Conn Smythe Winner?

[Ace Card Bedard]

Keith's sneaky wrist breaking slashes to Tyler Johnson killed us specifically. Healthy TJ and a few more f/o wins make that series go the other way entirely.

It wasn't a slash by Keith.
It was a hit by Seabrook in Game 1 where Johnson awkwardly landed on his wrist.

And yes, it was clear that Johnson was hurt for the rest of the series. He wasn't even taking faceoffs.
Add to that Bishop playing with a torn groin and Kucherov was injured in Game 5 when he crashed into the crossbar.

Blackhawks had a bunch of injuries as well. Rozy broke his ankle, Oduya tore his elbow, Kruger, Versteeg, and Shaw were playing through injuries. Bickell missed almost the whole series due to his yet to be diagnosed MS.

It was a tight series and everything plays into that of course. Could easily have gone in Tampa's favor.

 

[nihlify]

After the last round I'd say Hedman for Tampa but could tip towards Vasy, Kucherov or Point with a strong final series. Haven't watch enough of Dallas to say, but Heiskanen have look impressive when I did watch.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Whichever of Point, Hedman, or Heiskanen has the best finals (and on the winning team). Khudobin or Vasilevskiy can win if they have a lights out final, like multiple shutouts

 

[Hybbe]

If they all perform similarly in the finals I think it's Hedman's or Heiskanen's to lose. You could make a case for Point or Vasy, but I think Hedman's passed Point the last couple of games and Vasy -- as solid as he's been -- hasn't been too busy. Khudobin was far too shaky against the avs and Heiskanen has been fantastic throughout the entire playoffs. Benn/Gurianov/Klingberg have been great at times, but they're far behind Heiskanen in terms of overall performance.

 

[Kcb12345]

If they all perform similarly in the finals I think it's Hedman's or Heiskanen's to lose. You could make a case for Point or Vasy, but I think Hedman's passed Point the last couple of games and Vasy -- as solid as he's been -- hasn't been too busy. Khudobin was far too shaky against the avs and Heiskanen has been fantastic throughout the entire playoffs. Benn/Gurianov/Klingberg have been great at times, but they're far behind Heiskanen in terms of overall performance.

Thing is, Heiskanen had a quiet offensive performance vs Vegas. Conn Smythe will probably be awarded based on these last 2 rounds unless he just has far and away more points than everyone on the team, which was the case originally but now Benn has really closed the gap, and if the Stars win the Cup he will need to close that gap all the way imo cause theyll need a big performance from him. Khudobin too

 

[dlawong]

Looks like Hedman at this point. Can he play any better? He looked really dominant in the last series.

 

[Troy McClure]

 

[Voight]

No offense to Hedman, but the reason he isn’t being talked about the same way as let’s say Keith is because he’s got more support around him.

Keith was dragging that Hawks defense core in 2015. They basically didn’t play the bottom pairing and Oduya was a corpse by the end of the run. And Hedman has played very well, he’s just had more help is all.

Agreed, Tampas D-core is pretty stacked which is why unless he has a crazy finals, I'm not convinced he will get it.

Plus voters love their high point totals.

 

[JoVel]

Agreed, Tampas D-core is pretty stacked which is why unless he has a crazy finals, I'm not convinced he will get it.

Plus voters love their high point totals.

The reason Tampa's D core is stacked is like 90% Hedman.

 

[T-Funk]

Hedman unless he looks average and Point continues going bananas.

Heiskanen.

 

[Fatty McLardy]

No way its not Hedman at this point.

 

[DFC]

Agreed, Tampas D-core is pretty stacked which is why unless he has a crazy finals, I'm not convinced he will get it.

Plus voters love their high point totals.

Are you under the impression all the defensemen play at the same time?

 

[Zub]

No way its not Hedman at this point.

I mean it's pretty close when you concider all factors with him and Miro.

 

[Sergei Shirokov]

If Dallas wins; Thatcher Demko

 

[sr edler]

Yeah but he's doing it after growing a mullet. And when's the last time they gave the Conn Smythe to somebody with a mullet? Don't think anybody with a mullet has won the Conn Smythe since Gretzky. Usually they don't take kindly to players with mullets...

Yeah, everybody scores more with a mullet! Growing a mullet will improve your confidence to magical levels. There's a reason why the top 2 guys on the all time points list both had mullets. But this also has a lot of people question stats that are scored with a mullet. Some would even like to ban mullets as they feel it's a blatant performance enhancement tool.

I know you're jesting here but Hedman doesn't have a mullet, just semi-long hair. Didn't Patrick Kane wear an actual mullet a few years back?

Also lol at people saying Tampa's D is stacked when they're playing guys like Schenn and Bogosian. Both Cernak and McDonagh are minus players so far while Hedman is +19.

 

[TheGoldenJet]

Khudobin and Hedman are the leading candidates for me at this point.

 

[Mulletman]

I know you're jesting here but Hedman doesn't have a mullet, just semi-long hair. Didn't Patrick Kane wear an actual mullet a few years back?

Also lol at people saying Tampa's D is stacked when they're playing guys like Schenn and Bogosian. Both Cernak and McDonagh are minus players so far while Hedman is +19.

Dude, I'm Mulletman! I think Mulletman knows a little bit more about mullets than sr edler...

Kane's mullet was weak at best. With such thin hair as Kane you need to have a way more defined mullet with longer hair in the back than what Kane ever had. Only guys with more thick hair can pull off a shorter version of the mullet.

 

[saffronleaf]

Hedman or Point if TB wins

Heiskanen or Khudobin if Dallas wins

 

[Mick Riddleton]

Khudobin or Hesk for Dallas and Hedman or Point for Tampa
Kuch should not be in the conversation

 

[DFC]

Khudobin or Hesk for Dallas and Hedman or Point for Tampa
Kuch should not be in the conversation

Still plenty of conversing left to do though. Kucherov and Vasy could both get themselves into the conversation with a strong final. The finals are usually given a little more weight in the voting. Point could easily drop out of the conversation because he's so banged up.

To me, it's Hedman's to lose if TB wins, but Kucherov and Vasilevskiy aren't completely off the map right now.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Dooby.

 

[Troy McClure]

Changing my vote to Joel f***ing Kiviranta, and Bettman must announce it just like that.

 

[kabidjan18]

I mean this was a Dallas game. 11 players got points, not a single player got multiple points.

First star was Khudobin, that's probably correct. Second star was Oleksiak, that is also correct he did great. Third star was given to Hanley, I personally think it should have gone to Lindell, but Hanley had a nice goal to open things up. Another star candidate would be Kiviranta, because he had that thundering check on Point (right move and right guy) in the first period setting up the first goal, and he scored the third goal.

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

It HAS to be Khudobin if Dallas wins.

Would be the feel good story of the year by far

 

[Gurglesons]

Jamie Benn is going to need to come up big if Dallas wins, so I go with him.