Earlier in the month, Miami Herald sports columnist Greg Cote wrote a column delineating the Florida Panthers run to the Stanley Cup Final in which he called Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid overrated. McDavid, who is the consensus best player in the National Hockey League, posted 132 points on 32 goals and 100 assists in the 2023 regular season and has 42 points in 24 games during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
McDavid has made history with the fourth-most points in a single NHL playoffs of all time and will look to help the Oilers claim a Stanley Cup championship in a pivotal Game 7 on Monday night. Cote appeared on Monday’s edition of The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz where the matchup was at the center of discussion and the implications it has on both organizations.
The Panthers previously led the Stanley Cup Final three games to none; however, the Oilers have rallied to win the last three contests to force the series to a win-or-go-home Game 7. The matchup will be played tonight from Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla. at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and streaming on ESPN+. Cote has received backlash from Panthers fans on social media after calling McDavid overrated and the team proceeding to forsake a three-game lead.
Moreover, various hockey programs, including the ESPN on ABC broadcast’s intermission report, have made mention of The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz and the narrative surrounding the team. Cote, however, was recently contacted by the Panthers organization for a different reason as the team faces a critical final game.
“Paul Maurice, through one of his P.R. people, gets in touch with me a few days ago and asks me to address the team – to give the team a little pep talk, preparatory to the biggest Game 7 in the history of the biggest Game 7s,” Cote explained, “and so I did.”
Cote outlined his address to the team on the most recent edition of The Greg Cote Show and branded it akin to an edition of Hard Knocks, the HBO and NFL Films program, focused on hockey.
Meadowlark Media producer Mike Ryan, a diehard Panthers fan with whom Cote has been in disagreement with of late on The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz, explained that he would listen to the show and wishes that he could enjoy the Stanley Cup Playoffs more at the moment. Furthermore, he expressed that he was in his youth when the New York Rangers defeated the Vancouver Canucks in Game 7 of the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals, ending a 54-year championship drought and cementing the team in hockey lore.
“I don’t think I’d look back on it [and go], ‘Wow, what a cool time,’” Ryan conveyed. “I don’t think I’d be able to separate myself from the pain if they actually make history and blow this, but this is the biggest hockey game of our lifetime.”
Le Batard was surprised to hear that Ryan is preparing for a loss and stated that he would not be able to diminish the level of disappointment should it actualize. Ryan does not believe that preparing for a loss is going to make it hurt any less if it ends up happening. Last week, Ryan threatened to quit Meadowlark Media if Le Batard followed through on a plan to put up billboards in Edmonton and took issue with how the show was covering the Panthers.
“People know how much I care, and I’d like to thank everybody that didn’t text me over the weekend because they knew what kind of state I was in,” Ryan said. “Dude, all the blood left my face, and I don’t think it’s come back yet. I am a zombie.”
“It is a terrifying thing, and I love terror with your sports,” Le Batard replied. “I love caring so much that it is unreasonable; caring so much that you have a hard time getting it out of your head.”
