Lightning conquer huge hump with Stanley Cup win

A Victor Hedman card.

The doubts about this generation of the Tampa Bay Lightning are gone forever.

The skeptics viewed them as the team with exceptional skill but one that lacked the will to win a championship. The Lightning had won 42 or more games in each of the past seven regular seasons.

They made the Stanley Cup final in 2015 and fell in that best-of-seven series 4-2 to the Chicago Blackhawks, who at that time captured their third Stanley Cup title in six years.

In 2018-19, Tampa Bay had a dream regular season posting a 62-16-4 record to finish first overall in the NHL for the first time in franchise history. Their 62 wins matched the regular season record put up by the Detroit Red Wings in 1995-96.

The regular season success translated into post-season disappoint for the Lightning as they were swept 4-0 in a best-of-seven first round series by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2019 NHL playoffs.

Returning the bulk of their roster, the Lightning entered the 2019-20 campaign and the 2020 NHL playoffs as arguably the team with the most to prove. They were the team skeptics could easily write off expecting another disappointment to happen.

In what proved to be season that no one could have written a script for, the Lightning came of age.

On Monday night in the hub city of Edmonton, the Lightning would not be denied. Skilled Lightning centre Brayden Point, an alumnus of the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors, scored his 14^th goal of this post-season burying the rebound of his own shot on the power play to put his side up 1-0 on the Dallas Stars at the 12:23 mark of the first period.

A Brayden Point card.

The Lightning added a second tally in the second period and made that 2-0 score hold up as the final to take Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final at Rogers Place and win the series 4-2. It marked the second time the Lightning captured the Stanley Cup with their first win coming back in 2004 courtesy of Martin St. Louis, Vincent Lecavalier, Brad Richards, Cory Stillman, Pavel Kubina, Nikolai Khabibulin, John Tortorella and crew.

Following the gut punch of the 2019 playoff loss to the Jackets, the Lightning were having a strong regular season in 2019-20 posting a 43-21-6 record to sit second overall in the NHL’s Eastern Conference.

At that point, world events caused everything to ground to a halt due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The NHL season was paused on March 12 as the entire sports world in North America came to a stop due to unprecedented shutdowns.

Still, the NHL and NHL Players’ Association worked to put together a plan to complete the 2019-20 campaign and award the Stanley Cup. An expanded 24-team post-season tournament would be played in a bubble format without fans in the cities of Edmonton and Toronto.

On July 10, NHL training camps opened for the clubs taking part in the post-season tournament, and the Lightning moved into the Toronto hub city on July 26. The post-season officially began on Aug. 1.

The Lightning were one of four teams in the Eastern Conference to have a bye past the qualifying round into a best-of-seven series in the round of 16. They played three round robin games to determine the top seeds in the Eastern Conference bracket taking two out of three of those contests.

In the round of 16, the Lightning once again met the Jackets and downed them 4-1. Tampa Bay proceeded to advance to a best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Boston Bruins, who fell in last year’s Stanley Cup final in seven games to the St. Louis Blues.

A Nikita Kucherov card.

The Lightning dropped the first game to the Bruins before rolling off four straight wins to take the series 4-1.

For the conference title series, all hub city action was condensed into Edmonton from that point onwards.

The up and coming New York Islanders were the foe in the Eastern Conference Championship series and the Lightning prevailed in that best-of-seven set 4-2.

That set up the showdown with the Stars, who had a solid 37-24-8 mark in the regular season.

The Stars took the first game of the series, but the Lightning roared back with three straight wins. Tampa Bay had a chance to win the Stanley Cup on Saturday, but Stars pulled out a thrilling 3-2 victory in double overtime to force Monday night’s Game 6.

The Lightning did everything they could to ensure a series decided Game 7 wouldn’t be required.

After Point gave the Lightning a 1-0 edge, they netted a key insurance goal in the second.

At the 7:01 mark of the second, the Lightning entered the Dallas after getting the puck off a centre ice zone turnover by the Stars. Lightning centre Blake Coleman converted a cross-ice pass from linemate Cedric Paquette to put Tampa Bay up 2-0.

The Lightning controlled play over the first 40 minutes holding a 21-8 edge in shots on goal.

Still, the Stars make a big push back in the third holding a 14-8 edge in shots on goal in the frame, and the Lightning showed their mental toughness in holding the fort defensively.

An Andrei Vasilevskiy card.

With about 4:35 remaining in the third, Lightning netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy made two quick stops in succession with the second coming from the stick of Stars skilled centre Tyler Seguin from point-blank range.

The unsung Vasilevskiy made 22 saves to pick up the shutout in goal.

At the other end, Stars netminder Anton Khudobin, an alumnus of the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades, deserved a better fate turning away 27 shots to take the setback for Dallas.

Following the game, injured Lightning captain Steven Stamkos dressed in his gear and raised the Stanley Cup. He appeared in one game in the post-season scoring a key goal in the Lightning’s 5-2 victory in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup final.

Veteran offensive defenceman Victor Hedman showed he was one of the best in what he does in the NHL. He was named the winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the NHL playoffs.

The Swede had 10 goals, 12 assists and a plus-13 rating in the plus-minus department in 25 post-season games. Hedman picked up an assist on Point’s power-play goal on Monday.

Point had 19 assists to go with his 14 goals for 33 points in 23 games to finish second in post-season scoring for the Lightning. Star right-winger Nikita Kucherov had an outstanding post-season topping Tampa Bay in scoring with seven goals and 27 assists for 34 points in 25 games.

Kucherov also picked up an assist on Point’s power-play goal that was the Stanley Cup winner.

A Steven Stamkos card.

The Stanley Cup title was a sweet moment for Lightning head coach Jon Cooper, who has been the team’s bench boss since becoming a mid-season replacement for the fired Guy Boucher with 16 games remaining in the 2012-13 campaign.

After the Lightning were swept in the first round of the 2019 NHL playoffs, there were questions about whether Cooper was the man for the job to lead Tampa Bay to a Stanley Cup title. On Monday night, it was mission accomplished for Cooper.

Going forward in these pandemic times, there is lots of uncertainty about the fate of a 2020-21season for the NHL.

It is uplifting to know the NHL successfully held a post-season tournament in 2020 in an expanded form. The players were also away from their families outside of some of the Lightning and Stars families making it to the Edmonton bubble for the Stanley Cup final.

As of right now on Monday night, it is only right to allow the Tampa Bay Lightning to celebrate their accomplishment of winning the Stanley Cup, because they have more than paid their dues to get to this point.

Your 2020 #StanleyCup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning!!!! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/P43wYrBEZW

— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) September 29, 2020

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

-------                                     

If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.

Stars, Lightning right type of different in Stanley Cup final

A Brayden Point card.

A Stanley Cup final between the Dallas Stars and the Tampa Bay Lightning will be intriguing, because it is one of those championship battles you don’t expect.

Each team has one NHL championship to its credit. The Stars won the Stanley Cup in 1999, and the Lightning captured their lone Stanley Cup title to date in 2004.

Since those respective championships, both teams have been far from regulars when it comes to appearing in the Stanley Cup final.

Dallas last went in 2000 falling to the New Jersey Devils.

Previous to this year, Tampa Bay had only made the Stanley Cup final once since 2004 falling to the Chicago Blackhawks in 2015. That turned out to be Chicago’s third Stanley Cup title win in six years.

The two clubs will begin a best-of-seven series for the NHL title with Game 1 on Saturday at Rogers Place in the bubble city of Edmonton (5:30 p.m. Saskatchewan time, CBC and NBC).

Going into the 2019-20 campaign, both teams weren’t sexy picks to advance to the Stanley Cup final. There might have been some lukewarm feelings out there that one of those two teams could make it that far.

A Jamie Benn card.

Before the NHL regular season came to a premature end due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on March 12, the Stars were fifth overall in the Western Conference with a 37-24-8 mark one point behind the 37-25-9 Edmonton Oilers with two games in hand. The Lightning were second overall in the Eastern Conference with a 43-21-6 record.

When the modified NHL post-season began on August 1 in the bubble cities of Edmonton and Toronto, the Stars and Lightning were designated to be in the top four of the Western and Eastern Conferences respectively and had to play three round robin games each for conference seeding.

Dallas was given the fourth overall spot in the Western Conference over Edmonton based on winning percentage.

The Stars and Lightning were part of the group of eight teams that had byes into the round of 16 of the modified NHL post-season. Dallas took one of three round robin contests, while Tampa Bay won two out of three round robin contests.

Since the round of 16, both the Stars and Lightning have found their strides. When they battle in the Stanley Cup final, there will be lots of storylines to watch.

The Stars will have the benefit of rest. They won the best-of-seven Western Conference championship series against the Vegas Golden Knights 4-1 taking Game 5 by a 3-2 final in overtime on Monday in Edmonton thanks to a power-play goal from right-winger Denis Gurianov.

An Anthony Cirelli card.

Dallas’s roster contains left-winger Jamie Benn, who is a career member of the Stars skating in his 11^th season with the club. Benn, who played two seasons from 2007 to 2009 with the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets, has appeared in 814 career regular season games with the Stars piling up 300 goals and 388 assists.

For the time he has put into Dallas franchise, it would be a huge reward for him, if the Stars took home the Stanley Cup.

Another feel good story on the Dallas front is netminder Anton Khudobin, who played one outstanding season in the WHL with the Saskatoon Blades in 2005-06. Since playing his first two NHL games in the 2009-10 season, Khudobin has been a journeyman goalie suiting up for the Minnesota Wild, Boston Bruins, Carolina Hurricanes and the Anaheim Ducks before arriving in Dallas.

With the Stars in the current post-season, Khudobin is realizing his potential and become the go-to guy for Dallas in net. In 19 appearances in the 2020 NHL post-season, Khudobin has a 12-6 record, a 2.62 goals against average, a .920 save percentage and one shutout.

Of course, the biggest feel good story should Dallas win would centre around 65-year-old Stars head coach Rick Bowness, who is considered one of hockey’s good guys. Bowness first worked as a coach in the NHL when he was a Winnipeg Jets assistant coach way back in 1984-85.

Bowness joined the Stars as an assistant coach on June 22, 2018. He became the Stars interim head coach on December 10, 2019 after Jim Montgomery was fired due to unprofessional conduct.

A Tyler Seguin card.

Bowness is a coaching lifer, but he hadn’t held a head coach role in the NHL since being the interim head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes late in the 2003-04 campaign. If he became a Stanley Cup winner after all his ups and downs, it would be one of those stories you couldn’t dream up.

One also wonders if skilled centre Tyler Seguin will find another gear with the Stars. He has two goals and six assists in 20 post-season games for Dallas, which are low totals for him.

The Lightning have to jump right into the Stanley Cup final with only one day of rest. They captured the best-of-seven Eastern Conference championship series over the New York Islanders 4-2 after taking Game 6 in overtime 2-1 in Edmonton on centre Anthony Cirelli’s winner.

Lightning centre Brayden Point is well remembered for his exploits staring for the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors from 2011 to 2016. He hasn’t disappointed over four seasons in the NHL appearing in 295 career regular season games with the Lightning piling up 116 goals and 146 assists.

Defenceman Victor Hedman was selected by the Lightning in the first round and second overall in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. The Swedish product has been a career member of the team playing in 762 career regular season games over 11 campaigns netting 105 goals and 368 assists.

Centre Tyler Johnson is an uplifting story for the Lightning. Standing 5-foot-8 and weighing 180 pounds, he was often told his lack of size would prevent him from hitting the big time in hockey, but his skill prevailed.

A Tyler Johnson card.

He played four seasons in the WHL from 2007 to 2011 with is hometown Spokane Chiefs in Spokane, Wash. During his overage season, he finish second in WHL scoring with 53 goals and 62 assists for 115 points in 71 regular season games.

Having never been selected in the NHL Entry Draft, Johnson signed with the Lightning as a free agent. He made his first NHL appearances as a second-year professional in 2012-13 and has been a regular on the Lightning roster since the start of the 2013-14 campaign.

In 534 regular season games, he has 153 goals and 186 assists for 339 points.

The Stars and Lightning might not have the sexy appeal like the NHL’s Original Six, the Canadian franchises, the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Philadelphia Flyers or the Washington Capitals.

Still, those that tune into the Stanley Cup final between the Stars and Lightning will likely see some pretty good hockey and some cool stories play out.

For those that don’t watch, you will be missing out.

Rush get Powless and McClelland in NLL Draft, other notes

The Rush veterans are getting new teammates.

You have to appreciate the brilliance of Saskatchewan Rush general manager Derek Keenan.

Year in and year out, the Rush have been a powerhouse under Keenan’s watch, and they went into Thursday’s NLL Draft with two selections in the first round. The extra first round pick game courtesy of moves made by Keenan long before draft day arrived.

With the seventh overall selection in the first round, the Rush picked forward Marshall Powless.

In a shortened 2020 campaign, Powless notched 11 points in two games with the Ontario based Six Nation Snipers of the Arena Lacrosse League. In 2019 with the Six Nations Rebels Jr. B team, Powless had 54 goals and 97 assists for 151 points and was named the Ontario Junior B League’s most valuable player.

With the 12^th overall selection in the first round, the Rush took defenceman Connor McClelland from Brampton, Ont. McClelland is electing to return to Marquette University Golden Eagles in the NCAA ranks as a fifth-year senior. He had his eligibility extended due to the lacrosse season being cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.

He recorded seven goals and two assists in three games in the shortened 2020 NCAA season. In 2019, McClelland tallied 12 goals and seven assists in 13 games with the Golden Eagles.

The Rush picked seven players in the six rounds of the NLL Draft.

They concluded the draft selecting transition player Wyatt Haux from the Saskatchewan SWAT Jr. A team in the sixth round and 92^nd overall. The Estevan, Sask., product, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 220 pounds, won gold with Team Canada at the 2018 and 2019 World Junior Championship.

SWAT alum Laine Hruska from Warman, Sask., was selected in the first round and 13^th overall by the Georgia Swarm. The 19-year-old goalie is the highest drafted ever Saskatchewan born player.

He played this past season with the Whitby Steelhawks in Whitby, Ont., in the ALL. With the Steelhawks, Hruska had a 5-1 record and a 7.57 goals against average. On Thursday, he was named the ALL rookie of the year.

• On Monday, The Reseau du sport etudiant du Quebec (RSEQ) cancelled all sports for the fall semester. As a result, there won’t be any regular season or post-season football played in any of the four conferences governed by U Sports.
• On Wednesday, the Canada Games Council and the Niagara Host Society announced the 2021 Canada Summer Games slated to be held in Niagara, Ont., have been postponed to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Canada Summer Games were originally slated for August 6 to 21, 2021.
• On Wednesday, the 14 universities that are part of the NCAA’s Big Ten Conference including athletic powerhouses in the University of Michigan, The Ohio State University and Penn State University unanimously agreed to try to play football as soon as Oct. 23 without fans in the stands. Back on Aug. 11, the Big Ten conference had cancelled all fall sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As of Wednesday, the Big Ten conference is touting the line it felt secure about its rapid testing protocols and believe they could address all safety concerns.
• Of course, United States President Donald Trump had talked to Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren back on Sept. 1 about getting football back on the field. USA Today columnist Christine Brennan wrote a scathing opinion piece about the decision that can be found by clicking right here.
• At the time this post went live, Worldometer, which is really accurate at tracking health related statistics, said that 6.9-million people in the United States have dealt with COVID-19 this year. That would account for just over two per cent of the population in the United States or one in every 50 persons. Just over 2.5-million of those cases are currently active.
• On Wednesday, The Canadian Press reported a proposed class-action lawsuit has been filed by 21-year-old Lloydminster, Alta., product and former WHL left-winger Kobe Mohr against the NHL, WHL, OHL, QMJHL, AHL, ECHL and Hockey Canada. The suit alleges these leagues conspired to limit opportunities for young players. The allegations haven’t been proven in court. The Canadian Press story about this proposed class-action lawsuit can be found by clicking right here.
• On Thursday, the International Ice Hockey Federation announced the upcoming under-20 World Junior Hockey Championships will be held in a bubble at Rogers Place in Edmonton without fans this coming December and January. World juniors were originally slated to be played from Dec. 26, 2020 to Jan. 5, 2021 in Edmonton and Red Deer. Under the current bubble format in Edmonton, the tournament is still expected to end Jan 5. 2021, but the start date is still being determined. Edmonton and Red Deer have been named hosts for the world juniors for the 2021-22 season. Novosibirsk, Russia is set to host world juniors in the 2022-23 campaign and Gothenburg, Sweden is slated to get world junior for the 2023-24 season.
• On Thursday, the IIHF cancelled all men’s under-20 lower division tournament for the 2020-21 campaign and all women’s under-18 tournaments including Under-18 Women’s World Hockey Championship due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The men’s lower division tournaments are all tournaments that are below the level of the top world juniors that are slated to be held in a bubble city format in Edmonton this coming December and January. The first round of Women’s Olympic pre-qualification scheduled to take place from Dec. 17 to 19 in Reykjavik, Iceland have been postponed until further notice.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

-------                                     

If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.