Bartnick’s take on the Stanley Cup Final Oilers season sets in Sunrise

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Summer is finally here !! Nothing says summer like a 12 pack.  A 12 pack is easy to carry to the beach or the lake . So enjoy this 12 pack of thoughts.

  1. The Florida Panthers were the NHL’s best team all year and deservedly won the Stanley Cup. The almost blew a 3-0 in the Final but Connor Mc David (McJesus) ran out of miracles. The drama did lead to the most watched final game in any professional sport since 2019.
  2. Defense wins championships. Selke award winner Sasha Barkov, with help from his linemates, defensemen and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky stopped an impressive array of offensive superstars. Nikita Kucherov, David Pastrnak, Artemi Panarin even Connor McDavid were all either shut down or neutralized this spring.
  3. Florida looked like they were going to regret giving Edmonton the gentlemen’s sweep. They phoned in Game 4 after Stuart Skinner’s magnificent save on Carter Verhaeghe .
  4. The Panthers looked worn out after Game 4, maybe a product of being in the Final for 2 consecutive years. The Oilers looked worn out in Game 7 because they had to work so hard to tie the series at 3-3.
  5. The Panthers prevailed with their depth. Panther coach Paul Maurice rolled four lines for the most part and always tweaked his 4th Oilers Chris Knoblauch whipped his top horses. Even though Adam Henrique, Connor Brown and Mattias Janmark made huge contributions during the series they didn’t play enough in Game 7. Evander Kane’s injury too often turned the Oilers into a one-line team.
  6. Sergei Bobrovsky is a Hall of Fame goaltender. Two Vezinas, two Finals including one Stanley Cup.
  7. Florida was thought to be the dirtier team but Edmonton had the three dirtiest plays of he series. Warren Foegele and Darnell Nurse threw two unnecessary and dangerous knees. Leon Draisaitl’s high hit on Sasha Barkov was at least a five-minute major in the regular season.
  8. Connor McDavid should not have won the Conn Smythe. He lost. He was shutout in Games 6 and 7.
  9. Which fanbase is sicker? The Calgary Flames who watched Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett win the Cup in Florida but hey at least they beat the Oilers. Or the Buffalo Sabres seeing Sam Reinhart, Evan Rodrigues, Brandon Montour win this year after watching Jack Eichel hoist the Cup last year.
  10. Congratulations to the entire Hall of Fame class of 2024 but especially Jeremy Roenick. Even though the numbers speak for themselves it looked like he was never getting in.
  11. The Boston Bruins think so little of their division foe the Ottawa Senators they traded Ottawa Linus Ullmark. He’s only one year removed from winning the Vezina.
  12. Los Angeles Kings GM Rob Blake got rid of unproductive, team cancer Pierre – Luc Dubois. He retained no salary and got Stanly Cup winning goaltender Darcy Kuemper in return. Nice work Rob! See you at the beach.

    GAME 7 PHOTO CREDIT: Bill.Kober@prohockeynews.com