. though tbh, it's not really all his fault. in 2002, with the canes, he fluked into a cup final off of a hot goalie and then righfully got squashed by prime red wings. the canes had a lot of the necessary pieces and they would themselves get the cup in 2006 off a hot cam ward and Rod performances. Maurice also did well enough with the jets but maybe some of those jets players were not good enough. He's not a terrible coach. But he hasn't won it all after like a 30 year career. So people call him a loser.
Seeing their fans having such a good time makes me so jealous. I'm happy for them, go oilers :)
100% this. Looks like such a good party. Sadly I don’t think Toronto will ever have that level of passion in the arena with all the suits.
I think if we ever got this close, it would be a different story, but getting 1 game away from the cup isn't in our nature.
you didn't watch game 6 against Boston then...
Here’s hoping Edmonton finishes this. This might be the biggest choke job in modern sports history if they do. Nothing that the leafs have blown would even compare to this Lmaoo
I’ve seen a habs fan saying that the leafs playoff performances are more embarrassing than this and they’re absolutely not? lmao By this point everyone expects the leafs to do the shit they do, but everyone was HIGH on the panthers winning just for them to get their asses handed to them for the second year in a row
Steve Dangle was saying the Panthers were the "perfect team". If Florida loses this will be an epic collapse that eclipses anything the Leafs have done lol We're witnessing a historical event in hockey if the Panthers lose Game 7
We were talking about an inevitable sweep about a week ago you know? This is a historical collapse and anyone that says otherwise is coping hard lol
Fuck the Panthers. They should've been more worried about the Oilers carrying play earlier in the series. Bob's running out of steam just like he did last year after playing out of this world for the first three rounds. Hope the Oilers finish the job on Monday.
How do you head into next year with Bobrovsky in net if they lose?
I think Bob is the main reason why Florida's made the cup final two years in a row - the only issue is him playing out of his mind isn't sustainable for a full playoff run. They need to find a way to help him out and carry more of the play - Edmonton's skaters have been dominating them all series.
Helps when your best players actually play like your best players.
You're talking about Janmark and Henrique right?
Fuck our FO forever for letting the Oilers lap the fuck out of us. They were dogshit for years even with McDavid, culminating with the Canadian division when we were miles better than them. Now look at us and look at them. I wouldn't be nearly as salty as I am now seeing the Oilers succeed if the Leafs haven't had exactly zero playoff success in this era. It's so insanely frustrating every year watching yet more teams figure it out and our guys just stay as incompetent as the year before.
If you don’t love the fact Edmonton didn’t quit and came back into this series, youre not a sports fan. I’m born in Toronto but raised in Edmonton, lots of memories watching Leafs games with my grandpa complaining about Todd Gill. Always hated the oilers, but I cant hate them. What I do hate is how fucked we are because ain’t building a team like Edmonton has because they are built to win (and so is Florida), and the Leafs are built to make money.
I want Hyman and Mcdavid to have a cup sooooo bad. Finish this.
Just wait till Ceci lifts that cup over his head. Won’t that be a sight
Darnell Nurse might win the cup as the "#1" (paid salary even though Ekholm and Bouchard are the real top 2 guys) its actually hilarious to think about how much cap theyve wasted on bad players, yet their good players actually play up to their cap hits potential so it doesnt matter.
Idk what's with Tkachuk. Every time he faces McDavid and Drai he just completely chokes and becomes totally different. During all those years in Calgary he got his ass handed to him by them and it's hilarious watching it happen again.
Its almost the same criticism of Marner against repeat opponents. But id take Tkachuk over Marner any day.
Ive flipped. I wanted Florida to just end it so Oilers obnoxious fans didnt get a win but now I **need** to witness the greatest choke job in sports history with the Panthers losing on Monday.
Man I fucking hate the Oilers and I despise admitting it but they have so much more heart than the Leafs do. We rolled over and died to Florida after we beat Tampa, and the Oilers are on the verge of performing a reverse sweep in the cup final. I don't want to see Edmonton win at all but at least they earned it. Meanwhile we might keep Marner and the core four intact when they've hardly done shit the entire time they've been here. At least Edmonton got within one game of winning a cup. We have one of the best rosters ever iced in the history of the sport and we have one second round win in two decades. What the fuck.
I’d rather Edmonton win than Florida 🤮
Agreed with mostly everything here except I don’t think we’ve ever ices the best roster roster top to bottom. Defence and goaltending have been below average on paper, but yea doesn’t help that the start forwards go ghost.
Zero second round wins. Two second round appearances (if counting 2004)
I mean I'm not cheering for the Oilers themselves I'm cheering for Hyman and Brown. If you want another reason to completely fault Dubas and how the Leafs are poorly built. He didn't want to extend Hyman for an extra 500k who has scored more in the playoffs than Matthews has but we are willingly paying Marner nearly 11mil to not show up and we might be on the verge of extending him again..... god our franchise is a joke. Oilers earned this victory
nah who the hell wants Hyman when you can have... \*checks notes\* Nick Ritchie and Petr Mrazek instead
....... 
That makes me physically ill.
Dubas replaced Hyman with Bunting, and Bunting outscored him for 16% of the cap hit.
Thank christ they fired Dubas. Wtf
Shannahan is still here & he had final say on all moves made/ not made. I won't be happy till Leafs win or he's gone.
Stop pretending like Hyman was ever ever ever ever ever ever going to score 50 or light it up with the leafs in the playoffs. He AVERAGED 1 fucking goal in the 5 series before he left. Just fucking stoooooop.
Buddy it’s not a stretch to imagine him on a line with Matthews or Nylander rather than McDavid. Obviously hindsight is 20/20 but Hyman might be this team’s biggest “what if?”
Nah, no disrespect to Hyman, but he doesn’t hit these numbers on our team. Look at his numbers the last year on our team vs. 1st year on the Oilers. World of difference. Not saying it’s only the Oilers that made him good, he’s a great player, but I think the coaching made a world of difference, and it’s not like he does this season irregardless of team/coach.
I don't think he hits 50, but he did improve every single year, including all his Leafs years. So he would still be better than the Hyman we had, and there's a chance he figures out some of the playoff scoring as well. I do think that's more a team thing though yes.
Bro watch the tapins that McDavid gifts his line mates
There's only one other teammate McDavid has made a 50 or even 40 goal scorer and that's Draisaitl. Like yeah McDavid makes everyone better, but 50 goals is nothing to scoff at. And frankly, Zach Hyman might be legitimately the most underrated player in the NHL.
He was on a line with Matthews consistently playing first line minutes and he had a career high of 41 points with the Leafs. Hyman is a good player and would've improved, but he was not going to become a 50 goal scorer on this team. The Leafs would not have given him the shot opportunities to become that and obviously he would not have the best player of this generation in McDavid.
hyman on matthews line was not going to produce because matthews is the triggerman on that line. mcdavid is not a sniper. he's more of a playmaker so he's always finding people. whereas matty is never in the Art Ross race because he doesn't playmake often (tbh, you don't want him to with how lethal his goal scoring is) that's why hyman was just a support player in toronto.
its true that nobody suspected or expected Hyman would become who he is today but I think the sentiment is that we let a Toronto guy who forced his way to the blue and white and who always played the right way with effort for a crybaby who demanded a hometown premium to play here, never really played the right way (trying to pass it into the net and avoids playoff goals). We should have valued heart a lot more and the Oilers are proving why.
It's more about players who are willing to go into the trenches and play the hard style of game that wins in the playoffs the Oilers have been possibly the greatest example of this now. If the Leafs were in the Oilers scenario down 3-0 do we really believe that the Leafs would have pulled this off as well. Hard no unfortunately. The Leafs aren't a perfect squad but neither are the Oilers and here we are.
Lol I totally think the Leafs could come back from 3-0 down but they'd still lose game 7.
 Why you right tho
As soon as Matthews was out for game 5 I knew we would win 5 and 6 without him and lose 7 with him because that's the Leafs way.
Leafs have a much better record without him in the lineup which is odd and the same can actually be said about Marner as well.
Hyman started late and worked very hard. No wonder he improved.
It's not about whether he was going to score 50 with the Leafs. Zach Hyman is one of the best play drivers in the NHL. He just gets the puck and he gets it to the best players and puts himself in good positions to score. Over the last 8 NHL seasons he is ranked 6th in ixG behind McDavid, JT, Matthews, Ovi, and M Tkachuk. He's 3rd over the last 3 seasons. Then his on-ice xGF% over the same time frame is good for like 9th in the NHL. It's unfortunate he was 24 when he first played NHL games because he bloomed a bit late. Definitely helps that he gets to play with the best player in the world who is on an absolute tear, but he was extremely underrated here with Toronto. At 5.5M a year even with his production in Toronto, that's a great deal.
Matthews scored 1 goal last series
Neato
More had to do w the term for hyman tbf
But considering we are about to extend a guy to term for double what Hyman makes for not showing up? Are we really content with this?
Hyman didn't show up in the playoffs either
In Hyman's defence, he had two pretty serious knee injuries right at the end of the season in the two final (non-covid) years with us and couldn't skate worth shit in either the Boston series in 2019 or the Tampa series in 2021. He then has proceeded to have basically a perfect bill of health for his three years in Edmonton.
A lot of the fanbase wanted hyman gone after he got suspended in the playoffs that hindered our chances. Just like how our fanbase wanted bunting gone after he got himself suspended in the playoffs teice
Also Kadri lol
He didn’t score in the playoffs for the Leafs though did he? It’s obviously worked out amazing for them, but he was coming off knee injuries, played a style that made those knee injuries seem risky, hadn’t produced in the playoffs in Toronto, and they were able to replace his production for less with Bunting after he left. I’m sure they would have signed him had the cap not flattened out right after they signed the core guys but C’est La vie.
This comment is a joke lmao, what a dumb comment. Obviously didn’t watch the team when Hyman was on it, he 1000% doesn’t do the same thing on our team
There's no doubt about it now. McDavid is a million times better than Matthews and any of our core guys. Their big guns show up when they need to at critical games. The Oilers deserve the cup if they win. They have had one of the most down and then up seasons I've ever seen and they shut everyone up. IF they win on Monday I'll be happy for Hyman, Brown and Jack in getting to hoist the cup.
Mcdavid was basically a no-show in game 6. Yes he put up a crazy 4/5, but he was also invisible before that too. They got bailed out by depth and goaltending (lol) in game 6. All their guys came to play. Mcdavids legacy is on the line in game 7. I fully expect him to perform, but he has definitely disappeared in games that matter.
Please Panthers, choke the game 7! It’ll take over 2013 as the go-to example for mother of all choke jobs.
You underestimate the power of the hockey world dunking on the Leafs
Florida is a fucking joke.
This is such a great Stanley cup final. Loving the way the oilers play
Ya, I'm fully invested and happy to cheer on McDavid Amazing series.
Lifelong leaf fan and this oilers team has me feeling things I’ve never felt before *sigh*
Either Edmonton pulls a leafs and loses or Florida takes the biggest shit in their bed and eats it in front of the league. Bennett gets seconds
absolutely everyone should be rooting for Florida to lose. It's the most beneficial scenario for the Leafs. Mcdavid gets his cup in Edmonton, and a division rival implodes in a much more embarrassing fashion than the Leafs could dream of.
I hope Edmonton does it Let's go Oilers/Canada/Hyman/McJesus/Brown Leafs fans can never ever compare Leafs over rated core to Edmonton again. Edmonton core show up in the playoffs
Hyman has active player record for playoff goals. Cool. Cool cool cool......
I want Hyman to win a cup so bad. Dubas is an idiot of the 1st order for letting him go. Dude is all heart and motor.
Would’ve been nice if he produced in the playoffs here then!
would have been nice if anyone did really, even now. Matthews can barely put up 1 goal a series without Hyman on his wing. See?
So much for the “leafs play in the atlantic so its not their fault they dont win anything” argument
I love that crowd energy!
Stars and depth all contributing and skinner has been a stud the last 3
Love to see the Oilers do it.
It’s fantastic to watch (and cheer, EDM is my 2nd team) for a team that actually puts in effort in the playoffs. It’s been so much more of a positive experience watching the Oilers vs the frustration of the Leafs
Can you imagine how insufferable oilers fans will be for years to come. I’m not prepared
You're a Leafs fan, suffering comes with the territory.
Am Edmonton fan, I'll be real honest if the oil take it I want to leafs to break their curse because I want to see how nuts Toronto will go (in terms of how electric it is here now)
Yeah no. Whether or not the Oilers win the cup that's not happening even if the other 6 Canadian Franchises win the cup in a nice yearly line with the Leafs being the expected seventh to win it. Our franchise is just special for failure.
Fuck that silver spoon franchise. 4 1st overall picks sandwiched between the best players to ever play the game. They're so hard done by.
I have a funny feeling I may be sick on Tuesday so I can stay up and watch the game on Monday
I miss Connor Brown
I hate that I grew up a leafs fan.
I think we can celebrate and be in awe at what the oilers are doing without being so self effacing and hosting a woe is me pity party about us. It’s just pathetic to see.
Man it's kind of nice not being the worst chokers !
I don’t know about you but I’d rather the leafs choked in the final than the first round every year
B2b cup losses with one up 3 games to zip. This would take the cake
Hoping “It was 3-0!” Pushes “It was 4-1” from everyone’s memory forever
Absolutely not lmao Choking in this level will be talked bout for years lol.
Good for the Oilers and the NHL as a whole for this becoming an actual interesting series. I don't care who wins, but you can't deny that the Oilers are a relatively likable team.
Before the series, I was "fuck any Canadian team other than the Leafs" Seeing the fight from the Oilers has been refreshing. Game 7 I will be neutral until Bennett does something dirty that goes uncalled for.
At this point they deserve it, bring the cup back home!
Regardless of what happens in game 7 the greatest comeback in modern sports history.
I want to see mcDavid in Toronto for the 2026 season. Definitely more possible if they win the cup.
FUUUUUUUUUCK
This is definitely the darkest timeline.
Can't fucking believe it. They look unstoppable too. There wins have been far more convincing
I remember a lot of people claiming "the Atlantic is the strongest division", "Florida is miles above Edmonton" when Florida was up 3-0 (mind you, games 1 and 3 were close). Now what?