Edmonton is No Good XII: "I Dunno.. it's Just Not Good."

[Buff]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

Even on HFOilers they are starting to admit that Mackinnon is the best player in the NHL.

He's getting better with age. McDavid is losing his dominance.

[WhiteTiger]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

Even on HFOilers they are starting to admit that Mackinnon is the best player in the NHL.

I've been watching them slowly start to turn on the player they've labelled "McJesus" and "the best generational talent to ever play"...and it's both sad and glorious.


What a fickle fanbase. No player with any sense would ever want to play there.

[Reggie Dunlop]

Originally Posted by WhiteTiger

I've been watching them slowly start to turn on the player they've labelled "McJesus" and "the best generational talent to ever play"...and it's both sad and glorious.


What a fickle fanbase. No player with any sense would ever want to play there.

When he leaves, he'll be the Biggest Traitor who Ever Traited.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

Even on HFOilers they are starting to admit that Mackinnon is the best player in the NHL.

McDavid is turning 29. He is a player that relies heavily on his speed. He may just not be head and shoulders above the rest and now be part of a group of 5-8 players who will all compete for the title of best player.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Buff

He's getting better with age. McDavid is losing his dominance.

Originally Posted by blankall

McDavid is turning 29. He is a player that relies heavily on his speed. He may just not be head and shoulders above the rest and now be part of a group of 5-8 players who will all compete for the title of best player.

This.

Footspeed is one of the first elements of a player's game to go and McDavid relies on it so heavily that there may not be much else there.

Once that speed slows down, even a little, sticks get in the way, players can catch him or box him out. McDavid has always excelled with his skills at outstanding speed.

Take the speed away? Can he adapt? Maybe he can! I dont know. There was a time for a while there where I thought Ovechkin was cooked but he re-invented himself, changed his game and look at him now!

The question is...can McDavid do that?

[Rhett44]

I don't think McDavid lost his talent. I simply think he is exhausted from playing so many minutes per night, and having 2 deep cup runs that ultimately meant nothing.

And he sees the team is worse than last year. He knows he has to carry the team and he's a couple years older and it is harder to play so many minutes each night. On top of that he gave his team a huge discount so they could build a winning team. And they got worse. So I'm sure motivation is a factor also.

[dino7c]

McDavid is an idiot if he thought the Oilers were going to be better

[Locke]

Originally Posted by dino7c

McDavid is an idiot if he thought the Oilers were going to be better

Well its not like the Mensa Society has been battering down his door begging him to join up.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Rhett44

I don't think McDavid lost his talent. I simply think he is exhausted from playing so many minutes per night, and having 2 deep cup runs that ultimately meant nothing.

And he sees the team is worse than last year. He knows he has to carry the team and he's a couple years older and it is harder to play so many minutes each night. On top of that he gave his team a huge discount so they could build a winning team. And they got worse. So I'm sure motivation is a factor also.

He could have chosen to not sign. He can choose to demand a trade literally any day. The return for a short term cheap McDavid could be insane.

But they are too stubborn and he’s obviously too dumb or too chicken.

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by Buff

He's getting better with age. McDavid is losing his dominance.

No one should be surprised with this, MacKinnon has a fitness and diet routine that borders on insanity.

[Mazrim]

Originally Posted by Snuffleupagus

No one should be surprised with this, MacKinnon has a fitness and diet routine that borders on insanity.

It's interesting to look at the TOI/GP for players so far this season.

In terms of forwards, 40 players play 20 minutes or more a game. 12 players play 21 minutes or more. 3 players play 22 minutes or more. 1 player plays 23 minutes.

4. MacKinnon: 21:27
3. Draisaitl: 22:20
2. Kaprizov: 22:27
1. McDavid: 23:00

Not only does MacKinnon play 93 seconds less than McDavid on average, the gap in TOI/GP between McDavid and MacKinnon is the same as MacKinnon and Rust, in 44th place.

(For the record, there's 36 defensemen who play more than McDavid)

[trackercowe]

McDavid is the 4th (or 5th if counting Crosby) best 1st overall pick in the league right now.

[Reggie Dunlop]

McDavid is No Good.

[Sofa GM]

Originally Posted by blankall

McDavid is turning 29. He is a player that relies heavily on his speed. He may just not be head and shoulders above the rest and now be part of a group of 5-8 players who will all compete for the title of best player.

Mavi has always been the most overrated player in the league by a wide margin. Outside of his speed he is far from elite.

[CaptainCrunch]

I hate to defend McJesus, but we should look at it from his perspective.


He wakes up in the morning, and because over the last two years he's played a ton of hockey, and because he's continually on the ice, you can take his game count and add another third in terms of ice time, so probably his hips and knees feel like they're 50 years old.


He gets out of bed and pads through his house, a house with no color because his girlfriend who decorated it was obsessed with a colorless dreary scheme. He sips his coffee and stares out the window and he see's Edmonton in winter, and he can open the window but he knows it will smell like sweat and sewage and inbreeding. So he goes downstairs to shoot some baskets to clear his mind but remembers his basketball court has a rim that is literally about a foot from the ceiling so shooting baskets are impossible.


Already feeling depressed he creaks to his car and has to drive through the heart of Edmonton in winter, while the smell of unwashed Edmontonians wafts through his vents.


He gets to the rink and walks into the dressing room and the first thing he see's is his best friend Leon with a perpetual scowl and a bitter beer expression on his face, and realizes that as negative and bitter as Leon sounds when talking to the press he's even worse in private, and he's gotta go on a lunch date with him, and a wretched groan escapes from McDavid. He looks around the dressing room for a sign of hope and he see's none, the veterans are no good, and the hope for the future is a bust as the young players that are there, well almost, one of them got demoted after being super hyped, Savoie looks like hot garbage on most nights, the new kid is pretty much a less then average skilled physical type that won't do much on most nights. Then the door slams open and Skinner walks in wearing the latest in ridiculous hipster wear that probably includes a ridiculous hat and cap as if he doesn't have a care in the world, and Connor feels even more hopeless as he looks at the lines and see's that he's probably got RNH and maybe a battered Hyman on his wing, not bad if he was playing on the third line, but this is the first line, its his line, and he's going to have to carry it like its two 200 pound apes on his shoulders.


And just when it can't get worse his coach, his chosen coach walks in with the look of a man that's overwhelmed and ready to be fired.


And Connor then realizes that he's going to have to sign some autographs after the game, and deal with the odors of the unwashed masses, and at that point, his brain gives up, he can't even go home and shoot baskets and he realizes that he doesn't know what's worse, hanging out in these dressing room playing with this awful lineup, or going home to his drab house and his lame basketball court.


And inside Conner breaks a little bit more, like he broke a little bit yesterday and in the weeks and months and years before that.


And this is what it feels like to be Conner McDavid as long as he stays in Edmonton.


Slightly slower, always depressed and hopeless and he realizes that there are probably more hockey games behind him then ahead of him and that his dreams of hoisting up the cup, especially in Edmonton just might be over.


So show some sympathy CalgaryPuck for the former McJesus as he slides from mega star, to super star to Star to a guy on a PTO.

[Locke]

Story aside, I do wonder how McDavid feels about all this.

I know these guys are a competitive breed by nature and constantly losing sucks, they want to win.

But there are other ways to 'Win.' He has made a LOT of money. We're all familiar with guys coasting or mailing it in after cashing in on a big contract, and McDavid doesnt even need to do that, he's made generational money already!

Its interesting to me.

Because what goes through his mind? He's made lots of money...but the Oilers suck. But he's made LOTS of money...but Edmonton in general sucks...but he's made LOTS of money!! But he gets ridden hard and put away wet night after night...but he's made LOTS of money...

Okay so for arguments sake he never gets a Cup (at least not in Crapmonton) but he's still sort of winning at Life. He could give it all up. Retire tomorrow and live out the rest of his days on a beach somewhere where nobody knows him sipping Cuba Libres and Mai Tais until his liver gives out and never have to worry about a dollar.

So why go through the torture?

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Locke

Story aside, I do wonder how McDavid feels about all this.

I know these guys are a competitive breed by nature and constantly losing sucks, they want to win.

But there are other ways to 'Win.' He has made a LOT of money. We're all familiar with guys coasting or mailing it in after cashing in on a big contract, and McDavid doesnt even need to do that, he's made generational money already!

Its interesting to me.

Because what goes through his mind? He's made lots of money...but the Oilers suck. But he's made LOTS of money...but Edmonton in general sucks...but he's made LOTS of money!! But he gets ridden hard and put away wet night after night...but he's made LOTS of money...

Okay so for arguments sake he never gets a Cup (at least not in Crapmonton) but he's still sort of winning at Life. He could give it all up. Retire tomorrow and live out the rest of his days on a beach somewhere where nobody knows him sipping Cuba Libres and Mai Tais until his liver gives out and never have to worry about a dollar.

So why go through the torture?

Because guys like McDavid are A type personalities, and they have a strong self belief. They believe that they will be a difference maker and be able to go through the torture because he's eventually going to show his peers that he's a winner.


But and I've said it before, Connor as the guy carrying the load doesn't seem to win, he didn't in Juniors and he hasn't shown up at key points in the finals for example. The one time that he won, with team Canada he didn't need to be the guy.


I've always been clear about MacDavid, I've said that he's a lot of hype, but he's not a generational player, he's not an Orr or Gretzky who changed the game and dominated in different ways. He's not a Maurice Richard or Gordie Howe who were generational not only because of their skills, which were enormous, but they had that indomitable will to win no matter the cost.


Connor plays the game at high speed, and he's good on his skates at a dominant level, but that's it, I don't think he really elevates his line mates, or his team, he might carry them to victories but not consistantly. He's never evolved like an Yzerman or a Crosby did, and that could effect his future.


But he can't pack it in no matter the torture.


Epilogue


There have been very few generational players.


Howie Morenz, Maurice Richard, Terry Sawchuk, Bobby Orr, Gretzky, Lemieux and Howe and Crosby. That's it in over the 100 years of NHL Hockey.

[Rhett44]

McDavid is generational, one player alone cannot win a cup. Though he came close twice along with Draisaitl.

I hate him as much as the next person, but to suggest he isn't generational when you look at his stats in both regular season and playoffs is crazy. He is 3rd all time in points per game in the playoffs.

[Major Major]

Originally Posted by Rhett44

McDavid is generational, one player alone cannot win a cup. Though he came close twice along with Draisaitl.

I hate him as much as the next person, but to suggest he isn't generational when you look at his stats in both regular season and playoffs is crazy. He is 3rd all time in points per game in the playoffs.

Generational player undoubtedly, but has his anti leadership personality been a hindrance to the organization this whole time. One can only speculate but the answer is yes.

[topfiverecords]

He’s generationally no good.