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The truth about most Stanley Cup finals: They are easily forgettable.

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One series drifts into the next championship round, one year into the next, huge for the franchise that wins them, but too often the best-of-seven gets lost over time.

The Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers are changing all of that in back-to-back Stanley Cup seasons. They are writing a history all their own. They are taking excitement to a new level — with two overtime games to begin this Cup final after a seven-game series a year ago that was decided by just one goal.

To watch the brilliance of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl now is reminiscent of personal hockey genius of years gone by. This is Mark Messier of 1994. This is Mario Lemieux of 1991 and ’92. This is Mike Bossy and Bryan Trottier combining over five years as no one had before them. This is Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin with three different Pittsburgh teams.

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This is magnificent individual hockey theatre.

The Panthers are the ultimate in team champions. They don’t have an all-time great in their lineup. They don’t have a superstar for the ages. They have a style they play. They’re deep down the middle, resolute and committed, mean, rough and ready.

It is nine Stanley Cup games now between Florida and Edmonton, the most recent two being as sensational as any before them. This is hockey at its absolute best. This is hockey to remember forever. You don’t even need a rooting interest of any kind to be captivated by this spectacle. All you have to do is watch.

THIS AND THAT

McDavid is putting up numbers that are close to the greatest we’ve ever seen. He has 73 points in the past two playoff seasons. With a whole lot of series still to go. The most Wayne Gretzky ever scored in back-to-back playoff seasons was 82. The most Lemieux managed was 78. The highest number for Messier and Bossy was 62. It’s entirely possible that McDavid can score nine more points — if this series goes seven games — which would tie Gretzky’s numbers. All of this happening at a time when scoring is far more difficult than it was when Gretzky and Lemieux were putting up the largest numbers ever seen … Sometimes it’s easy to forget how special Doug Gilmour was during his two brilliant playoff seasons with the Maple Leafs in 1993 and ’94 — really, the two greatest individual post-seasons in franchise history. Gilmour never made it past the third round in either year but still scored 63 points over those two post-seasons. In the two seasons that Gretzky combined to score 82 playoff points, he had 64 before the final began, just one more in total than Gilmour managed in his greatest days … Not that I should be asking, but isn’t it kind of odd that Draisaitl’s wife would have her bachelorette party in Greece while the Stanley Cup final was going on in Edmonton and Sunrise, Fla.? She couldn’t have waited two more weeks? … Time heals most wounds. A year ago or so, Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch was asking for management to trade Evander Kane. He didn’t care for him as a person or player. Now Kane has become one of his most defendable playoff performers on Edmonton’s team … Is it just me or is Sam Reinhart at all visible for the Panthers? On a team where you can’t help but notice Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Bennett or Brad Marchand, you can’t seem to find Reinhart in prominent circumstances.

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HEAR AND THERE

The difficulty with firing a coach such as Peter DeBoer in Dallas is finding someone better than him. Truth is, there just aren’t many … Just when you thought it was time to hand Evan Bouchard a place on Canada’s Olympic team, an earned spot, along comes Marchand’s overtime goal in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup final. Bouchard is a miraculous offensive defenceman. But he is capable of winning or losing an Olympic medal — and that’s why general manager Doug Armstrong and coach Jon Cooper kept him off the Team Canada 4 Nations roster … Among those who have played themselves into Olympic contention of some kind: Goaltender Stuart Skinner, possibly ahead of Adin Hill, Samuel Montembeault or Logan Thompson; forwards Tom Wilson, Nick Suzuki and Mark Scheifele, who should be among the 14 Team Canada forwards in Milano. Question is, if there are places for Wilson, Suzuki and Scheifele, who aren’t there places for from the 4 Nations roster, where the roster size grows from 22 to 25 for the Olympics? … One Atlantic Division coach was not happy that Sasha Barkov won the Selke Trophy yet again as the NHL’s best defensive forward. The vote was too convenient, he said. His view: This was one of Barkov’s weakest defensive seasons. In the playoffs, Barkov has been scored on 14 times at even-strength in 19 games. His fellow Florida centre, Anton Lundell, has been scored on only five times … That coach’s pick for the Selke: Adam Lowry of Winnipeg, who wasn’t a finalist. Soon to be ex-Leaf Mitch Marner got three first-place Selke votes. We’d like to know why … Teams that could use Brendan Shanahan in a senior management capacity: Chicago, San Jose, Carolina, Detroit, Anaheim, Nashville, Calgary. Teams willing to pay Shanahan anything close to what the Leafs did: Probably none … Wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see Shanahan wind up working for the NHL out of New York in some capacity. Commissioner Gary Bettman played a role in Shanahan being hired in Toronto … When Corey Perry wanted to play for the Leafs, then general manager Kyle Dubas had other ideas: He signed Joe Thornton and Wayne Simmonds for apparent veteran leadership. The 40-year-old Perry has eight goals with the Oilers this playoff season after being picked up following a troublesome ending in Chicago. It also helps a little when your centre is McDavid.

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SCENE AND HEARD

Bo Bichette’s pinch-hit home run in Texas seems to have changed the Blue Jays season. The Jays are 8-1 and have moved into in a wild-card playoff spot since the Bichette home run came in the ninth inning at Arlington. In the past nine games, the Jays have hit 18 homers — five from Addison Barger. Five from George Springer. Three more from Bichette. Just one from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. … Bichette and Guerrero are tied in home runs with eight apiece and Bichette has 37 RBIs to 30 for Guerrero. Vladdy has an OPS of .806 compared to .758 by Bichette. Makes you wonder: If the offensive numbers between Guerrero and Bichette are as similar at the end of the season as they are right now, what becomes Bichette’s dollar value in salary? … At a time when pitchers in baseball seem to get injured more often than ever before, it is rather remarkable that the Jays trio of Kevin Gausman, Jose Berrios and Chris Bassitt has made 228 starts over the past three seasons, barely missing any. There are a number of dependable starting pitchers in the game, but no team has three of them the way the Jays do … Barger’s family had two dogs growing up. One named Bam Bam. One named Pebbles. They were clearly a Flintstones family and some have taken to calling Addison ‘Bam Bam.’ … Too bad the Blue Jays didn’t wind up with Pete Alonso instead of Anthony Santander. The Mets signed Alonso for $30 million a year. He has 15 homers and 57 RBIs in New York. Santander has yet to get going with the Jays on the first year of his five-year $92-million deal.

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AND ANOTHER THING

Only two NBA players averaged more than 30 points a game this season. One was MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The other was two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. Now there are rumblings that Masai Ujiri has genuine interest in acquiring his longtime buddy, Giannis, in a trade. And also there are rumblings that the Raptors have interest in ancient Kevin Durant, as well. Truth, if this were anyone other than Masai involved in this kind of talk, it would be easy to label this nonsense. But Ujiri loves the notion of involving himself in a home run-derby aspect of running a basketball team. He loves the challenge of going for it. Especially at a time when his long-term future with the Raptors, with Edward Rogers taking over the team, may not be as comfortable as it has been in the past. Masai has to be watching Pascal Siakam in the NBA Finals and thinking to himself: Why not us? … Giannis seems like he’s been around forever, but he’s only 30 years old. Not only did he score 30 points a game this year in Milwaukee, but he averaged 12 rebounds a game and shot 60% from the field. He remains a top-five NBA player … So explain Madison Square Garden to me: The Knicks fire coach Tom Thibodeau after he takes the team further than it has been in centuries. And at the same time, MSF re-ups Rangers general manager Chris Drury, after New York had one of its most dysfunctional seasons ever. The notion being: Do well and you get fired. Do lousy and you get an extension … At least the Rangers were smart enough to hire Mike Sullivan to coach, who then showed a wise side of himself by adding the impressive duo of David Quinn and Joe Sacco as assistant coaches. Some coaches aren’t secure enough to hire assistants who could replace them. Sullivan clearly believes in team first, not protecting his job first … First impression of the Montreal Alouettes new starting quarterback, Davis Alexander: He’s really fast … So I still wonder: How did the Argos win the Grey Cup with Nick Arbuckle at quarterback? … Anybody know who Auston Matthews’ passengers were? Anybody? … The Canadian Open is a whole lot more fun when Rory McIlroy is on the leaderboard instead of a lot of guys whose names you just don’t know … This is how Caitlin Clark has changed business in the WNBA: Before she got hurt, ticket prices for Saturday night’s Indiana-Chicago game were going in the $400-plus range. Now that Clark is out, you could pick up a ticket yesterday for somewhere around $17 … Deepest condolences to the Canadian football legend Milt Stegall and his family on the passing of their son, Chase, a soccer player at DePaul University … I took in a day at the Miami Open in March and got a chance to see Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka play tennis, one after the other on Centre Court. On Saturday, they played each other in a stirring French Open final at Roland Garros Stadium, with Gauff winning 6-4 in the third set … The NHL Broadcasters’ Association voted Spencer Carbery coach of the year in the NHL. But I would still like to know the names of those who chose not to vote for Dave Hodge, Ron MacLean, Don Cherry, James Duthie or Don Wittman but did vote for Daryl Reaugh for the Foster Hewitt Award, which is the broadcaster equivalent of Hall of Fame. Also, shouldn’t there be some kind of Hall of Fame recognition for the late producer, Ralph Mellanby, and for the legendary photographer, Bruce Bennett? … Is anything more appropriate than this: The Baltimore Orioles have acquired a pitcher named Scott Blewett, which is really the story of their entire season … Happy birthday to Mike Modano (55), Allen Iverson (50), Mick Foley (60), Terry O’Reilly (74), Bryan McCabe (50), Milan Lucic (37), Mike Cammalleri (43), Pete Orr (46) and Christian McCaffrey (29) … And hey, whatever became of Amir Johnson?

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