Brian Lawton

And that really shocked me.

And I had to imagine it shocked the Oilers a little bit as well, who were hurting.

And I've played a lot of hockey.

There's a lot of reasons I think that go into what happened this year for Edmonton.

It was a combination for sure, but I don't think it was really any more than the points I'm highlighting.

You know, Connor McDavid, he's the best player in the world, hands down.

Did he play like that?

Not when he's injured, not when he's at 70% of his really special talent, which, of course, is he just plays with so much speed that it intimidates.

And everybody, Leon Dreisaitl, he's an intimidating player, but it's differently.

He's thinking his way around the rink.

He could play on one leg sometimes, I think, and still be effective as it was in this playoffs.

He's still leading the playoffs in points per game.

In Connor's case, though, he didn't have the pop in his stride, and I felt like this is a team that you and I have talked about over the season, Bob, that really didn't

get to involving more players earlier.

And I felt like that hurts at a moment like this when you kind of need everybody.

And other players stepped up and certainly played well.

Pod Kozlum and Kapanen I thought were exceptional in the playoffs.

But it's more than that.

Dickinson was obviously hurt.

But it's about developing your team over the season so that when you get in the playoffs,