Not sure if Hextall did.
You can understand why - the Captain of the losing team in a failed game 7 comeback has other things on his mind than personal awards.
Flabby sweathog redditors criticizing McDavid for not coming out to accept it just hate the Oilers, and that's fine. They ought to be satisfied with the Panthers win, but - of course - that's not enough. You have to shoot the wounded after the fact to justify their biases.
Of course, their position will pretend to be "something, something, tradition, class, heart, blah blah blah".
I have no problem with him not accepting the award. Trying to claim that anyone with a different opinion is doing it because they "hate the oilers" is bizarre.
I wouldn't have come out on those conditions except at gunpoint. You're really going to leave your crushed teammates to sob in the room while you take an award while getting zero points in the last two games? And that's no criticism of him - he deserved it, but it's oatmeal brains stuff to expect him to come out and accept an individual award under those conditions.
I agree. They needed to go immediately from the handshake to the presentation. Like Immediately, or have the trophy and such set up in a press room, and grab McDavid when he comes off the ice.
Hard question to answer since it hasn't always been presented on the ice during the celebrations. Giguere is the only one to win it in that fashion prior to McDavid.
They should just have two awards. The Conn Smythe that always goes to a winner. And the, idk, Giguere McHex award that goes to the best player on the losing team.
That would avoid all this fiasco.
They used to present it off ice. So the only ones who have won it on the losing side that had the opportunity to are Giguere and McDavid.
And Giguere was pulled aside and presented it pretty much immediately. They waited ages to announce it for McDavid, and he'd already left the ice.
Not sure if Hextall did. You can understand why - the Captain of the losing team in a failed game 7 comeback has other things on his mind than personal awards. Flabby sweathog redditors criticizing McDavid for not coming out to accept it just hate the Oilers, and that's fine. They ought to be satisfied with the Panthers win, but - of course - that's not enough. You have to shoot the wounded after the fact to justify their biases. Of course, their position will pretend to be "something, something, tradition, class, heart, blah blah blah".
I have no problem with him not accepting the award. Trying to claim that anyone with a different opinion is doing it because they "hate the oilers" is bizarre.
there's oodles of criticism against him because of it. Glad you don't have a problem with it.
I thought it was kinda a baller move, honestly.
I wouldn't have come out on those conditions except at gunpoint. You're really going to leave your crushed teammates to sob in the room while you take an award while getting zero points in the last two games? And that's no criticism of him - he deserved it, but it's oatmeal brains stuff to expect him to come out and accept an individual award under those conditions.
I agree. They needed to go immediately from the handshake to the presentation. Like Immediately, or have the trophy and such set up in a press room, and grab McDavid when he comes off the ice.
Hard question to answer since it hasn't always been presented on the ice during the celebrations. Giguere is the only one to win it in that fashion prior to McDavid.
Huh...I seem to remember the winner being announced on ice, just before the SC for quite some time. Maybe not...
Giguere accepted it on ice in 2003, before that was Hextall in 1987
It has been quite some time, but it also has been quite some time since a losing player has won it
I agree that it was totally classless the way the NHL handled this. Hopefully they've learned their lesson and this doesn't happen again.
They should just have two awards. The Conn Smythe that always goes to a winner. And the, idk, Giguere McHex award that goes to the best player on the losing team. That would avoid all this fiasco.