Hey, it’s been a while. This post was supposed to come out much earlier, but due to certain circumstances, some of which will be included here, it’s happening now instead of then. I will go into the other reasons why in a later post, as it concerns a topic that I’ve wanted to discuss for a while. But enough about that, I want to gush about the absolutely fantastic series of hockey I just watched. Even though the end result was personally tough for me to watch, it’s still probably the best Finals I’ve ever seen. The NHL did a really good job with this one. As usual, if hockey isn’t your cup of tea, then skip out on this one.

First off, allow me to boast a little. Back in April, I made an entire post about why I thought the Florida Panthers were going to win the Cup, and I did that because I just knew they were going to do it. In all my years of watching pro sports and hockey specifically, there has never been a time until this season when I had such a strong feeling about a certain team winning it all. The Panthers had this swagger about them that made them seem impenetrable, and a lot of it had to do with what I talked about in that post, their rugged style of play and their previous playoff success.

By the time they reached the playoffs, most had noticed how hungry they looked and how well-structured they were as a team, and more people started picking them to win the Cup. Most assumed they would just power through a weaker Eastern Conference and then handily beat whoever came out of the bloody and brutal West. For the most part, that’s exactly what happened. They smoked their former big brother in the Lightning in 5 games, then beat the mediocre Bruins in 6 when it realistically could’ve been in 5 as well, and then toyed with the President Trophy-winning Rangers for 6 games before deciding to put them out of their misery. In all 3 of these series, they were the better team at nearly every given point, and it was never really in question that they would at some point move onto the next round.

When it became clear that they were about to face my hometown team the Edmonton Oilers in the Finals, my first thought was this: how many games will it take for the Panthers to beat us? That’s right, I wasn’t even giving my team a chance against these guys. Sure, the Oilers have two of the best players in the world in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, but what’s stopping the duo of Aleksander Barkov and Gustav Forsling from shutting them down as they have with every other superstar they’ve faced in these playoffs? When you compared the two teams on paper, it was immediately clear that Florida was the better team when it came down to defensive capabilities, goaltending, and overall team play. With the Panthers, you couldn’t shut down a few guys and begin to call it a day like you could with Edmonton. When you have balanced scoring throughout the lineup, plus a team committed to defense and a goalie who can steal games at a moment’s notice, your chances of winning are generally higher than not.

And for the first 3 games of this series, that was indeed the case. Game 1 was a very entertaining 3-0 shutout from Florida, highlighted by Sergei Bobrovsky going bananas in the net and pulling magic out of his rear end every few minutes. The Oilers had multiple chances to score and to even things up, but every time they nearly did it, Bobrovsky was there. As a hockey fan, it was impressive. As an Oiler fan, it was concerning. Florida didn’t play very well in that game despite the score, and given their track record of getting better as the series goes on, I was beginning to think that they were about to be in big trouble sooner rather than later.

By the time the Oilers were down 4-3 in game 3 and on the verge of going down 3-0 in the series, I knew that I was right to feel the way that I did. My thought was that if they wanted to make this series competitive, they had to win a game in Florida and go back to Edmonton with some measure of momentum. Considering game 2 went quite poorly for them (a 4-1 loss), it was beginning to look like wishful thinking that they’d be able to win even a single game in this series. When the final horn of game 3 sounded, there were already dozens of articles crowning the Panthers champions and the Oilers overmatched and just lucky to be there. Many more articles were made denouncing this final as “possibly the worst this century” and one of the most disappointing of all time. It was hard to argue against that, despite the overall quality of the games that had been played at that point. Nobody likes a sweep, especially not in the finals. The only ones enjoying themselves were Panthers fans and those who hate the Oilers, of which there are many for various reasons.

When game 4 started, I was hoping that the Oilers would at least force one more game. I knew they were screwed, and everyone else did as well. Needless to say, I was both shocked and amazed when the final score ended up being 8-1 for Edmonton. Yes, you’re reading that correctly; it was 8-1. You might be wondering how something like that could happen, and I’ll tell you: even though the Panthers were trying to finish the series that night, it was clear that it was getting to them on a mental level. They were disconnected, disorganized, and downright dreadful in every facet imaginable. I’ve seen performances like that before when a team has a chance to end things, but not quite like that, especially not in the Finals. You let your guard down, and that’s what you get. Many accused Florida of throwing the game to win the Cup on home ice, and all I could do was laugh. You’re telling me that the organization flew in the players’ families and friends to watch them clinch the Stanley Cup in the other team’s arena, but it was some elaborate ruse all along? It didn’t matter how you looked at it; that argument simply made zero sense.

Game 5 was even further proof of that. In what was an instant classic, the Oilers pulled out a 5-3 win by the skin of their teeth, with Connor McDavid having one of the best games of his entire career and much-maligned Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner similarly having one of his, despite giving up 3 goals. Florida started slow in that game but gradually began to take over as things went along. They nearly erased a 4-1 Oiler lead at the end of the game, but great team defense and McDavid with an iconic empty netter sealed the deal. The look on every Panthers’ face said it all: they were starting to lose confidence, and they knew that if there was anyone who could make this a series, it was Connor McDavid’s Oilers.

For some context, the Oilers went into this season as one of the favorites to win the Cup and then proceeded to get off to one of their worst starts in recent memory. 2-9-1 was their record after 12 games, and most had then written them off as a massive disappointment. After firing most of the coaching staff and bringing in rookie head coach Kris Knoblauch, the Oilers began to rise from the ashes dramatically, going on several key win streaks including one which came out to 16 straight games, which tied the NHL’s second-longest ever and which easily broke the franchise record of 9. This was a team that proved that it could pull off miracles, and it was beginning to look like they were on the verge of pulling off another one.

Game 6 wasn’t a contest. The Oilers dominated the Panthers throughout all 60 minutes of game time, and even though Florida did have some key chances, they lost their third straight game 5-1. Somehow, the Panthers had blown a 3-0 series lead and were staring down some dubious history. The last time (and only time) a team had been reverse swept in the Stanley Cup Finals was 1942 when the Maple Leafs had done so to the Red Wings. It was the first time in North American sports history a reverse sweep had happened, and it was the first of 4 successful reverse sweeps in the NHL’s history.

To say that game 7 was highly anticipated would be a massive understatement. When you have ESPN, infamous for their total lack of attention towards anything that isn’t LeBron James or the Dallas Cowboys, hyping up a hockey game and giving it specific attention, you know it’s a big deal. You had sports fans from around the world who typically didn’t follow hockey chiming in and predicting what would happen, and you just knew the NHL was loving every bit of it. As they should, mind you. Going into game 7, I was at peace with whatever result ended up happening. My gut had been telling me for months that the Panthers were winning the Cup, and even though they were on the verge of perhaps the greatest choke in sports history, that feeling never wavered. The Oilers also made such a ferocious effort to make it a competitive series, and in those moments, I couldn’t have been prouder of them.

As I’m sure you’ve already figured out, the Panthers won game 7. They scored the first goal within a few minutes, an incredible redirection from Carter Verhaeghe, who had been having a pretty terrible series. He’s become a household name in the last few years for his remarkable journey to the NHL and his penchant for scoring clutch goals, especially in overtime. The Oilers responded quickly afterward, with lethal depth forward Mattias Janmark tying it after he found himself on a breakaway. Afterward, the game couldn’t have been any closer. Florida may have been outplaying the Oilers in the areas where it mattered, but Edmonton just refused to go away. Closer to the end of the second period, the Oilers nearly took the lead, only for the puck to go the other way and into their net instead. That was the last goal scored this season, as despite several golden opportunities to tie the game again, the Panthers held on and won game 7 2-1. Connor McDavid became the first player since JS Giguere to win the Conn Smythe (playoff MVP) trophy despite being on the losing team since 2003, and that was all she wrote.

In the end, there was no reverse sweep. The Oilers came close, but they didn’t get it done. As an Oilers fan, it’s hard to stomach, especially considering this was probably their best shot to get it done. Everything had lined up perfectly for them to get to that moment, and even though I think they gave it their all, they just weren’t good enough when it came down to it. Despite that, I’m still very proud of the resilience they showed when they were down and defeated as badly as they were at 3-0. All I can say is that I hope they make the right moves this offseason so that they can get back to the Finals next season, even though I know it’s going to be much harder for them to do so with the big dogs like Dallas, Vegas, and Colorado looking to improve.

As for the Panthers, good job on winning the Cup. They took their miracle run last year and used it as motivation all year, and it ended up paying off in the end. It was a pleasure to watch them play in the playoffs this year, they’re one of the more impressive Cup-winning teams I’ve watched. More teams should emulate their style of play, and more young hockey fans should emulate how Aleksander Barkov plays the game. He is, for lack of a better term, incredible.

Well, that’s the end of that. This will be my last hockey post for a while, as the offseason is beginning and there are a lot of other things I’d like to write about. I’m just grateful that God has given us these sports to enjoy watching and playing, they’re great forms of entertainment and a great way to bond with friends and family. It’s never smooth sailing, but it’s almost always enjoyable even when your favorite team doesn’t win. In this case, it most certainly was. God bless, and I’ll see you later.