Frozen ball game: Ice hockey - Draisaitl secures four wins as he begins in NHL Finals.
Hockey player Leon Draisaitl has yet to achieve his biggest dream. To win the Stanley Cup, Draisaitl - who hails from Cologne and is now a part of the Edmonton Oilers - needs four more wins. This season, he has made it to the finals of the National Hockey League for the first time in his professional career.
Before the start of the series against the Florida Panthers, Draisaitl, who is 28 years old, said, "It's great to be in the Stanley Cup Finals. However, we have bigger goals and dreams. Now, of course, we want to win the Cup as well." This series kicks off on Sunday night (2:00 a.m. CEST/Sky) at the home of the Panthers in Sunrise.
The Oilers, who have three of the most successful forwards in the playoffs in Connor McDavid, Draisaitl, and Evan Bouchard, are considered underdogs against the Panthers. While the Panthers had a better record during the regular season and have home-field advantage in the potential seventh game, they also made it to the finals like last year. The Oilers, on the other hand, haven't appeared in a final since 2006 and are shooting for their sixth Stanley Cup in their history.
Draisaitl talked about the season's exceptional performance by the Oilers. "It takes a lot of time to build a strong team that can perform at the highest level and stay together on the ice," he said, reflecting on the past years' disappointments. From the time he was the top scorer of the league in 2020 and was given the MVP award until now, the Oilers have consistently been considered title contenders. However, they consistently failed to reach the finals.
This season is unique because the Oilers had a poor start, and they lost ten of their first thirteen games. To make matters worse, coach Jay Woodcroft lost his job. Since Kris Knoblauch took over, the Oilers have won more games than any other team in the league and have made it to the finals. In the process, they even defeated favored teams like the Dallas Stars in the Conference Finals. "We've gone through some difficult times and phases as a team. We've put in a lot of work, learned a lot, and collected a lot of positive and negative experiences to reach where we are now," said Draisaitl.
With ten goals and 18 assists, Draisaitl had a significant impact on this season's playoff success. Only McDavid, another teammate, has more scorer points in these 18 games since the regular season with five goals and 26 assists. Bouchard comes in third with six goals and 21 assists. Matthew Tkachuk leads the best-ranked forward of the Panthers with five goals and 14 assists - Nugent-Hopkins, another Oilers player, ranks just behind him with six goals and 14 assists. Draisaitl has been the deadliest playoff goal-scorer with 30 goals in 46 games over the last three years.
On the ice together, these two are a nightmare for any defender. "They're two of the best players in the world. They've proven that throughout their entire career," said Panthers player Brandon Montour. Each of them has won individual awards in the NHL, but they haven't won the big prize just yet. The Oilers' last victory was 34 years ago, and both players weren't even born at the time.
Read also:
- Despite his success with the Edmonton Oilers in the National Hockey League, Leon Draisaitl from Cologne, Germany, has yet to hoist the coveted Stanley Cup.
- The Stanley Cup Finals this year feature the Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers, with the former looking to secure their sixth title in history.
- The Oilers, led by players like Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid, and Evan Bouchard, will face the Panthers, who had a better regular season record and home-field advantage in the potential seventh game.
- Before the series, Draisaitl, who turned 28, expressed his ambition to not only reach the Stanley Cup Finals but also win the Cup.
- The Final will take place on Sunday at 2:00 a.m. CEST on Sky Sports, giving viewers in Europe an opportunity to witness this memorable ice hockey moment.
- In the NHL, the Oilers and the Panthers are not alone in their quest for glory; several other teams from Canada, the USA, and even Germany, like the Cologne-born Draisaitl, are vying for the legendary trophy.
- To reach the finals, the Oilers had an impressive turnaround after a poor start to the season, thanks to the coaching change from Jay Woodcroft to Kris Knoblauch and their determination to learn and grow together as a team.
- Leon Draisaitl, with 10 goals and 18 assists, has played a crucial role in the Oilers' playoff success this season, competing against fellow stars like Matthew Tkachuk of the Panthers and continuing his mission to help the Edmonton Oilers achieve their ultimate goal: winning the Stanley Cup.
