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"rooting" is a strong word. They're both on fire and I gotta piss somewhere.

He's freaking terrible. Biased as hell. Boring as any announcer I've ever heard. OMG I'd rather have Dano be the PBP game for the rest of my life than have to suffer with McDonaugh. He's truly atrocious. Bob Wychusyn, on the other hand, is incredible. He can make a blowout sound exciting and suspenseful. ESPN is catering to old people who need their food processed in a blender with Messier and McDonaugh. Too much actual excitement might kill some of their targeted viewership.

I’m not rooting for Boston; I’m rooting against the Leafs 🤣

*2 Cups

You're not old enough to find Messier interesting.. then we'd also start worrying about dementia....

I never thought I'd be so excited about a Marchand goal.

I saw Black Diamonds was floating around too. That’s a great name.

Agreed. I don’t know how the narrative that they’re bad defensemen got started, but it wasn’t supported by what I saw from them this past season. Both had growing pains, but that was to be expected. Even Fitz isn’t stupid enough to trade either of them. Any GM asking if they’re available deserves to be hung up on.

They both showed they have the goods this season. Just need the right coach, and the right pieces around them now.

No argument there, but I wouldn’t write off the futures of Luke or Simon until they’ve played at least three seasons. It took Nico, Jesper, and Jack some time to settle into their roles, and defenseman typically has a steeper learning curve than wing or center.

Elias has played in 211 more games so far...that's more than two and a half seasons' worth, and that's a significant edge (definitely not "about the same amount of games", to be fair). For their careers, Elias averaged 0.827 PPG, and Marchand is at 0.903 PPG. Like I said before, for the balance of their careers Marchand's played on better teams, but over Marchand's last 575 GP alone he's averaged 1.113 PPG. Elias does not have a stretch like that at any point in his career, so I'd have to consider Marchand the more productive player overall based on these numbers. BUT If you want to look at a "career within a career", Elias did put together a stretch somewhat similar to what Marchand's entire career has been. From 1999-00 to 2013-14, Elias played in 989 games and put up 356 goals, 535 assists and 891 points...basically 30 G and 44 A per 82 GP...for this stretch he's put up 0.901 PPG. For Marchand's career, so far he's put up 32 G and 42 A per 82 GP, with a slightly higher PPG (the aforementioned 0.903). Like Marchand, Patrik's overall PPG average was hurt by development years; unlike Marchand, Patrik's PPG average was also hurt by decline years. We haven't seen those full-on decline years from Marchand just yet, and of course when we do, who knows when he decides to call it quits. He's only signed through the end of next season, and will be entering his Age 37 season when that contract expires. It will be interesting to see how Marchand declines, to see if he can reach 1000 points, and to see if he decides to keep playing beyond 2024-25. One last note about Marchand...he really found another gear offensively over the latter half of his career...insanely so. In his first 6 full seasons, he averaged 0.664 PPG (16:38 TOI per game)...over the next 6 seasons, it was 1.204 PPG (19:25 avg TOI). Over the past two seasons, it's been 0.865 PPG in 18:50 avg TOI, so maybe he is starting to slow up. But in those six "peak" seasons, Marchand's PPG was higher than Elias' best single season (1.17, set in 2000-01).

Marchand has played in 1029 games and has scored 401 goals and notched 528 assists for 929 points. He’s also put up an insane +292 for his career, and has put up 640 points over his last 575 games. Marchand has played on better teams than Elias but Marchand is clearly the more productive player. Not sure where you got Marchand’s numbers from, but they’re simply not correct (Elias did play in 1240 games and finished with 1025 points, so you’re correct there). If you look up Marchand’s stats on Hockey Reference, you’ll see that they don’t match yours. https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/m/marchbr03.html

***glances over at blender***

The ESPN telecast is so bad. McDonaugh misses so much and is such a drab to listen to.

Agree completely with this, and I think we’ve already seen signs of this based on their respective performances this season. Both had their moments, but Luke’s were more visible, whereas Simon’s were more subtle. Consider the below examples: In the first clip—perhaps the best individual play of the season for the Devils—Luke skates end-to-end to score a game-tying goal against the Blue Jackets, evoking memories of Scott Niedermayer’s mad-dash against Detroit almost twenty nine years ago and showing why so many rave about Luke’s superior speed and skating ability. In the second clip, Nemec picks up a primary assist on an Alex Holtz goal against the Blackhawks, but what really makes the score possible is not Simon’s playmaking but his earlier awareness and ability to ensure the puck stays in the attacking zone. Keep-ins don’t contribute to point totals, but they play an important role in the success or failure of a possession.

*Points at Lindy Ruff*

Roy was probably having nightmares after that collapse

Agree, but on the other hand... they couldn't possibly look more pathetic than the Caps and Islanders do. But getting knocked out by the Rangers or Canes 4-0/1/2 wouldn't have been fun.