I really believe Kreider is injured, he normally doesn’t shy away from roughing and battling in the corners.
2023-24 NHL Season
- Thread starter Doc Holliday
- Start date
That's also what was being discussed on talk radio. There is also the thought that Zibenajad is struggling with some physical issue for him to be as completely nonproductive as he has been. Unfortunately these are just excuses for poor performance. I am sure Barkov and Tkachuk are not 100% either, but they and the other Panthers are playing through whatever banged up body parts they have from the very rough Bruins series.
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Regarding Skinner having a meltdown- this can happen at any time (or not), which makes it a nervous watch for Oilers fans. Nervous sports television viewing is good, as far as I am concerned. Because of this unpredictable aspect of the Oilers, I am making no predictions. I am hoping the game will be decided in OT with a quick goal. May the best team win.
I think my most nervous watch as a Sports fan was watching the NY Giants beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl in 2008, handing the undefeated Patriots, one of the best teams in NFL history, their only loss in the Super Bowl. The Giants that year had their famous "NASCAR defense" designed by a guy some of you like Gaby may have heard of- Steve Spagnuolo, now defensive coordinator of 2 time defending Super Bowl champs KC Chiefs. Spagnuolo's NASCAR defense was able to get pressure up the middle on Brady, which no other teams were able to do. Any QB is vulnerable to pressure up the middle, especially less mobile ones like Brady. I thought they could disrupt New England offensively and they did, but the Giants still needed to score some points. To do that, they needed a number of big plays, and they seemed to get all of them when they needed. Was very nervous watching that game.
I am sure Skinner's family will be as nervous as you guys are. It's going to be stomach churning TV!
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Mike Babcock's Abusive Reign of Terror exposed in new Athletic article:
www.nytimes.com
'No one is spared': Tracing Mike Babcock's imperious NHL coaching career
His complicated coaching legacy includes championships, big paydays and charges of mistreatment and mental torment.
www.nytimes.com
Mike Babcock's Abusive Reign of Terror exposed in new Athletic article:
'No one is spared': Tracing Mike Babcock's imperious NHL coaching career
His complicated coaching legacy includes championships, big paydays and charges of mistreatment and mental torment.
Taking a look at some photos of him give me a hint of his caracter !
I predicted that the Edmonton Oilers would win in 6 or 7 games with a low score.I am now just 5 wins away from my 50k winning prize. After that, the whore fest begins.Please don't underestimate my 5k investment and the predictions that everyone was laughing.
I was very surprised by the completely anemic performance by Dallas, at home. To only get 10 shots on goal the first two periods, which was an NHL playoff record, and put absolutely no pressure on Skinner, was the laying of a jumbo egg! Edmonton played a very good game, while Dallas failed to show up in what was the worst home performance we have seen by them in these playoffs.
What happened to the Stars????
www.espn.com
What happened to the Stars????
Oilers one win from Cup Final: Game 5 takeaways, early look at Game 6
With the Oilers up 3-2 headed back to Edmonton, here are the key trends to monitor, and the players who will be critical in a possible clinching game.
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Yeah, the Stars performance is a total shame as, the Oilers played well but I don’t think they played a "perfect" game. It’s hard to explain how a team playing at home, in a crucial match, can show up so flat!
Well I was hoping for an Oiler win. The team played very well and disciplined, now one more time and off to the finals. Must say I had my doubts about Skinner.
He was good avec la précieuse collaboration de ses teamates qui ont bien contrôlé le jeu....yes...a big big one in Dallas....would b great watching them celebrating tomorrow at home....lol.
Skinner was not really tested at all, he faced minimal pressure and did what needed to be done to stop the minimal pressure. NHL playoff record low shots over 2 periods, 10 minutes with no shots at all, not much more needs to be said. Skinner didn't have the chance to be Skinned, and he will take it.
It looks like Laviolette finally understood that a player like Rempe, 2:43 minutes in the last game, doesn’t bring much to help his team besides handling water bottles! You can’t have a player just to fill a jersey in the playoffs.
This is an excellent article about how the Panthers constructed their roster, building a team around Barkov:
www.espn.com
Here is Drouin, McKinnon and Barkov after being the top 3 picks in the 2013 Draft:
Patchwork Panthers: How Florida built a perennial contender
Only three players on the current roster have been there since being drafted by the Panthers. Here's how the front office, coaches make it all work.
Honestly before last year I didn’t really know much about Barkov but, in the last 2 seasons I discovered one of the most complete player in the league. Fully deserved his captaincy, incredible leader, no wonder why his teammates are willing to go to war for him.
Maybe the Oilers having questions about Skinner may have been the best thing to happen to them since it forced them to tighten up defensively.
Jonathan Huberdeau & his fans agree with you about Barkov.
Huberdeau with Barkov: 115 points, 2021-2022
2 seasons since:
55 points
52 points
Jonathan Huberdeau Career Stats - NHL - ESPN
Complete career stats for the Calgary Flames Center Jonathan Huberdeau on ESPN. Includes goals, assists and points per NHL season.
Methinks Huberdeau should send Barkov a check and kick back some of the money for juicing up his stats. Barkov was sort of like human steroids in juicing his stats.
The Panthers have got the Blue Shirts gassed out, like literally! These guys are redifining what grinding is, the Rangers must have felt like they were playing against 10 Bob Gaineys!!!
In the end I believe the best team won, NY tried very hard and managed to keep the series intense but I could see in this ultimate game that some players looked tired and beaten up.
In the end I believe the best team won, NY tried very hard and managed to keep the series intense but I could see in this ultimate game that some players looked tired and beaten up.
This is why the Rangers lost, they were mucked up and out by the Panthers and let down in a big way by Kreider, Panarin and especially Zibenejad. It's very, very, very disapppointing. The Rangers had let Gerard Gallant go last year, reportedly, because players in exit interviews gave him bad reviews in what technical feedback they were getting from him on their games. In addition, Gallant candidly told management that he did not think they could win in the playoffs with the core of top players they have, who suffer from playing grinding teams. Management did not want to hear it, but it now looks as if Gallant was right. And the players cannot blame the lack of good coaching or technical help held them back this time.
Where do they go from here? I would like to see the extremely streaky Zibenejad moved- he has been streaky his whole career and this was exposed in the playoffs. However, how many takers will he have with a $68 million, 8 year contract that runs until 2030, and Z having just laid a jumbo egg in the last 2 playoff series? I really do not believe the coaching is the problem. Laviolette and staff did everything they could with the players they were given, made lots of moves, and none of them worked. This was, fundamentally, because they were let down by their top players getting completely and totally shut down. Good coaching does not overcome poor player performance on the ice.
The only other thing I can think of is a bad contract for bad contract trade involving Zibenejad. Not for Huberdeau, but for someone like that with a horrifyingly bad contract. The Yankees in recent years have proven somewhat adept at these bad contract deals (because they have made so many, they know what to do with them). Their strategy has been to get young, cheap productive pieces added to the trade, or else at least get a younger player with the bad contract. That is the strategy: take on the younger bad contract player with more money/years or bigger cap hit, add some young, cheap productive pieces to the deal to do so, and then unload your older bad contract player with less years remaining on it. Maybe you guys have some ideas? Habs have any bad contracts they want to move? Drury has his work cut out.
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