April 27th Stanley Cup Playoffs Morning Skate

THURSDAY'S RESULTS 

Pittsburgh 3 Washington 2
Vegas 7 San Jose 0

MORE HISTORY FOR GOLDEN KNIGHTS WITH FIFTH STRAIGHT WIN

Vegas erupted for seven goals, including four in a span of 7:12 during the first period, and Marc-Andre Fleury made 33 saves as the Golden Knights won Game 1 against the Sharks on the heels of a First Round sweep.

* The Golden Knights became the first NHL team ever to win its first five postseason games. Elias notes that only one team from each of the MLB (Boston Braves: 5-0 from 1914-1948), NBA (Minneapolis Lakers: 7-0 in 1949) and NFL (Baltimore Ravens: 5-0 from 2000-2002) earned wins in each of its first five playoff contests. The Lakers were the only other franchise to accomplish the feat in their inaugural season.

* Elias adds that the Golden Knights became the fourth franchise from either the NHL, MLB or NBA to win at least five consecutive games at any point in their first-ever postseason appearance. Vegas joined the Lakers squad mentioned above and two other NBA clubs – the Philadelphia Warriors (6-0 in 1947) and Portland Trail Blazers (5-0 in 1977). All three of those clubs won the championship, with the Warriors doing so in the first-ever NBA season and the Lakers achieving the feat in their first campaign after joining from the National Basketball League.

* Highlighted by three-point efforts from Jonathan Marchessault (1-2—3), William Karlsson (0-3—3) and Reilly Smith (0-3—3), the Golden Knights’ seven goals matched the total from their entire First Round series against the Kings, while nearly doubling the total allowed by the Sharks in their series against the Ducks (4 GA).

* The Golden Knights became the third NHL franchise to score at least seven goals in a playoff game during its inaugural season. The Toronto Arenas did so during the first postseason in League history (Game 1 of 1918 NHL Final vs. MTL: 7-3 W) while the North Stars had two such outings against the Kings, another expansion club (Games 3 and 7 of 1968 Quarterfinals vs. LAK: 7-5 W and 9-4 W).

FLEURY RECORDS THIRD SHUTOUT OF 2018 PLAYOFFS

Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury recorded his 13th career postseason shutout and third of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He moved into a tie with Turk Broda for ninth place on the NHL’s all-time postseason shutouts list among goaltenders.

* Fleury became the 14th goaltender in NHL history to record three shutouts through his team’s first five games of a playoff year and first since 2004, when Tampa Bay’s Nikolai Khabibulin and Toronto’s Ed Belfour did so.

* Fleury owns a 5-0 record with a 0.54 goals-against average and .982 save percentage this postseason, marking his third win streak of at least five games within a playoff year. The others came with the Penguins en route to appearances in the Stanley Cup Final: 7-0 in 2008 and 5-0 in 2009.

GUENTZEL, CROSBY LEAD PENGUINS TO ANOTHER COMEBACK WIN

The Penguins scored three goals in a span of 4:49 to erase a 2-0 deficit in the third period – with the trio of Jake Guentzel (1-2—3), Sidney Crosby (1-1—2) and Patric Hornqvist (1-1—2) combining for seven points – to win Game 1 in Washington.

* Pittsburgh advanced to the Second Round with an 8-5 victory in their series-clinching game against the Flyers on Sunday, a game in which they trailed 4-2. This marks the first time in franchise history that the club has overcome a multi-goal deficit to win consecutive playoff games.

 

Jake Guentzel posted three points on the heels of his 4-1—5 outing in the decisive Game 6 against Philadelphia, extending his point streak to five contests (6-6—12) and boosting his totals to 7-9—16 in the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs to lead all players.

* This marks the 13th time in NHL history that a player has recorded 16+ points through his team’s first seven playoff games. Two Penguins players also achieved the feat – Mario Lemieux in 1992 (17 points) and Sidney Crosby in 2010 (16 points) – while Wayne Gretzky (4x), Darryl Sittler, Newsy Lalonde, Joe Mullen, Mike Bossy, Bryan Trottier and Bernie Federko account for the other instances.

* Guentzel has recorded 20-17—37 in 32 career playoff games. Only nine players in NHL history required fewer postseason games to record 20 career playoff goals.

JETS, PREDATORS MEET ON THE HEELS OF SERIES-CLINCHING SHUTOUTS

Backed by two of the most passionate fanbases in the NHL, the Jets and Predators will meet in the Second Round after both posting series-clinching shutouts to conclude the First Round.

* After finishing first and second overall, respectively, in the regular season, Nashville and Winnipeg both continue their quest for their first Stanley Cup.

* Though they are each backed in net by a Vezina Trophy finalist – Pekka Rinne for the Predators and Connor Hellebuyck for the Jets – the teams combined for 42 goals in their five meetings in 2017-18 (8.4 goals per game), with Nashville (3-1-1) earning the edge over Winnipeg (2-3-0).

(NHL Media) 

This And That

 

 Welcome to Friday.  Here are the usual weekly thoughts running through my muddled mind. As always, they come in no particular order.

--The NFL draft went Thursday night----at least the first round.  Cleveland was Cleveland by taking Baker Mayfield with the first pick and Denzel Ward with the 4th in a move that surprised many.  Football fans on both sides of the border know where the guys who were drafted last night come from  They know Baker Mayfield is from Oklahoma, Sam Darnold is from USC, Roquan Smith is from Georgia and Stevan Ridley is from Alabama.  Do CFL fans know where the future is from?  Do you know what school David Knevel, Trey Rutherford, Dakoda Shepley and Alex Taylor come from? If you do, you're better than many other hardcore CFL fans. 

I realize there is a lot more attention and focus on NCAA Division 1 players on both sides of the border.  All you have to do is turn your TV on on a Saturday afternoon to get a plethora of US College Football games when the season is on  You can't do that here.  USports, the CFL and others have to do a better job of marketing their players and making them be household names so we know who they are come draft time.  In a league where Canadian depth indicates how strong you are, not many know where those Canadians are playing before they enter the league.  That shouldn't be.  Yes, I readily admit that if the guy isn't playing in Canada West which I am quite familiar of, I may have to do some homework to find out who he is.

--Calgary is going to host the 2019 Grey Cup in a move that surprises no one.  What will be interesting now is how much we hear about the Stampeders needing a new football stadium and how much will Randy Ambrosie champion that cause.  If the Flames aren't getting a new rink, there is no way the Stampeders are getting a new stadium as Sportscage's Arash Madani said this week.  He's right.  If Naheed Nenshi is willing to stand up to Gary Bettman on a new rink, Ambrosie has no chance in leveraging a role to get a new home for the Stampeders built.  None!  Especially when the same group owns both teams.  The Stamps would be wise to find new owners because maybe, just maybe something could get done, but in the current environment, its not happening.  This all likely changes if Calgary gets the Olympics, but if there is only room for one team to get new digs, it won't be the Stampeders.

--Speaking of stadiums, remember when everyone marvelled at the Skydome. It was the stadium of stadiums. 30 years later, it apparently is outdated according to MLB commissioner Rob Manfred.  He says it is a building in need of renovations. What are you going to do? You can't knock out a wall to make it more appealing to fans.  Is this going to spark a "Toronto needs a new baseball stadium" movement.  If places like the Saddledome and Rogers Centre are now considered obsolete after 30 years of service, does this mean there will be a cry for Mosaic Stadium 3.0 in 2048? One would think the answer is yes! How sad is that!


--So on Monday, I talk about the Rider depth chart and then they go out and release two big veterans in Peter Dyakowski and Jeff Hecht.  I guess that means Dariusz Bladek is now the starting right guard.  All of a sudden, you have 2/5 of your starting o-line from last year no longer there.  Chris Jones will find a way (at least I hope he does) to fix that problem, but right now there is some concern there. Nothing against Bladek who had a great rookie season and continues to develop, but is he ready to assume a starters role.  We may see just how much growth there was during training camp.

--We could only go off what Rod Pedersen and Luc Mullinder were saying when it came to the Riders mini-camp and as expected, the team is saying it went well.  I was surprised to hear Chris Jones say they were going to make offers for about 12-15 players to come to training camp.  With only 32 taking part, it is obvious some homework was done on what players were at this event knowing they had a chance to continue their football dream.  When you consider only 32 took part, around half are getting an opportunity to come to Saskatoon. 


--We might not see a better playoff series than what Nashville and Winnipeg will give us. It should be a ring-a-ding-dong dandy!

--Leaf fans can blame Jake Gardiner all they want, but the bottom line is Fredrik Andersen soiled the linen in the 3rd period when Toronto needed him. You have to make that save off of Jake DeBrusk in a 4-4 game. If you make that save, you might be moving on and you certainly aren't ripping on Gardiner today.

--Who is under more pressure to win.  Is it Connor McDavid in Edmonton as he tries to bring the Oilers back to a level not seen since Gretzky, Messier, Fuhr et al or is it Auston Matthews in Toronto as he tries to end a drought that has been how long now? 

--Congratulations to Doug Johnson and the Nipawin Hawks for winning the SJHL title.  When I worked in the league, the Hawks were one of the worst and now they are the best.  Give a lot of credit to that to Johnson. Talk about a complete 180, when I was in the league the Hawks were one of the worst and the best were La Ronge and Yorkton and now the Ice Wolves and Terriers were the two teams that didn't make the playoffs this year.

--In a season where all the talk was on the Warriors, Broncos and Pats, are the Lethbridge Hurricanes going to win the Eastern Conference especially after selling off assets?  They just might.  Those who thought Swift Current would breeze through to the league final seemed to have disrespected the Hurricanes and that was a huge mistake.  Yes, not having Glenn Gawdin and Artyom Minulin in the lineup hurts Swift, but no one on the Lethbridge side is apologizing much like no one in Seattle was apologizing for Regina not having Adam Brooks and Austin Wagner along with an injured Nick Henry last year. It's part of the game.  One would think if the Broncos go 7 to win this series they might be easy pickings in the league final, but as we've seen in the Eastern Conference final, making that assumption could be costly.

--We all knew Cleveland would screw it up at the NFL draft didn't we?   The best moment of Round 1 was seeing Ryan Shazier walk out to announce Pittsburgh's pick.  There is no argument on that I don't think.

 --Had a chance to speak with former Blue Jays pitcher Todd Stottlemyre on Thursday's Sportscage. I'm really looking forward to sharing the stage with him Saturday night at the Regina Red Sox dinner as Red Sox p x p man Brendan McGuire and I will grill him in the annual question and answer part of the dinner.  It sounds as if he could go for a while on some topics.   I'm OK with that.

What Did You Miss Thursday?

--The Vegas Golden Knights blew the doors off of San Jose in the first period of Game 1 of their 2nd round Western Conference matchup.  The Knights had a 4-0 lead and went on to win 7-0. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh got three goals in the third to beat Washington 3-2 in the opener of that Eastern Conference matchup.

--The National Hockey League would prefer if Boston Bruins star Brad Marchand refrained from licking, nuzzling or cuddling his opponents.

In Game 1 of the Bruins' first-round series victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs, Marchand made highlight reels when he appeared to lick the face of Leafs forward Leo Komarov. Or at the very least, nuzzled him. The NHL felt Marchand's actions were a little less cute. A league spokesperson confirmed a Sportsnet report saying the NHL demanded Marchand not repeat that particular antic again. A message was communicated to Marchand through the series' supervisor of officials Mick McGeough.

--Everett beat Tri-Cities 3-1 to take a 3-1 lead in the WHL West final.  The Silvertips can wrap it up on home ice Saturday.

--The Cleveland Browns have selected quarterback Baker Mayfield out of Oklahoma with the first overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft.

The move comes as somewhat of a surprise as the 2017 Heisman Trophy winner wasn't mentioned among the possible top picks until Wednesday, but vaulted to the top of the board in the last 24 hours.

Mayfield, who is among the most accomplished pivots in college football history, becomes the sixth quarterback the Browns have drafted since 2010.   The complete first round of the draft can be found here. 

The highlight of the first round may have come at pick 28 when it came time for the Pittsburgh Steelers to make their selection.  Coming out to make the pick was Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier.  He walked on stage to announce the selection just five months after a severe spinal injury suffered during a game.

--Tiger Woods' May calendar filled up quickly.

The 42-year-old committed to both THE PLAYERS Championship and Wells Fargo Championship via Twitter on Thursday, occupying his schedule for the next two weeks.

Tiger is a two-time winner at THE PLAYERS, picking up titles in 2001 and 2013. This will be his first trip back to TPC Sawgrass since 2015 and 18th appearance of his career.

THE PLAYERS Championship begins Thursday, May 10 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

Next week's Wells Fargo Championship will be Tiger's first event since he tied for 32nd at the 2018 Masters.

April 26th Stanley Cup Playoffs Morning Skate

WEDNESDAY'S RESULT 

Boston 7 Toronto 4 (Bruins win series in 7) 

BRUINS RALLY TO WIN ANOTHER EPIC GAME 7 AGAINST MAPLE LEAFS

The Bruins overcame deficits of 1-0, 2-1 and 4-3 – highlighted by four unanswered goals in the third period – to defeat the Maple Leafs in Game 7 and advance to the Second Round for the first time since 2014.

* Boston became the first team in NHL history to overcome three deficits of at least one goal to win a Game 7 in regulation (only three clubs did so en route to overtime wins). Five years ago, Boston became the first team in NHL history to overcome a three-goal, third-period deficit to win in a Game 7, also against the Maple Leafs.

* The 11 combined goals matched the third-most ever in a Game 7, with only five others reaching the 10-goal plateau. The Bruins became the seventh team in NHL history to score at least seven goals in a Game 7 and first since the Red Wings in the 2002 Conference Finals vs. COL (7-0 W).

* Wednesday’s contest was also the second Game 7 in NHL history in which four tying goals were scored (BOS: 3, TOR: 1). The other such instance came in the 2014 First Round when the Wild tied the game four times in a 5-4 overtime victory against the Avalanche.

* The Bruins will face the Lightning in the Second Round, with Game 1 slated for Saturday at 3 p.m. ET in Tampa (NBC, SN, TVAS). This marks the second playoff series between Tampa Bay and Boston following a seven-game showdown in the 2011 Eastern Conference Final. The teams combined for an average of six goals per game in that series, but a pair of shutouts by eventual Conn Smythe Trophy winner Tim Thomas helped the Bruins advance – highlighted by a 24-save performance in their 1-0 series-clinching win – en route to their sixth Stanley Cup.

SPOTLIGHT ON OVECHKIN, CROSBY AS CAPS, PENS MEET AGAIN

Captains Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby headline the conversation ahead of the 11th all-time playoff meeting between the Capitals and Penguins, the third consecutive year that the clubs will meet in the postseason (all in the Second Round). They are the first NHL clubs to meet in three consecutive postseasons, all after the opening round, since 1988-92, when the Bruins faced the Canadiens in the Division Finals for five straight years.

* The Penguins own a 9-1 advantage in their 10 prior playoff series with the Capitals, including victories en route to all five of their Stanley Cups (in 1991, 1992, 2009, 2016 and 2017). Their .900 head-to-head winning percentage is the second-best in NHL postseason history among teams that have met in at least five series.

* Game 1 will mark the 20th head-to-head playoff matchup for Crosby and Ovechkin, who recorded 6-7—13 and 5-3—8, respectively, in the First Round. Ovechkin has posted 12-14—26 in the 19 previous meetings compared to 10-12—22 for Crosby, with the Penguins owning an 11-8 games advantage and 3-0 series edge in those meetings. Crosby also has collected 20-43—63 in the 45 regular-season games in which the two players have faced off (Ovechkin: 28-20—48); the Penguins are 27-16-2 in those contests (WSH: 18-21-6).

GOALTENDING DUEL AT FOREFRONT OF VEGAS-SAN JOSE SHOWDOWN

Backed by the only remaining Western Conference goaltenders with their names on the Stanley Cup, the Golden Knights (Marc-Andre Fleury: 3x) and Sharks (Martin Jones: 1x) will meet in the Second Round after allowing a combined seven goals against en route to both sweeping their First Round matchups (VGK: 3 GA, SJS: 4 GA).

* Golden Knights forward William Karlsson led all skaters with four goals in four head-to-head matchups during the regular season (VGK: 3-0-1, SJS: 1-2-1), including a stunning between-the-legs goal while shorthanded that clinched the Pacific Division title for Vegas on March 31.

* Sharks captain Joe Pavelski (2-3—5 in FR) leads a group of 24 San Jose players who are pursuing their first Stanley Cup. That list includes forward Evander Kane, acquired on Feb. 26, who made his postseason debut in Game 1 against Anaheim (after 574 career regular-season games) and shared the team lead with three goals in the First Round.

(NHL Media) 

What Did You Miss Wednesday?

 

--The first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs is over.  The only Game 7 of Round 1 saw Boston score four times in the 3rd as they eliminated Toronto 7-4.  The Bruins move on to play Tampa in Round 2. The second round begins tonight with Washington taking on Pittsburgh and Vegas entertaining San Jose.

--Another day of victories for both the Notre Dame Hounds at the Telus Cup and the Saskatoon Stars at the Esso Cup.  The Hounds beat the Magog Cantonniers 4-2 to improve to 3-0. The Stars beat Bedford, Nova Scotia 6-0 allowing just six shots on goal.  The Stars with the victory clinched first in the round-robin. The finals in each go Sunday. 

--The WHL East final is even at two. The Lethbridge Hurricanes beat Swift Current 5-1  The Broncos played without two key players---Glenn Gawdin and Artyom Minulin.  Game 5 is in Swift Current Friday.

--Riders mini-camp ended in Florida on Wednesday.  Head Coach Chris Jones says he was impressed by many and he thinks around 10-15 could get invites to training camp in Saskatoon next month.

--Who goes where?  The NFL draft goes tonight in Dallas.  The Cleveland Browns have two of the first four picks including the first overall.  It is expected they will take USC quarterback Sam Darnold.

April 25th Stanley Cup Playoffs Morning Skate

BRUINS TO HOST MAPLE LEAFS IN GAME 7 TONIGHT
The First Round of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs will come to a dramatic close on Wednesday when the Bruins host the Maple Leafs in Game 7 at TD Garden in Boston – the lone remaining game of the opening round.

* The winner of Wednesday's showdown will advance to the Second Round and face the Lightning, the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.

* The Bruins hold an all-time record of 13-12 in Game 7s, including a 12-8 mark on home ice. This will mark Boston’s 26th appearance in a Game 7, breaking a tie with Detroit (25) for the most in NHL history. The Maple Leafs own an all-time record of 12-10 in Game 7s, including a 5-9 mark on the road.

* Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara will be making his 12th career Game 7 appearance, the most among active players and one behind all-time leaders Patrick Roy and Scott Stevens (13).

GAME 7 QUICK HITS

Of the 169 all-time Game 7s in the Stanley Cup Playoffs:

* The team that scores first is 126-43 (.746).

* Home teams own a 99-70 (.586) advantage.

* Forty-one have required overtime (24.2%). Home teams have a 21-20 edge.

(NHL Media)

CFL Officially Awards 2019 Grey Cup to Calgary

The 107th Grey Cup presented by Shaw is coming to Calgary in 2019, the Canadian Football League (CFL) announced today.

“The home of a leading football operation in the Stampeders, Calgary is also known around the world for its tremendous hospitality, love of sport and ability to put on world-class events,” said Randy Ambrosie, Commissioner of the Canadian Football League.

“We have every confidence this city will put on a Grey Cup worthy of Canada’s greatest sporting tradition.”

The Grey Cup game on Sunday, November 24, 2019 will mark the first time Calgary has hosted the Grey Cup in a decade and the fifth time overall (2009, 2000, 1993 and 1975).

“On behalf of our ownership group and the entire Calgary Stampeders organization, I thank the Canadian Football League, the board of governors and Commissioner Randy Ambrosie for entrusting us with the responsibility—and the privilege—of hosting the 2019 Grey Cup presented by Shaw,” said John Hufnagel, President and General Manager of the Calgary Stampeders. “This would not have been possible without the support of our partners at the City of Calgary, the Province of Alberta and Tourism Calgary and we look forward to working together to put on a very successful event.

“With tremendous volunteer spirit and a commitment to Western hospitality, Calgary has a tradition of hosting world-class events and I know the 2019 Grey Cup will only enhance that well-deserved reputation. We are very grateful for this opportunity and we look forward to welcoming fans from across Canada to our house in 2019.”

With Edmonton hosting the 106th Grey Cup presented by Shaw this year, next year’s Grey Cup in Calgary will mark back-to-back Canadian professional football championships in Alberta.
“Since 2015, our partnership with the CFL has allowed us to be a part of the excitement Canadians feel when they come together to celebrate our country’s most iconic sporting event,” said Brad Shaw, Chief Executive Officer of Shaw Communications. “The opportunity to help bring that energy to Calgary—our home city—is truly special for us, and we are eager to work with our partners to create the best Grey Cup experience yet.”

The Grey Cup game is preceded by a week-long festival, which features activities for fans of all ages, parties and top entertainment. Studies have pegged the potential economic impact each year at more than $100 million.

Today, the Stampeders also announced that fans that purchase Stampeders season’s tickets for the upcoming 2018 season, which are on sale now, will be guaranteed the opportunity to buy a Grey Cup seat for 2019 ahead of the general public.

“One of the things that makes the Grey Cup unique is that it truly belongs to CFL fans,” Hufnagel said.

“We want our fans to have the first opportunity to be at the 107th Grey Cup presented by Shaw in 2019—and we’re going to do everything in our power to make sure our football team is there too.”
\
(CFL Communications)