Mitch Marner is going to the Cup Final, the Presidents’ Trophy winner just got swept, and Toronto is drafting first overall. This year felt different though. Colorado looked just as mighty in the post season as they did in the regular season. I didn’t think any of the remaining teams in the playoffs could beat them, I surely didn’t think any team could sweep them. Vegas proved me, and likely everyone else, very wrong. While plenty of praise is deservedly being heaped upon Vegas, the Makar injury is what I believe to be the biggest x-factor of the series. Colorado was the deepest forward group in the league, but their D-core did not sniff the same level of depth. Makar going out with injury forced a lot of uneasy decisions for Coach Bednar. Devon Toews was asking to be Makar and play 30 minutes a night. Brett Kulak was elevated into a top-4 spot. They had no true power-play quarterback replacement despite the efforts of Burns, Toews, and Malinksi. If Colorado’s forward group is a luxury sports car, Makar is the engine that makes them go. Having a defenseman who can literally play half the game and consistently set up your bevy of forwards with glorious chances, as well as defend splendidly, is something irreplaceable. Makar played injured in the final two games of the series, and it still wasn’t enough, Vegas was just the better team.
What an unexpected turnaround for Vegas. They fired their Stanley Cup winning coach with only 8 games remaining in the regular season. Until that point the Golden Knights were a mess. Only the Vancouver Canucks trailed for time this season than Vegas. Analytically Vegas was God awful at each blueline, constant turnovers and sloppy play plagued them. Then John Tortorella came in and completely chances their swagger. Torts didn’t have enough time to wear his players down with his abrasive coaching style, instead he allowed them to actually start feeling good about themselves. Now Tortorella has a chance to reach rarified air becoming only the fourth NHL coach to win the cup with two different franchises.
Like most things with Vegas, nothing comes without a price. They are one of, if not the most, hated franchise in the sport. During these playoffs, the team refused media availability after beating the Ducks costing Torts 100k and the team its upcoming 2nd round pick. Nothing about Vegas makes them a feel-good story, quite the opposite. They are proud to be the most cut-throat, bad-boy, team in the league. Their goalie, who has been incredible, might even be a criminal. In my book he is definitively a criminal, mostly because he played for the Philadelphia Flyers and once you’ve done that, I will believe that you did in fact partake in any illegal allegations thrown at you. While playing for the Flyers is certainly a crime in my book, the actual allegations he faced were quite gruesome, but instead of playing don’t drop the soap in jail he’s leading his team towards a Stanley Cup. Everything about Vegas makes them collectively hated.
Vegas deserves most of the hatred thrown their way. However, one section of the world likely hates them a little more than the rest of the world. Toronto, Canada. Those dumb, poor, idiots in Toronto. While Vegas deserves their hatred, Mitch Marner never deserved his. His hometown turned on him, singled him out, and made him literally hate the sport he grew up loving. The fans in Toronto are the real monsters; they are bad people.
I personally will be rooting for Montreal to comeback from a 2-1 deficit to Carolina. The scenes in Toronto of a Vegas-Montreal final will literally feed me for years, those people would be in complete meltdown. Even if Montreal cannot vanquish the Hurricanes, I will be all aboard team Marner just to see those slimy Leafs fans squirm. Not only in Marner going to reach the Stanley Cup final, but he is also currently the most likely player to win the Conn Smythe. All you heard about in Toronto is how awful he was in meaningful playoff games. Instead of propping up the hometown kid, they tore him down at every single opportunity. I am thoroughly enjoying watching him completely shove it up the hoop of those bottom-feeders from the place he used to call home.
Congrats to Vegas, but the job isn’t done yet. Do it for Mitch, and more importantly, do it to shut up all the mentally deranged people in Toronto.
In Toronto, they hate their superstars. They start hate campaigns after one lousy performance. However, there are places in the world that actually celebrate their athletes. They support them when they get stupidly suspended. They create massive social media campaigns that are derived in love, not hate. One of those places is Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of the most beloved figures in Pittsburgh sports felt like he was goner at the conclusion of the season, but the fans wouldn’t let him go without a fight. Fans flooded Dubas’ social media with messages about retaining Evgeni Malkin, as no one wanted to see their beloved Russian go without a proper send off. Yesterday, Dubas did the right thing and signed Evgeni Malkin to a one-year deal. Thank God. It was the correct decision. Dubas gave some insight into how they have a plan for Geno this season. Geno seems like he was accepting of a new role. A role that might include some baked in rest days, and possibly the removal from the top power-play so Egor Chinakhov or Ben Kindel can continue to develop. Also, Geno will be expected to continue his mentorship of the younger Russians in the system, several of them are expected to be with the team next season. Egor Chinakhov, Ilya Soloyvov, Sergei Murashov, and Mikhail Ilyin could all be on the team next year and they will all benefit from having a Russian speaking “mentor” in Evgeni Malkin. Personally, I am just glad the fans will be able to spend yet another season seeing Sid and Geno take the ice together.
