The Chicoutimi Cucumber

Makes sense. But of course it doesn’t answer the mystery of why the Big Four don’t produce consistently and at an elite level in the playoffs. I mean…Auston Matthews is a genuine superstar, a scoring machine. Yet he has been hit and miss over eight playoffs. 🤷‍♂️

Wasn’t targeting you with that crack. It’s more that hockey fans often default to the idea that if a guy is ineffective it’s because he’s not big and strong. As I say, the question with Marner shouldn’t be this; it’s whether, like Nick Suzuki in 2021, he is effective at managing the physical challenges that come with playoff action.

I'm sorry to repeat myself, but I always think back to Game 7 in 2021. They had nothing that night - it was as if they were defeated going in. That was really striking and definitely revealed something fundamentally wrong IMHO.

Calgary traded him! He wanted out. And yes, he has been fabulous. Even my wife got a huge kick out of seeing him dump Kane into the Oilers' bench and then pound on him a few times for good measure, LOL. One of those "happy warrior" types who loves to mix it up, is strong as a bull, and has alarming skill at times. (He is also capable of making boneheaded plays and can be erratic over a full season...a classic "built for the playoffs" dude).

I gave his playoff totals earlier the thread. The Leafs collectively have a playoff performance problem. I'm not so sure I would lay the blame for it at Marner's feet. But obviously, they are not going to trade Matthews (genuine superstar), Tavares is untradeable, and they seem to be all in on Nylander (who I love as a player myself). Marner is the odd man out, when it comes to the Big Four. Trading a player of his stature does open up a chance to do a significant reboot of the roster, depending on how it's done. It'll be interesting to see what they come up with. Hopefully, more dog poop. 💩

I think it's ridiculous to expect everyone to morph into Matthew Tkachuk at playoff time. The real question with Marner is - is he willing to pay the price to succeed in the playoffs? And is lack of this willingness a reason for his hit-and-miss playoff production? I don't know the answer, but that's closer to being the right question.

Ahahahaha, classic PK. As you may know, Zadorov got a pretty good zinger off re: Edmonton prior to Game Three: “It’s fun. They have good fans, diehard fans. There’s pretty much nothing else to do in that city except watch hockey. I like what they do. That’s why they love their team for sure, and support them so hard,” Zadorov, 29, said. Nikita Zadorov zings Edmonton, refuses to divulge on Evander Kane | The Province

Terrifically strong performance by Silovs. Impressive that the Oil have faced him for three games and not yet found weaknesses to exploit. Au contraire, he’s gotten stronger with each game.

One thing we don't hear much about (and why would we?) is the incredible acumen of Van's management group. Cap-strapped because of the innumerable stupidities of Jim "Couldn't Get Around to Signing Toffoli" Benning, they had to choose whether to prioritize Miller or Horvat's contract. They chose Miller, then traded Horvat rather than overpay based on an outlier contract season. Fan howled. They made the right decision. Saddled with goombah Boudreau as coach and not permitted to immediately fire him, they rode it out for a while and then brought in Tocchet. Fans were unimpressed. Tocchet has been a BRILLIANT hire. He has done a masterful job of reconstituting the team's entire identity. Recognizing team D as a weakness, they completely remoulded the blueline and now have a strong 6-man unit with considerable size and sufficient mobility. Seeing that they had an unexpected contender, they went out and added Zadorov and Lindstrom. Both have been critical to this run; Zadorov has been an absolute monster. Rutherford won Cups with two separate organizations - quite a rare thing for a GM - and Alvin is his protege. They've put on a master class in organizational transformation. (Whether it can be sustained is another matter; the Canucks have a busload of impending UFAs. However, if I were a fan, I'd be reassured knowing that key decisions are in the hands of this management group).

Funny thing about Marner. He’s had dud playoffs, but he’s also had productive ones (2018, 2022, 2023). Regular Season Playoffs Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM +/- GP G A Pts PIM 2012-13 St. Michael's Buzzers OJHL 6 1 3 4 0 14 3 1 4 0 2013-14 London Knights OHL 64 13 46 59 24 38 9 3 6 9 4 2014-15 London Knights OHL 63 44 82 126 53 36 7 9 7 16 8 2015-16 London Knights OHL 57 39 77 116 68 45 18 16 28 44 8 2016-17 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 77 19 42 61 38 0 6 1 3 4 0 2017-18 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 82 22 47 69 26 -1 7 2 7 9 4 2018-19 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 82 26 68 94 22 22 7 2 2 4 2 2019-20 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 59 16 51 67 16 6 5 0 4 4 2 2020-21 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 55 20 47 67 20 21 7 0 4 4 4 2021-22 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 72 35 62 97 16 23 7 2 6 8 2 2022-23 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 80 30 69 99 28 18 11 3 11 14 2 2023-24 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 69 26 59 85 18 21 7 1 2 3 2 NHL Totals 576 194 445 639 184 57 11 39 50 18 I heard one suggestion that he would do better in a non-Canadian market and I have a feeling that may be true. If he wound up in, say, Carolina, I would not be surprised at all to see him writing a second half of his career where he quietly emerges as a regular season AND playoff star. Or, it may just be that he needs to get out of TO, like Kessel did. Anyway, he’s 27 so outside the Habs’ window. Forget it.

The reffing was terrible. McJesus high-sticked Hughes (who didn’t even have the puck) right in the face and drew blood - zero call. I thought that was outrageous and, frankly, doubt that a non-call would have happened if the players had been reversed. What I also noticed was that the refs were getting in the way of the play to an unusual degree. Pucks kept going off them, they kept interfering in zone entries, etc. It was as if the play was too fast for the officials at time and they just couldn’t get out of the damned way. Of course, special teams heavily favour the Oilers. So I’m not sure the Canucks should complain too loudly; if the games start to become more tightly called, that would mean more PPs for the Oilers as well. Two big pieces of good news for the Canucks despite the loss. One is that Pettersson scored and was looking like about 80% normal all night. The other is that Silov bounced back from a mediocre outing and was impeccable. They can win the series, but what the 3rd period and OT showed is that, when #97 and #29 are on the ice together and double-shifted, it is - unsurprisingly - sheer survival time for the Canucks. The flip side of it is that Vancouver is equal to, or better than, Edmonton in every other dimension. Skinner has not been better than Silov. The Van D is better overall. And Van has stronger depth up front. But, again, they had no answer to McDavid/Dreiseitl last night. Edmonton’s superstars came up trumps.

Oil totally dominating the third

I heard it from a lifelong friend of Timmins that Timmins was in disbelief that CC was available at #15. So no risk there - he was the BPA, in the Habs’ judgement. Mailloux was also BPA by some distance, since his value had been deflated due to issues not related to his on-ice work. I don’t think MB, as old-school a dinosaur as any brontosaurus, had much idea of the sh*storm that pick would generate. He probably thought other GMs would be mad at him but probably did not anticipate that it would become a #MeToo-style media scandal and PR nightmare for the organization.

If you ask me, everyone has basically moved beyond Mailloux’s crime. He put in the work to rehabilitate himself as a human being and a hockey player, and - more importantly - we now know that his was in no way an isolated case. Rather it was one instance of an endemic culture of misogyny, up to and including sexual assault, in junior hockey and probably the pros as well. Surely, if the goal was to unload him because of his off-ice issue, that would have happened long before now?

Wait…Shanahan was the Saviour, wasn’t he?? No wait, Babcock was the Saviour. Hang on hang on, Matthews was the Saviour. No, no, that’s not it - Tavares was the Saviour. No, hold it, Keefe was the Saviour. Wait, I mean, Ryan Reaves was the Saviour. No, no, I mean to say, Craig Berube is the Saviour…no, just a second…