Los Angeles Kings reign likely to return next season The Los Angeles Kings are the strangest non-playoff team in the NHL. They were good this past season. Really good from a puck possession standpoint. They were the team that nobody wanted to face in the playoffs. If the Kings got into the postseason would you have picked them to win the Stanley Cup? I know I would have at very least placed … [Read more...]
Blackhawks penalty kill stifling Lightning power play
Blackhawks penalty kill stifling Lightning power play TAMPA — For the first time since 1968 and third time in NHL history, all four games of the Stanley Cup Final have been decided by a single goal. When you’re in a series as tight as the one the Chicago Blackhawks and Tampa Bay Lightning are battling in, your special teams success/failure can be a gamechanger. As the Finals shifts back to … [Read more...]
Daily Picks: Lightning take advantage at home?
Daily Picks: Lightning take advantage at home? Will the Tampa Bay Lightning need Andrei Vasilevskiy again? (USATSI) Chicago Blackhawks at Tampa Bay Lightning, 8 p.m. ET, NBC, Game 5 Series tied, 2-2 The best-of-7 series is now a best-of-3. If you listen to the Chicago Blackhawks and Tampa Bay Lightning talk about Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final, it would be easy to think the result on the ice was … [Read more...]
Patrick Kane slow to find offensive touch in Stanley Cup Final
Patrick Kane slow to find offensive touch in Stanley Cup Final The Blackhawks have been in this situation before with Patrick Kane in these playoffs. His inability to score morphs into a storyline. Why is he not able to shake loose? Is there something wrong with him? Are his opponents just shutting him down completely? “He's had a couple good looks last game. He's had chances in all games,” … [Read more...]
Toews vs. Vaughn; Coach Alfie; Bolts next Blackhawks? (Puck Headlines)
Toews vs. Vaughn; Coach Alfie; Bolts next Blackhawks? (Puck Headlines) Here are your Puck Headlines: A glorious collection of news and views collected from the greatest blogosphere in sports and the few, the proud, the mainstream hockey media. Have a link you want to submit? Email us at [email protected]. • Evander Kane is back on the ice for the first time since shoulder surgery, … [Read more...]
Lightning coach won’t commit to Bishop for Game 5; Vasilevskiy will be ready
Lightning coach won't commit to Bishop for Game 5; Vasilevskiy will be ready BRANDON — The day before Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final, Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop was nowhere to be seen during the team’s skate at their practice facility. Andrei Vasilevskiy, who filled in for Bishop in Game 2 and started Game 4, was in one net, while Kristers Gudlevskis was in the other. After … [Read more...]
On Duncan Keith’s amazing postseason (Trending Topics)
On Duncan Keith's amazing postseason (Trending Topics) The amount of minutes Duncan Keith has logged in this postseason is historic. In the salary cap era, no one has even come close to approaching it. Wednesday night's contest got him up to more than 500 minutes of 5-on-5 time, making him one of just three guys in the last 10 seasons to clear that milestone. The other two are Dennis … [Read more...]
Longtime Blues defenseman Barret Jackman won’t be re-signed
Longtime Blues defenseman Barret Jackman won't be re-signed Beginning next season, the city of St. Louis will have a new longest-tenured professional athlete with the news that pending unrestricted free agent Barret Jackman will not be re-signed, according to Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The St. Louis Blues told the 17th pick of the 1999 NHL Draft that they would be … [Read more...]
Vince Vaughn, Blackhawks fan, picked up huge dinner tab for Lightning coach
Vince Vaughn, Blackhawks fan, picked up huge dinner tab for Lightning coach CHICAGO – Vince Vaughn was all over Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final. The avid Chicago Blackhawks fan interviewed captain Jonathan Toews before coverage began on CBC, and then was seated in his usual spot against the glass for the game, supporting the home team. One night earlier, he was picking up the tab for the … [Read more...]
Andrei Vasilevskiy earns trust of Lightning, but Bishop ‘will play again’
Andrei Vasilevskiy earns trust of Lightning, but Bishop ‘will play again’ CHICAGO – NHL players, and especially goalies, are expected to be unfeeling robotic ice warriors when it comes to concepts like fear and apprehension. So please forgive Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy for admitting that, yes, a 20-year-old goalie who was told on game day that he would start Game 4 of … [Read more...]