CHRIS KREIDER | on Mika ( 09.24.2022. )

[Mika’s] one of the best players in the league whether or not he believes it. I tell him all the time, it doesn’t necessarily matter how you’re feeling. You could not necessarily have that self-belief, that confidence [in yourself], but we all have that confidence in you. And even if you feel like that, the kind of player he is he can go out and put that puck under the bar from anywhere on the ice at any point in time.

For us it’s just reminding him. At the same time, we don’t always have to remind him that even when he’s not feeling his best, the impact he has on the game away from the puck as well as on the puck. He’s a special player. He gets a ton of attention from the other team. And it’s certainly heightened during playoffs and that’s the guy you want to shut down in my mind. He’s been our horse since he got here — and no one’s been able to shut him down yet.

240503 DAL@VGK | happiest massholes

240503 DAL@VGK | scripps sports presents: playoff bleps

and on the other side, fucking noah hanifin. patiently turning down deals for competitive teams that might suit his playing style, letting the buzz around his future turn into an incessant cacophony of flames fans turning against him, letting comms & critics drag him thru the mud because what kind of a guy doesn't jump on a possible deal from florida, what kind of a guy lets all this shit just happen to him and doesn't even blink once...

well, the kind of guy who remembered his guy waiting patiently for him at the bottom of the stairs nearly a decade ago with a genuinely proud smile because that guy knew the work it took for both of them to get there. like. it's exactly him. it's exactly them.

As a stars fan, I thought Vegas played well and it honestly could have gone either way. It was a stressful 7 games and I enjoyed watching them play each other. Idk if it makes you feel any better, but I think most people are bandwagoning on to the Vegas hate and don’t actually mean it. Hopefully they’ll cool off with the jokes in a few days when the western round two games start up.

Oh, for sure. It was a tough series all-around and the fact that it went seven and both teams were playing excellent defensive hockey is a testament to that. I'm still a little ticked at the Stars for eliminating my boys but I just realized I'd actually prefer them over the Avs so. Meh. I still really want Florida to win it all though.

That being said, Vegas hate is kind of... pervasive? In a sense. In that it's something just about everyone seems to do. Either you're a VGK fan (rare) or you absolutely fucking despise them and actively pray for their downfall, from what I've seen. It will cool off in a day or two, I think it already is starting to because Marner is currently shoving his foot in his mouth and that's funny to watch, but it's very much something that crops up every single time Vegas is mentioned, every playoffs, every trade deadline, that everyone jumps onto the fuck Vegas train, and most of my mutuals/follows are reblogging stuff like "the evil is defeated" and it's just. I'm just so fucking tired of it, anon.

my biggest takeaway from today is that no one seems to remember mitch marner used to be one of us. he watched the bruins beat the leafs in 2013 just like the rest of us did. he didn't get drafted by the leafs for two whole years after that. when that game 7 happened he was SIXTEEN YEARS OLD. people are taking their grievances out on him for a history of playoff disappointment that began years before this organization was even thinking about him. he's performed at an unreal level for 8 years since then. he's consistent, he's talented, he's passionate, he's breaking franchise records every other day, and yet the fanbase and the media turn on him at every opportunity. for every dollar he earns, for every misspoken word, for every mistake he makes, and for every mistake he doesn't. there is no winning. he cannot succeed. this city does treat their hockey players like gods. they don't see them as human. they're perfect machines meant to achieve the ultimate goal of a stanley cup and when you start to think about human beings like that you start to think it's fine to just cut them off if they don't perform up to your standards. because that's not a person you're talking about. that's a performer. an elite specimen. if it doesn't do what it's meant to then you throw it out and get a new one. so now, after eight years of disappointment for every single player on this team, he's the one who should answer for it? he's the problem? the guy every teammate loves? the guy who's consistently on pace for nearly 100 points a season? the guy with most playoff points for the toronto maple leafs since 2016? you want to evict him from his own city? on what grounds? for what reason? you don't like him? HE IS ONE OF YOU. mitch marner is every single little kid you talk to who says they want to play for the toronto maple leafs one day. every four year old putting on skates for the first time in their very first leafs jersey. he's given his whole heart and soul to this team from birth. every single moment of his life has been shaped by the toronto maple leafs. if he's ready to move on from being chewed up and spit out by this city then that is his right. but to have the audacity to think that you, as someone who simply watches this team play hockey, are in a position to bully him out of town for not living up to your expectations for him? absurd. delusional. he's just a person. he can't carry the weight of all these expectations. it's a team sport. the vitriol directed at him goes far above and beyond what fair criticism of his play would look like. he makes a lot of money. they all do. he makes mistakes. we all do. his own teammates are fighting for him in their media availabilities because the noise is so loud they're all already aware that he's receiving the brunt of the blame for absolutely no reason. you don't have to like him, but you have to respect the fact that he's just a person and he's doing his best and if you can't do that then you probably shouldn't be thinking about him at all.

✨ Please reblog the polls to make them reach out to as many people as possible, but KEEP IT SPOILER-FREE to make people listen to the music with an open mind 💖 Artists and titles will be revealed after the poll's conclusion, check the original post for an update! ✨

240505 VGK@DAL | last game

Did you get your driver's license the exact day you became old enough to?

Tumblr already failing the "don't be a dick about my team" challenge

reblog if you enjoy napping, being cozy, being conked out, snoozing, wrapping up in blankets, sipping a hot drink, catching some z's, hugging a plushie, or otherwise relaxing and resting

↪ 05/05/2024 ― post-game ; scp round 2 ( rangers vs. canes )

MIKA MAY AGAIN FAM

i do believe that for a young guy he he's very level headed and he has been doing this so long in bitter toronto that what the people are saying won't matter to him much. i also think he understands hockey enough to know that he plays well and he is important to the team and he makes a difference when he's there. i think his teammates make him feel loved and i think he knows the top guy on the team wants to play with him forever. all that being said give mitch marner a gun