Posted on 05/26/2025 2:21:32 PM PDT by FLNittany
FORT LAUDERDALE — Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice added another gem to his long collection of golden quotes on Sunday morning after being asked about his team’s humility off of the ice despite their ferociousness on it.
The Panthers are, to be sure, one of the most hated teams in the NHL due to their aggressive, take-no-prisoners style.
They certainly are not popular in some parts of their own state, much less in Canada or North Carolina.
Yet after Saturday’s 6-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes to pull within a game of a third straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final, Brad Marchand was talking about eating ice cream during intermission.
“Is that a fact?” Maurice said when asked about Marchand’s penchant for frozen treats.
“I know he said it, that doesn’t make it a fact. You have video evidence? No? This is a conspiracy theory.’’
Matthew Tkachuk, one of the league’s top agitators, spoke Sunday about going after Sebastian Aho on Saturday two days after he took out Sam Reinhart with a low hipcheck which appears to have injured Reinhart’s knee.
“I don’t really look at it as intent or intimidation at all,’’ Tkachuk said. “It’s just sticking up for teammates. We’re a family in here. It could happen to anybody and there are 20 guys racing to stick up for a teammate. That’s just how our team is built.’’
Moments later, Maurice told a story about Tkachuk seeing a young fan who is battling cancer outside the locker room and stopping for a chat. Maurice even introduced them, joking that he quickly realized Tkachuk certainly needed no introduction. So, Paul, how could a team seemingly this unlikeable be so, well, likeable?
It is all in the context of where you run into them. On the ice? Not good guys.
Off of it, pretty chill bunch.
”I’ll ask you two questions, and they might be personal so you don’t have to answer them,’’ Maurice responded. “Have you ever shotgunned a beer? Have you ever been to church … or something spiritual? OK. Would you shotgun a beer at church? That doesn’t make you a hypocrite. There is a context and a place for all things.
“I will tell you they are honest, these men are honest. That personality is all real. I hated Matthew Tkachuk, that’s a little too strong, when I was in Winnipeg. Then you meet him, and you’re like ‘what a wonderful human being.’ “They are hard on the ice, they are. But that’s driven by how they feel about each other. They don’t want to let the other guy down. There’s a caring about them. These guys are different. Barkov’s personality is our room. Sam Bennett and his wife are raising money for cats and dogs. They are really nice people.
“And then the puck drops. Sometimes you say a prayer, sometimes you shotgun a beer. That’s like our team.’’
As for Maurice’s ice cream preference, he said his go-to is “something with cherry in it. Black cherry, raspberry. That would be good.’’
easy answer..how come nobody else was doing that back then?...he was winning the scoring races by 70-80 points. I know you like these statue goalies and their pretty matching pads, but then according to you, EVERYTHING before the year 2000 means nothing. The USA beating the Soviets in 1980 Olymics meant nothing then, right?? Bobby Orr was all, a big nothing, right?? What you just watched tonight were the greatest goaltenders ever, right?...you are one of these Gretzky haters that cant comprehend what he did....funny, they were saying the same things when he was actually doing it. SORRY, BUT HE SINGLE HANDEDLY MADE TODAYS NHL OBSOLETE. Twist yourself into all the “ppg” pretzels you want too...Mikko Rantanen, good grief...
“only 4 Stanley Cups”...AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...and every possible playoff scoring record under the sun..again, you are hopeless.
50 goals in only 39 games..thats the one record 99 himself says will NEVER be broken. He had one 5 game stretch where he scored 15 goals....15 GOALS in FIVE GAMES!!!....LIKE, WTF!!
i got one more for you, mr. ppg man...1985, Oilers rampaged to their 2nd SC..that year, 99 had 73 goals in the reg season, and 17 in the playoffs....yes, its true. He actually scored 100 goals that year. Tell me, where Mikko stand on that list??..ill wait....AHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
oops, my bad...1985, him and Kurri both scored 90 goals that year. It was 1984, Gretzky had 87 goals and 13 in the playoffs for 100 goals. The records are so mind numbing, even i get confused.
47 points in only 18 games ..in the playoffs no less, is just simply a shocking stat. Over an entire season, thats a pace for 314 points. There are no words....
There you go again — cite the exception player with statistics that are outliers, and complain that the game sucks now because nobody can match them today. That’s like saying that professional baseball players are terrible today because nobody can hit .366 for his career like Ty Cobb did.
ok...now i’ll post my idea of skill, artistry. This goal used to be everywhere but its hard to find now. This is from a compilation video...its from Game 2 of the 1988 Campbell Conference Final, Detroit-Edmonton. Detroit was trying to steal a game in Edmonton..they led 3-1 going into the third period. Messier had just scored on a breakway, and then a minute later, Gretzky, Tikkanen, and Kurri scored one of the prettiest goals you’ll ever see. Theres no dumping and chasing, no trapezoid, its a 5 on 5 goal, no 2 line pass..this is how they used to enter the offensive zone and that you NEVER see anymore. Go to 1:57:05 near the end of the video. Gretzkys cross body pass, the smoothnest of the play..it was very inspiriing.
Notwithstanding that aesthetics are somewhat subjective, I don't get how you could look at, say, a compilation of goals by Ovechkin and say that there's no skill or artistry.
Heck, I personally think the passing and stickwork by Vilardi and Ehlers on this goal from earlier this season is more technically impressive than the goal you mentioned.
But I guess they're not "pretty" enough for you.
The overall level of skill in the NHL has definitely improved dramatically over the years. You see it with magnificent passing plays more than anywhere else:
NHL Greatest Assists of All Time
It's no coincidence that Gretzky shows up a lot in videos like this -- along with McDavid and Crosby. My personal favorite from this video starts around the 5:14 mark. Nicklas Backstrom -- arguably the best passer of his generation -- threads the puck in the air past two opponents in the passing lane, and it lands flat on the ice right in Ovechkin's wheelhouse for a one-timer.
are you sure you are awake??...you do understand what you posted is a power play goal right??..they are already in the offensive zone, and its 2 on none against the goalie, and they are basically standing still. i would hope they scored, geez..the point of the Kurri goal i posted is its 5 on 5....theres no dumping and chasing to enter the zone. Both Detroit defenseman are where they should be and Gretzky creates the entire play out of nothing. Thats why he has more assists than anyone has points....if you cant see that, you are beyond help.
I should hope not.
lets try this one more time...this is from the 1987 Canada Cup, still considered the greatest hockey ever played. Canada and the Soviet Union in their primes. Go to the :21 second mark. Gretzky and Mike Gartner enter the Soviet zone..Gretzky goes to the net, yet he pleads for Gartner to NOT pass to him...even raises and points his stick back to “hit the trailer”. Naturally Gartner ignores him and still passes to him. 99 then calmly lifts the the Soviet defensemans stick and hits Coffey, the trailer, himself. He simply saw the ice differently than anyone else has before or since.
The statistics and anecdotal evidence are pretty overwhelming that the physical and mental skill levels of modern players are, in general, leagues above where they used to be.
(As an aside, your critique about Gretzky having more assists than anyone else has points can be applied to all of the other greats from the '80s and '90s, not just modern players. He was just a freak of nature, much like Michael Jordan was for the NBA.)
They really are. Every generation of athletes are bigger stronger and faster than the one before. You can see this in the record books of stuff like running and swimming and jumping and throwing. That’s why they always fall. And it’s also why any of those “who would win” discussions comparing yesteryear athletes to current the correct answer is always the current guy, who’s almost always taller, stronger and faster than the old guy.
yeah..they are not skating out of control like a bunch of crazed pitbulls. Today, If and when they get a 2 on 1, they overskate the puck, swinging wildly, out of control. Whats the point?.. the final product is a very robotic, low scoring, low shots on goals borefest. Other than ovechkin hanging around to break half of a career record, nothing historic has happened in the NHL the last 25 years. Gone are the days of incredible scoring lines...no 50 goals in 50 games, let alone 39 games. Most goals record in a single season is not even mentioned anymore...its like gone from the game. Any and all season scoring or game scoring records are a thing of the past. Name any other game where its highest scoring era was 40 years ago. In the NFL, just last season, the Detroit Lions had the 3rd highest scoring offense EVER...it was must see t.v. Saquan Barkley could have set the single season rushing record, but he chose to sit out the game. And that was just last year. The NHL game today, all they do is muck for the puck and constantly turn it over..hoping to get a lucky bounce off a turnover. Its all dump and chase, thats why they had to stop the goalies from playing the puck, or else there would be even less goals scored. Its just 10 guys hacking and wacking at a little black puck. In the 80’s and early 90’s, ALMOST EVERY TEAM SCORED 300 GOALS OR MORE AS A TEAM. This past season, 32 teams, AND NOT ONE SCORED EVEN 300 GOALS...NOT ONE. Its soccer on ice now. No flow or skill to the game. Btw, Michael Jordan never set not ONE league scoring record..not one....weird example. Bottom line, the NHL has gone backwards...they score at a rate they did in the 1960’s. The stars of the 1980’s made the NHL obsolete.
yet the NHL has gone backwards in scoring ability.
No, it hasn’t. What the NHL has done is spread the scoring around. Checking lines are dead. Enforcers are dead. Rolling 4 rules the league. So while individuals aren’t necessarily scoring as much (though remember Ovi tied Gretz in the same number of games, and his career started in the neutral zone trap era, when scoring was down) TEAMS are getting plenty of goals. But they’re getting them now from all 4 lines.
Also remember the “glory days” was before positional goaltending became common. Save percentages went through the roof when the butterfly, hybrid and profly came into common usage when Roy showed up, and the equipment changed to support that style. With goalies being dramatically better at stopping shots shooters need to be better than ever. And preferably good passers to get the puck to somebody that the goalie isn’t in position to stop.
Scoring ability is FINE.
2-1...3-2...4-3...lather, rinse, repeat. Teams go 10- 15 minutes without even a shot on goal. They had to install a bunch of weird rules changes..and it still hasnt helped. Nameless, faceless league now. WNBA is more popular. 32 teams and not one scored even 300 goals last year. Most goals in a season..etc records are a thing of the past...not even mentioned anymore. Dumbasses ruined their own game. Only solution..just cease operations and rename the league. NHL game today is obsolete. But hey, you guys can cheer on the trapezoid, so theres that....ahahahahahah..what a stupid looking game now.
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