Article content Edmonton Oilers star attacker Connor McDavid was hacked once for every five seconds he controlled the puck at even strength in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers. According to a Cult of Hockey view review of his game, McDavid controlled the puck for 100 seconds at even strength and he got hacked or slashed 19 times by a Florida defender. On the power play, where McDavid has more room and time to move on the perimeter, that slash-per-second rate wasn’t so extreme, in total five hacks or slashes in his 70 seconds of puck possession, one every 14 seconds.
Most of the hacks were minor ones, meant to upset McDavid’s timing and rhythm, not to jolt him so much that he would fall or even loose the puck. That kind of more aggressive lightning strike of a slash would almost certainly bring on a penalty call. Instead the fouling was more like a heavy shower, a steady, unrelenting and unpleasant pelting rain.
Think of it as Florida water torture: drip, drip, drip. The Florida Advantage Florida plays state-of-the-art, cutting edge, on-the-edge NHL championship defence. You will hear NHL commentators say this their style of play is grinding down the Oilers.
They are a defensive machine. They are breaking the Oil’s will to battle. They are pushing Edmonton’s star players out of the game.
One thing for sure: Florida play clearly within the rules as they are now constituted in the NHL. How do I know this? Not once was a slashing or hooking pen.
