Welcome back to The Contrarian, the feature where you state the obvious and then I argue against it, because I’m a sportswriter and that’s just what we do, whether we mean it or not. This time around, you want to debate Alex Ovechkin, Connor McDavid, the playoff format, and the Olympics, among other topics. Or then again, maybe you don’t. Let’s wade into the mailbag and find out.
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We’re one day away from the biggest international showdown in 15 years, with Team USA hosting Team Canada in a grudge match that will feature all sorts of bad blood both on and off the ice.
And I’m going to be honest: My tummy hurts.
I know you're probably here looking for some sort of preview, or maybe historical context. I can’t do it. Not today. Right now, I could use a distraction.
So instead, we’re going to get dumb today. Call it a palette-cleanser. This is an idea I’ve had on my “too dumb to actually do” list – yes, of course that list exists, don’t act like you’re remotely surprised – for a while now, but it popped into my head again this week while watching Team USA.
That team has a pair of Connors… sort of. They’ve got Kyle Connor on the first line, and Connor Hellebuyck is goal. That had me wondering if Kyle Connor Hellebuyck would be the best combined name in international hockey history. And if we reach over to Team Canada, would Kyle Connor McDavid be the best offensive combo?
I have no idea, so I’m going to waste some of your valuable time figuring it out.
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The Panthers have earned a break, meaning they drop off the Top 5 for the first time all season and free up a spot. And there are more than a few teams with a decent case to make. By points percentage, the East’s next team is the Maple Leafs, who spent their Saturday teaching us all a valuable lesson about not pointing at the scoreboard too early. The Devils and Hurricanes are right nearby, as are the Wild despite a recent slump. And if you know that this section is about projecting the eventual Cup winner and would prefer a team with a track record of playoff success, the Avs and Lightning are worth a look.
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Connor McDavid is going to hit 100 assists this season, maybe as early as tonight if he can get three in Dallas. It’s a cool stat, the sort of nice round number that sports fans love. Who doesn’t appreciate seeing somebody get to the century mark, in anything? Whether it’s 100 points or a 100-yard game or 100 RBIs, our sports-fan brains are wired to like the number. Why wouldn’t 100 assists be cool too?
As someone who once wrote a book on NHL history and has never met a current event he can't twist into a YouTube breakdown of something that happened 30 years ago, I’ve been asked a few times: Is McDavid’s chase for 100 assists really as big a deal as people are making it out to be?
And my answer is: No, it’s not as big a deal. It’s actually bigger. McDavid is about to do something amazing, and we’re underselling it.
You could blame McDavid for that, since by this point he’s done so many amazing things over the years that apparently we’ve just become inclined to shrug and toss another accolade onto the pile. But we shouldn’t, and today I’m going to put my historian hat on and try to convince you that this is a bigger story than you think.
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The Edmonton Oilers have a chance to make history this week, as they’ll look to stretch a win streak that currently stands at 16 games. They’ll try to get to 17 tonight in Vegas and then 18 on Friday in Anaheim, which would break the all-time NHL record currently held by the 1992-93 Penguins.
In a way, that feels fitting. The Penguins and Oilers have felt like two teams connected for the better part of four decades. Wayne Gretzky gave way to Mario Lemieux as the league’s best player, around the same time that the Oilers dynasty was stepping aside for the Penguins. A generation later, it was Sidney Crosby passing the torch to Connor McDavid. And along the way, we’ve been able to debate Mark Messier vs. Jaromir Jagr, and Leon Draisaitl vs. Evgeni Malkin, and Paul Coffey vs., uh, Paul Coffey.
OK, great. So which team is better?
I don’t mean right now. I mean which team wins the all-time battle? The Penguins joined the league in 1967 and the Oilers arrived in 1979, and they’ve each won five Stanley Cups, tied for the most since they’ve both been in the league. They’ve both had legendary players. They both have devoted fan bases, and also plenty of other fans who can’t stand them.
Oilers vs. Penguins. Who you got?
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Welcome to the weekend rankings. This time, on an actual weekend.
Why are we a day early this week? After checking all the action on tonight’s schedule – (tumbleweed blows by) – we’re pretty sure this week’s rankings are locked in. Spoiler alert: They won’t be all that different from last week, because with apologies to that Blue Jackets/Blues barnburner, the six games we’ve seen since the last edition didn’t change much.
Instead, let’s use this week’s column to wrap up all-star weekend. If you missed my reports from Toronto, you can find my takeaways from the return of the fantasy draft here and my reaction to the revamped skills competition here. The summary: I thought both nights were reasonably fun.
So what about yesterday? The actual games are typically the worst part of the weekend, and have been for a while. You know the drill by now – the players don’t care, and also seem to feel that it’s deeply important that nobody accidentally gets the impression that they might care. So they skate at half speed, don’t play anything even vaguely close to defense, and insist on making a half-dozen extra passes before anyone bothers to shoot the puck. (A weird addendum to this rule is that when somebody does finally shoot, it’s completely fine to use the between-the-legs move to do it.) It all plays out with all the enthusiasm of a fan lining up to pay $60 for an all-star toque their kid will lose by Wednesday.
But yesterday, we got a little bit of… well, intensity would be too strong a word, but there was definite entertainment value. The 3-on-3 format pretty much forces the offense, and every now and then the flow would click in just right and things would get good. The first game saw a last-minute comeback win by Team McDavid, the second saw Team Matthews win a back-and-forth affair, and I’m trying to stay positive so I won’t even mention that both went to shootouts. The final stayed close most of the way before Team Matthews pulled away, sending the Toronto fans home happy.
Overall, it was a good time. But it was better for some players than others, so let's run down who came out of all of this looking like bigger stars than when they went in.
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The NHL fixed the skills competition, and all it took was the right reward.
Specifically, it took $1,000,000, which was the prize offered to the winner of tonight’s 12-man showdown. There was also an additional $100,000 available to the top goalie. And that, along with the various format changes, seem to have made the difference. The players seemed engaged. They actually tried. Well, almost all of them, but we'll get to that.
The bottom line is that apparently, these guys respond to the promise of the right reward. OK then, I’m in. Let’s hand out a few more.
Since today’s generation of player wants to be bribed rewarded for their hard work, let’s keep the good vibes going. I can’t offer another million because I spent it all on buying one souvenir hat for my kids, but I can get creative. Let’s give out 15 awards for the best and worst of all-star weekend so far, based on some of the event's previous memorable moments.
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Which team would win this 3-on-3 tournament?
Note: Each team’s one designated goalie has to stay in net, and only those goalies get goalie equipment.
I'm leaning defensemen. Goalies have massive advantage having a real goalie, but I don't think they would have the puck much. – Josh D.
I’m with you on the goaltenders – they just wouldn’t be able to keep up. The average NHL goalie is a far better hockey player than you’d think, and plenty of beer leaguers have stories of pro goalies wanting to play out and just skating circles around everyone. But these wouldn’t be beer leaugers they’re playing against. They might never touch the puck. Give them the bronze.
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On this week's episode of The Athletic Hockey Show:
- How high can Connor McDavid go?
- Taking stock of the wildcard races
- Jesse Granger nerds out on goalie gear
- A great listener email about Pride events
- This week in history, featuring the worst MVP ever
- and more...
The Athletic Hockey Show runs most days of the week during the season, with Ian and I hosting every Thursday. There are two versions of each episode available:
- An ad-free version for subscribers that you can find here
- An ad-supported version you can get for free wherever you normally find your podcasts (like Apple or Spotify)
On this week's episode of the Puck Soup podcast:
- Yet another player sits out Pride Night
- Fighting is banned in the QMJHL, sort of, while NHL reconsiders the instigator
- The league partners with Fanatics and people are mad
- Looking at the dwindling playoff races
- How high can McDavid's numbers get?
- The NHLPA player poll is out
- A few rounds of 20 Kesstions, and more...
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While it was at least a little bit lost in all the trade deadline news, Connor McDavid made some history by joining the 50-goal club last week. Somewhat surprisingly, it was the first time he’d reached the milestone, making him the 95th player in NHL history to have achieved the feat.
This seems like a good excuse for a ranking.
Now, with 95 different names to sort through, am I going to write an extensive explanation of each and every rankings, droning on for roughly 10,000 words that nobody will read? Sure, sounds like fun! (Editor’s note: No you will absolutely not.) No I will not. But with some judicious use of grouping and categorization, we can get this down to a manageable level. Remember, these sorts of lists aren’t about being right or wrong. They’re about you CTRL+F’ing down to your favorite player and then having a temper tantrum in the comments about him being too low.
I can’t think of a better way to spend a Friday, so let’s do this. To be clear, I’m not ranking these players best on who had the best careers. I’m not even ranking them based on who had the best goal-scoring season, since we can just sort by stats to get that. No, we’re looking for the guys who do the best job of capturing that 50-goal vibe. I realize that’s vague, but you know it when you see it, so let’s get to the ranking.
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On this week's episode of The Athletic Hockey Show:
- Steven Stamkos joins the 500 club -- where does he fit among the all-time greats?
- Fun with the adjusted goals list
- Connor McDavid arrives on the NHL99 list
- Jesse Granger ranks the goalie masks
- Me and Ian make a Cowboys/49ers bet
- Big game superstitions and lots more...
The Athletic Hockey Show runs most days of the week during the season, with Ian and I hosting every Thursday. There are two versions of each episode available:
- An ad-free version for subscribers that you can find here
- An ad-supported version you can get for free wherever you normally find your podcasts (like Apple or Spotify)
On this week's episode of The Athletic Hockey Show:
- The Leafs will not go 82-0-0, so let's panic
- That dude with the green jacket
- Also, what was up with the ice changing colors?
- Connor McDavid cannot be stopped
- The Avs (and one awkward Hawk) raise their banner
- Granger Things, this week in history, and more...
The Athletic Hockey Show runs most days of the week during the season, with Ian and I hosting every Thursday. There are two versions of each episode available:
- An ad-free version for subscribers that you can find here
- An ad-supported version you can get for free wherever you normally find your podcasts (like Apple or Spotify)
The NHL is good right now, and I’m confused and frightened.
This is mostly new ground for me. As long-time readers know, I’m never shy about aiming criticism at the NHL, and pointing out the product’s flaws when they become apparent. Critics would say that I complain aboutt the NHL basically all the time. I’d respond that I only criticize when it’s actually deserved, which is to say basically all the time.
But not now, because the 2022 playoffs have been good.
Like, really good. So, so good. And I find this deeply unsettling.
The first round delivered seven very good series out of eight, with five of those going the full seven games, which is almost unheard of. We had one team come all the way back from down 3-1 in the series, and two more come from down 3-2. We were teased with what could have been an epic upset in the Washington/Florida series. The Leafs and Lightning was great theater and delivered the result that most of you seemed to be rooting for. And even the one sweep served a purpose, with the Avalanche taking out the Predators with the sort of dominant trouncing that established a clear favorite for the rounds to come.
The round ended with a wild weekend, one that served up three Game 7s on a Saturday night (one short of the record), then two more on Sunday that both went to overtime. That was the first time in 25 years that we’ve had two Game 7 overtimes on the same day, and these two both ended with a team’s biggest offensive star scoring the winning goal.
Oh, and that entire round unfolded with a perfectly constructed schedule, one that saw each and every series playing out on alternating days with no gaps or back-to-backs. The league even seemed to realize that they could stagger start times, meaning there was pretty much always playoff hockey on whenever you wanted it.
It would have been impossible for the second round to match the first, but then… well, it almost did, right? We had another sweep, but while the Lightning and Panthers rematch was a bit of a dud, it was still a fascinating storyline to see the little brother spend the year bulking up just to get sand kicked in his face yet again. The Blues gave the Avalanche everything they could handle, including a Game 5 win that may have been the most dramatic of the playoffs so far. The Rangers and Hurricanes are going to a Game 7 tonight, and the series is already close to a classic, with Carolina’s home/road splits hitting never-before-seen territory.
And of course, the big one: After 31 years, we finally got a Battle of Alberta. Then the action somehow lived up to the hype, if not more. That opening game will live in infamy, and for once it’s going to be the good kind.
That’s a solid month’s worth of hockey, and just about all of it was fantastic. We had lots of goals, continuing a trend from the regular season. There were some epic comebacks, enough that we got used to feeling like a two or even three-goal lead wasn’t some insurmountable deficit. There was enough bad blood to keep everything spicy, but nothing that went so far overboard that it hung over a series. For once, it just felt like everything that can be fun about the NHL clicked into place.
Look at all of that. I’m pretty sure that’s the most words I’ve ever strung together in a row about the NHL without ranting about how much I hated something. What’s happening to me? Have I mellowed in my old age? Did I secretly get hired on as the league’s PR guy? There’s got to be something I can grumble about.
Uh… those CGI ads on the ice are kind of weird, I guess.
Yeah, I can’t do it. Or rather, I can do it, but I don’t want to, because it wouldn’t be deserved. It would feel forced. I’d be playing a character, waving my cane at the world beyond my porch just because that’s my comfort zone. It would feel cheap.
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On this week's episode of The Athletic Hockey Show:
- The Avs and Blues serve up one of the best games of the years
- Is this the beginning of another Colorado collapse?
- Where MacKinnon vs. McDavid would rank among superstar matchups
- Who would you want in a Game 7: McDavid or Vasilevskiy?
- Jesse Granger on on this year's weird home ice advantage numbers
- I have an idea for messing with goalies that's just crazy enough to work
- Listener mail, this week in history and more...
The Athletic Hockey Show runs most days of the week during the season, with Ian and I hosting every Thursday. There are two versions of each episode available:
- An ad-free version for subscribers that you can find here
- An ad-supported version you can get for free wherever you normally find your podcasts (like Apple or Spotify)
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but it’s not going well in Edmonton.
Oh, you have heard that one. For pretty much the last decade-and-a-half or so. Right, that does ring a bell.
Just in case you’re new to this, let’s round up where we’re at right now with this team. They have the best player in the world, by a mile. They have, arguably, the second-best player in the world. They have a former first-overall pick and a former fourth-overall pick who are both on pace for career years, a shiny new UFA on an eight-year contract that probably won’t age well but has been fine so far, a good young defenseman with a massive extension about to kick in, and a new guy with three Cup rings who can sprinkle magic leadership dust all over the dressing room.
They also have no bottom six, a big question in goal, Cody Ceci for some reason, a coach on the hot seat, and a GM who not only seems completely out on answers, but actually appears to have lost track of the questions.
Also, tomorrow will be the one-month anniversary of their last win. So there’s that.
Saturday night saw them on home ice to face Ottawa, a bottom-five team with little to play for. We all made our jokes about the Sens sickos, but it was a game that the Oilers absolutely had to have. They took a 3-1 lead into the third period, then gave it up by the midway mark on the way to a 6-4 loss that may have been their worst of the season, all things considered. Honestly, the score may have flattered them.
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On this week's episode of The Athletic Hockey Show:
- Kokak Black enjoys a Florida Panthers game
- Connor McDavid's tepid answer about Evanker Kane
- Tuukka Rask returns
- Bobby Clarke rips Ron Hextall, and I'm not buying it
- Jack Eichel nears a return in Vegas
- Plus Cale Makar's Hart chances, a listener question on the point system, the anniversary of "they're going home", and more
The Athletic Hockey Show runs most days of the week during the season, with Ian and I hosting every Thursday. There are two versions of each episode available:
- An ad-free version for subscribers that you can find here
- An ad-supported version you can get for free wherever you normally find your podcasts (like Apple or Spotify)
I’m wrong about the NHL. Kind of a lot. Honestly, it’s a little bit embarrassing for somebody who’s whole job is to know things about this league.
But here’s the thing: You’re wrong too. All of us are. And that’s especially true when we let ourselves drift into groupthink mode, where most of us are all saying the same thing. Hockey fans barely agree on anything, so you’d think that it would take a stone cold lock to get us all on the same page. Instead, we often end up looking dumb.
So today, let’s take a look at six opinions that I think it’s fair to say were pretty widely held heading into the season. Not universally – settle down, huffy dude who’s scrolling down to the comments to post “I never thought that” – but at least reasonably common. A month in, they’ve all turned out to be absolutely and indisputably wrong. Only… have they? Let’s see if we can figure that out.
What we thought: Heading into the season, it was pretty widely understood that the Pacific had one good team and seven question marks. The good team was the Golden Knights, of course, and we could just pencil them in as the top seed before we even dropped a puck. But from there, it was a turtle derby.
Even with Arizona moving to the Central, there were still three bottom-feeders in the Ducks, Kings and Sharks. Maybe one of those teams would surprise us, but that was about the best we could hope for. The Canucks and Flames had both missed the playoffs last year, and the most charitable view of either was that they might be marginally better heading into this season. The Oilers had some regular season potential, but were coming off a disastrous postseason run so you weren’t really sure how far they could go. And the Kraken were the big question mark, looking iffy on paper after an underwhelming expansion draft.
So basically Vegas, and then seven teams trying to earn the right to get swept by Vegas.
But then… : The Kraken and the Canucks are bad. But the Alberta teams look great, with the Oilers mostly rolling and the Flames surprising everyone while shutting out every team they play. And the California teams have been stunningly good at times, with the Kings posting a seven-game win streak, the Ducks topping that with eight, and the Sharks starting 4-0-0.
Oh yeah, and Vegas hasn’t been all that great, so the whole division is up for grabs.
We were so wrong: Seriously, this division might get both Western wildcards.
But were we really?: Are you really betting on the Ducks and Kings to keep this up all season long? That seems like a longshot, and the Sharks are already fading. Edmonton looks like a legitimate contender, but that goaltending is still hard to trust. The Flames are the other side of that coin, as we need to see what happens when Jakob Markstrom isn’t running red hot.
Meanwhile, Vegas has been racked by injuries but are getting their guys back and looking better. With Jack Eichel looming in the future, they’ve still got the best roster in the division on paper, and it’s not all that close. So yeah, it’s very possible that a few of the feel-good story bubbles burst over the next few months, Eichel shows up just in time for the playoffs, and the Pacific does end up being the Knights rolling through everyone.
Hey, speaking of which…
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On this week's episode of the Puck Soup podcast:
- We react to the developing story about Bob Murray
- My defense of that Mike Babcock article
- Jeremy Colliton is fired
- Connor McDavid's goal of the year
- Jack Eichel arrives in Vegas
- The weird Cole Caufield twitter story
- OUFL fancy stats, and more...
>> Stream it now:
>> Or, listen on The Athletic or subscribe on iTunes.
>> Get weekly mailbags and special bonus episodes by supporting Puck Soup on Patreon for $5.
You know what, that was kind of a fun weekend.
We kicked things off with the Jack Eichel trade still reverberating around the league. Thursday’s blockbuster saw the Golden Knights do what they always seem to do and swing big at the best player available, whether they can afford to or not. In this case, that means giving the Sabres a decent if unimpressive return and worrying about that pesky salary cap sometime down the line. It will be months before we see Eichel make his Vegas debut, but it’s the sort of deal that could shift the balance of power in the West.
We had the big Panthers/Hurricanes Saturday showdown that promised to make this week’s number one spot a pretty easy call. The game itself wasn’t exactly a masterpiece, with the Panthers taking a 4-0 lead in the first and then cruising to a 5-2 win. Not great drama, but an emphatic result that hands the Hurricanes their first loss and establishes the Panthers as our early team to beat.
We had our second coaching change (and first traditional firing), as the Hawks finally did what’s felt inevitable for a while now. You could make the case that Jeremy Colliton never really had a chance to succeed in Chicago, but it’s pretty clear that he wasn’t succeeding, even with a rebuilt roster that was supposed to contend for a playoff spot. It’s never fun to see somebody lose their job, but the churn behind the bench is part of life in the NHL, and now we get to see what Derek King can do.
We had a few other interesting stories. The Red Wings got a nifty OT winner from Moritz Seider. The Leafs are good again, at least for a week, with the core four doing all the scoring. The Knights/Habs game was fascinating for reasons we’ll get to in a bit. The Flames continue to dominate, this time icing the Rangers 6-0. The entire Metro stayed over .500. Hell, even the Coyotes got a win. Miracles really do happen.
But who are we kidding, none of that is what we’ll remember most from this weekend. Years from now, we might still be talking about this:
That’s just silly. I’m not even sure I can be mad at the Rangers. Stopping one guy with four should be pretty easy in the NHL, but McDavid isn’t one guy. He’s Mario Lemieux sitting on Pavel Bure’s shoulders wearing a big trench coat. The Rangers did their best, and I think you just pat them on the head and give them some orange slices and promise them that things will be better when they’re playing against human beings.
On to the rankings…
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The Athletic Hockey Show runs four days a week during the season, and will feature me with Other Sean Gentille on Wednesdays.
Puck Soup is a podcast featuring me and Ryan Lambert. We release one free episode each week during the season, plus mailbags and other bonus episodes for Patreon subscribers.
"Biscuits" was the Vice Sports hockey podcast, hosted by DGB and Dave Lozo. It ran for two seasons; the final episode was in July, 2018. You can find the archives below:
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