Conn Smythe after 3 rounds

[Bloomfield*]

Malkin or Crosby will win it.

crosby will win it every year with the league bias. no ****ing way he deserved it last year.

 

[Ogrezilla]

crosby will win it every year with the league bias. no ****ing way he deserved it last year.

except for that time he didn't win it, of course. But he has won it every other time

 

[CommonKingfisher]

crosby will win it every year with the league bias. no ****ing way he deserved it last year.

I remember it like yesterday when Crosby won it in 2010. And 2011. And 2012.
Although I always wondered why he wasn't dressed in a Pens jersey when it was given to him.

 

[stratosphere]

JG has 2 more goals to pot to tie Ciccarelli for most goals in SCF for a rookie. If he gets there or better, I'm not sure he isn't part of the CS discussion.

 

[george14]

crosby will win it every year with the league bias. no ****ing way he deserved it last year.

Wow tell us how you really feel.

You would have to be blind to think "no way he deserved it last year". It was between Sid and Kessel. You act like 5 people voted and that's why Crosby won. The voting was very close and Crosby edged it. What is there to complain about? The stats were close and Crosby had 3 GWG compared to Kessel's 0. Kessel had 3 more points. Get over it.

 

[Sypher04]

Wow tell us how you really feel.

You would have to be blind to think "no way he deserved it last year". It was between Sid and Kessel. You act like 5 people voted and that's why Crosby won. The voting was very close and Crosby edged it. What is there to complain about? The stats were close and Crosby had 3 GWG compared to Kessel's 0. Kessel had 3 more points. Get over it.

I agree. Kessel had 1 more point than Crosby in the last two rounds. In those two rounds though, Crosby scored the 3 game winners you mentioned, but he also got 2 assists in the final game, including on the Stanley cup winning goal. Nevermind the quality of competition argument, or his two way contribution.

 

[george14]

I agree. Kessel had 1 more point than Crosby in the last two rounds. In those two rounds though, Crosby scored the 3 game winners you mentioned, but he also got 2 assists in the final game, including on the Stanley cup winning goal. Nevermind the quality of competition argument, or his two way contribution.

It just goes to show you how easy it is to spot a Crosby hater/Ovechkin fan. Not one sane person thinks he was "no way deserving". If you think Kessel should have won that's fine. But at least acknowledge it was very tight. Same thing this year. If the series ended right now, I wouldn't have a big problem with Malkin-Crosby-Guentzel winning. They are all worthy, even though I would have a very slight problem with giving it to Guentzel because he was bad in the OTT series. It's not all about points. Couture blew away Kessel and Crosby last year in that department.

 

[Sentinel]

Better be Malkin at this point.

 

[Tender Rip]

JG has 2 more goals to pot to tie Ciccarelli for most goals in SCF for a rookie. If he gets there or better, I'm not sure he isn't part of the CS discussion.

Guentzel has more ES goals than anyone else has goals and more ES points than anyone. And 5 game winners - including both finals games so far. Of course he should be a candidate. He's been utterly amazing and if he had any luck at all in the Ottawa series he'd be ahead of Dino already.

I'm with Malkin though. He is carrying the corpse of Kessel who might well be our worst 5 on 5 forward among regulars - as well as various non-entities on the LW.
And he has kept his line solid defensively (+10 vs. Sid's +1 and JG's 0) while leading the playoffs in points from the get-go, now second in goals also.

Pens best candidate however is "goaltending". Just cannot give it to two players I suppose.

 

[Sypher04]

Better be Malkin at this point.

Malkin and Crosby have similarly good cases. Also like Guentzel

 

[Sypher04]

Guentzel has more ES goals than anyone else has goals and more ES points than anyone. And 5 game winners - including both finals games so far. If course he should be a candidate. He's been utterly amazing and if he had any luck at all in the Ottawa series he'd be ahead of Dino already.

I'm with Malkin though. He is carrying the corpse of Kessel who might well be our worst 5 on 5 forward among regulars - as well as various non-entities on the LW.
And he has kept his line solid defensively (+10 vs. Sid's +1 and JG's 0) while leading the league in playoffs in points from the get-go, now second in goals also.

Pens best candidate however is "goaltending". Just cannot give it to two players I suppose.

Kessel hasn't been as good as last year, but he's been good, and saying he's been the pens worst 5 on 5 forward or being carried by Malkin is just bs.

Also plus minus never has and never will tell an entire story.

I agree on goaltending, but it's a moot point really.

Ultimately, Crosby and malkin have nearly identical production since round 1, and both have 1 linemate who's producing well and one that isn't.

 

[Quantum]

Everyone but Rinne

 

[Tender Rip]

Kessel hasn't been as good as last year, but he's been good, and saying he's been the pens worst 5 on 5 forward or being carried by Malkin is just bs.

Toronto fan?

Kessel has been TERRIBLE 5 on 5.... bordering abomination territory. Never worse than in the finals, but in all honesty he has been very disappointing all year.

I really hope he is injured because otherwise we must deal him immediately after the season before other teams catch on.

 

[Bloomfield*]

Wow tell us how you really feel.

You would have to be blind to think "no way he deserved it last year". It was between Sid and Kessel. You act like 5 people voted and that's why Crosby won. The voting was very close and Crosby edged it. What is there to complain about? The stats were close and Crosby had 3 GWG compared to Kessel's 0. Kessel had 3 more points. Get over it.

Crosby was -2 and the worst conn smythe winner by a forward in 40 years. Go look up the stats.

 

[madinsomniac]

From the Pens Point of view:
1. Malkin- Leading scorer in the playoffs... +10 and playing great 200 ft hockey
2. Crosby- 2nd leading scorer and also playing good defensively
3. Guentzel- Leading Goalscorer and with 5 GWG despite little power play time and virtually none on the top unit... as a rookie... He would be leading this by a large margin had he buried a few of the dozen great chances he got in the sens series...
4. Kessel- Phil Kessel is having a quietly good playoffs... 20 points, virtually a point per game, the second highest +/-, 2 GWG and a lot of good defensive backchecks... He hasnt been Dominant though, and really is passing up too many shots... he is two great games from serious contention though....
No Chance Honerable Mentions:
1. MAF... raw deal playing great all that way an then getting the hook for Murray... He was the pens CS leader when he was benched...
2. Murray... If murray plays the whole playoffs with simular stats, he wins this hands down. Injuries kill dreams..
3. Schultz... .65 points per game made losing letang just a bit more easy to overcome...
4. Props should also go to Dumoulin, who has covered a ton of high end minutes despite a rumored back injury

 

[madinsomniac]

Toronto fan?

Kessel has been TERRIBLE 5 on 5.... bordering abomination territory. Never worse than in the finals, but in all honesty he has been very disappointing all year.

I really hope he is injured because otherwise we must deal him immediately after the season before other teams catch on.

I totally disagree with this... He had a bad game the first game... he is playing defensively and passing up shots, but abomination is totally an overreaction... the guys is fine...

 

[Sypher04]

Toronto fan?

Kessel has been TERRIBLE 5 on 5.... bordering abomination territory. Never worse than in the finals, but in all honesty he has been very disappointing all year.

I really hope he is injured because otherwise we must deal him immediately after the season before other teams catch on.

Yes, but irrelevant, because I've never been a Kessel fan. I'm also a big penguins fan.

I've watched every game and I disagree with your assessment entirely. If kessel we're playing poorly I'd be perfectly ready to call him out, but hes not.

 

[66871]

Crosby was -2 and the worst conn smythe winner by a forward in 40 years. Go look up the stats.

+/- the stat that only matters when it supports your argument.

 

[Tender Rip]

I totally disagree with this... He had a bad game the first game... he is playing defensively and passing up shots, but abomination is totally an overreaction... the guys is fine...

He loses every battle, despite his speed never gets to a dump in, gives away the puck again and again both 5 on 5 and on the PP (best Nashville PK'erin both games) and doesn't shoot the puck.

The only really good thing about Phil these playoffs is that he has hardly any turnovers in high danger areas.

Of course, I say this with it being understood that he is a star and ought to be a positive presence. Expectation are not like Rowney. But among forwards, outside of the obvious, guys like Rust and Bonino would easily be missed more than present incarnation Kessel.

Anyway - we clearly wont agree, but to me it is incredible how anyone could even mention Kessel's name among guys having played well for us. Apart from two or three games he is to me easily our most disappointing player. PP points be damned.

 

[Bar Down]

Crosby is only 4 points behind Malkin, and is playing terrific defensive hockey. It's a coin toss.


But for me, if I could, I'd give it to Sullivan. Always makes the right adjustment, always makes the right move.

 

[Paxton Fettel]

Crosby will win it no matter what.

 

[Bar Down]

Crosby will win it no matter what.

And you'll whine about it for three years.

 

[od71]

As it was said:

My take if the Pens win... it's gonna be either Geno, Sid or Jake.

If Geno can put up 30 points and have a 5+ point lead over Sid it's his.
If Jake breaks the record for rookie scoring and GWG's and catches up to 87/71 its his.
Otherwise it's Sid for his all round play and Toews like intangibles .

if they could split it Between Murray/Flower, i'd do that in an instant. They're collectively a massive part of why the Pens are where they are.

if Preds win it, it means that Rinne has put on a clinic after the past 2 horrible games and he'll win for sure.

Geno has less than 30 points and only 4+ lead over Sid, so I guess CS goes to Crosby. Am I doing right?

 

[TheGoldenJet]

The Conn Smythe should go to Malkin this year, he's earned it.

Malkin and Crosby have similarly good cases. Also like Guentzel

They do not. Malkin has played better and has 2 more goals and 4 more points. Also surprisingly, Malkin has been better defensively in this playoff run (Crosby was very poor in the first round against CBJ). I am a Pens fan so I've seen every game.

 

[pitcher]

Malkin has been better defensively in this playoff run (Crosby was very poor in the first round against CBJ). I am a Pens fan so I've seen every game.

How dare you challenge the mighty Crosby's selke level defensive play VS Malkin pee-wee C defense!

Also, apparently that Malkin is stepping up and talking a lot in the room, so all that "Toews like intangible" argument is moot.