O Canada: Quest for Stanley Cup

[Pete]

2 minutes ago, fletch said:

Edmonton has to fix it's goaltending and defensive zone coverage.  Painful to watch some of the evisceration that was taking place.  Tough to have to rack up the goals every night to win.  Vegas was smart to limit Oiler power play chances as the series went on as well.

Fixing the goaltending is letting Skinner develop IMO. He's very good, but when Nurse is your best defensive D, that's hard. Ekholm will help. 

[fletch]

2 hours ago, Pete said:

Fixing the goaltending is letting Skinner develop IMO. He's very good, but when Nurse is your best defensive D, that's hard. Ekholm will help. 

Skinner was really good down the stretch of the regular season, but hasn't shown the consistency that you would see from a veteran with more experience.  You're paying Jack Campbell 5 million a year through 2026-2027 so he's an awfully expensive backup unless you find a way to move him off the roster.  If Campbell is still on the roster, the head coach will be tempted to give him another chance if Skinner struggles.

 

https://www.capfriendly.com/teams/oilers

[Sod16]

With two American teams, the finals gets good U.S. ratings in at least two markets instead of one.   The league must be happy with two teams in the finals.  They will watch in Canada pretty much whoever is playing.

 

I stand by my observation that McDavid will probably be the greatest player to ever not to win a cup, unless he goes UFA or is traded in the last months of his contract.  32 teams, and only one wins.

[SaveByRichter35]

Edited May 16, 2023 by SaveByRichter35

[fletch]

10 hours ago, Sod16 said:

With two American teams, the finals gets good U.S. ratings in at least two markets instead of one.   The league must be happy with two teams in the finals.  They will watch in Canada pretty much whoever is playing.

 

I stand by my observation that McDavid will probably be the greatest player to ever not to win a cup, unless he goes UFA or is traded in the last months of his contract.  32 teams, and only one wins.

I'm not convinced the ratings will be great for the SCF.  No teams from the hockey belt (northeast US, rust belt US, Canada) or Colorado.  No superstars the casual fan would recognize, although lots of quality players.  The league would probably want Stars-Panthers as the 2 largest markets left.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cities_and_metropolitan_areas_of_the_United_States

 

Hockey fans will watch the SCF no matter what, but I think you'd get more casual fans to watch the Oilers, Bruins, Avalanche.  

 

It's a great story line no matter what the matchup is in the Finals because either a team that's never won or a team that hasn't won for awhile, though not Leaf level of desperation.