SIMMONS SAYS: At last, a Stanley Cup final that is truly worth watching
The truth about most Stanley Cup finals: They are easily forgettable.
One series drifts into the next championship round, one year into the next, huge for the franchise that wins them, but too often the best-of-seven gets lost over time.
The Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers are changing all of that in back-to-back Stanley Cup seasons. They are writing a history all their own. They are taking excitement to a new level — with two overtime games to begin this Cup final after a seven-game series a year ago that was decided by just one goal.
To watch the brilliance of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl now is reminiscent of personal hockey genius of years gone by. This is Mark Messier of 1994. This is Mario Lemieux of 1991 and '92. This is Mike Bossy and Bryan Trottier combining over five years as no one had before them. This is Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin with three different Pittsburgh teams.
This is magnificent individual hockey theatre.
Article content
Article content
Article content
The Panthers are the ultimate in team champions. They don't have an all-time great in their lineup. They don't have a superstar for the ages. They have a style they play. They're deep down the middle, resolute and committed, mean, rough and ready.
It is nine Stanley Cup games now between Florida and Edmonton, the most recent two being as sensational as any before them. This is hockey at its absolute best. This is hockey to remember forever. You don't even need a rooting interest of any kind to be captivated by this spectacle. All you have to do is watch.
Article content
Article content
THIS AND THAT
Article content
McDavid is putting up numbers that are close to the greatest we've ever seen. He has 73 points in the past two playoff seasons. With a whole lot of series still to go. The most Wayne Gretzky ever scored in back-to-back playoff seasons was 82. The most Lemieux managed was 78. The highest number for Messier and Bossy was 62. It's entirely possible that McDavid can score nine more points — if this series goes seven games — which would tie Gretzky's numbers. All of this happening at a time when scoring is far more difficult than it was when Gretzky and Lemieux were putting up the largest numbers ever seen … Sometimes it's easy to forget how special Doug Gilmour was during his two brilliant playoff seasons with the Maple Leafs in 1993 and '94 — really, the two greatest individual post-seasons in franchise history. Gilmour never made it past the third round in either year but still scored 63 points over those two post-seasons. In the two seasons that Gretzky combined to score 82 playoff points, he had 64 before the final began, just one more in total than Gilmour managed in his greatest days … Not that I should be asking, but isn't it kind of odd that Draisaitl's wife would have her bachelorette party in Greece while the Stanley Cup final was going on in Edmonton and Sunrise, Fla.? She couldn't have waited two more weeks? … Time heals most wounds. A year ago or so, Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch was asking for management to trade Evander Kane. He didn't care for him as a person or player. Now Kane has become one of his most defendable playoff performers on Edmonton's team … Is it just me or is Sam Reinhart at all visible for the Panthers? On a team where you can't help but notice Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Bennett or Brad Marchand, you can't seem to find Reinhart in prominent circumstances.
Article content
Article content
HEAR AND THERE
Article content
The difficulty with firing a coach such as Peter DeBoer in Dallas is finding someone better than him. Truth is, there just aren't many … Just when you thought it was time to hand Evan Bouchard a place on Canada's Olympic team, an earned spot, along comes Marchand's overtime goal in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup final. Bouchard is a miraculous offensive defenceman. But he is capable of winning or losing an Olympic medal — and that's why general manager Doug Armstrong and coach Jon Cooper kept him off the Team Canada 4 Nations roster … Among those who have played themselves into Olympic contention of some kind: Goaltender Stuart Skinner, possibly ahead of Adin Hill, Samuel Montembeault or Logan Thompson; forwards Tom Wilson, Nick Suzuki and Mark Scheifele, who should be among the 14 Team Canada forwards in Milano. Question is, if there are places for Wilson, Suzuki and Scheifele, who aren't there places for from the 4 Nations roster, where the roster size grows from 22 to 25 for the Olympics? … One Atlantic Division coach was not happy that Sasha Barkov won the Selke Trophy yet again as the NHL's best defensive forward. The vote was too convenient, he said. His view: This was one of Barkov's weakest defensive seasons. In the playoffs, Barkov has been scored on 14 times at even-strength in 19 games. His fellow Florida centre, Anton Lundell, has been scored on only five times … That coach's pick for the Selke: Adam Lowry of Winnipeg, who wasn't a finalist. Soon to be ex-Leaf Mitch Marner got three first-place Selke votes. We'd like to know why … Teams that could use Brendan Shanahan in a senior management capacity: Chicago, San Jose, Carolina, Detroit, Anaheim, Nashville, Calgary. Teams willing to pay Shanahan anything close to what the Leafs did: Probably none … Wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see Shanahan wind up working for the NHL out of New York in some capacity. Commissioner Gary Bettman played a role in Shanahan being hired in Toronto … When Corey Perry wanted to play for the Leafs, then general manager Kyle Dubas had other ideas: He signed Joe Thornton and Wayne Simmonds for apparent veteran leadership. The 40-year-old Perry has eight goals with the Oilers this playoff season after being picked up following a troublesome ending in Chicago. It also helps a little when your centre is McDavid.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
NHL's state income tax debate heats up with the Florida Panthers back in the Stanley Cup Final
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The Florida Panthers are two wins away from becoming the fifth Stanley Cup champion in the past six years from a U.S. state with no income tax. The run has made taxes something of a hot topic around the league. Many contenders going deep in the playoffs come from Sun Belt locales, but the financial benefit is one advantage of many for them in attracting and retaining players. Or is it? 'The tax thing is marginal at best, and I think the real reasons are that we're trying to do figure out a way to do our best to try to win,' Florida general manager Bill Zito said, adding that team ownership and coach Paul Maurice are also key assets. 'The sun doesn't kill us. It's a nice environment to live in. It's a good place for families. It's a good place for singles. It's got a little something for everybody,' Commissioner Gary Bettman said before the final he 'hates the issue,' and that was evident Monday night on TNT when retired player-turned-analyst Paul Bissonnette suggested tax problems should be addressed in the next collective bargaining agreement. Bettman called it ridiculous and rhetorically asked if the league should subsidize teams in places like New York and Los Angeles. The NHL tax landscape The Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Vegas Golden Knights, Dallas Stars, Nashville Predators and Seattle Kraken are the six NHL teams out of 32 in a place with no state income tax. Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said some other franchises have raised it as a concern but added the league does not share that thinking. 'These imbalances have existed forever,' Daly said. 'There are so many reasons why a player may choose to play in a particular location for a particular team for a particular coach that have nothing to do with the tax situation in that market.' The union seems to agreed that nothing needs to be negotiated in the next CBA to mitigate varying tax levels. NHLPA assistant executive director Ron Hainsey, who played for seven teams over 17 seasons from 2003-20, cited a run of Cup winners in places like Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles and Pittsburgh over a decade-plus span as a hole in the argument. 'I'm kind of baffled at times that this is the topic it is,' Hainsey said. 'To react this way out there because Florida and Tampa are having their moment here where they have the players, good teams, took less to stay — it's the same thing that's happened the previous 12 years with all these other things. So, when we talk about, is it really an issue, I'm not certain that it is.' Hainsey also pointed out that this is not a top issue in the NFL and NBA. Of course, hockey still has a ways to go to catch up with football and basketball player salaries, even with the NHL cap rising over the next few years because of revenues setting records. Alan Pogroszewski, who has studied and worked with players on tax matters for more than a decade, said a flexible salary cap would account for the range of tax situations. His AFP Consulting found that since 2016, teams in places with no state income tax qualified for the playoffs at a higher rate, providing what he called 'an innate-built-in tax advantage for several of these cities.' 'It's a combination of many things,' Pogroszewski said Tuesday. 'There's more factors than just the amount of money that's spent. It's how it's spent. But when you come into an equal playing field and your dollar's worth more, then that allows you some leeway.' What do players think? Brad Marchand, a Canadian who played in Boston for a decade and a half before getting traded to Florida in March, does not dismiss taxes as a factor in choosing where to play. 'The Canadian teams, most of them have an extremely high tax rate, and then the California teams, same thing: Those teams are going to have to pay more money to get certain players than others,' Marchand said. 'When you look at a team like Montreal, what are they 52, 54%? Versus a team like here or Dallas or whatever. That's a 15% difference. When you add that up, it's a tremendous amount of money.' Of course, money isn't the only motivating factor. Success for Florida, Tampa Bay, Vegas and Dallas directly coincides with Zito, Julien BriseBois, Kelly McCrimmon and Jim Nill being some of the best executives around and knowing how to evaluate talent and manage the cap. Being able to golf in the winter does not hurt either, and some players prefer smaller markets with less pressure. Others are drawn to hockey-crazy places where fans care deeply and hockey is either the top dog or the only game in town. The Edmonton Oilers, in the final for a second consecutive year, are the perfect example of that. 'The passion obviously that this fanbase has for their team is incredible,' said Oilers forward Evander Kane, who has also played in Atlanta, Winnipeg, Buffalo and San Jose. 'Once you actually get here and get to know your way around the city a little bit more, you realize there's actually quite a bit to do and it is a good spot for families and they have great summers.' NHL players get paid in U.S. dollars, even in Canada, taking some of the tax bite out of places like Montreal and Toronto with high tax rates because of the exchange rate. But that can also get cut into based on where guys choose to live. 'It helps while you're there, but also the living costs in Canada are extremely high, too, because you're taxed through the roof on everything: what you buy, what you sell, what you make,' Marchand said. 'So, yes, at the time, the costs are a little bit different but not much, and then when you move back, you have 20, 30% less money, so it absolutely plays a part.' ___ AP NHL playoffs: and
Edmonton Journal
an hour ago
- Edmonton Journal
Spending spree among fans continues during Edmonton Oilers playoff run
Article content After local spending climbed during consecutive rounds as the Edmonton Oilers marched through the Stanley Cup Playoffs, it hit a fever pitch during the last home game of the third round against the Dallas Stars, with a more than 140 per cent jump in spending near the arena. 'Throughout the playoffs, Moneris' data has revealed a clear trend — when the Oilers play at home, restaurant spending in downtown Edmonton lights up,' Sean McCormick, director of business development and data services at Moneris, said in a release.
CBC
2 hours ago
- CBC
Hundreds attend Stanley Cup watch party in uptown Waterloo
Uptown Waterloo hosted an outdoor watch party on Monday for Game 3 of the Stanley Cup final. Hundreds of hockey fans showed up to watch the Edmonton Oilers take on the Florida Panthers -- and were left disappointed with a 6-1 loss. Waterloo Mayor Dorothy McCabe, Uptown Waterloo BIA executive director Jeyas Balaskanthan and some hockey fans spoke to CBC K-W's John Dalusong at the event.
