A generational talent does generational things. Connor McDavid has been denied moments like the 4-Nations by old men in expensive suits. Last night was a defining moment in the career of the most electric talent I’ve ever seen. Connor McDavid is manifest destiny: justified and inevitable.
I also wanted to say a word about Jordan Binnington, who was brilliant for the entire game and then super nova in overtime. His five-on-five save percentage with the St. Louis Blues in 2024-25 is .914 (Stuart Skinner .909). Last night’s brilliant performance might get him traded by midnight, but credit where due. Canada doesn’t win without Jordan Binnington.
Someone mentioned yesterday they would like to see McDavid away from Draisaitl and Jeff Skinner numbers, so I wanted to publish those totals.
This is year over year for McDavid-Hyman without Draisaitl in both years and without Skinner this year. It’s interesting to see expected goals so close despite differing actual results. I published this yesterday, but let’s do it again to compare. McDavid without Draisaitl, but including Hyman, Skinner, Nuge and the rest. Notice the change in GA-60 with Skinner re-inserted:
It’s a concern. McDavid-Draisaitl were 4.89 goals-60 at five-on-five in 2023-24, they are 4.59 goals-60 together this year. It’s a thing but it isn’t a McDavid thing.
McDavid is scoring 1.00 goals-60 and 2.89 points-60 with Hyman, and .83 goals-60 and 2.32 points-60 with RNH. Last year he was 1.04 goals-60 and 4.05 points-60 with Hyman, and .79 goals-60 and 3.39 points-60 with Nuge.
McDavid’s goal scoring rates with both men is close to a year ago. It isn’t McDavid’s shooting success that is impacting this line. Shots per 60 are down from 43 to 34. That’s a factor, but the wingers are off last year’s levels.
Hyman is scoring 1.00 goals-60 and 1.56 points-60 with McDavid. Last year Hyman with 97 delivered 2.02 goals-60 and 2.74 points-60. Hyman’s goals-60 has been halved, but last year was an outlier and 1.00 goals-60 is a fine number.
Nuge is scoring .5 goals-60 and 1.33 points-60 with the captain. Last year, he was 1.02 goals-60 and 2.26 points-60. Nuge is also halved, and that’s an issue. We’ll talk again soon about the No. 1 line.
Yesterday, someone asked me about the title of the blog “Harry Patch” and no one successfully guessed. It’s a song about a man.
It’s going to be a fun day on the Lowdown, noon to 2 on Sports 1440. We’ll have Steve Lansky and Tyler Yaremchuk, plus Declanations, but most of the show will be you and your comments. I’m at Lowetide on twitter, in the comments section here and on the Sports 1440 text line at 1.833.401.1440 directly. We can be heard at sports1440.ca; iHeartRadio, Radioplayer Canada, it’s available post-show on apple and spotify, and we tweet it out on X.
A look to Oilers summer. More room to wheel, Stan Bowman’s first real chance to show fans he isn’t Peter Chiarelli or Ken Holland.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6148109/2025/02/21/oilers-roster-depth-salary-cap-bowman/
Summarizing!
The Joel Määttä Redemption Tour continued as he put up his 9th goal plus two assists. He now has 5+4 his last five GP with a 60.3 FO%.
Akey and Fischer each had a helper.
Day allowed three goals on 22 shots in a loss.
Berry, Copponi, Lachance, Münzenberger, O’Reilly, Nicholl, Clattenburg and Wakely were all denied soup.
Jon Cooper said on the bench before the goal
“Someone on the bench be selfish and shoot it. McDavid with Marner.”
Jon should have asked McDavid sooner.
I think Mcdavid saved Canada from statehood last night. I could only imagine the tweeterz today if they lost.
So does that increase or decrease the chance of future Olympic participation?
I mean the league just showed that they can put on a wildly successful tournament which they’ve struggled with in the past.
10 mil viewers almost in US for hockey is unheard of
— yeah the Olympic organization is a gangster criminal enterprise. And I love watching the Olympics despite this because of the athletes.
— I’d rather a hockey World Cup. Just as soccers World Cup matters most in their sport. Not the Olympics.
The NHL has an opportunity to capture some NBA viewers.
The NBA has had some brutal viewership the last few seasons and their all star weekend seemed to be universally hated by both fans and players.
They have had star players flame out, injured, or just uninterested in playing. The faces of the league, Curry and Lebron are near retirement and Silver doesn’t seem to have anyone as reliable to fill their shoes.
The league frequently has star players who get traded or demand trades which kills fandom. I still have no clue how Luka got traded from the Mavericks for such a small return.
I saw quite a few people commenting they had never watched hockey before until last night and are hooked. After seeing there was 10 million viewers last night, I believe it.
Here’s hoping Bettman doesn’t blow this opportunity. But I wouldn’t be surprised if his reaction was to add more regional blackouts.
Thursday’s 4 Nations Face-Off championship game between the United States and Canada marked the largest audience for a hockey game ever on ESPN, the network announced Friday.
The game, in which Canada beat the U.S. 3-2 in an overtime thriller, garnered 9.3 million viewers, with 10.4 million viewers at its peak.
It was also the largest audience for a non-NFL event ever on ESPN+.
https://kfgo.com/2025/02/21/record-ratings-for-u-s-canada-final-of-4-nations-face-off/#:~:text=Thursday's%204%20Nations%20Face%2DOff,million%20viewers%20at%20its%20peak.
Chantel Kreviazuk’s performance of O Canada last night reminded me of that great line from the movie, Goon, after the singer butchered the anthem.
“That was borderline treasonous.”
Maybe the worst part was when she deliberately went out of rhythm, which threw off the crowd. Goodness, you had a crowd in Boston singing the *Canadian* anthem with their hearts out, and you made it harder for them to sing!
This was not the time and place (maybe there never is) for the anthem singer to make it about themselves.
American Idol ruined anthem singing imo. Now every singer thinks it’s an opportunity to show off their vocal gymnastics.
Chantal’s performance was doubly disastrous. She sang poorly AND changed the lyrics. Fairly certain that’s the last time she’ll be asked to honor her nation’s song.
Ha, didn’t hear a word of it. But I saw the lyric change. Sounds like she wasn’t tuned to the fact that fans would be singing along. Perhaps she did a bad job, don’t know, didn’t hear. But not sure i can blame her for trying to stand up in a way that she can with the lyric switch. In fact, maybe i am proud of her for what she tried to do. Not sure. But either way, I’ll cut her some slack.
Well, If I were GM for a day I would move heaven and earth for Jared McCan & Trent Federic, I would also like to see John Gibson.
I don’t know how much the Oilers can do here, but If only one of those players can be had, McCan is my guy.
smart, can play centre or wing, defensively is extremely good and he finishes.
love a Federic though…..
Frederic is probably a good target, but why on earth would you pay serious assets for Gibson based off one good year on the back of five poor seasons?
He’s lost the net to his backup, who makes less than Pickard.
McCann would be paying full freight, there’s probably better value out there.
This is why you want McCan – https://oilersnation.com/news/2025-trade-deadline-targets-for-the-oilers-top-six-forwards
This is why you want Gibons. I believe he’s a good goalie on a terrible team, Gibson was a top 5 goalie on a good team, you can see his fall off when the Ducks blew there team up & nobody is saying you pay full boat for him.
https://oilersnation.com/news/2025-trade-deadline-targets-for-the-oilers-goalies
this is why you want a Federic – https://oilersnation.com/news/oilers-trade-deadline-targets-middle-six-and-depth-forwards?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
McCan is the play though.
Binnington was up to the moment last night, great to see. I haven’t noticed him much since their Cup run, he reminds me of Fleury. Slim, athletic, a bit wild. I think the wild is what keeps him out of top end goalie talk. He has the reflexes and can rob players, but he gets out of position. I think that cost the Sanderson goal, or at least a decent chance at making a save. He won at the end of the day, I’d still take Hellbuyck in a series
If Connor learned in the tournie which I imagine he did, I hope the three goals spoke to him. They were textbook ‘how to score on a stifling team with a good goalie’. Team Canada was similar to the Oilers in a lot of ways I thought
All three goals top half of net. Lots of traffic, and getting shots through like McKinnon’s. Marner with the rush attack, cutting to the middle creating a lane for Bennett who was supporting well, nice upstairs finish
And of course Connor going to the open ice and Marner hitting him on the tape right away low to high, Connor goes upstairs no delay
If the Oilers can absorb that more into their play they will be deadly
It’s interesting to see the reaction on the interwebs to Gretzky’s appearance as honourary captain for Team Canada last night. It’s clear for many Canadians, the Gretzky clan’s visible allegiance to the MAGA sect has activated the expiry date on Wayne’s position as hockey’s favourite figurehead AND Canada’s favourite son.
I was an expat for a few years before returning to Canada and the rule of thumb I’ve subscribed to since is if you spend more than half your life in another country, you’re more a citizen of that country ideologically than you are a native son. I have a couple of relatives who’ve naturalized as US citizens and certainly the longer they live there, the more American they have become. It does beg the question of how long it’s tenable to cling to this notion of Gretzky as a Canadian first and American second?
One thing I’ve always been curious about is the extent to which McDavid and Gretzky are simpatico. When the Oilers brought Wayne in to ‘mentor’ Connor, the relationship struck me as a bit of a forced marriage. Any joint interviews I’ve seen from that period smack of Connor biting his lip while Drunk Uncle opines on the way things used to be.
Bordering on political commentary here 🙂
Maybe it’s because the notion of Gretzky as anything other than a Canadian icon is unfathomable.
I also have never seen McDavid as anything other than in awe and/or reverence of Gretzky. He’s an idol and a generation away, but is who McDavid has always aspired to be for this organization
— Wayne is older than McDs parents.
— I have no doubt most of McDs interactions with Wayne have been similar to anyone who’s seen him in the last 25 years when he’s “off duty”. Which is hardly the stuff of greatness unless inebriated can be ranked …
— So yeah his perspective is different than those who saw him play in his prime.
When two tribes go to war ….
Skinner starts tomorrow – maybe not a no-brainer with WSH on Sunday.
Savoie is playing tomorrow. Want to give him a little runway to play and some leeway. Been very impressed in the three practices but that’s practice. Will see if he can move the needle and make the team better. Yes, they are cognizant of playing in a roll where he can succeed – then talks about defensive details being important, etc.
When asked if McDavid is playing tomorrow – coach says that he’s landing right about now and will be joining the team.
Otherwise we can imagine McDavid at some kind of hotel; feet up and watching his team the Oilers on television.
@Bob_Stauffer
Stuart Skinner starts tomorrow for the @EdmontonOilers in Philadelphia
Matt Savoie will play according to Kris Knoblauch
Got to give kudos to Matthew Tkachuk for selfishly insisting on playing injured last night for a whopping 6:47.
You’re the only person I’ve noticed mention this here or at the Athletic. I had the same thought when they showed his ugly face at the end of the bench. I know Kyle Connor didn’t have the best tournament, but I’d rather have his potential on the bench instead of that selfish, arrogant ‘gamer’.
I expect Kyle Connor as he was watching in his street clothes and perhaps the USA coaching staff had similar thoughts as well. It was too bad we were missing Morrissey, but it would have been far worse if he had pulled himself half way through the first period.
Also, scratching Kyle Connor for the likes of Brock Nelson is not a choice I make (from afar, of course, with less information that Sullivan). Yup, Connor hasn’t been great but, as a Canadian, I would have been frightened every time he was in the offensive one in OT.
Making the team great, one selfish gesture at a time.
Like them or not, those brothers are both stars in their own right. Matthew I always had anti Flames bias for which is terrible for clear thinking, but he’s the cup winner right now and could have been a world superstar had USA won in OT. .
I never watched Brady until this tournament – he seems far more dangerous a player.
Kind of like Mark Messier combined with Puljujarvi.
The goaltender market inflation continues.
@Canucks
Vancouver Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin announced today that the club has agreed to terms with goaltender Kevin Lankinen on a 5-year contract extension with a $4.5M AAV.
Too much money, but more importantly too much term.
Hope Bowman acquires multiple young high-ceiling types to capitalize on the weird goalie market that seems headed the NHL’s way.
Pretty sure with the re-set in goaltender compensation we are seeing that the money is appropriate and will be a pittance in a couple of years.
But, yeah, the term is puzzling given how many goaltenders are available every year.
Cope
The Dys have been making blunders, yet another
Not nearly the gaffe that Jack Campbell was.
Lankinen has been solid throughout his career..
Well he wasn’t particularly solid in the first 25 minutes against Team Canada on Monday. Given it was win or go home, it was certainly the most important game of his life to that point and he gets pulled after 4 goals on 13 shots. Saros didn’t allow a goal the rest of the way.
needed a Demko replacement and overpayed. But Lanky is a good goaler. I was hoping Oil would bring him in. But I could see why he chose Vancouver
I’ve been very impressed by Lankinen in Vancouver’s nets. His road performance this year has been amazing. His contract seems reasonable to me. Tell me why you think he “chose” Vancouver over Oilers. Was that ever in play?
I don’t see when the Oilers would have had interest in him.
My hope for the 4 Nations was that Connor’s experience alongside Sidney Crosby would mirror the experience that Mario Lemieux had playing alongside Gretzky in the 87 Canada Cup. And lo and behold that’s exactly what happened. Music!
In his own words, playing alongside Gretzky elevated Mario’s game to the next level. Cups for the Penguins would soon follow.
Crosby is Connor’s idol and you can bet McDavid watched and learned so much from this experience. When Connor’s full legacy is written, last night’s game will be a pivotal chapter in that story.
Hockey legends walk among us. Can you imagine how happy Leon is for his pal? This is a good day to be a Canadian and an even better day to be an Oiler fan.
🇨🇦 hear, hear!
Per Spec: The Flyers invited McDavid to fly to Philly on the team charter (with Torts, Sanheim and Konecny).
Classy.
Could that be construed as tampering?
Nice gesture, for sure, but not hard to imagine there could be an ulterior motive.
I would think that’s stretching it a bit.
Maybe, maybe not.
Did he take them up on the offer?
Something like:
“Come to the Flyers Connor, and spend the next 3-5 years playing for a mediocre team.”
bonus: Torts will be the coach.
Did anyone else notice during the trophy presentation, McDavid just did a short skate and only partially lifted the trophy up? And then, in an interview afterwards, he downplayed the importance of the moment by effectively saying it was just a little tournament and not the Olympics.
97 knows that there are bigger things in store for him, the Oilers and for Canada.
I noticed that too – I kind of thought it was over-the-top for there to be medal presentation and then that tiny trophy.
McDavid kind of sheepishly held it up (not fully over his head) and then passed it on just as fast.
McDavid’s reward was the celly after scoring the biggest goal of his career (to date).
Just before that I also noted the reluctant handshake with Bettman.
When Bennett came in for the hug Connor didn’t look at him I noticed, maybe conicidence
I sure hope everyone is right – it’s not a Cup or Gold Medal so Connor won’t get too high on it
Because when he scored and didn’t raise his arms over his head, and then didn’t lift the 7 Eleven Mini Cup over his head like the others did, that wasn’t my first thought
They could finally drop the prescribed messaging from the past 10 days. It’s fun, awesome to win against great competition, but it isn’t Stanley and it isn’t Olympic gold. It is a large upgrade on the All-star game. Which is also a success.
One of my thoughts was a possible shoulder injury could be the reason he didn’t fully lift the trophy overhead? Would explain is non superhero play this season. It looked weird.
Nothing like optimism.
I am quite happy, somewhat relieved, that it was McDavid that scored that goal.
McDavid had a very good tournament overall but he struggled for most of that game last night, big time. One can foresee the narrative if the US had one and McDavid had an off night (by his standards) – stemming off being pointless in games 6 and 7 and then a poor performance in a championship game loss – the narrative would be he can’t perform in the biggest of games.
I know I shouldn’t care about narratives from those outside the Oilers’ fanbase but I’m just glad that McDavid did what we knew he could do – score the biggest goal at the biggest time – be the hero for the nation.
He had a mediocre tournament other than the goal.
McDavid should score at least more points in a tournament like that.
My opinion: McDavid wants to keep his focus on winning the cup this year.
Dear Jordan Binnington, I am deeply sorry for all the things I said about you and for not having faith in you. I will make my way to the penalty box where I will feel shame.
There were legitimate reasons to question Binnington’s selection AND he proved all of his doubters wrong. That’s the beauty of sports. You can silence all of your critics in one fell swoop.
The Blues have always been my second favourite NHL team. Will wear my Blues cap today as a quiet shoutout for the excellence of Binnington AND Parayko.
SIUTBOYC . . . or something like that. Courtesy of Brownlee.
1)
Thanks! These are interesting numbers to dig into. These and the Nuge numbers confirm a suspicion I had, which is that as much as McDavid appears to be struggling at times (eye-test) the numbers show that it’s really driven by wingers scoring and point totals coming down (Hyman coming down to earth a bit, Nuge struggling). I agree that Hyman’s totals aren’t that concerning, but wow Nuge has really taken a nosedive this year.
2) A few weeks ago I thought the most pressing need at the TDL was a top-4 RHD. Now, I think it’s whatever player/solution that allows the team to take Nuge off of 1LW. Whether its an acquisition to play 1LW, Savoie slotting in with 97 (or 29, and one of 29’s wingers slides up), or an acquisition to play somewhere else on the depth chart that lets someone else slide up to 1LW.
Whatever/whoever the player is, the team needs to find a third musketeer for 97-18.
3) I said it yesterday, but I’d like to see 53 get another shot with 97-18, even if its just for a few shifts in a game. I think 53’s game is in a much different place than it was the first few weeks, and his skillset might rhyme with 97 and 18 (although he tends to do his best work as the primary puck handler, and that configuration might produce some scary shifts/chaos when they get penned in their own zone).
4) Not a knock against our lord and savior McJesus, but I feel like he’s a tough player to find linemates for. Even during the 4N tournament, I felt his linemates struggled to mesh with him for the most part. Even this season, there’s been a struggle to find a consistent trio that works. Not sure if its the speed, his preternatural instincts, or the fact that (at times) he might lean a bit to far forward looking for offense at times (not exactly your typical “low and slow” C in the defensive zone).
5) Although it took time for them to find some chem, I thought Marner was actually an good fit on 97’s wing. Similar player type (not caliber) to Nuge (beautiful passer, defensive conscience, not very physical, not a shot-first type), who 97 had great results with until Nuge’s dip this year.
6) Obligatory “I think Ryan Donato would be a good fit on 97s wing” comment. In terms of style not caliber, I think he checks a lot of boxes that Nuge and Marner both check, although he’s probably more of a finisher than a playmaker, which might be a good thing given that McDavid’s per-60 stats away from Draisaitl suggest he could do with another winger who can cash chances on his wing.
To write that all in four sentences is incredible. Succinct yet poetic. You have a gift with words.
Congratulations to Connor for reaching hockey immortality.
The St Louis Blues play in Edmonton April 9th.
I hope the crowd gives Binner a standing O.
Some of Binningtons strongest critics were also Skinners biggest supporters. It is rather baffling.
They seem like similar goalies.
Skinner wins 1 cup and he’s almost immortal.
By April 9th,
Feb 20th will be ancient history.
The human mind does not operate the way it did 20 years ago
Sure.
While purposely running those offer sheet traitors out of the game.
That 1st period was the fastest hockey I have ever seen on TV. The speed must have been overwhelming watching live in Boston. So, 9 years ago when most of the fastest players were either at home (Cale Makar) or on Team NA it was still pretty exciting even though that group was all very early in their careers.
Canada’s core players are in their prime for the upcoming Olympics. If we only had a goalie that plays well in big games – we do, so thank you Jordan Binnington for getting the game to McDavid’s stick.
There have now been 14 best-on-best tournaments of various types since the first Canada Cup in 1976. Here’s a list of champions:
Canada 10 (1976,1984,1987,1991,2002,2004,2010,2014,2016,2025)
USSR 1 (1981)
USA 1 (1996)
Czechia 1 (1998)
Sweden 1 (2006)
Pretty pretty good,
Bruce let me help you out! 2026 Olympics – Canada
Summit Series in ’72 as well if you want to count that
I don’t because it was a series not a tournament.
My all time favorite series is the 1972 Soviets.
The Soviets were like aliens from other planet. They took the best hockey players on earth to the last minutes of a 4-3-1 series. Then they changed the NHL game.
Maybe Flyers had the 1976 Flyers versus Central Red Army to show McDavid when he travelled to Philly with them.
It’s incredible to me that the 2010-2025 run is actually our longest run of uninterrupted success. (1972-1991 was interrupted by the 1981 loss.) Oddly enough, this period overlaps with a time when I’ve been less confident about our clear supremacy over the rest of the hockey world, given the rise of American hockey players. But our boys have always come to play when challenged.
You could perhaps include the 2005 World Championship during the Bettman lockout season, won by the Czechs over Canada.
We didn’t send our very best team (a lot of guys weren’t playing that year), but there was no reason we couldn’t. Other teams did.
Joe Thornton and Rick Nash were unbelievable in that tournament.
I can’t count 2016 given neither Canada nor the US had their best with the U-23 team.
And in the words of Don Cherry (1996): “They only win this with the refs in their pocket and a last minute illegal goal by an ex-Canadian!”
I’m glad to see the USSR won’t be forgotten.
Rough choice of article title lol
Damn… he got me again. I learn more here than I’d like to admit.
Haha, yes I’m not sure the U.S.’s interpretation of “manifest destiny” (the belief they had the god given right to expand across the North America throughout the 19th century) was justified and inevitable … Hate to get woke on you LT 🙂
The US absolutely acted as though manifest destiny was justified and inevitable. That isn’t woke or unwoke, but it is history.
The reality is the US has always embraced this mindset. Some of their leaders just do a better job than others of disguising it. Dropping nukes forever changed the rules of engagement for our little blue marble. It’s been ‘might makes right’ ever since. Putin will be the lastest aggressor rewarded for this behavior
It’s been “might makes right” for quite some time and it’s not an American invention …
two world wars, preceded by a century of colonial expansion and industrialization-driven wars resulting in humans inventing newer and better ways to kill each other, napoleon’s conquest of europe, the 30 years war destroying Europe, etc. …
For the most part, this century has been far more peaceful and driven by diplomacy since … ever?
Not trying to get political, meant it as a joke 🙂
RE: Harry Patch…
Huh, very interesting and I usually Google your titles that I’m not familiar with but did not yesterday. I think I recall his story closer to his death, but definitely had not heard that Radiohead song before. Also, thanks for the reminder, I had downloaded their (The Smile) albums to my phone over the holidays but forgot to give them a spin, maybe today’s the day.
Podz/McDavid/Savoie
Arvidsson/Draisaitl/Hyman
Skinner/Nuge/Perry
Janmark/Henrique/Brown
Do it coach, don’t be scared.
Give MacT back his blender
Top 6 winners seemed flipped to me based on various things we’ve seen:
1) Hyman/McDavid chemistry over a few years
2) Hyman/Drai reduced chemistry (vs 1 above)
3) Type of game Savoie has played, to this point, as a pro (although I’m sure he’d be able to fit in with McDavid as well.
Sports have always been political, since the first time someone ran to Marathon, through to Lions vs. Christians, to the Negro and Women’s baseball leagues during the world wars, Munich and of course, the exclusion of Russia. I have several friends, who shall we say, are maybe your stereotypical Albertan, who are all about “idiots booing the anthems”. I did change two of their minds by asking them “what other outlet do we have on such a stage to let our feelings be known?” I didn’t ask them about how true social change is typically accomplished within a generation, and I hope we never find out the hard way…
It was a great game. Should have been tonight, but there you go. We won despite not taking our potentially best team. I thought a couple of players looked overwhelmed, we could have done with a little more toughness against the shenanigans, but we won. We won. All’s well that ends well, I guess.
There are wayyy too many closeted Americans in Canada.
Looking at you, P.K. Subban.
I was looking at P.K, Subban on video last night, & his elation at the winning goal did not scream “closeted American” to me. Maybe that phrase has a meaning of which i am unaware.
P.K. was onboard with Trump’s 51 state tweets.
Guess you missed his jubilant celebration with Messier on McDavid winnings goal. The McDavid goal is the only highlight I watched and I saw it.
Our entire daily lives from Entertainment, sports, music, shopping, clothes we wear, vehicles we drive have been tied with the Americans for a 100 years.
Weirdo Canadians unable to boo the government that’s lead us to such a weak position buying Canadian only at American corporations drinking the India owned Tim Hortons thinking they’ve shown the evil down south just how superior we are lol.
Don’t blame the predator you’ve attracted for picking apart the dead carcus you’ve left on the front lawn.
Sir, this is a Wendy’s.
“carcus” sounds like a savory French appetizer of some kind
How dare you not buy Canadian
I guess you missed P.K. showing support of Trump’s 51 state tweets.
“Our entire daily lives from Entertainment, sports, music, shopping, clothes we wear, vehicles we drive have been tied with the Americans for a 100 years.”
This also goes both ways, which is why I don’t know why people credit Americans solely for these things when those American companies depend on Canada’s trade or people in a variety of ways.
I did miss it.
We were tied with the Americans last night too, until McDavid untied it. 😈
There are several players on Team Canada that hold the same view as PK, doesn’t make any of them less Canadian. Is Gretzky the enemy? Lol
American film and television is light years ahead, the majority of successful athletes and musicians end up calling America home. Hell even my dentist picked up his office and relocated to America, as he stated “to provide my family a better life”
Canada is in a comically weak state, Booing the US anthem is spitting into the wind while walking up hill with your pants down. I’ll keep my boo’s to the ones in charge saying I have no culture, that my old stock family that fought for the country are the worse part of our history, I’ll boo the ones that stole me of my national pride. PK Subban, Wayne Gretzky, American ice hockey players didn’t do any of that.
Put Savoie with McDavid.
Great comment. “Booing the US anthem is spitting into the wind while walking up hill with your pants down.”
Will all this sudden patriotism result in pipelines being to the east coast, or more LNG facilities? I’m not holding my breath.
Booing a national anthem, or being able to, is the very definition of freedom of speech…
Regarding Gretzky, it seems like the most red and white he wears these days comes from a MAGA hat. Guy came out from the US bench and couldn’t even be bothered to wear a Canadian jersey.
“American film and television is light years ahead, the majority of successful athletes and musicians end up calling America home. Hell even my dentist picked up his office and relocated to America, as he stated “to provide my family a better life”
All anecdotal. Tyler Myers says hello.
Prospectapalooza!
The House of Stone is a stone alone as the only NAmateur to get a rest tonight. Everyone else toils.
Today is the first of 11 consecutive days of prospectivity, almost unheard-of but this year’s NAmateur pool is the biggest in at least three years.
Muskegon (Berry) @ 5 p.m.
Flint (Day, Clattenburg) @ 5 p.m.
Barrie (Akey, Wakely) @ 5 p.m.
London (O’Reilly, Nicholl) @ 5 p.m.
Boston University (Lachance, Copponi) @ 5 p.m.
Vermont (Määttä, Münzenberger) @ 5 p.m.
Notre Dame (Fischer) @ 6:30 p.m.
All times are two times and are also White Sands time.
Amazng what happens when you have 7 draft picks in 1 year after having 7 in the prior 2 years combined.
I am not very excited to get back to “regularly scheduled programming” which, I guess, is to 11am (mountain) starts.
From practice, it seems that they are re-setting the top 6 with:
Nuge/McDavid/Hyman
Podz/Drai/____
I’m not sure if Savoie gets a shot at the 2RW or if he’s been a placeholder for Arvy who (along with Ek) were not at practice this week.
I really want to see Savoie at 2RW with Drai (although think it will be Arvy) and, with Ryan and Philp both down, and that top line having a tough season so far, this could be a 4 center strong time (with Henrique also having an uneven season):
Skinner/McDavid/Hyman
Podz/Drai/Savoie
Arvidsson/Nuge/Perry
Janmark/Henrique/Brown
Kap
Coach mentioned a few weeks back that he liked one of the wingers on his off-wing, I think it was Arvy.
That’s a dandy lineup, would like to see it for a game or two.
Kane as 3L with Arvy as 3R come playoffs could be a load against the soft parade.
Yeah KK said he likes 33 on the LW.
I think running 93 and 19 down the middle in the bottom 6 is the way to go.
I think 33 probably gets a look as 1LW before 53 does given that KK seems pretty risk-averse and the results the first time weren’t great. That being said, I do hope 53 gets another look there (although I’d be hesitant to break up 53-29-92 as they’ve had a strong run lately…
Oooops – that should have stated that I AM VERY EXCITED to get back to regular season hockey.
Lets do this!
I liked the original post.
To me, nothing but a SCF G7 can match the intensity of last night.
Let’s hope for another – one that ends with McDavid lifting the Cup with more vigour than he lifted the trophy last night.
I was happy and excited and invested but the Oilers and the Cup mean much more to me than the Four Nations (or even the Olympics, which I will care about ALOT).
Of course any individual regular season game in February will mean less than last night but I’m ready to get back at it – two weeks until the deadline, then the stretch drive and then the playoffs.
Lets do this!
Also, excited to see M. Savoie (hopefully tomorrow).
This is pretty funny…
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DGUznKmRZqu/?igsh=MXU3NjB6ZWl3eGJ1aw%3D%3D
It is both funny and scary what AI can do. There are too many gullible people that will believe these words were actually spoken by Mcdavids.
It terrifies me to realize how much I enjoy watching that video. For the sixth time.
This stuff is going to turn the world (or at least the court system) upside down.
What an amazing game last night. On the Cult of Hockey article there was a post by Rachel Doerrie that I thought was right on. She called out Bill Guerin for trying to make last nights game political by reaching out to the “Orangeman”. I have always admired Guerin but thought he was entirely offside for what he did.
Replied to the wrong comment.
Political leaders of all flavours frequently touch base with teams at championship games as a motivator.
Much ado about nothing.
This^ x 1000
Can we please stop going out of our way to be upset or offended by benign things that can easily be explained without ill intent or maliciousness ….
I know a lot of people rest on their past experiences, which is probably what Geurein was doing, or even the Panthers for visiting the White House.
But its vital we stop treating MAGA as anything near benign.
No really, keep the politics off the blog.
SC champs have been visiting the White House forever. It’s not limited to the Panthers. This is neither news, nor controversial.
Lol I’m saying a national team coach reaching out to the country’s president/PM to speak to the team is “benign”
un-clutch your pearls, and stop going our of your way to find things/people to get upset with over nothing
Guys. I’m not so naive to think I am going to win anyone over to my point of view in a format like this. But why is it “pearl clutching”, and why am I told not to bring politics into it? I didn’t start the thread, I’m replying.
The current President is not equal to other Presidents and shouldn’t be treated as if he were. Either you agree with that or you don’t.
And I wish he wouldn’t have intervened in the game, but he did. And now discussion that doesn’t fully contextualize the consequences of the words and actions that surrounded last night, and why it mattered, and how people will remember it, is one thing. You can have that conversation.
But I do wonder why you feel you need to discipline anyone who does want to discuss what it means in a larger context? Fishman’s original post is quite clear. You are free to bypass the comment, as with the replies.
To each is there own don’t be ne such a poor loser as my Grandma used to say “Such it up buttercup”
Here’s another hot take Bill is trying to grow the game in the biggest market in the world.
There is a reason last night’s game was so galvanising. Its important to treat MAGA differently. It is a threat to global security and a democratic way of life. Assessing this as a right-left conventional political issue misses the not so subtle point. It needs to be stopped.
As strong as your take is on such things, realize others see it exactly opposite
There is no way for politics to work here, or many other charged topics, we’ve been asked not to many times
Couldn’t have said it better myself (emphasis obviously mine).
Spot on, with both points.