Who wins cup first. Oilers. Flames. Canucks.

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

None of them.

Sadly the Flames are probably the closest.

 

[Stoneman89]

No one is getting destroyed by the Leafs forests group. Let’s see how he does against a heavy forechecking team.

I don't recall him getting blown up by teams. Like a lot of guys his size, he relies on speed, quickness, vision and hockey smarts, not to mention, a tough little bugger. If you can do those things, you can thrive in this league, playoffs or not. He can play on my team any day.

 

[McShogun99]

I don't recall him getting blown up by teams. Like a lot of guys his size, he relies on speed, quickness, vision and hockey smarts, not to mention, a tough little bugger. If you can do those things, you can thrive in this league, playoffs or not. He can play on my team any day.

Obviously anyone would want him on their team but he’s going to need the right partner in the playoffs. Look at the teams advancing right now. They’re the teams winning the physical battles and playing traditional playoff hockey.

 

[thadd]

I'm not going to believe in the Oilers winning a cup until the organization proves to me that they've cleaned up all the BS in the office.

Right now we've got McDavid, Drai and maybe Bouchard. Just maybe Bouchard will be the real deal.
We need more.
Even if Puljujarvi's season was replaced with 30G and 30A last season I'd still say it's not nearly enough. We need more.

 

[LVOT]

I mean.... one of the three options just had the second highest point total in the league. Yes they got bounced first round, but I guarantee if it was us half of you would say 'they just need some experience.'
I wish it was the Oilers but we aren't close to making the playoffs let alone the cup.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

I mean.... one of the three options just had the second highest point total in the league. Yes they got bounced first round, but I guarantee if it was us half of you would say 'they just need some experience.'
I wish it was the Oilers but we aren't close to making the playoffs let alone the cup.

One of these teams also made it 1 game away from the conference finals 2 years ago and has the best player on the planet.

 

[LVOT]

One of these teams also made it 1 game away from the conference finals 2 years ago and has the best player on the planet.

I agree, but we have also gotten worse since then. The regular season sort of proves that even with the best player in the world (or in our case the best player and another top 5 player) that alone can't get you into the playoffs let alone win the cup

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

I agree, but we have also gotten worse since then. The regular season sort of proves that even with the best player in the world (or in our case the best player and another top 5 player) that alone can't get you into the playoffs let alone win the cup

We have the best building blocks though. An average GM could fix this team in a couple of years. The flames have a bunch of star players that have proven to disappear in the playoffs, an aging number 1 d and an old starting goalie. They had the luck of the Gods this year and all their players had Career years. Thats not happening again. They aren’t winning the cup anytime soon.

 

[KCC]

Everyone on this board thinks this team is doomed yet we all vote oilers. I love it.

I prefer to call it passion. lol

 

[FlameChampion]

I dont think the flames have much of a chance to be honest. I am not just saying that because I am an Oilers fan but their top end talent just doesnt produce enough (other than Tkachuk) once they get to the playoffs. Giordano is getting older, Brodie is a bit of a shell of himself. I think Hanifin, Valimaki, Andersson, etc are good players but I dont think it will be enough. Their team will probably be good in the regular season for awhile, and they wont be getting much for high picks. But their management team at least seems competent compared to ours, so thats something going for them.

I think Vancouver is setup better for going deep in the playoffs than Calgary but who knows at this point. We dont know how Petersson, Boeser, Hughes, Horvat, Demko etc will do once they make the playoffs. Vancouver tends to play pretty hard and ultimately play better than what they are on paper, so they have that going for them. They will receive another good player at #10, and their scouting staff, while they have missed on some prospects, have hit home runs on others.

At the end of the day we know what Calgary isbut we dont know what Vancouver is, which gives Vancouver more potential to win. I would say its pretty unlikely either wins though, with 31/32 teams in the league, its damn hard to win a cup.

I still think the Oilers have the best chance because we have McDavid and Draisaitl. McDavid is McDavid. Draisaitl has shown hes a playoff beast. A competent management staff is holding us back the most at the moment, which unfortunately I am not confident will get fixed.

 

[poolparty98]

I'm not going to believe in the Oilers winning a cup until the organization proves to me that they've cleaned up all the BS in the office.

Right now we've got McDavid, Drai and maybe Bouchard. Just maybe Bouchard will be the real deal.
We need more.
Even if Puljujarvi's season was replaced with 30G and 30A last season I'd still say it's not nearly enough. We need more.

If you get in the playoffs, you have a shot. So we are Toby Reider 12 goal season away from being a contender.

 

[HugginThePost]

It's such a crap shoot though, right?

You can say that Calgary or Tampa wasn't built for the playoffs.....but does that really hold water? The Pen's seemed to do okay without loading up on size and grit. A lifetime ago the Wings were beating you with talent.

I mean everyone said that Winnipeg and the Caps were built for the playoffs....big bruising teams! Where are they now?

To some degree I think having the best talent will help you along the way, but look at the Leafs.

Yes, having McDavid and Drai is great, but so much has to go right, or wrong for the other team to win in this age of parity.

If these playoffs have proven one thing it's that nothing is for certain in the NHL. Get in and see what happens. I honestly believe in the "will over skill" that we seem to be witnessing in this years playoffs. Get a group of guys that will go through a wall for each other and you'll have success. Of course, look at Vegas this year......last years ultimate "team".

I think what it really comes down to is goal tending, pure and simple. The Sharks had no business being in that series, yet there was Jones keeping them in it.

Look at our most recent (I use that word loosely) runs......Kipper - stood on his head. Roloson - stood on his head. A couple years ago it was Talbot doing it.

But hey....even that can be blown up. Mike Smith, against every expert prediction, was hands down the best Flame, I mean it wasn't even close. He was the only reason it wasn't another sweep.

At the end of the day there is no special formula to win a Cup......it's mostly about luck. Which is impossible to plan for.

And as long as there are 3x the teams to the south.......odds are it's going to be a very long time before a Canadian team wins the Cup let alone either of ours.

 

[McGoMcD]

Calgary is sadly quite close, they just need to sort out goaltending.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

Calgary is sadly quite close, they just need to sort out goaltending.

Lol goaltending was their only bright spot in the playoffs.

 

[TheRebuild]

I hate to say this, but... Oilers.

But the team will have moved to Mars by then as part of the Interstellar initiative to grow the game on other planets.

Also, the game will be played by using mental telepathy to move a green blob through a series of rotating hoops and all the players will be disembodied brains flying around in outer space.

 

[thadd]

If you get in the playoffs, you have a shot. So we are Toby Reider 12 goal season away from being a contender.

LOL I Love that idea that Nicolson spitballed out there.
Wouldn't it be funny if we went back in time and changed history so that Toby scored 3 goals in every game we were winning regardless?
We were not 12 goals from making the playoffs. There were a dozen or so situations where if we'd scored, we would have won the games and we would have made the playoffs. Big difference than just scoring 12 goals.
We're essentially asking for 12 clutch goals. Score one of those in the playoff and people talk about you next year. Score 3+ of those in your playoffs career and people might remember you for over a decade.

 

[Soundwave]

Calgary is sadly quite close, they just need to sort out goaltending.

That and their star players need to grow a pair of testicles and actually play in the playoffs.

You're not going anywhere with guys who shrink in the playoffs like that.

And their window is closing, Giordano is actually their best player and he's turning 36, once he declines further, they're not going to just be able to replace him at the snap of a finger.

They actually don't have the window they think they do.

 

[fuswald]

...
Look at our most recent (I use that word loosely) runs......Kipper - stood on his head. Roloson - stood on his head. A couple years ago it was Talbot doing it.

Who is Kipper and when was that run ? My memory is foggy so many many years ago.

 

[Todd from Leduc]

Oilers, best player on earth and top 5 winger, end of discussion.

 

[oilers'72]

Who is Kipper and when was that run ? My memory is foggy so many many years ago.

He's the one in the foreground.

 

[McGoMcD]

That and their star players need to grow a pair of testicles and actually play in the playoffs.

You're not going anywhere with guys who shrink in the playoffs like that.

And their window is closing, Giordano is actually their best player and he's turning 36, once he declines further, they're not going to just be able to replace him at the snap of a finger.

They actually don't have the window they think they do.

This is true of every team in the cap era, no one has much of a window. Too much parity. However, they have a great collection of young forwards. While Gio is old he still has 3-4 decent years left in him and they have some young d who can step up.

I think they need a good goal tender and they can win.

goal tending is key, look at St Louis, half way through the year there was talk they were going to sell every one. In comes Binnington and they might win the cup.

I mean that is also true of the Oilers, sadly we have Koski for 4 more years..

Any way, I think Calgary is the closest and I hate them, but they are very good and deep team.

 

[Soundwave]

This is true of every team in the cap era, no one has much of a window. Too much parity. However, they have a great collection of young forwards. While Gio is old he still has 3-4 decent years left in him and they have some young d who can step up.

I think they need a good goal tender and they can win.

goal tending is key, look at St Louis, half way through the year there was talk they were going to sell every one. In comes Binnington and they might win the cup.

I mean that is also true of the Oilers, sadly we have Koski for 4 more years..

Any way, I think Calgary is the closest and I hate them, but they are very good and deep team.

No offence but I think they have a lot of red flags.

They DID get great goaltending in the playoffs. Mike Smith stood on his head and they still only managed 1 whopping win.

Is Gaudreau a player that can really carry a team in the playoffs? He just had a playoffs with 1 whopping point (an assist). Mike Smith had the same number of points as Gaudreau. And he's not a baby anymore ... he's turning 26 and that was his third go around in the playoffs. He's not some playoff virgin anymore. Don't tell me it's "just goaltending" when your franchise player has 1 whopping assist in a playoff series you get embarrassed in.

Monahan similarly disappeared and a lot of Flames fans are wondering if they have a proper no.1 center. Welp if he's not good luck finding one, ask Jarome Iginla how long it them to get him one.

A lot of their "depth" was buoyed by Elias Lindholm having a big time year, but if you really look at his season, he was crashing down to Earth very hard in the second half of the year and didn't do much in the playoffs.

And assuming Giordano automatically has 3-4 more good years left is a leap in logic too ... he's 36 ... a lot of d-men do start to seriously decline at age 37/38. He already is showing signs he cannot handle faster players like MacKinnon (got schooled big time) and McDavid (he obviously desperately tried to flail to stop McDavid) and he was a dud in the playoffs himself.

Their window is smaller because of his age. Also I wouldn't froth over one regular season success. The Oilers also had one 100+ regular season too recently and everyone and their grandma was falling over themselves to pencil them in as "having made it", it didn't translate to guaranteed success.

 

[PayPay]

I am really new to the game of hockey, but I do know one thing that the Oilers have most likely the best player in the game in Connor McDavid and also some other really good offensive players as well. It looks like they might be just a few players and a few years away from making a run at it.

 

[HugginThePost]

Who is Kipper and when was that run ? My memory is foggy so many many years ago.

I understand......we're all getting old.

I'll help you out.....it was the season before the last Oiler run.

 

[McGoMcD]

No offence but I think they have a lot of red flags.

They DID get great goaltending in the playoffs. Mike Smith stood on his head and they still only managed 1 whopping win.

Is Gaudreau a player that can really carry a team in the playoffs? He just had a playoffs with 1 whopping point (an assist). Mike Smith had the same number of points as Gaudreau. And he's not a baby anymore ... he's turning 26 and that was his third go around in the playoffs. He's not some playoff virgin anymore. Don't tell me it's "just goaltending" when your franchise player has 1 whopping assist in a playoff series you get embarrassed in.

Monahan similarly disappeared and a lot of Flames fans are wondering if they have a proper no.1 center. Welp if he's not good luck finding one, ask Jarome Iginla how long it them to get him one.

A lot of their "depth" was buoyed by Elias Lindholm having a big time year, but if you really look at his season, he was crashing down to Earth very hard in the second half of the year and didn't do much in the playoffs.

And assuming Giordano automatically has 3-4 more good years left is a leap in logic too ... he's 36 ... a lot of d-men do start to seriously decline at age 37/38. He already is showing signs he cannot handle faster players like MacKinnon (got schooled big time) and McDavid (he obviously desperately tried to flail to stop McDavid) and he was a dud in the playoffs himself.

Their window is smaller because of his age. Also I wouldn't froth over one regular season success. The Oilers also had one 100+ regular season too recently and everyone and their grandma was falling over themselves to pencil them in as "having made it", it didn't translate to guaranteed success.

I guess thats it, your right, a lot of red flags. But we are asking which of the oilers nucks and flames are closest. While the flame have issues the oilers and nucks have more. Even though they haven't got it done in the playoffs you never know when they turn it on. People thought Ovi could never do it in the playoffs, until he did. You never know, they might be on fire next year. At the end of the day they were the 2nd best team during the regular season. Oilers and nucks are far from that.