NHL Stanley Cup Preview
Yes, I know I am late, and you will be one game into the Finals before reading this. I am trying to write this as if the game never happened. It’s only been a period into Game 1 so its still pretty fresh. It has been way too long of a wait for my liking. I don’t like the long wait personally; would rather the teams jump right into it. Further, the narrative about the types of market who are in the Finals is getting tired very quickly. I understand that we aren’t seeing LA vs NYR or the Blackhawks vs Toronto. Yes, its Florida vs Vegas and I can tell you these fans of these markets are excited. Someone new is going to win the Stanley Cup and success is what drive interest in your sport. It’s good for the NHL and good for Hockey in the Sun-Belt. I hope you all enjoy it because both teams have earned their spot here, they deserve to be here and that’s all that really matters. Just remember, the NBA is playing a Final with Miami and Denver, not really the largest markets themselves and I don’t hear about that narrative. Rant over. Enjoy the Finals everyone! It has been a pleasure writing for you this season, we will see you next season.
STANLEY CUP FINAL
Vegas Golden Knights (PAC/WEST 1) vs. Florida Panthers (EAST WC2)
Vegas proved to me that the 2nd round was the true Western Conference Final. The Vegas Golden Knights had a handle of the series from the get-go and managed to push the Dallas Stars of two important games right at puck drop. That Game 6 was a thing of beauty from the Knights side, but terrible from a hockey fan perspective. The depth continues to just dominate the headlines, not to mention their incredible 5 on 5 play. 49 of their 62 goals have been 5 on 5, which is very very impressive. 7 players sit with double digit points with many close to that mark. No player has meaningful TOI greater than 20 minutes, meaning Coach Bruce Cassidy is really spreading out the minutes share and getting everyone involved. Jack Eichel has looked incredible and that’s even counting the fact he didn’t score in 6 games against the Stars. He leads his team in points and defensively he has elevated his game. Jon Marchessault is right behind Eichel with 17 points and has been a premier scoring threat all the way through. The stout D core has been incredible solid and it’s a wonder if they have any weakness on the back-end. Roope Hintz had an incredible showing in the playoffs, and the Knights held him to just 2 points in the final 5 games of the series. The depth, defending prowess, and scoring abilities are all there, and they come at you in waves. This is all not even mentioning the fantastic play of Adin Hill. The historically up and down goalie has really found his stride. He fits perfectly in this type of defending team. He is playing great, and he doesn’t even need to. He’s not flashy, he’s not high event, instead he is a calm, collected net minder who saves what he needs to. He’s looked really great with a great .937 SV %. I can’t pick my Conn Smythe pick after this series as the entire team has players that are worthy at this point. Willy Karlsson is deserving, Jack Eichel is probably top of my list, and Marchy could easily win it too. This one is going to be like the NBA, it will be a Finals MVP.
The Florida Panthers have knocked off not only the “best regular season team of all time”, not only the desperate, 2nd place Toronto Maple Leafs in just 5 games, but also the best Metro Division, stifling Carolina Hurricanes team. The Florida Panthers swept the Carolina Hurricanes, in what I can only describe as the closest sweep in sports history. All games were one goal games, 2 overtime games, and 1 that was less than 5 seconds from going to OT. Matthew Tkachuck scored 3 of the 4 game winning goals, all of the ones either in OT or close to. He’s been an absolute legend this entire run, representing the Panthers and the sport in the best way possible. Florida’s team has been incredibly resilient, scrappy and living off of that don’t give a f**k attitude. Barkov was a warrior, playing all 4 games despite his injury that put question marks on his ability to play. Florida is playing with an absolute love for each other and a belief that is seeping throughout the lineup and they are bullying every team that they come across. The crazy part of this past series was Florida was dominated in many facets of the game and it was Carolina who couldn’t find the back of the net. And that is solely due to Sergei Bobrovsky. The team in front of him did not give him much help by letting the Hurricanes walk down the slot throughout the series. Goalie Bob has absolutely been the story of the entire playoffs it seems, at least him and Chucker. Bob has a .966 SV% in that last series and has looked like a man possessed by a brick wall. Nothing went in for the Hurricanes and that says a lot considering he faced 174 shots on net. That’s 47 more shots than the Panthers were able to muster. He is keeping this team well above water. This is a scary team to play against as they will meet you in every corner and if they don’t come out with the puck, you are left with a memorable bruise. Their goaltending has been fantastic and they are being led by Matthew Tkachuk who has been sensational. Goalie Bob is my obvious pick for the Conn Smythe here.
I have doubted the Panthers run this entire playoff and I’ll look like an idiot for doing it again. So I am doing it again. Honestly the Panthers bubble is about to burst. Why is that? They haven’t met a team like the Vegas Golden Knights. They have elite depth, depth that is likened to the Avs last year. They are running everyone at a regular clip, and they come at you in wave after wave of aggressive forechecking and smart hockey. I believe the Florida Panthers are worthy of being here and I would be very happy to see them win. The story has been incredible. This series will be a battle of bullies and who can out bully the other. In my opinion, the Vegas Golden Knights cannot out bully this insane Panthers team, but they can match it. With that, the Golden Knights will drive their depth down the throat of the Panthers and will out finesse the competition. I want this to be close as its good for hockey, but I don’t see this series going too long. I see the Panthers winning 1 game before heading back to Vegas where the Vegas Golden Knights will hoist the Stanley Cup for the 1st time in franchise history, right on schedule for when owner Bill Foley was striving for. But hey, Florida has proved me wrong every step of the way. Knights in 5.