Will this be the year great Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid finally wins the big prize? It remains to be seen. But it will all be seen beginning tonight.
He is known as the best player in the NHL right now. Some fans call him McJesus for the things he has done on the ice. He has won numerous awards during his playing career and is setting himself up to go into the NHL Hall of Fame as soon as his career ends. But there is one thing missing on McDavid’s resume … a Stanley Cup.
Most of the all-time greats who have played in the NHL have all won one or many Stanley Cups in their Careers, yet McDavid is still waiting to hoist the Cup for the first time. Since debuting in the league with the Edmonton Oilers years ago, Connor McDavid has made the playoffs on numerous occasions, but he’s still waiting for that first ring. The Oilers came close last season, but they bowed out to the Florida Panthers in seven games.
The Stanley Cup Final begins tonight, and its a rematch of last year’s battle. The Oilers will once again battle the Panthers, but this time, Edmonton will have home ice advantage. Game 1 is set for Edmonton and most experts predict this to be an intense battle similar to last season’s finale. However, in many hockey circles, the “experts” are predicting a different result than last year. Alot of people feel this is finally Edmonton’s time and Connor McDavid will bring home the bacon.
This will be the 12th rematch in Stanely Cup Final history, but only the second Final rematch in the past 40 years. Most recently, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings met in back-to-back years in 2008 and 2009, with each team winning once. In fact, in many of the final rematches, the teams wound up splitting the Finals. Most assume that will be the case this time around as well.
Not so fast! Just because the last few rematches have been split does not mean that this rematch will have the same result. Yes, the Oilers are a deeper team this time around, and they are getting contributions from more than just their top six forwards. They have gotten some scoring from the third and fourth line, and their defense has been solid. Their goaltending, which has always been labelled suspect, has so far been up to the task. Stuart Skinner, who had an average regular season and was even replaced early on this year by backup Calvin Pickard, has been solid.
Had Pickard not injured himself during the playoffs, there is no guarantee Skinner would have gotten a second chance. But with his second chance, he has been strong, even posting three shutouts along the way. However, count me in if you are like me and you are still not convinced that the Skinner bubble is about to burst.
The Panthers are in their third straight Stanley Cup Final, with some experts saying this is another dynasty in the making. The team has no weaknesses up and down the lineup and has a coach with a winning pedigree. Besides returning solid stars like Alexander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk, the team solidified its blue line at the deadline with Seth Jones. But an even bigger acquisition was the trade to bring Brad Marchand to the Cats.
Marchand has been simply amazing so far in these playoffs, and his contributions have been noticeable. But as the saying goes, it all comes down to what you have between the pipes. Florida has a future Hall of Famer in goal in Sergei Bobrovsky. “Bob” was solid in leading Florida to a Cup win last year, and in the 2025 playoffs so far, he has been solid as well. If it comes down to goaltending in the Final, then give the Panthers the big edge, which will eventually propel them to the win.
Yes, the Oilers have Connor McDavid. Yes, the Oilers have Leon Draisaitl. And yes, they have all of Canada rooting for them. Not since 1993, when the Montreal Canadiens won, has Canada seen the Stanley Cup return to their country. While most think this will be the year that Canada breaks the drought, with Edmonton bringing home the victory, I say no. I am going with the Panthers to repeat as champions, winning in six games. More than anything else, though, I want to see a great Stanley Cup Final!
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