The Official National Hockey League Appreciation Thread

[KarateKen]

It's been quite an exciting Stanley Cup Championship. I think that games with seeds 3 and 5 can be quite exhilarating. Thought the 3rd seed Panthers might sweep but the 5th seed Oilers still have fight left in them. I mean, the Oilers came back in do-or-die situation and won game 4 quite dominating with a final score of 8-1.

Don't know which team will hoist up the Stanley Cup victorious when all of the dust settles but whichever one does, all I can say is...WOW.

It just got a lot more exciting. WOWWWWWWWWWWWWW.

Game 7 is on Monday.

[KarateKen]

Game 7 of the SC Finals happens about 20 percent of the time, so once every five years. The most recent one happened in 2019 when St. Louis won game 7 in Boston. Boston won game 6 in St. L to extend the series only to lose at home in game 7 and see the Blues lift the cup. The last time the Oilers were in the Finals was 2006. They lost to Carolina in seven games. This is the first game seven for the Panthers.

The first game 7 of the finals I recall watching was in 1994 when the Rangers beat the Canucks.

However, this is more than just a game 7 because Florida had a 3-0 series lead and now the Oilers can win it. This is only the third time in history that a SC Finals team was down 3-0 and came back to force a game 7, the most recent being in 1945. It's been a while. Toronto went up 3-0, Detroit won the next three, and Toronto won game 7.

The other time it happened was in 1942. The matchup was also Toronto and Detroit. Detroit won the first three, Toronto came back to force a game seven. Toronto won game seven. It is the only time a team has come back from 0-3 in the SCF to win, 82 years ago.

The Oilers are only the 10th team in NHL history to force a game seven after being down 3-0 in any best of seven series, finals or not. The most recent to come back and win game 7 were the LA Kings in 2014, beating the Sharks in the first round. LA went on to win the cup that year.

Looking at some other sports, it has only happened one time in Major League Baseball. It was the 2004 ALCS when the Yankees were up 3-0 against the Red Sox and Boston came back to win in seven, taking games six and seven in New York. Boston ended up winning the World Series. The Red Sox had not won a WS in something like 80 years or whatever it was.

No team in NBA history has comeback from being down 3-0 however in 2023 the Boston Celtics did force a game 7, losing to the Miami Heat.

In my opinion, all the pressure is on Florida in game 7. Losing this game is the type of thing that could take years for the franchise to recover from. All the momentum is with the Oilers as they have been the far better team the past three games. Scoring first is key; I believe whoever scores first will have a big advantage. History shows that in every SCF game seven since 1987, the team that scored first won the game. Trends are not everything, I just see that falling behind for either team is going to be tough, especially Florida because of how well the Oilers have played defensively in recent games. Florida needs to get back to their game and I did not feel like they showed the urgency they needed to in game six.

If the Oilers do win, McDavid is the clear MVP, it is a no brainer. If the Panthers win then I think a lot will depend on how the final game unfolds.

Either the Oilers will come back from 3-0 to win the cup or the Panthers will lift the cup for the first time. Either way a historic result will be witnessed Monday night in Sunrise. Enjoy the game.

[KarateKen]

That was one of the most exciting hockey games I have watched. The Panthers win the Cup beating the Oilers 2-1. Not only do they win their first cup, but they do it on home ice, in game seven, and avoid the humiliation of being up 3-0 and losing the series.

Florida scored first, the Oilers scored two minutes later, and the game was tied after the first period. Panthers got up 2-1 in the second and that ends up being the final score, as Florida's defense was able to hang tough and hold off the Oilers late game push. Much pressure applied by Edmonton in the third period, but they couldn't get it in the net. The Canada Cup drought continues as no Canadian team has won the cup since 1993.

A lot of discussion about the MVP going to Connor McDavid. He was the best player in the playoffs and set some all-time records, but they did not win, and he was held pointless in games six and seven. I'd have given it to a Panthers player since they won, either Barkov who was sensational especially early in this series, or Sergei Bobrowsky who had some great performances, including in games one and seven of this series. They definitely do not win the cup without the play of those two. It is strange to me that a player who did not win the cup won the MVP, and McDavid did not stick around to pick it up, which makes sense since they lost. Of course, who I would give it to doesn't matter since other people make those decisions.

Anyway, a series that started out with me having no real interest ended with one of the most memorable games I have watched. Congratulations to the Panthers.

Next season will be here before you know it, the draft begins on Friday.

[aurik]

I thoroughly enjoyed Game 7 last night -- it was everything a Game 7 should be. Florida got back to their game and were able to make it especially hard on the Oilers, and the Oilers absolutely pummeled Bobrovsky in the third period. The Oilers ended up having to play all of their top players throughout the third period, and it showed in their exhaustion.

I was a bit disappointed that McDavid never came out to accept the Conn Smythe trophy. I understand that after you've come -><- this close to winning the Cup, you're absolutely gutted, but put on your big boy pants and come out and accept it. You could definitely make a case for Bobrovsky, but his performance in games 4-6 of the Finals definitely hurt his case.

However, when you break one of Gretzky's records in your playoff performance and put up two consecutive 4-point games in the Stanley Cup Finals, it's hard to argue with.

[bushido_man96]

The NHL must be one of the only organizations that will still award an MVP to a player on the loosing team. Interesting, and I think there are times in other sports where that would be warranted as well.

[aurik]

The NHL must be one of the only organizations that will still award an MVP to a player on the loosing team. Interesting, and I think there are times in other sports where that would be warranted as well.

It doesn't happen very often -- only 6 times since the Conn Smythe trophy was first awarded. The last time it happened was in 2003, when Jean-Sebastien Giguere won the Conn Smythe as the goalie on the (losing) Anaheim Ducks. He stole the first 3 rounds of the playoffs, and darn near stole the fourth round.

[sensei8]

Congrats to the Panthers for winning their very first Stanley Cup Championship!! Well-deserved milestone in their 31 years on the ice.

[KarateKen]

Joe Pavelski has retired. He played over 1,300 NHL games, over 900 of them with the Sharks.

[bushido_man96]

Joe Pavelski has retired. He played over 1,300 NHL games, over 900 of them with the Sharks.

Where does that rank as far as total games played? How many games are in a hockey season, and how many do teams usually play in a week?

[KarateKen]

Joe Pavelski has retired. He played over 1,300 NHL games, over 900 of them with the Sharks.

Where does that rank as far as total games played? How many games are in a hockey season, and how many do teams usually play in a week?

His 1,332 games put him at #60 all time. There are 82 games in an NHL regular season but there are times when that has been shortened, such as during COVID, and teams typically play 2-3 games a week. His game total is regular season only, if you add the postseason, he's at 1,533.

The record for most consecutive NHL games played is 1,064 by Phil Kessel.