After Stanley Cup high by Lightning, where does the NHL go from here?

Look of 2020-21 campaign has no certainty

A Brayden Point card.

In the current day, it seems like the great feeling of experiencing the NHL’s top annual moment was fleeting.

On Monday, the Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup for the second time in team history blanking the Dallas Stars 2-0 in Game 6 of the NHL championship series to take the best-of-seven set 4-2.

When Lightning captain Steven Stamkos raised the Stanley Cup after his team posed for a group picture with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, you could see in Stamkos’s eyes and his reaction in that moment at Rogers Place in Edmonton was an ultimate dream comes true.

As the Stanley Cup was passed amongst the members of the Lightning team include standout players like Victor Hedman, Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov and Andrei Vasilevskiy and head coach Jon Cooper, the joy of holding up the historical professional hockey prize was as pure, natural and euphoric as it could get.

There were good tingles when you saw role players like Tyler Johnson, Anthony Cirelli, Ondrej Palat and Alex Killorn enjoy the rewards for doing their party to help the Lightning reach the NHL’s peak. 

A Victor Hedman card.

On the Saskatchewan front, Saskatoon product Luke Schenn and Shaunavon product Brayden Coburn realized the top moment of their lengthy NHL careers with their first Stanley Cup win.

While it was still obvious the world was in the grips of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic as no fans were in attendance and only team family members that lived in Canada were in the building, the night belonged to the Lightning. They soaked in a treasured moment in time they rightly deserved.

For a period of two months beginning on August 1, NHL fans both hardcore and casual got to watch the television broadcasts extended 24-team post-season play out in the hub cities of Toronto and Edmonton. When it was time to hold the conference championship series, all the action was condensed into Edmonton.

Even if your favourite team lost out, fans had to admit it was comforting having the NHL on television on pretty much a nightly basis. Watching games helped get the mind off of the troubles the world was going through even for a short time.

An Alex Killorn card.

Still, even as quickly as the day after the Stanley Cup final ended, the question that inevitably ran through the head was “what happens now?”

First up, the NHL Entry Draft will be held this coming Tuesday and Wednesday via video conference call from the NHL Network Studios in Secaucus, New Jersey. Free agency will open on Friday, Oct. 9 at 12 p.m. eastern time.

After that, things get murky. The NHL has not announced a start date for the upcoming 2020-21 regular season.

Speculation has ranged from December 1, to the middle and later part of that month and possibly early in January 2021. Actually, everything with regards what the 2020-21 NHL campaign could look like is all speculation at this point.

In an interview with SiriusXM NHL Network Radio on this past Wednesday night, Bettman said he was unsure what the next NHL season will look like.

“I don’t know what we are going to do yet, but we are focusing on what the issues are,” said Bettman on the broadcast. “When we know more how about those issues get resolved or are left unresolved, we’ll be in a better position to announce what are plans are and what the contingencies are.

A Tyler Johnson card.

“That exercise is going to require a few more weeks, but we are intent on playing the 2020/21 season. My goal would be to play a full season, a regular season and then go into normal playoffs. While that is our goal and our objective and I think we can do that, we need a little more time to work on the planning.

“That is something that we are going to be doing in conjunction with the players again.”

At the start of the Stanley Cup final, Bettman said attendance impacts 50 per cent of NHL revenues. Unlike a circuit like the NFL that has all its costs covered due to its television contract, the NHL needs some fans in the stands.

Outside of a few spots in the United States, mass gatherings are still not permitted in most NHL markets including all seven teams located in Canada. The border between Canada and the United States is still closed to non-essential travel and odds are high that likely won’t change until well into 2021.

During the SiriusXM NHL Network Radio interview, Bettman said there are a lot factors that are out of the NHL’s control, but he would like to get fans back inside rinks around the league.

A Nikita Kucherov card.

“We don’t know what the world is going to be like,” said Bettman. “When will our buildings as a result be open like they used to be?

“The fact is our players and our game gets an incredible energy from our sold out buildings every night. It is part of what makes NHL hockey the best in person sporting experience. We miss our fans terribly.”

It should be noted that all the buildings in the NHL aren’t sold out on a nightly basis, but attendance for the league before the 2019-20 regular season was paused on March 12 was healthy. The fans do create a good atmosphere inside NHL buildings.

Still, the biggest question is how long will the wait be before the next meaningful NHL game is played?

Could a lengthy amount of time pass before the NHL hits the ice again?

When the league does return to action, what is it going to look like?

Will the teams in Canada just be playing each other with the same happening in the United States?

A Steven Stamkos card.

After the NHL Draft ends, the league will be venturing into an unknown. It is an unknown that is already being thought of as the NHL regular season usually begins around the time the upcoming NHL Entry Draft is slated to be held.

The Lightning, who have talent all over the place, will likely become more and more thankful they reached their potential with their current generation as the days pass. As it is expected the salary cap won’t grow and could possibly shrink, the Lightning will be hard pressed to keep their roster together.

While there was security knowing games were happening on pretty much a nightly basis during the 2020 NHL post-season, the off-season the NHL is in feels a little ominous and scary.

That ominous and scary feeling likely won’t totally go away until the COVID-19 pandemic is declared over.

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

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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.

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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.

Momentum can change quickly in Stanley Cup final

Stars, Lightning all even at 1-1

A Nikita Kucherov card.

Old “Mo” seems to really fickle so far in the Stanley Cup final.

In the NHL’s best-of-seven championship series between the Dallas Stars and the Tampa Bay Lightning being played at Rogers Place in the bubble city of Edmonton, momentum seems to enjoy jumping from side to side in the first two games of the set.

The series is tied 1-1 after the Stars took Game 1 by a 4-1 final on Saturday and the Lightning rebounded with a 3-2 victory in Game 2 on Monday.

Game 3 of the series is set for Wednesday (6 p.m. Saskatchewan time, CBC and NBCSN).

The Stars 4-1 triumph in Game 1 was a solid one, but it appeared Tampa Bay might be able to rally in the third. Entering the third period trailing 3-1, the Lightning had a 22-2 edge in shots on goal in the frame as they pressed to get back in that game.

Stars centre Jason Dickinson sealed that contest with an empty-net goal with 78 seconds remaining in the third.

In Game 2 on Monday, both teams played a quiet opening 10 minutes before the Lightning exploded for three goals to take a 3-0 lead into the first intermission.

A John Klingberg card.

At the 11:23 mark of the first, elite Lightning right-winger Nikita Kucherov set up standout centre Brayden Point, who quickly wired home a power-play goal to go up 1-0.

After that tally, Kucherov proceeded to set up left-winger Ondrej Palat on a backdoor feed, and Palat potted his team’s second power-play goal of the contest to give the Lightning a 2-0 edge at the 14:22 mark of the opening frame.

Lightning skilled offensive-defenceman Victor Hedman also had assists on both of those first two goals.

Just 54 seconds later, solid defender Kevin Shattenkirk slid home the Lightning’s third goal from the point through a screen to increase Tampa Bay’s advantage to 3-0.

On top of holding a 3-0 lead, the Lightning held a 14-6 edge in shots on goal after 20 minutes, and it looked like they were going to roll like an unstoppable freight train.

Despite Tampa Bay’s great start, Dallas controlled the second period holding an 18-5 edge in shots on goal.

At the 14:43 mark of the second, the Stars gained some traction, when centre Joe Pavelski tipped home a point shot from defenceman John Klingberg for a power-play goal to cut the Tampa Bay lead to 3-1.

An Ondrej Palat card.

At the 5:27 mark of the third, Klingberg pinched into the Lightning zone and fed a backdoor feed to centre Mattias Janmark, who tapped the puck into the Tampa Bay goal to cut the Lightning lead to 3-2.

Right-winger Alexander Radulov had assists on both Stars goals.

Tampa Bay appeared to go ahead 4-2 near the midway point of the third on a goal by defenceman Mikhail Sergachev. The goal was disallowed after Dallas challenged that the play was offside via video review and the video review confirmed the play was indeed offside.

While the Lightning held a 12-5 edge in shots on goal in the third, the Stars chances to get the game to overtime.

With a minute remaining in the third, Stars veteran left-winger Jamie Benn was stopped from point-blank range in front of the Tampa Bay goal by Lightning netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy.

The Stars also had an offensive zone faceoff with 3.8 seconds remaining in the third, but Klingberg fanned on one final shot, which was ultimately blocked by a Lightning skater.

Vasilevskiy made 27 stops to pick up the win in goal for the Lightning. Anton Khudobin turned away 28 shots to take the setback in goal for the Stars.

An Alexander Radulov card.

Game 2 was a great one and the goalies on either side couldn’t be faulted for any of the five goals that were scored in the contest. All five goals were really good goals.

With the way the momentum has swung, credit has to go to Stars head coach Rick Bowness and Lightning head coach Jon Cooper for the adjustments they’ve made on the fly.

Wednesday’s upcoming Game 3 might be a big swing game. 

The team that falls in that contest will face more pressure than usual to win in Game 4 on Friday, because Game 5 follows up quickly one day later.

If either team falls behind 3-1 in the series, it might be hard to recover and win Game 5 with no off day between that contest and Game 4.

So far, the Stars and Lightning are giving a series that is well worth tuning for. 

Expect the momentum swings to continue as the Stanley Cup final goes on.

Massive outpouring for Ashe showed he was well loved

Dylan Ashe. (Photo courtesy Della Ashe)

The cliché that the good guys leave this world too early unfortunately played out this past weekend.

Early Sunday morning, 18-year-old Melfort Mustangs junior A team defenceman Dylan Ashe died in a single vehicle rollover on Highway 35 northeast of White Fox, Sask. Ashe was driving one of his family’s cars as his beloved 1984 Chevy truck parked for some repairs.

For anyone who has links to Saskatchewan’s hockey community, you knew that the news of Ashe’s passing was going to hit a lot of people hard. He was really well loved in Saskatchewan’s hockey community and in the hockey community of Lethbridge, Alta., as he was a prospects of the WHL’s Lethbridge Hurricanes.

Della Ashe, Dylan’s mom, broke the news of her son’s passing on a Facebook post on Sunday afternoon. Dylan had been driving out the lake country for a quick visit before returning home. He was planning to travel to Melfort on Tuesday to rejoin the Mustangs.

Since the creation of Della’s post, support and condolences messages have poured in for the family that is based out of Warman, Sask.

Numerous media outlets in Saskatchewan have produced tribute stories for Dylan Ashe.

Ashe played for the Sask Valley Vipers under-15 AA team in 2016-17 before splitting time in 2017-18 with his hometown Warman Wildcats under-18 AA team and the Tisdale Trojans under-18 AAA club.

He played for the Trojans for the entire 2018-19 campaign outside of a one-game call up with the Mustangs for an SJHL regular season contest. Ashe helped the Trojans win a bronze medal at the Telus Cup.

Ashe, who stood 6-foot-1 and weighed 185 pounds, was never selected in the WHL Bantam Draft, but he still signed a WHL Standard Player Agreement with the Hurricanes on April 10, 2019. He had a strong showing in training camp with the Hurricanes prior to the 2019-20 campaign before joining the Mustangs.

With the Mustangs last season, Ashe had two goals and four assists in 46 regular season games.

The Mustangs are sad to announce the passing of Defenceman Dylan Ashe. From our entire organization we would like to send our deepest sympathies and condolences to the Ashe family. You are in our thoughts and prayers. 💙💚 pic.twitter.com/efly9aDdwT

— Melfort Mustangs (@SJHL_Mustangs) September 20, 2020

On the ice, Ashe was known as a tough stay at home defensive defenceman. He was also a quiet but upbeat great character guy. He could walk into a room, flash his smile and the positive energy would go up.

The Trojans, Mustangs and Hurricanes have all passed on messages of condolence.

Della and her husband, Mike, have received numerous messages about how great of a person Dylan was.

Dylan cared a lot for his family, and he enjoyed hanging out with older sister Jordan, who was a tough as nails defensive defender with the Prince Albert Northern Bears female under-18 AAA hockey team from 2013 to 2018.

Dylan Ashe just graduated from high school this past June. He got to parade in his 1984 Chevy truck through the Wyant Group Raceway with Warman High School grad class. The track hosted the unique graduation ceremony as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic restrictions placed limits on regular graduation activities.

Ashe spent countless hours working on and refurbishing his 1984 Chevy truck.

His passing at age 18 and about two-and-a-half months since his high school graduation is a reminder of how life can be unfair. He should have been able to live out a rich array of experiences.

Over the next handful of years, he seemed ready to live out a few more of his hockey dreams.

Still, he was able to make a lot of people care about him for the years that he was here. The outpouring of emotions and messages since his passing is proof of that.

A GoFundMe campaign that was started on Sunday to help the Ashe family with funeral expenses has raised over triple its initial goal by late Monday night.

Dylan Ashe lived life on his own terms, and it was a well lived one.

We are saddened to learn of the passing of Hurricanes prospect, Dylan Ashe. Our deepest condolences to Dylan’s family, friends, and teammates. Rest In Peace, Dylan. ❤️💙 #AlwaysACane pic.twitter.com/vyDHxY9Nsn

— Lethbridge Hurricanes (@WHLHurricanes) September 20, 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 would like to donate to the GoFundMe campaign to help the Ashe family with funeral expenses, you can do so by clicking right here.

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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.

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Warriors down Raiders in thriller

Warriors F Noah Gregor scores on Raiders G Rylan Parenteau.

    PRINCE ALBERT - If all games between the Moose Jaw Warriors and the Prince Albert Raiders are going to be as good as this one, here is hoping their opening round WHL playoff series goes the distance to Game 7.

    The Warriors downed the Raiders 3-2 in a thriller in Game 1 on Friday night at the Art Hauser Centre before 2,782 spectators. Both teams engaged in frantic action up and down the ice. Shaw television had to be thanking their lucky stars they decided to broadcast that contest for its entertainment value, and the WHL head office staffers had to felt they hit a jackpot.

    Goaltenders Rylan Parenteau of the Raiders and Zach Sawchenko of the Warriors each stood on their heads making 36 and 32 stops respectively. The consensus among NHL scouts has been that the quality of goaltending on average had been down in the WHL this season, but you wouldn’t have known that the way the series opener between Moose Jaw and Prince Albert played out.

    After a scoreless opening frame, the Raiders drew first blood in Friday’s clash at the 8:17 mark of the second, when Reid Gardiner blasted home a shot on the power play to give the hosts a 1-0 edge.

    The Warriors countered just seconds into their first power play at the 14:17 mark of the frame on a tally from star captain Brayden Point. The Art Hauser Centre crowd that had worked their way into a frenzy had the wind momentarily knocked out of their sails.

    Moose Jaw dealt the home side faithful two more gut shots going ahead 3-1 in the third.

Jesse Lees missed a late chance to tie the game.

    First, Point and linemate Noah Gregor broke in on a two-on-one break, and Point fed a perfect pass across the face of the Raiders goal to Gregor, who knocked home the puck past Parenteau.

    At the 13:51 mark, Gregor potted his second goal of the night on a turnaround shot. The Warriors first unit of Point, Gregor and Dryden Hunt came out against a tired Raiders unit after an icing call on the offensive faceoff that eventually resulted in the third goal. Prince Albert elected to not use a timeout.

    The Warriors weren’t able to enjoy the two-goal cushion for long. Just 34 seconds after they went ahead 3-1, Raiders right-winger Austin Glover knocked home a shot from the left side of the Moose Jaw goal to cut the visitors edge to 3-2. The tally reignited the gathering at the Art Hauser Centre.

    The Raiders proceeded to make a big push in the game’s final moments. With under two minutes to play, overage defenceman Jesse Lees had a golden chance to pick up the equalizer down low, but he fired a shot over top of the Warriors goal.

    In the final seconds of the third, the puck slid over to Gardiner down in the left slot of the Moose Jaw zone, but the veteran, who netted 43 goals in the regular season, fanned on his shot.

Simon Stransky (#23) steals the puck from Dryden Hunt (#29)

    The Warriors were elated at the end of the game to skate away with a victory. The only drawback for them in the contest was losing Russian forward Nikita Popugaev to a right leg injury after he received a hit along the boards in the first period.

    Both clubs also picked up the physical play throwing a handful of good hits each.

    While Prince Albert supports left disappointed about the end result on the scoreboard, Game 1 of the Raiders series against the Warriors was a hit.

    And you know what the best part is? Both teams go at it again in Game 2 on Saturday at 7 p.m. local time at the Art Hauser Centre.

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