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Party: Panthers stars must stop disrespecting Connor McDavid
Charles-Alexis Brisebois
Party: Panthers stars must stop disrespecting Connor McDavid
Credit: On paper, the Panthers have a lot of respect for Connor McDavid. Aleksander Barkov once said he was the most talented player he’d ever seen. Matthew Tkachuk thinks McJesus will win the Stanley Cup at some point in his career. In short, the guys say what needs to be said… when they’re in work mode. […]
On paper, the Panthers have a lot of respect for Connor McDavid.

Aleksander Barkov once said he was the most talented player he’d ever seen. Matthew Tkachuk thinks McJesus will win the Stanley Cup at some point in his career.

In short, the guys say what needs to be said… when they’re in work mode.

But for the past few days, when the party started after beating Connor McDavid’s Oilers for the second time in as many seasons, the guys have been getting away with it.

It started when Sam Reinhart (who will be playing with McDavid in the Olympics, last I heard) asked a fan on camera to shut the hell up when he asked Sasha Barkov what he thought of the Oilers player.

That’s a weird one.

Clearly, even though Barkov said they were just drinking water, Reinhart was obviously afraid of what his captain was going to say. Otherwise, he’d have just let him talk, right?

And what about Matthew Tkachuk?

Sober, he sees McDavid winning the Cup one day. But when the party’s in full swing, he grabs a microphone to say “who the hell is Connor McDavid?” to a cheering crowd.

I don’t like to see the Panthers knock a guy to the ground. The Oilers captain must be destroyed right now and unless he’s done something we don’t know about, he doesn’t deserve to be planted the same in celebration.

It’s a shame, because there’s a way to celebrate without crossing the line.

And for a club that sings the praises of its team chemistry, you realize that the guys are good at holding their own, but they’re lousy winners in reality.

It seems the examples are piling up… and not for the right reasons.

I figure Paul Maurice must be as perfect as everyone says he is, since as soon as he’s no longer around, his players suddenly have no class and can’t behave.

I find this rather ordinary since, when you think about it, there are ways to celebrate in the right way. Brad Marchand at Dairy Queen, for example, is absolutely perfect.

You don’t have to laugh at the Oilers to have fun.

If this keeps up, we’ll really have to wonder if McDavid won’t want to go to Tampa Bay (with a top-notch goalie) to go make the Panthers swallow their words.


overtime

– Jonathan Toews is a happy guy.

– Greg Cronin in the AHL: he’s leaving to manage the Iowa Wild.

– Coming up.

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