Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Don Cherry Calls Out the NHL and Reveals His Pick For the Conn Smythe Winner

Originally posted on House of Hockey | By Tom Banks | Last updated Jun 23, 2025 12:24 PM ET

The Florida Panthers once again cruised to the Stanley Cup in 2025, but according to NHL icon Don Cherry, the wrong man won the Conn Smythe Award.

Heading into the 2024/25 season, many had the Edmonton Oilers winning their first Stanley Cup in the era of Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, including Don Cherry, who backed up his pick of the Oilers to win the Cup.

'Well, they were a better team. They were a better team, but there's no way I was going to go against Edmonton.'

However, that wasn't the only thing that Cherry seemingly got wrong, as the former Sportsnet host opened up on his pick for the Conn Smythe Award winner in 2025, revealing that he believes it should have been Brad Marchand, something he addressed on the latest edition of his podcast.

'I thought Marchand was pretty good. Sure, give it to both of them. Marchand should have won.'

Instead, it was star forward Sam Bennett, who led the league in playoff goals this season, including 13 on the road, which is an NHL record fro a single Stanley Cup Playoffs run.

This was an opinion shared by many on social media, but at the end of the day, the two were 1-2 in the voting for the award, and whichever one of them won the award, fans were going to be excited and happy for them.

Sure, Marchand had a massive Stanley Cup Finals for the Panthers, but Bennett played a full 200ft game throughout the playoffs, making plays in many different ways, and at the end of the day, it appears that the NHL got it right with this decision, even if Cherry doesn't believe so.

This article first appeared on House of Hockey and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: