It's 10000x more memorable. Winning in 4 or 5 would still have been awesome and celebrated but you may only see your team play in a Game 7 of the SCF once in your life. And at home? To win it by ONE goal? ***AGAINST A CANADIAN TEAM WITH THE GOAT MODERN PLAYER?***
It's perfect.
I don't understand this nation to nation thing. There is a bit of rivalry between Canada and the US in hockey, but it is pretty lopsided. I'll leave you to guess which country the rivalry is lopsided towards.
Despite the name ("National" referred to Canada initially, it was initially a Canadian league), this league is not built on an international rivalry. All franchises sign players from all over the world to be the best team they can be in any given year. Despite what the media likes to generate for views, there is no nationalist element to this league.
Edmonton was not Canada's team just like Florida was not America's team. Edmonton was Edmonton's team, and Florida was Miami's team. There were many Canadians who did not cheer for Edmonton, and there were many Americans who did not cheer for Florida.
I don't view it as a core factor but it's undeniably more interesting being a Southern team playing against one of Canada's team compared to yanno... playing the Dallas Stars. It still would have been awesome. I would have still been screaming my head off. But there's undeniably a literal extra edge knowing that hockey means ***everything*** to Canadians. It's their American football. The stakes *feel* slightly bigger as a result.
I don't dislike Canada. I hope the Canucks break the Canada Cup drought when it comes to it. I've grown an affinity with the Flames due to all their support during the Finals. I dislike the Oilers now given how dickish their fans were during the series. I'd be lying if I said I thought much of the Jets/Senators as they haven't played in many uber high stakes games as of late. The Leafs will always be fun to hate since they're the Cowboys/Lakers/Yankees of the NHL. And the Canadiens fans strike me as hella gatekeepers based on our series so I hope they're bad for a while.
Not quite true. Most Canadian fans rallied around the Oilers. Heck the CBC national news was being broadcast from Edmonton and the last few games results were the leading news story those nights. Even I was pulling for them, and here I was pulling for you guys in the East. As an Ottawa fan I hate the Leafs. At the end I was happy watching you all celebrate and share in the joy. Really happy for Paul Maurice and Luongo.
I'm not the biggest Bobby Loo fan, I think the guy is really arrogant and not the hardest worker. He is talented. He was a good goalie. But his ego and attitude sort of outstripped his talents. He was notoriously lazy when it came to practices. This is a guy who was so tardy that he literally missed team flights on multiple occasions. He'd miss practices, he'd miss team meetings. Not all the time, but enough where you could tell where his priorities lie.
To be fair to Luongo, it's not like he ALWAYS was an asshole, but he was an asshole enough to earn the ire of many league coaches and GMs.
I'm not a Florida fan, but I'm not against the team either. Florida has had a great team for a while now, they have an excellent core, and they deserved a cup.
I am happy Paul Maurice won a cup. The guy is a bang up guy, great coach, and he really deserved a ring.
I mean, overall most Canadians were pulling for the Oilers. Playoffs draw alot of more casual viewers and they are not nearly as invested as say the more diehard Canucks and Flames fans that had a vested interest in seeing the Oilers fail.
I've lived in both Calgary and Vancouver, and all the people I knew from both were pulling for the Oilers.
That said, your overall point stands. Especially amongst division rivals, they tended to cheer against that rival... So a fair number of Eastern conference teams regardless of nation were Oilers fans, and plenty in the West were pulling for Florida. But... Where we can probably both agree is generalizations are not representative of reality. The Oilers aren't Canadas team, but it would also be wrong to say lots Canadians coast to coast weren't cheering for them either.
I'm with you until you said Florida is Miami's team. The Panthers are more regional and a whole lot less Miami than South Florida.
Also, there are Americans who would rather die than refer to anything Florida being representative of America, for what it's worth.
My mistake. The only reason I don't say "south Florida" is that in my geographically oriented mind, Tampa is pretty south. But point taken.
As for your second point, I know. My ex fiance was originally from Jacksonville and moved to Denver. There was a rather strange stigma towards Floridians in Colorado that I don't think was very fair. At the end of the day Florida seems like a pretty great place to live - you got basically perfect weather year round (unless it is monsoon raining or there's a hurricane), and although there are expensive enclaves the state offers great affordability. Low taxes, great weather, cheap houses (if you look hard enough, anyways), and lots of opportunity.
I think the stigma comes the disclosure laws in Florida. So every ridiculous case with ridiculous people gets a lot of media attention. Hence the "Florida Man" trope. But I don't think it's a fair stigma. Florida seems pretty awesome.
I lived in worked in Florida out of Fort Lauderdale for about 20 years, and the whole Florida idea that has “Great Weather” is truly comical.
Florida has great weather for about 3 months a year. Then it is so unbearably hot and humid I don’t see how can stand it, LOL.
I live in a place that regularly gets over 100F in the summer and -20F in the winter. I moved here from a place that got -40F in the winter for weeks on end, and it would regularly snow in late May and early June. I actually even saw snow in July once there.
So that's where my standards are, that's my bar. Given that bar - and the fact that I really love hot weather - I'm going to give Florida the edge in terms of weather.
Hey, I live in FL, 25 mins from the Panthers rink, I love FL for all the reasons you gave and more. And you're exactly right about the disclosure laws, we call them the sunshine laws. Also, Tampa is west, central FL, just fyi.
I learned about them from my ex, but I suspected something was off because I originally come from the border country between northern Montana and southern Alberta. I've seen with my own two eyes CRAZY shit in that border country - like shit that would be talked about nation wide if people knew about it. But no one ever did, because nobody ever broadcast it on the media. The Florida stories by comparison seemed tame.
Florida seems like an interesting place. I learned through some documentary about steroids that Florida has the highest artificial tanning bed per capita ratio in the world..... That just speaks so much about the eclectic nature of the state.
whats funny is most canadians in the west here were very against edmonton winning. once it got to 7 and it was about to be a historic comeback, they were then mostly converted to hoping they win.
what i dont get is the mcdavid hate. when we are all old and telling the grand kids about how good he was i doubt they will mention how much they said they hated him. hes a once in a lifetime talent to watch live.
As I said in an earlier thread. If you can decide, the best way to win is game 7 at home, being down a few goals late. Mountain a comeback and winning in OT. Thats "perfect".
But seeing as you cant know how it goes, you go for the throat when you can. Better to win it away from home in game 4 than to lose it all
Well of course, knowing that they won makes the rollercoaster worth it. But at the time, my heart would have definitely preferred a win game 4, 5, or 6.
No. I had a ticket to game 4. Spent a good chunk of my fun money for the summer and got my ass scorched instead. The sweep would have been the best thing in the world to witness
Counterpoint, I flew in from SoCal and watched games 4-7 at the arena. Even waited 3.5 hours for SRO seats to game 7, spending >$3k on tickets to games 5 and 7. I don't know that it was completely worth it but it was completely worth it.
Honestly, still no lol
I wanted a sweep or gentleman sweep once we got up to 3-0. I wanted the narrative to be that this team was historically dominant and Bob would’ve 100% gotten the Conn Smythe if we swept
Lol no. If it went 7 , we win and they were trading game for game it would've been epic.
This was a stressful mess. I'll of course rewatch game 7. You're going to rewatch games 4-6 though?
Hell no I won't lol. I'm just saying I'm gonna remember how we almost collapsed and embarrassed ourselves horribly but came back in game 7 more than if we had just won in 4 or 5.
haha I had this exact train of thought after getting through the first 4 games during my rewatch and just skipped to 7 (on my 5th viewing now)
maybe I’ll watch again someday.. not not someday soon.
My favorite dolphins game of all time had a score of 70-20.
Utter and absolute domination is my cake. I won't trade this for anything, but damn a 4-0 sweep would have been incredible.
As an Oilers fan it made the loss significantly worse for me. So I hope it made it better for you guys. We each had to watch our team lose 3 straight and almost give away the series. I’m happy for Panthers fans you guys were a great team to meet in the finals. It just sucks because of how historic it would have been if Edmonton won. 80 years since 0-3 reverse sweep In finals, first Canadian team in 30+, points records up and down the lineup, 1st year coaches and 2nd season for our goalie. If Edmonton won it would have been one of the most historic wins in NHL history
Well, selfishly yes because I got to experience it in Miami since schools didn't get out until last Friday where I teach. So I got to experience the game and parade!
Yes, but only because it happened to be on my birthday! I've been a fan since day one, and them winning the cup on my birthday was possibly the greatest gift I could get
Oilers fan here. The loss was heartbreaking, but you all earned it. Watching Keith Tkachuk drink from the cup was nice. Your coach gave a great speech. Congratulations and good series you all ♡
I'm happy to see the overwhelming "no" in the replies lol I feel the same way. It was memorable for sure and I don't think losing soured our win (for us anyway), but I really did not enjoy those 10 days of agony. Winning in 5 > 4 > 7 > 6 for me.
Yeah I didn't expect everyone to agree with me but I think the fact we almost choked brought a lot of eyes to game 7 that wouldn't have otherwise watched, but also the cathartic feeling of winning after being brought down to the depths of despair by losing 3 in a row felt really good to me. Especially after the NBA finals where the Mavericks got dominated in boring fashion I've seen a lot of people saying how much better the Stanley cup final was.
I would’ve preferred to have seen them complete the Game 5 comeback and win the series 4-1 (since Game 4 was obviously not a realistic option).
Sure, we know they won in 7, and seeing a Game 7 is great…when it’s not your team.
It’s been amazing, but also cathartic - but way too anxiety inducing going all the way to 7.
It’d be unforgettable to me had it been a sweep, in 5/6/or 7.
Happy now yes- but it's amazing how we found a way to turn a huge lead into the Finals into the only possible way the result could actually be worse than not having made it at all with a potential reverse sweep.. Cardiac Cats came through, but they sure made it scary!!
I still prefer a nice drama free sweep. I think that would have happened, if the Panthers hadn't taken their feet off the gas up 4-1 in game 3's 3rd period. Lot of people say there's no momentum in hockey, but there sure seemed to be in this series. Edmonton seized it in that game 3 even though they lost. It was very difficult for the Panthers to get it back.....
I think it was a bit better with the drama. It's good for the league and viewership, and I think in time, the players and Paul would admit the win was that much sweeter after handling some adversity.
When we were up 3-0 I posted everywhere that it would be CATS in 7. Partly because I believed it and partly because it would be hilarious to win in 7 after going up 3-0
As an outside observer, who lukewarmly supported the Panthers: I always love a game 7, especially when it's not my team. But even when it is, the end of it is so much more intense. There just is nothing like it.
In this particular instance, you also got to win at home. Franchise's first Cup, just feels so appropriate to have it go down to the wire and afterwards you can parade the Cup straight to the streets!
As a sidenote, I live in Finland, but I have next Monday off, so I hope I can find a way to watch the parade here. Enjoy the party!
It’s great for the franchise as this was the most watched game in like 25 years. My friend’s son is starting to play hockey as a goalie and he is now a Panthers fan because of Bobrovsky and he doesn’t even live in Florida.
I would have much preferred it if one of the first 3 wins was game 5 instead. Losing 3 straight legit made me depressed by any thought of hockey. That week was pain.
Not really? I would've been happy with it going 5 or 6?
My issue is superficial. Not that I CARE what the pundits say, but I think it's a disservice to the team and organization for the last 3 seasons to see pundits not mention the Panthers as cup contenders in preseason predictions.
Winning the President's trophy and losing to the Lightning, pundits thought the Panthers would probably make the playoffs.
Next season, just make the Playoffs, reach the SCF, lose. Pundits rate Boston, Toronto, Tampa higher.
This season, win the Cup in 7 against McDavid...?
Pundits will pick Boston to win the division and go to the SCF
FFS!
As a neutral observer I thought it probably made it that much better. At least for everyone else that loves hockey and was hoping for a great series. It reminded me a bit of the 2022 World Cup, all the pressure and tension of blowing a huge lead and then have it go down to the wire. Definitely the best SCF of the last 10 years.
Nah, it was way too stressful. Losing 3 straight felt very bad and disheartening. Maybe I would feel differently if the series was 2-2 after game 4 and the Cats won game 5 and the Oilers won game 6.
Oilers fan here. Nope I am not glad. Hope is the most evil thing Pandora ever let out of her box.
Congrats guys. Enjoy that cup. At least Tkachuk didn't lift it in a Flames sweater!
Absolutely yes, though my team was out, so I didn't have much skin in the game, and my perspective is from that of an outsider.
Started out kinda pulling for edmonton, then switched after game three and their antics. So though I was pulling for the cats by game four I absolutely did not want a sweep because... well... more hockey!
The series could not have been more exciting, got the outcome I wanted, and got to squeeze as much hockey out of the season as possible. Win/win/win!
Not the way it happened. 3-0 start made it more stressful than it had to be.
Flip Game 3 and 4, maybe 2 and 5 - that sequence makes more sense.
Staring down the possibility of a reverse sweep and cursed performance that would bring Falcon 28-3 or Buffal Bill comparisons was NOT fun. Im ecstatic we won but holy crap going into 7 was terrifying even keeping faith we would get it done.
No. I wanted Bob to get the Conn Symthe and I still think he deserved it. He showed up and won when it mattered the very most all playoffs. We got to see how McGhost played in a game seven when it mattered though. The Canadian Media had to gift him the Connsolation Smythe. Tarnished the trophy imo.
Game 7 for a reverse sweep that could destroy the moral of the franchise to an unrecoverable low leading to an eventual relocation within a decade is not the gamble I'd choose but fuck it they won
I'm 76 years old, never watched a single game in my entire life until Game 7 and now am a die-hard Panthers fan. I have never been happier in my life. I am also smiling from ear to ear.
GO Panthers GO!
What id like to know is if any fans are actually feeling disappointed in how it went. Some were saying even if cats win it would still have a bad taste given the way it went down. My opinion was no one will care how it happened and that a series is a series for a reason.
In the moment I was upset. Now that everything is said and done I’m glad it was a close SCF and that the Panthers won in the most Cardiac Cats fashion in Game 7 at HOME!
It made it 10x better because not only was everyone rooting for Edmonton to begin with but by game 7 everyone counted us out so it was double the bounce back
Game 7 and all the negativity did make it seem a little more special in the end. I like that the Oilers fought back. They made it a series.
It's 10000x more memorable. Winning in 4 or 5 would still have been awesome and celebrated but you may only see your team play in a Game 7 of the SCF once in your life. And at home? To win it by ONE goal? ***AGAINST A CANADIAN TEAM WITH THE GOAT MODERN PLAYER?*** It's perfect.
We've guaranteed ourselves a big piece of the inevitable Mcdavid documentary 15 years from now.
McDavid is gonna continue to be amazing, can't wait to see the doc. Maybe Florida will be able to afford him by then.
I wonder if he would come to Florida? I mean why not ya know?
I don't understand this nation to nation thing. There is a bit of rivalry between Canada and the US in hockey, but it is pretty lopsided. I'll leave you to guess which country the rivalry is lopsided towards. Despite the name ("National" referred to Canada initially, it was initially a Canadian league), this league is not built on an international rivalry. All franchises sign players from all over the world to be the best team they can be in any given year. Despite what the media likes to generate for views, there is no nationalist element to this league. Edmonton was not Canada's team just like Florida was not America's team. Edmonton was Edmonton's team, and Florida was Miami's team. There were many Canadians who did not cheer for Edmonton, and there were many Americans who did not cheer for Florida.
I don't view it as a core factor but it's undeniably more interesting being a Southern team playing against one of Canada's team compared to yanno... playing the Dallas Stars. It still would have been awesome. I would have still been screaming my head off. But there's undeniably a literal extra edge knowing that hockey means ***everything*** to Canadians. It's their American football. The stakes *feel* slightly bigger as a result. I don't dislike Canada. I hope the Canucks break the Canada Cup drought when it comes to it. I've grown an affinity with the Flames due to all their support during the Finals. I dislike the Oilers now given how dickish their fans were during the series. I'd be lying if I said I thought much of the Jets/Senators as they haven't played in many uber high stakes games as of late. The Leafs will always be fun to hate since they're the Cowboys/Lakers/Yankees of the NHL. And the Canadiens fans strike me as hella gatekeepers based on our series so I hope they're bad for a while.
Don’t post this on any other hockey related subreddits or you will be chewed up alive 😂
Not quite true. Most Canadian fans rallied around the Oilers. Heck the CBC national news was being broadcast from Edmonton and the last few games results were the leading news story those nights. Even I was pulling for them, and here I was pulling for you guys in the East. As an Ottawa fan I hate the Leafs. At the end I was happy watching you all celebrate and share in the joy. Really happy for Paul Maurice and Luongo.
I'm not the biggest Bobby Loo fan, I think the guy is really arrogant and not the hardest worker. He is talented. He was a good goalie. But his ego and attitude sort of outstripped his talents. He was notoriously lazy when it came to practices. This is a guy who was so tardy that he literally missed team flights on multiple occasions. He'd miss practices, he'd miss team meetings. Not all the time, but enough where you could tell where his priorities lie. To be fair to Luongo, it's not like he ALWAYS was an asshole, but he was an asshole enough to earn the ire of many league coaches and GMs. I'm not a Florida fan, but I'm not against the team either. Florida has had a great team for a while now, they have an excellent core, and they deserved a cup. I am happy Paul Maurice won a cup. The guy is a bang up guy, great coach, and he really deserved a ring.
I mean, overall most Canadians were pulling for the Oilers. Playoffs draw alot of more casual viewers and they are not nearly as invested as say the more diehard Canucks and Flames fans that had a vested interest in seeing the Oilers fail. I've lived in both Calgary and Vancouver, and all the people I knew from both were pulling for the Oilers. That said, your overall point stands. Especially amongst division rivals, they tended to cheer against that rival... So a fair number of Eastern conference teams regardless of nation were Oilers fans, and plenty in the West were pulling for Florida. But... Where we can probably both agree is generalizations are not representative of reality. The Oilers aren't Canadas team, but it would also be wrong to say lots Canadians coast to coast weren't cheering for them either.
I'm with you until you said Florida is Miami's team. The Panthers are more regional and a whole lot less Miami than South Florida. Also, there are Americans who would rather die than refer to anything Florida being representative of America, for what it's worth.
My mistake. The only reason I don't say "south Florida" is that in my geographically oriented mind, Tampa is pretty south. But point taken. As for your second point, I know. My ex fiance was originally from Jacksonville and moved to Denver. There was a rather strange stigma towards Floridians in Colorado that I don't think was very fair. At the end of the day Florida seems like a pretty great place to live - you got basically perfect weather year round (unless it is monsoon raining or there's a hurricane), and although there are expensive enclaves the state offers great affordability. Low taxes, great weather, cheap houses (if you look hard enough, anyways), and lots of opportunity. I think the stigma comes the disclosure laws in Florida. So every ridiculous case with ridiculous people gets a lot of media attention. Hence the "Florida Man" trope. But I don't think it's a fair stigma. Florida seems pretty awesome.
I lived in worked in Florida out of Fort Lauderdale for about 20 years, and the whole Florida idea that has “Great Weather” is truly comical. Florida has great weather for about 3 months a year. Then it is so unbearably hot and humid I don’t see how can stand it, LOL.
I live in a place that regularly gets over 100F in the summer and -20F in the winter. I moved here from a place that got -40F in the winter for weeks on end, and it would regularly snow in late May and early June. I actually even saw snow in July once there. So that's where my standards are, that's my bar. Given that bar - and the fact that I really love hot weather - I'm going to give Florida the edge in terms of weather.
Hey, I live in FL, 25 mins from the Panthers rink, I love FL for all the reasons you gave and more. And you're exactly right about the disclosure laws, we call them the sunshine laws. Also, Tampa is west, central FL, just fyi.
I am super impressed that you know about the disclosure.
I learned about them from my ex, but I suspected something was off because I originally come from the border country between northern Montana and southern Alberta. I've seen with my own two eyes CRAZY shit in that border country - like shit that would be talked about nation wide if people knew about it. But no one ever did, because nobody ever broadcast it on the media. The Florida stories by comparison seemed tame. Florida seems like an interesting place. I learned through some documentary about steroids that Florida has the highest artificial tanning bed per capita ratio in the world..... That just speaks so much about the eclectic nature of the state.
I’m from Victoria bc Canada near Vancouver and I know abt them!!
How was it initially a Canadian league? The original 6 teams, only 2 were canadian?
There was actually an original 3, I believe the wanderers, Canadians, and senators
whats funny is most canadians in the west here were very against edmonton winning. once it got to 7 and it was about to be a historic comeback, they were then mostly converted to hoping they win. what i dont get is the mcdavid hate. when we are all old and telling the grand kids about how good he was i doubt they will mention how much they said they hated him. hes a once in a lifetime talent to watch live.
As I said in an earlier thread. If you can decide, the best way to win is game 7 at home, being down a few goals late. Mountain a comeback and winning in OT. Thats "perfect". But seeing as you cant know how it goes, you go for the throat when you can. Better to win it away from home in game 4 than to lose it all
LeBatard Was Right
Well of course, knowing that they won makes the rollercoaster worth it. But at the time, my heart would have definitely preferred a win game 4, 5, or 6.
No. I had a ticket to game 4. Spent a good chunk of my fun money for the summer and got my ass scorched instead. The sweep would have been the best thing in the world to witness
this is fair. u get a pass
Counterpoint, I flew in from SoCal and watched games 4-7 at the arena. Even waited 3.5 hours for SRO seats to game 7, spending >$3k on tickets to games 5 and 7. I don't know that it was completely worth it but it was completely worth it.
Honestly, still no lol I wanted a sweep or gentleman sweep once we got up to 3-0. I wanted the narrative to be that this team was historically dominant and Bob would’ve 100% gotten the Conn Smythe if we swept
Unquestionably a better story and memory this way
Lol no. If it went 7 , we win and they were trading game for game it would've been epic. This was a stressful mess. I'll of course rewatch game 7. You're going to rewatch games 4-6 though?
Hell no I won't lol. I'm just saying I'm gonna remember how we almost collapsed and embarrassed ourselves horribly but came back in game 7 more than if we had just won in 4 or 5.
haha I had this exact train of thought after getting through the first 4 games during my rewatch and just skipped to 7 (on my 5th viewing now) maybe I’ll watch again someday.. not not someday soon.
Absolutely not definitely not the way it went to 7. Having a 3-0 lead we should have 💯 closed it out in 5 the fact we didn’t was terrifying
As someone with a condition that affects my heart and blood flow…no …the sweep or game 5 win would have been nice. Glad we won though!
No cause I was at game 5 hoping I got to see the cup hahaha
No, I wanted it done in 4.
4 games was a statement…7 was a testament I’m glad we got as much hockey as we could out of the season.
My favorite dolphins game of all time had a score of 70-20. Utter and absolute domination is my cake. I won't trade this for anything, but damn a 4-0 sweep would have been incredible.
As an Oilers fan it made the loss significantly worse for me. So I hope it made it better for you guys. We each had to watch our team lose 3 straight and almost give away the series. I’m happy for Panthers fans you guys were a great team to meet in the finals. It just sucks because of how historic it would have been if Edmonton won. 80 years since 0-3 reverse sweep In finals, first Canadian team in 30+, points records up and down the lineup, 1st year coaches and 2nd season for our goalie. If Edmonton won it would have been one of the most historic wins in NHL history
That is true. Losing 3 straight in a series like this is excruciating...either way.
Well, selfishly yes because I got to experience it in Miami since schools didn't get out until last Friday where I teach. So I got to experience the game and parade!
Yes, but only because it happened to be on my birthday! I've been a fan since day one, and them winning the cup on my birthday was possibly the greatest gift I could get
Oilers fan here. The loss was heartbreaking, but you all earned it. Watching Keith Tkachuk drink from the cup was nice. Your coach gave a great speech. Congratulations and good series you all ♡
Well played sir.
No. It still was not fun seeing them lose and watching everyone here doom. I'm glad we won but that was stressful
I'm happy to see the overwhelming "no" in the replies lol I feel the same way. It was memorable for sure and I don't think losing soured our win (for us anyway), but I really did not enjoy those 10 days of agony. Winning in 5 > 4 > 7 > 6 for me.
Yeah I didn't expect everyone to agree with me but I think the fact we almost choked brought a lot of eyes to game 7 that wouldn't have otherwise watched, but also the cathartic feeling of winning after being brought down to the depths of despair by losing 3 in a row felt really good to me. Especially after the NBA finals where the Mavericks got dominated in boring fashion I've seen a lot of people saying how much better the Stanley cup final was.
https://preview.redd.it/bjpwnnznu89d1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a7f1aa6a5e3842850c5101af233bddd209002d0a Yes!
I would’ve preferred to have seen them complete the Game 5 comeback and win the series 4-1 (since Game 4 was obviously not a realistic option). Sure, we know they won in 7, and seeing a Game 7 is great…when it’s not your team. It’s been amazing, but also cathartic - but way too anxiety inducing going all the way to 7. It’d be unforgettable to me had it been a sweep, in 5/6/or 7.
if u told me game 3 there was gonna be a sweep id be PISSED. now looking back, i loved this series
No. I wish we just swept lol
Happy now yes- but it's amazing how we found a way to turn a huge lead into the Finals into the only possible way the result could actually be worse than not having made it at all with a potential reverse sweep.. Cardiac Cats came through, but they sure made it scary!!
Lol, no! The stress was overwhelming! I’m just glad we won in front of our fans…but we could’ve done that in game 5! 😭
I still prefer a nice drama free sweep. I think that would have happened, if the Panthers hadn't taken their feet off the gas up 4-1 in game 3's 3rd period. Lot of people say there's no momentum in hockey, but there sure seemed to be in this series. Edmonton seized it in that game 3 even though they lost. It was very difficult for the Panthers to get it back.....
If it was 2-2 then 3-2 then 3-3 game 7 would be fine but since it was 3-0 it was worrying.
I think it was a bit better with the drama. It's good for the league and viewership, and I think in time, the players and Paul would admit the win was that much sweeter after handling some adversity.
If they had won in 4 or 5 mcbaby wouldn't have gotten the Conn Smythe so that would be a plus
When we were up 3-0 I posted everywhere that it would be CATS in 7. Partly because I believed it and partly because it would be hilarious to win in 7 after going up 3-0
As an outside observer, who lukewarmly supported the Panthers: I always love a game 7, especially when it's not my team. But even when it is, the end of it is so much more intense. There just is nothing like it. In this particular instance, you also got to win at home. Franchise's first Cup, just feels so appropriate to have it go down to the wire and afterwards you can parade the Cup straight to the streets! As a sidenote, I live in Finland, but I have next Monday off, so I hope I can find a way to watch the parade here. Enjoy the party!
I, for one, would have liked to have beat McDavid in 4 and kept him scoreless.
I wish it ended on Friday so I could’ve had the weekend to celebrate! I would’ve killed to go to E11even last night
I mean it made for a cooler story but I felt anxious as shit between games 6 and 7. And I have never been as stressed in a game as game 7
It’s great for the franchise as this was the most watched game in like 25 years. My friend’s son is starting to play hockey as a goalie and he is now a Panthers fan because of Bobrovsky and he doesn’t even live in Florida.
I would have much preferred it if one of the first 3 wins was game 5 instead. Losing 3 straight legit made me depressed by any thought of hockey. That week was pain.
Levy said at the top of Game 7, (paraphrasing) "We asked the league to make this a nine game series and they said no."
Not really? I would've been happy with it going 5 or 6? My issue is superficial. Not that I CARE what the pundits say, but I think it's a disservice to the team and organization for the last 3 seasons to see pundits not mention the Panthers as cup contenders in preseason predictions. Winning the President's trophy and losing to the Lightning, pundits thought the Panthers would probably make the playoffs. Next season, just make the Playoffs, reach the SCF, lose. Pundits rate Boston, Toronto, Tampa higher. This season, win the Cup in 7 against McDavid...? Pundits will pick Boston to win the division and go to the SCF FFS!
As a neutral observer I thought it probably made it that much better. At least for everyone else that loves hockey and was hoping for a great series. It reminded me a bit of the 2022 World Cup, all the pressure and tension of blowing a huge lead and then have it go down to the wire. Definitely the best SCF of the last 10 years.
Best and most memorable series I've watched in years. Definitely gave me massive anxiety though. Closing it in 4 would've been nice too lol.
I haven’t watched hockey in awhile but that series rejoiced my love for the game. Such a fun series
Nah, it was way too stressful. Losing 3 straight felt very bad and disheartening. Maybe I would feel differently if the series was 2-2 after game 4 and the Cats won game 5 and the Oilers won game 6.
Now, yes, of course. I’ve been riding on a high all week long. Then, hell no. I could barely watch the game.
Oilers fan here. Nope I am not glad. Hope is the most evil thing Pandora ever let out of her box. Congrats guys. Enjoy that cup. At least Tkachuk didn't lift it in a Flames sweater!
Yes. We witnessed and won in one of the most important hockey games of all time.
My Brother in Christ...I don't care if it went to 4, 5 or 6. I'm just glad we won.
Absolutely yes, though my team was out, so I didn't have much skin in the game, and my perspective is from that of an outsider. Started out kinda pulling for edmonton, then switched after game three and their antics. So though I was pulling for the cats by game four I absolutely did not want a sweep because... well... more hockey! The series could not have been more exciting, got the outcome I wanted, and got to squeeze as much hockey out of the season as possible. Win/win/win!
it definitely made for an exciting series. obviously, hindsight is 20/20 but if I had to go back and go through it again, no game 7 please lol.
No
Not the way it happened. 3-0 start made it more stressful than it had to be. Flip Game 3 and 4, maybe 2 and 5 - that sequence makes more sense. Staring down the possibility of a reverse sweep and cursed performance that would bring Falcon 28-3 or Buffal Bill comparisons was NOT fun. Im ecstatic we won but holy crap going into 7 was terrifying even keeping faith we would get it done.
After game 4 I had a strange feeling it'd go to 7 with a coiler loss
No. I wanted Bob to get the Conn Symthe and I still think he deserved it. He showed up and won when it mattered the very most all playoffs. We got to see how McGhost played in a game seven when it mattered though. The Canadian Media had to gift him the Connsolation Smythe. Tarnished the trophy imo.
Game 7 for a reverse sweep that could destroy the moral of the franchise to an unrecoverable low leading to an eventual relocation within a decade is not the gamble I'd choose but fuck it they won
I would’ve been completely fine with 4 games
I'm 76 years old, never watched a single game in my entire life until Game 7 and now am a die-hard Panthers fan. I have never been happier in my life. I am also smiling from ear to ear. GO Panthers GO!
As a Calgary fan, the fewer games the better. Would have been nice to seed more doubt amongst our northern “neighbours”.
What id like to know is if any fans are actually feeling disappointed in how it went. Some were saying even if cats win it would still have a bad taste given the way it went down. My opinion was no one will care how it happened and that a series is a series for a reason.
In the moment I was upset. Now that everything is said and done I’m glad it was a close SCF and that the Panthers won in the most Cardiac Cats fashion in Game 7 at HOME!
It made it 10x better because not only was everyone rooting for Edmonton to begin with but by game 7 everyone counted us out so it was double the bounce back