I really don’t understand how so many people can predict that the Oilers are going to get demolished in the final. That they will be no match for the Panthers.
And there we are in sport, entertainment. We are having fun. I don’t want to sound dismissive. You can think what you want and say what you want. But I can challenge you too.
I hear every cliché possible to explain that the Panthers are going to blow out the Oilers.
“The Oilers don’t have the depth of the Panthers”, “the Oilers are a team of two players”, “the Oilers don’t have the defense of the Panthers”.
In short, the same thing that all these beautiful people were saying before the Western semi-final between the Oilers and the Stars. Edmonton was supposed to get screwed.
It’s not 2016 anymore, batinse. The Oilers are no longer the team you seem to imagine. Sometimes I wonder if these people really watch the matches.
Not the same depth?
Let’s start with the depth on offense. I don’t really understand why so many fans think that Florida’s is enjoyable, while that of the Oilers is pitiful.
The Oilers, it’s Zach Hyman who scored 54 goals this year. It’s Ryan Nugent-Hopkins who has just completed seasons of 104 and 67 points. It was Evander Kane who scored more than twenty goals. It’s good old Adam Henrique, who, at 34, has scored 50 points again this year.
It was the young Ryan McLeod who reached the 30-point plateau in his first full season in the NHL. It’s the young Dylan Holloway who started growing a beard at 22 and who scored three times in the playoffs.
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And there are others not so bad too, like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. In short, it seems to me much more than a team of two players.
The Panthers are well balanced too. But don’t tell me that Evan Rodrigues on a second line is the symbol of tremendous depth. He’s not a 40 point guy.
Vladimir Tarasenko looks good on the third line, but he has scored as many times as Dylan Holloway. The third line with Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen does a good job, but they are 25 point players. When it’s time to score, it’s less obvious.
Ordinary defense?
And defensively, are the Panthers really that much better? Would you take the Bouchard-Ekholm duo (34 points + 22 in the playoffs) or Ekblad-Forsling (16 points + 20) in your team?
For the second duo, Mikkola and Montour are far superior to Nurse and Kulak. But then Florida is down with good old Dmitri Kulikov, who averages almost 15 minutes per game and raises his coaches’ anxiety levels every time he steps into the defensive zone.
Yes, the Panthers have an incredible series penalty kill with a rate of 88%. But that of the Oilers is… 94%.
Yes, the Panthers are suffocating their opponents, who are only limited to 24 shots on average in the playoffs. But the Oilers are… 25.
The Panthers have only given up 196 goals this season. But Edmonton only gave up 236. It’s like Dallas. It’s better than Vegas or Colorado. And that’s far from the Canadian, who gave 281.
Since the start of December, including the playoffs, the Oilers have obtained 52 victories in 79 games. Nobody did better, obviously.
I have already displayed my colors. I’m behind the Oilers. So I’m biased. But I hope I could convince a few that Edmonton can very well topple the excellent (but not much more excellent than the Oilers) Panthers.
