@ThebetterVinni@KieranKall27564@2003nicko They were exploiting Ingram’s rebound control. Also the pk went 50% lol. McDavid was not the problem he had 6 points on one leg
@DillyDilly97@BleedOilBlue His rush in the end of the second last night literally looks like 0.75x speed of his usual lol. He is definitely very compromised
@MrBungYEG@ry_brodeur Awful take. He’s the only reason this team has sniffed the finals. Without him this team is a first round exit at best every season
I 100% think this is true. I want to offer more context because their are two sides to this and we saw a rookie coach and a HHOF in the making coach do the same thing.
1) McDavid dominates his minutes like no other player can. Even against USA, this still was true.
So the argument is do you play McDavid for 40% of the game knowing you dominate matchups, or do you play him 30% so your depth can do more than not lose theirs.
science suggests that a highest high can be more effective than creating higher lows. So that means having more McDavid over better depth.
2) We have seen great success with this. Edm's back to back cups finalists, Canada win vs USA and silver vs US at the olympics.
Take a step back for a second. Tho the end results wasnt there in 3/4 scenarios in the final games, in the whole playoff, olympic, 4 nations picture, the results were there in 65% of the games.
Edm won 61.7% of the games though they had a 53.1% xG share. Thats a winning formula for many.
3) So why 1 for 4 in the final games?
In only 1 of those 4 games, was McDavid shut down by the opposition. He still dominates chances and chance assists. In a small vacuum, goaltending was the peak factor in 2/3 of these losses. In 23/24 Finals vs Bobrovsky and 25/26 Olympics vs Helleybuck. My question then is that if you switched it... like if you gave McDavid less minutes, does that mean you could solve the goaltending that McDavid couldnt, despite him dominating play still?
Its the biggest what if.
Closing...
If not for brilliant goaltending, McDavid would have 1 cup, 1 gold medal, 1 4 nations win, and this play style would be a 70% win rate. Just a curious thought. Thanks for reading.