“The best player won the series for them,” said Sutter.

[Breakers]

Ny Times Bestseller

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Who should he be tipping his hat to? Mike Smith?

McDavid, Kane, and Draisaitl couldn't be stopped. The rest of the Oilers were between average to dogshit.

Hyman? Nuge?
holy smokes, just admit you didn't watch the series

 

[PostBradMalone]

Ill say this, McDavid had some very average moments this series. I dare say this wasnt a great series by his standards.

Moreso on the PP, where he was trying to force passes to Draisaitl. There was a reason the Oilers PP was like 1-15 through the first 4 games.

At evens, he had moments where he was more easily contained than usual. Wasit game planning? Trying to do too much?

If he gets back to his usual self on the PP, the points are going to increase even more

I believe he’s hurt. He saw what happened to Drai and so wasn’t going to announce it publicly, but he cheekily talked about how he couldn’t get his legs going during Game 5 which is not something he would characteristically admit.

However I can see it being a leg issue as well, the Flames attacked knees and ankles all series since they couldn’t skate with Edmonton.

 

[Hockeyholic]

Sour grapes. He’s tipping his hat to McDavid not the Oilers.

I don't see sour grapes at all.

McDavid/Draisaitl were given their proper due by a HOF coach.

 

[rec28]

What do the advanced stats say about team performance when McD was on the ice vs. off? I mean it’s fine to say that he was the difference-maker and absolutely dominant while on the ice, but the hyperbolic (?) statements regarding McDavid’s impact would suggest that the Oilers were being crushed across nearly all metrics during the 40-ish minutes per game when he wasn’t on the ice. Is this borne out by the numbers? I honestly don’t know. Were the McDavid-less Oilers unquestionably dominated by the competition or did they hold their own? This is a sincere question, as my (possibly homer-rific) sense is that the results were fairly even while McDavid was on the bench.

 

[TomppaKoo]

Oilers will face a meat grinder in next series. Sutter is one of the all time best coaches. The talent of the two opposing team's best players beat his team. this series.

 

[SecretOilersFan]

It's sour grapes and the fact HFboards is actually saying it's the truth is funny. Can you or can't you go far in the playoffs off one or two players? People said that was impossible for the longest time which is why we were losing.

We only win game 4 against them because of Nuge. Game 5 it was largely our depth and Drai that was carrying us not McD until OT. Kane working well with McD is partially why we were successful in game 3. We also outplayed them on almost every line that game. Hyman's shorthanded goal puts in above CGY in Game 2. I mean man you could at least give credit to the dude who has the same stats as McD in Drai.

No one is saying EDM is going to be in the same position without McDavid but I thought we are playing hockey where one forward only plays 1/3 of the game? Even in the NBA you need guys to surround your stars in order to make them effective. For the first time since 2017 we actually do along with good coaching which is why we are more successful.

 

[Ninety7]

You need your best players to step up when it matters

Calgary could take some lessons.

 

[TheUnusedCrayon]

Draisaitl put up the quietest 17 point series ever.

He was decent, but he wasn't as good as he usually is. When he was out on the ice it's not as if you were expecting him to go out and grab a point at any given moment, yet he just kind of had heavy capitalization. He didn't even have his great shooting form that he has when he's healthy, especially on one-timers. I actually think he had the most accurate one-timer in the league this season but he hasn't been able to score with it in a while now.

 

[SkinsFan09]

Coulda sworn Draisatl was the one with 17 in 5.

 

[Jumptheshark]

Leon did some damage

 

[OilWagon]

Draisaitl put up the quietest 17 point series ever.

He was decent, but he wasn't as good as he usually is. When he was out on the ice it's not as if you were expecting him to go out and grab a point at any given moment, yet he just kind of had heavy capitalization. He didn't even have his great shooting form that he has when he's healthy, especially on one-timers. I actually think he had the most accurate one-timer in the league this season but he hasn't been able to score with it in a while now.

His one timer timing is completely thrown off by his injury. I don't know if I saw him fan on it a single time in the regular season but he prob did it like 5+ times alone in the Calgary series.

 

[CanadienShark]

What's wrong with saying that? Your best players need to be your best if you want to go far. McDavid is the best.

 

[Three On Zero]

Coulda sworn Draisatl was the one with 17 in 5.

about 50% of those points were secondary assists with the primary going to..... McDavid..

He had a pretty good series but McDavid was really the catalyst for the offense

 

[tucker3434]

I think he’s right but also, who cares? My college football team won a title on the back of one dominant player. Rivals try to bring that up as a negative but we got a trophy all then same. I don’t see why it matters.

Edit: I made it sound like I was on that team. I wasn’t. But I did cheer very loudly.

 

[SeanAveryTheGreatOne]

He was talking about Evander Kane

 

[Cup or Bust]

I don't think he meant it as an insult to the team. For most of the series McDavid was the dominant force. The Flames were forced to focus on trying to stop him so much it opened up things for everyone else. I agree with him. It was especially obvious the last 2 games of the series.

 

[TheUnusedCrayon]

Draisaitl Primary Assists vs Flames: 6

Draisaitl Secondary Assists vs Flames: 9

Draisaitl Secondary Assists with McDavid as Primary: 7

Draisaitl Goals: 2

Draisaitl Assists on McDavid goal: 2

Needless to say, McDavid did a lot of heavy lifting. Was it a phenomenal series for Draisaitl? Absolutely. But for 17 points, that's a really really quiet showing with much of it being boosted primarily by McDavid. Just goes to show how much of a beast McDavid is.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

about 50% of those points were secondary assists with the primary going to..... McDavid..

He had a pretty good series but McDavid was really the catalyst for the offense

Hmmm. I’m not so sure about that. In the clinching game Draisaitl had 4 assists on 5 goals including the OT goal where he fended off a player along the boards to make a pass to McDavid for the winning goal. I also recall a number of passes he made to Kane for tap in type goals.
Having said that I agree that McDavid was the catalyst for the series. But I think a number of others made huge contributions, including shutting down Calgary’s top line in some games, which was a big difference from other years.

 

[Giggli G]

Who should he be tipping his hat to? Mike Smith?

McDavid, Kane, and Draisaitl couldn't be stopped. The rest of the Oilers were between average to dogshit.

Lol, Hyman scored in every game

 

[Three On Zero]

Hmmm. I’m not so sure about that. In the clinching game Draisaitl had 4 assists on 5 goals including the OT goal where he fended off a player along the boards to make a pass to McDavid for the winning goal. I also recall a number of passes he made to Kane for tap in type goals.
Having said that I agree that McDavid was the catalyst for the series. But I think a number of others made huge contributions, including shutting down Calgary’s top line in some games, which was a big difference from other years.

I was strictly talking about his secondary assist production. He did have some great primary assists in the series their is no doubt about that. 50% of his total points were just passing to McDavid and letting him create the offense though.

But personally I also don't value the secondary assist on the same level as a primary assist or goal.

 

[DingDongCharlie]

Draisaitl put up the quietest 17 point series ever.

He was decent, but he wasn't as good as he usually is. When he was out on the ice it's not as if you were expecting him to go out and grab a point at any given moment, yet he just kind of had heavy capitalization. He didn't even have his great shooting form that he has when he's healthy, especially on one-timers. I actually think he had the most accurate one-timer in the league this season but he hasn't been able to score with it in a while now.

His timing was definitely off. His skating improved from his injury as the series wore on. Saying decent comes across as disingenuous to me personally. With his physical limitation he was excellent and low key made a solid effort on the back check and defensive side of the game which isn’t typical and I’ve been very vocal on that in the past.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

I doubt that Sutter intended it as an insult. Probably just giving props to McDavid for an historic playoffs so far.
But when you think of it, it’s more insulting to the Flames players. He’s saying they lost in 5 games to one player. I mean obviously that’s not true but that’s the way that comment sounds.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Why is sour grapes even an option here? It’s a compliment to McDavid.

 

[thaman8765678]

His team did not listen to him.

I really doubt he told his team to get up 2 goals in game 5 playing tight defensive hockey, and then flip a switch and play river hockey.

The Oilers love that kind of hockey, especially when they have the higher top talent and better goaltending in the series.