✨🔩2024 Stanley Cup Finals: Edmonton vs Florida: Panthers Stanley Cup Champions 🔩✨ (FLA Wins 4-3)

[pilldoc]

 

                                                                                               

 

 

Ok folks we are in the home stretch .....

 

Big shout out to @TropicalFruitGirl26 for posting all the polls this year as I attended to both family and health issues.

 

2024 STANLEY CUP FINALS

Florida Panthers (1A) vs. Edmonton Oilers (2P)

• Game 1: Oilers at Panthers -- June 8, 8 p.m. (ABC, ESPN+, SN, CBC, TVAS)
• Game 2: Oilers at Panthers -- June 10, 8 p.m. (ABC, ESPN+, SN, CBC, TVAS)
• Game 3: Panthers at Oilers -- June 13, 8 p.m. (ABC, ESPN+, SN, CBC, TVAS)
• Game 4: Panthers at Oilers -- June 15, 8 p.m. (ABC, ESPN+, SN, CBC, TVAS)
• +Game 5: Oilers at Panthers -- June 18, 8 p.m. (ABC, ESPN+, SN, CBC, TVAS)
• +Game 6: Panthers at Oilers -- June 21, 8 p.m. (ABC, ESPN+, SN, CBC, TVAS)
• +Game 7: Oilers at Panthers -- June 24, 8 p.m. (ABC, ESPN+, SN, CBC, TVAS)

Edited Tuesday at 03:13 AM by TropicalFruitGirl26

[thegx.ca]

I did not think these 2 teams would be in the finals but here we are so I'm thinking McJesus gets it done here ever with Skinner in net...Edmonton really doing whatever it takes to satisfy McDavy hiring both his agent and junior coach into the organisation plus signing whoever he wants like Kane and Perry so he'll find a way and after winning the Cup for Edmonchuck he'll stay there for rest of his career this year they are the team of destiny and Perry finally retires after getting this Cup...

[thegx.ca]

Oh and I took McJesus in 6 to win everything...

[FD19372]

Panthers in 6. Florida has a very mobile, quick defense, which is going to neutralize some of the Oilers chances. Plus, the Panthers have a 57 and 34 goal scorer, so while they don’t want to trade chance for chance with the Oilers.. they have players who are tremendous on the power play and even strength. They also have Bobrovsky, who is better, IMO, than Oettinger. They possess players that can get under Edmonton’s skin. Plus, the Panthers were there last year and have experience on the big stage. Next year, will be the Oilers year, if they stay healthy.

Edited June 5 by FD19372

[flyerrod]

I am picking the Panthers in six because Bob will stick yet another fork in the Flyers for dumping him. In all seriousness though, I think Tkachuk is going to be a serious pain the butt for McDavid and make his life on ice miserable. Not a fan of his but he does have that get under your skin Claude Lemieux prickery that WILL throw McDavid off his game, especially if he is not fully healthy.

[mojo1917]

37 minutes ago, flyerrod said:

I think Tkachuk is going to be a serious pain the butt for McDavid and make his life on ice miserable.

Evander Kane used to do a pretty good job on Tkachuk backinthaday.

To your point though, the physical edge that the 'cats bring to the rink is a part of their charm. They're skilled enough that if a little stinky mitt get's a guy off their game, advantage panthers. 

I thought the Oilers bullied up on the Stars pretty well in the WCF, so it's not like that is a team of pacifists- they'll scrap.

 

I think the Panthers win because they are relentless. I don't know where I see 4 McDavid and Draisaitl "going off" games happening.

The Panthers are deep and have played very well against  Panarin, Marchand, Krieder, Fox, Pastarnak, Kucherov, Stamkos, Point and Hedman.  Those guys aren't McDavid, but they're pretty damn good.

 

[JR Ewing]

4 hours ago, flyerrod said:

I am picking the Panthers in six because Bob will stick yet another fork in the Flyers for dumping him. In all seriousness though, I think Tkachuk is going to be a serious pain the butt for McDavid and make his life on ice miserable. Not a fan of his but he does have that get under your skin Claude Lemieux prickery that WILL throw McDavid off his game, especially if he is not fully healthy.

 

That could definitely happen. Mind you, the last time they met in the playoffs, head-to-head, McDavid ate Tkachuk alive. The Oilers were 8 GF and 3 GA with them sharing the ice. We'll see when all is said and done.

[radoran]

4 hours ago, mojo1917 said:

Those guys aren't McDavid, but they're pretty damn good.

 

True, and five of them already have Cups.

 

McDavid doesn't. He wants one - apparently the only thing.

 

When they went down 2-0 in the first period of Game 4 against Dallas I saw something out of the Oilers I haven't seen for quite some time - determination rather than desperation.

 

They outscored them 10-2 the rest of the series.

 

I think this is a good one, but I think this is McDavid's time.

 

I wouldn't be "sad" about either.

[OccamsRazor]

7 minutes ago, radoran said:

I think this is a good one, but I think this is McDavid's time.

 

You could be right.

 

Don't think i can stand another Florida team winning a Cup before my beloved Flyers...

 

...never would have imagined 25 years ago today that the Bolts would win 3 Cups and the Panthers one before Philly.

 

But here we are on the cusp of it maybe...and i'm not even mention the Ducks, Kings and Vegas winning one too before the Flyers.

 

[RonJeremy]

28 minutes ago, OccamsRazor said:

 

You could be right.

 

Don't think i can stand another Florida team winning a Cup before my beloved Flyers...

 

...never would have imagined 25 years ago today that the Bolts would win 3 Cups and the Panthers one before Philly.

 

But here we are on the cusp of it maybe...and i'm not even mention the Ducks, Kings and Vegas winning one too before the Flyers.

 

One thing is  FLA was in the finals last year and are back. They know what it takes to win now and they are built for playoff hockey. Then again, Does the NHL wants McDavid to win, since he is the face of the NHL or do they want a southern team to win in order to push for  hockey in Houston. I'm rooting for the Oilers.

[Math]

I dunno... On one hand I like how the Panthers are constructed. They are kinda built of misfits, guys that couldn't stay with their former team because of cap space, some guys taken off waivers, other players that never really popped up before. They don't have shiny superstars and the fact that they are back in the final prooves this team is no fluke. Also, they never won the Cup. It's the banwagon hype around them that I like a bit less. They can barely fill their building in the regular season and when they play against the Leafs, the Habs, the Bruins or the Rangers in their arena, it's like they are the visiting team and that's a bit embarrassing.

 

On the other hand, I struggle with the whole concept of "bring back the Cup up north where it belongs", like if any canadian team deserves the cup because they are from Canada and because it's their game. But if the Oilers win, Buttman will be pissed, so that's enjoyable too...

[JR Ewing]

Going to the Super Bowl four times in a row definitely taught the Bills how to win.   

[RonJeremy]

3 minutes ago, JR Ewing said:

Going to the Super Bowl four times in a row definitely taught the Bills how to win.   

Yeah, but hockey is different. It's seven games not one. You mess up and you still have more games to get it right.

Edited June 5 by RonJeremy

[JR Ewing]

Just now, RonJeremy said:

Yeah, but hockey is different. It's seven games not one. You mess up and you still have more games to get it right.

 

I was kidding around; thus the wink at the end of my post. I agree with you that having experience in the Finals helps. I don't think it's everything, but it definitely helps.

 

I go back to Gretzky's story about how, after they were swept by the Isles in 1983, the Oilers went to their dressing room and felt like they had given everything they could. They went to leave the arena, and walked by the Islanders dressing room and were astonished; had been dreading the walk, because they didn't want to hear all the excitement and happiness... Instead, they walked by and saw the Isles banged-up, bandaged-up, ice packs all over them, and they were quietly drinking beer but nursing terrible injuries all around the room.

 

That was the eye opener for Gretzky and Messier and the rest: they only thought they had made every sacrifice possible. The Islanders taught them how to win.

 

[RonJeremy]

1 minute ago, JR Ewing said:

 

I was kidding around; thus the wink at the end of my post. I agree with you that having experience in the Finals helps. I don't think it's everything, but it definitely helps.

 

I go back to Gretzky's story about how, after they were swept by the Isles in 1983, the Oilers went to their dressing room and felt like they had given everything they could. They went to leave the arena, and walked by the Islanders dressing room and were astonished; had been dreading the walk, because they didn't want to hear all the excitement and happiness... Instead, they walked by and saw the Isles banged-up, bandaged-up, ice packs all over them, and they were quietly drinking beer but nursing terrible injuries all around the room.

 

That was the eye opener for Gretzky and Messier and the rest: they only thought they had made every sacrifice possible. The Islanders taught them how to win.

 

Sorry,  I thought the wink was for pride month.  

[OccamsRazor]

19 minutes ago, Math said:

On one hand I like how the Panthers are constructed. They are kinda built of misfits, guys that couldn't stay with their former team because of cap space, some guys taken off waivers, other players that never really popped up before.

 

 

great point bascially Barkov Ekblad Kulikov  and Lundell are the only home grown talent (not really i am missing a few maybe).

 

Mercenary team basically which doesn't lessen anything just impressive to show you can build a team through trades but can't count it yet till they win it all.

[pilldoc]

20 minutes ago, JR Ewing said:

Going to the Super Bowl four times in a row definitely taught the Bills how to win.   

 

B ..(boy)

I ..  (I)

L .. (like / love)

L .. (losing)

S .. (Super Bowls)

 

 

 

[radoran]

10 minutes ago, OccamsRazor said:

Mercenary team basically which doesn't lessen anything just impressive to show you can build a team through trades but can't count it yet till they win it all.

 

Right but as I'm sure someone ( @flyercanuck) will point out of their four draft picks on the team, one is a #1 and another is #2 overall.

 

I still don't really understand what Buffalo was thinking with Reinhart and the Panthers benefitted from the "nobody wants to play in Calgary" drama. They also got a great payoff on Forsling.

 

It's a process others might try to emulate, but I do think it's harder to pull off than people might think. Not everyone is going to give up Reinhart and Montour for (combined) Levi, a #28 overall, and a 3rd rounder.

 

And you do have to have the foundation.

[JR Ewing]

5 hours ago, mojo1917 said:

Evander Kane used to do a pretty good job on Tkachuk backinthaday.

To your point though, the physical edge that the 'cats bring to the rink is a part of their charm. They're skilled enough that if a little stinky mitt get's a guy off their game, advantage panthers. 

I thought the Oilers bullied up on the Stars pretty well in the WCF, so it's not like that is a team of pacifists- they'll scrap.

 

It took the Oilers too long to make things get physical: they generally have the habit of playing up or down to the physical level of the opposition. They're a big team; bigger than the Panthers, for all of the talk I hear about how they'd better be ready to feel contact.

 

5 hours ago, mojo1917 said:

I think the Panthers win because they are relentless. I don't know where I see 4 McDavid and Draisaitl "going off" games happening.

The Panthers are deep and have played very well against  Panarin, Marchand, Krieder, Fox, Pastarnak, Kucherov, Stamkos, Point and Hedman.  Those guys aren't McDavid, but they're pretty damn good.

 

 

The Panthers shut those teams down; you can't take that away from them. Those teams, if you look, don't have strong offenses:

 

Lightning- xESGF: 167 (19th), High Danger Chances: 614 (19th)

Bruins - xESGF: 169 (14th), High Danger Chances: 615 (18th)

Rangers- xESGF: 169 (14th), High Danger Chances: 605 (22nd)

 

Middling competition, when looking at their offenses.  How the Oilers and Panthers compare in these metrics:

 

Oilers- xESGF: 209 (1st), High Danger Chances: 765 (1st)

Panthers- 166 (21st), High Danger Chances: 673 (7th)

 

 

[OccamsRazor]

4 hours ago, radoran said:

 

Right but as I'm sure someone ( @flyercanuck) will point out of their four draft picks on the team, one is a #1 and another is #2 overall.

 

I still don't really understand what Buffalo was thinking with Reinhart and the Panthers benefitted from the "nobody wants to play in Calgary" drama. They also got a great payoff on Forsling.

 

It's a process others might try to emulate, but I do think it's harder to pull off than people might think. Not everyone is going to give up Reinhart and Montour for (combined) Levi, a #28 overall, and a 3rd rounder.

 

And you do have to have the foundation.

 

I think no matter what the ratio of course will vary

 

but no matter what it takes both the draft and free agency have to come together in chemistry on the ice that translate to winning in all the way needed.

 

Lightning in the bottle sure some.

 

Regardless how they get there i just want the Flyers to get there before the turn of the decade...

 

 

 

Edited June 6 by OccamsRazor
a lot of errors i swear i was sober

[RonJeremy]

25 minutes ago, pilldoc said:

 

B ..(boy)

I ..  (I)

L .. (like / love)

L .. (losing)

S .. (Super Bowls)

 

 

 

It helped build character to prepare them for further disappointment. 

[JR Ewing]

We're talking about a team of cast-offs, but we need to talk about what Panthers ownership did... Has anybody noticed that the Panthers, when they were looking to improve the direction of management, didn't go to one of their connections from the Old Boys club? They didn't go to a guy who had spent the last couple of decades broadcasting games. They went with Bill Zito, a guy who had a background in hockey, but had been running his own player agency and had already taken NHL GMs to the woodshed for his clients, and who then immediately starting doing it to NHL GMs in trades, namely the Tkachuk/Huberdeau deal.

 

I go back to Paul DePodesta's grid from baseball management:

 

 

The Panthers do have a taxation advantage that even other owners are starting to complain about to the Commissioner, but even with that, they're operating in the Deserved Success portion of the grid.

Edited June 5 by JR Ewing

[radoran]

39 minutes ago, OccamsRazor said:

Regardless how they get there i just want the Flyers to get there before the turn of the decade...

 

 

27 minutes ago, JR Ewing said:

We're talking about a team of cast-offs

 

To your point, who cast them off? Buffalo and Calgary, for the large part. Neither of which have been terribly well managed franchises for 10+ years.

 

Have I mentioned where Bobrovsky, Stolarz, and Cousins started? And the quality of that franchise's management over the same period?

 

Seems like three "traditional hockey market" franchises got fleeced. Badly. By Florida.

 

Much like Seattle was unable to "copy" Vegas, I'm not sure many GMs will be lining up to replicate Florida.

 

But there's always hope Chuck Fletcher gets half a dozen jobs over the next decade.

 

[flyercanuck]

8 hours ago, flyerrod said:

he does have that get under your skin Claude Lemieux prickery that WILL throw McDavid off his game,

 

McDavid has been dealing with "throw him off his game" since he was 10 years old and lighting up rinks all over the place. I'm sure Tkachuk will be full on "biggest asshole in the league", but it's not like Connor hasn't seen this dog and pony show a pile of times.

[flyercanuck]

1 hour ago, radoran said:

 

Right but as I'm sure someone ( @flyercanuck) will point out of their four draft picks on the team, one is a #1 and another is #2 overall.