Florida reporter goes off on McDavid, calls him “McOverrated”

Don't look now, but the football, baseball and basketball reporters are coming out of the woodwork in Florida for their once a year hockey hot takes...

Miami Herald columnist Greg Cote, who typically reports on the NFL, MLB and NBA, recently drew the ire of Edmonton Oilers fans when he called Oilers captain Connor McDavid 'McOverrated'. The long-time columnist argues that McDavid doesn't deserve to be called the best player in the sport because he's not as good as Wayne Gretzky. It's unclear whether or not Cote knows that Gretzky retired in 1999, but I digress...

From Cote's column today:

“Connor McDavid is overrated. Boom. He puts up big, impressive stats, yes. Fine. But should he really be called ‘generational,’ called the best player in the sport, when in nine seasons he has yet to lead his team to a Stanley Cup?”

- Greg Cote

Cote then compared McDavid's first 9 years with the Oilers to Gretzky's 9 years with the team. Cote erroneously attributed all 5 of the Oilers' Stanley Cup victories to Gretzky, not knowing that Gretzky was traded to the Los Angeles Kings ahead of the team's victory in 1990. Of course, Gretzky was on the Oilers for 4 Stanley Cups... but I wouldn't expect a Dolphins/Marlins and Heat fan to do his research on the 80s Oilers.

In any case... get ready for more of this reporting from the Sunshine State.

Read below for our earlier reports on McDavid and a strange encounter he had with a fan, published this morning.

The Edmonton Oilers are headed back to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2006, so you can't blame Oilers fans for getting a bit over-excited the past couple days. 

Sure, we've seen videos of Oilers fans partying in the streets and going topless at Rogers Place, but you have to draw the line somewhere as a fan. Late last night a video was shared to social media of a group of Oilers fans accosting captain Connor McDavid as he was loading his vehicle with cases of beer. McDavid, reportedly, was loading up with booze for a team party and was simply trying to enjoy his evening with fiancee Lauren Kyle and his teammates when this transpired.

Oh, man... this is so embarrassing.

'Give me a hug, man!'

Are you kidding me!?!?

McDavid is such a gem of a human for simply humoring them, even if it's obvious to everyone else that he wants nothing to do with these guys. Just let the guy live a normal life when he's not on the clock. I know that not all Oilers fans are like this, but these guys are giving the entire fanbase a bad look.

Honestly, McDavid would be wise to get himself a private security team, if only just for the remainder of the playoffs. The boys over at Spittin' Chiclets are calling for exactly that and fans seem to be in agreement.

Thankfully, former Oilers enforcer Georges Laraque has offered up his services to McDavid:

Let's go, Big Georges!

It's a shame that it's come to this, but some people just have no shame and feel entitled to get in celebrities' faces. You never know when an unhinged individual will do something stupid. Better safe than sorry, Connor.

Read below for our earlier report on McDavid, published yesterday afternoon.

The Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers have a full five days to prepare for the Stanley Cup Final and fans of both teams are spending their downtime digging deep on social media just trying to feed their hockey addiction.

Today, some Oilers fans uncovered a couple social media posts from a teenage Connor McDavid commenting on the the Los Angeles Kings' Stanley Cup victory in 2012 and the Chicago Blackhawks' Stanley Cup victory in 2013.

Check it out:

Will young Connors' dreams come true this season?

Read below for our earlier report on the Oilers, specifically veteran forward Corey Perry.

With the Edmonton Oilers officially clinching a berth in the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers last night, Oilers forward Corey Perry established a new NHL record.

It's crazy to even think this, but Perry will be the only player in NHL history to appear in a Stanley Cup Final for five different franchises. That is, assuming that he factors into the lineup for at least one game with the Oilers.

Even more crazy is the fact that Perry is appearing in his 4th Stanley Cup Final in the past five years. Perry, of course, has just one Stanley Cup ring from his sophomore season with the Anaheim Ducks way back in 2007. Since then he has played on Cup Finalists on the Dallas Stars, Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning.

After a pretty tumultuous season split between Edmonton and the Chicago Blackhawks, Perry is once again back in the Stanley Cup Final and he's got the perfect opportunity to bookend his career with another Stanley Cup championship. He has played in 13 games for the Oilers during their post-season run with just one assist and six penalty minutes. I wouldn't be surprised to see head coach Kris Knoblauch use Perry sparingly against the Florida Panthers, but if the Panthers decide to try to drag the Oilers into the muck there's no one better to combat that than Perry. 

If Panthers forwards Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk make it a point to get under the Oilers' skin then I suspect Perry will be tasked with keeping them in check.