Thorny Posted June 28, 2016 Report Share Posted June 28, 2016 In general. And I too believe Murray viewed Nylander as superior to Sergachev. Frankly, if we had taken Serg over Nylander, the "hates Russians" meme would be deader than dead. At least now we can still cling to it :) It's true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Posted June 28, 2016 Report Share Posted June 28, 2016 It just goes to show you how much GMTM did not like Pysyk - he even traded him for a Russian?!?! P.S. I wish that Nikita Zadorov had not been included in the ROR deal. P.P.S. I have a feeling that GMTM has a bit of the bias you see in old school Canadians (e.g., Don Cherry). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloBorn Posted June 28, 2016 Report Share Posted June 28, 2016 Pretty well-established fact that all Russian players choke in the play-offs %100 of the time. #notafraidtosayit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3putt Posted June 28, 2016 Report Share Posted June 28, 2016 Malkin Datsyuk Federov and Molginy would disagree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloBorn Posted June 29, 2016 Report Share Posted June 29, 2016 Exceptions. there's also: Dmitri Kalinin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darksabre Posted June 29, 2016 Report Share Posted June 29, 2016 Kalinen was severely underrated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
French Collection Posted June 29, 2016 Report Share Posted June 29, 2016 I wouldn't use the word choke, it's more like a lack of engagement. I believe there are a number of reasons: The Stanley Cup is not what they grow up wanting to win. Olympics and World Championships are more important. The pay cheques stop at season's end and they don't understand why you need to play harder and not get paid. Many other players find another gear, give 110%, play through pain that would sideline them in the regular season and block shots with any body part during the playoffs. These other guys don't get it, while not getting paid. I'm not sure what the bonus is for winning the Cup, but it's probably a fraction of annual salary. The playoffs are usually tighter checking and more intense physically, not their games. That's all I've got off the top of my head, but there are probably more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randall Flagg Posted June 29, 2016 Report Share Posted June 29, 2016 I think the competitive drive it takes to become a professional athlete is more than enough to overcome all of that. These guys made it this far; their nationality doesn't make them "choke more" in the playoffs than people from other areas. Datsyuk has had some insane playoff performances. Ovie too, his playoff PPG is still about 1.00 even with the notorious lack of penalties. Geno won a Conn Smythe recently. Tarasenko crushed the reigning champs led by Captain $10million-Intangibles Toews. I'm sure Zubov did quite well on defense when Dallas beat Hasek and the rest, though I wasn't old enough to watch/care about hockey then. Kovalchuk dragged that Devils team to the finals in 2012. I'd bet that the percentage of these guys relative to all Russian NHL players is the same as the percentage of "clutch" North Americans we speak of relative to their pool of players. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beerme1 Posted June 29, 2016 Report Share Posted June 29, 2016 Anyone blame Ovie for the Caps exit this year? I didn't think so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildCard Posted June 29, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2016 Anyone blame Ovie for the Caps exit this year? I didn't think so.I blame Kusnetsov Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randall Flagg Posted June 29, 2016 Report Share Posted June 29, 2016 I blame Kusnetsov Who, sure enough, had a pretty insane playoff in 2015. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueBlueGED Posted June 29, 2016 Report Share Posted June 29, 2016 I feel so bad for the Caps, they just never seem to fire on all cylinders at the right time...except that one time that Dominik Hasek possessed Jaroslav Halak, so they still lost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildCard Posted June 29, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2016 (edited) Who, sure enough, had a pretty insane playoff in 2015.Did he? I recall him playing terribly Edit: you're saying last year, not this year? I feel so bad for the Caps, they just never seem to fire on all cylinders at the right time...except that one time that Dominik Hasek possessed Jaroslav Halak, so they still lost.President Trophy winners don't win it all Edited June 29, 2016 by WildCard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randall Flagg Posted June 29, 2016 Report Share Posted June 29, 2016 Did he? I recall him playing terribly Edit: you're saying last year, not this year? President Trophy winners don't win it all Yeah, the 14-15 season. He was tremendous. Not so much this year, though, as you mentioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorny Posted June 29, 2016 Report Share Posted June 29, 2016 Did he? I recall him playing terribly Edit: you're saying last year, not this year? President Trophy winners don't win it all I never liked that "presidents trophy winners don't win it all" argument. Maybe they don't win as much as one might think they should, given that they finished first, but last time I ran the numbers, they still win more than any other individual seed. Any individual seed loses FAR more than they win. It would be like looking at Tiger Woods' career when he was stil winning and saying, wow he loses way more Majors than he wins, he never gets it done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted June 29, 2016 Report Share Posted June 29, 2016 Didn't GMTM just trade for a Russian D man? Does this mean he hates Russian players unless they are a perceived upgrade and fill a need? Obviously the move was cover for his anti-Russian stand. Kulikov is just Murray's beard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drunkard Posted June 29, 2016 Report Share Posted June 29, 2016 I never liked that "presidents trophy winners don't win it all" argument. Maybe they don't win as much as one might think they should, given that they finished first, but last time I ran the numbers, they still win more than any other individual seed. Any individual seed loses FAR more than they win. It would be like looking at Tiger Woods' career when he was stil winning and saying, wow he loses way more Majors than he wins, he never gets it done. Exactly. The numbers will always be with the rest of the entire field. It's an unfair comparison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Posted June 29, 2016 Report Share Posted June 29, 2016 Obviously the move was cover for his anti-Russian stand. Kulikov is just Murray's beard. That is funny. Well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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