I don’t think he wins the Conn even when the Pens close it out at home on Thursday. He doesn’t deserve to win it either, and I mean that in the nicest way. I just think, had the concussion not happened to Flower, the Pens would still be in the same place, maybe even celebrating a sweep. He’s not a big, if any, upgrade…

Murray has been benched for a game, blew a potential sweep by losing Game 3 for the team (he let in 2 clunkers) and hasn’t had to be all that great for the vast majority of the playoffs. He’s stolen 1 game in the Caps series & that’s about it. Otherwise, he’s just done what was required & nothing really more. This…

I’d go Murray, but Kessel has been more impressive, especially since it’d be hilarious to see Toronto go nuclear when he’s presented with the Conn Smythe.

Um, there’s no media bias when you look at a stat like THIS:

I think he’s just burned out. He’s been playing close to 24 minutes a night & doesn’t exactly have young legs. Pens have played 4 lines consistently, but the Sharks have been playing essentially only 3 lines for 4 straight games & and some OT time. Sharks don't have the legs to do that & the longer the series goes,…

As a Toronto fan I am really hoping this happens. All I want is a picture of Kessel with the Cup and Conn Smythe eating a hot dog sent to Steve Simmons.

Murray has done the minimum he needed to do & that’s about it. He hasn’t seen a lot of rubber get to him this series & only about 10% of the shots he’s seen have been legit scoring chances. Kessel has been the motor that has been most stable this whole run. Murray did get benched for a game & he has let in a few…

“Hey, I think the Sharks are boned”.

I don’t think you understand how obscure works.

I’ve found it weird that Malkin has been getting so much shit despite having scored the same number of points as Crosby in fewer games played. Obviously there is a lot more that doesn’t show up on a box score, but he hasn’t exactly been a bum. His puck possession skills are always amazing.

That would be amazing. Fat Phil lifting the Conn Smythe and the Stanley Cup over his head would drive Toronto insane

always chondrichthyes truthers

Yeah the fact that he has no idea what hes talking about pretty much guarantees hes a Kings fan, right?

Yeah I’d give it to Murray but god damn would Kessel winning it be awesome! I just want to see the Toronto media melt down as a result.

Murray was the hero last night though. He stopped a lot of point blank, wide open shots from the Sharks. Those are the shots you have to bury every time if you want to win the Cup. Kessel would be 2nd to Murray right now in the Conn Smythe voting for sure

Counterpoint?

Thank you for this article every single time a black legend has died this year I hear that transcended race statement and it makes me angry because you didn’t hear anybody say that about Bowie so why is constantly being said about Prince or Ali? Its an insult to a black person to hear that their hero transcended race…

Really great article, Kara. I get what they’re trying to say but to me when someone writes or says “transcended race” it just feels like they’re saying “we really liked them even though they were black” or “good thing they escaped that whole being black thing otherwise we wouldn’t have paid them any attention at all.”

Any sportscaster who thinks people didn’t see color when they saw Ali should find another line of work. There’s a fucking reason why Jerry Quarry was called ‘The Great White Hope’ when he went up against Ali. Because whenever a black man became a boxing champ, white America lost their shit.