NHL hands Out Hardware

It's the acknowledgement of great individual efforts in a team sport. The best of the best from the 2023 NHL season were on hand in Nashville last night for the NHL Awards. All the big hardware was given out last evening and lets see who walked away with what.

All Rookie Team:
Forwards: Matty Beniers (Seattle), Wyatt Johnson (Dallas), Matias Marcelli (Arizona)
Defense: Owen Power (Buffalo), Jake Sanderson (Ottawa)
Goalie: Stuart Skinner (Edmonton)

All Star Teams:
1st Team:
Forwards: Jason Robertson (Dallas), Conor McDavid (Edmonton), David Pastrnak (Boston)
Defense: Adam Fox (NY Rangers), Erik Karlson (San Jose)
Goalie: Linus Ullmark (Boston)

2nd Team:
Forwards: Artemi Panarin (NY Rangers)< Leon Drisital (Edmonton), Matthew Tkachuk (Florida)
Defense: Hampus Lindholm (Boston), Cale Makar (Colorado)
Goalie: Ilya Sorokin (NY Islanders)

Willie O'Ree Community Hero Award (U.S.): Jason McCrimmon, Detroit Ice Dreams Youth Hockey Association

E.J. McGuire Award of Excellence: Connor Bedard, Regina Pats (WHL)

Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy: Kris Letang, Pittsburgh Penguins

Frank J. Selke Trophy: Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins

King Clancy Memorial Trophy: Mikael Backlund, Calgary Flames

Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles Kings

Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award: Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning

Ted Lindsay Award: Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers

 Jack Adams Award: Jim Montgomery, Boston Bruins

Calder Memorial Trophy: Matty Beniers, Seattle Kraken

Vezina Trophy: Linus Ullmark, Boston Bruins

James Norris Memorial Trophy: Erik Karlsson, San Jose Sharks

Hart Memorial Trophy: Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers

Now for the biggest questions of the night, did they get the award winners right? And the answer is a yes from where I sit. Sure, in years past we've had debates over who should have won what. Yes, there are cases that you could make for this years awards too. Ullmark had a fantastic year in between the pipes for Boston, and nothing against Hellebuck in Winnepeg or Sorokin on Long Island, but his 40 wins really helped push Ullmark over the edge. For those guys, Ullmark and Soroking, some have debated online who should have finished higher in Vexzna voting based on where they finished in MVP voting. Sorokin got more votes for MVP than Ullmark did. Ullmark had the better wins and total goalie numbers which is why he won the top honors there. Sorokin got more votes for MVP because if you take them both out of their respective team lineups the Bruins are still a really good team without Ullmark, whereas the Isles aren't without Sorokin, even with Ullmark having the better numbers.

Sticking with MVP talk, you could have throw Tkachuk name a little higher in voting, because of the impact he had on turning the Panthers had the second half of the season, and Pasta had a great year in Boston as well. But there was really no debate here McDavid was the MVP. 60 goals, 153 points. Nobody even close to his level. He's one of only six players in league history to ever have 150 or more points in a single season. McDavid joins Bernie Nichols (150 in 1989), Steve Yzerman (155 in 1989), Phil Esposito (152 in 1971), Mario Lemieux (four times: best 199 in 1989) and Wayne Gretzky (nine times: best 212 in 1986). Eye popping numbers to read that's for sure

Hockey Hall Calls Again

Hall of famer. Its a special phrase amongst athletes. It means that you had a career that was better than most. Game of hockey is no different. The class of 2023 has been announced for this year and its a pretty good class too. This year, the committee selected Henrik Lundqvist, Tom Barrasso, Mike Vernon, Caroline Ouellette and Pierre Turgeon in the player category, as well as Ken Hitchcock and Pierre Lacroix in the builders category.

First, we go to the international stage, where Caroline Ouellette shined. She is one of three players, along with fellow hall of famer Hayley Wickenheiser as well as Jayna Hefford to win at least four Olympic gold medals. She scored 30 points over 20 tournaments, as well as representing Canada at 12 IIHF Women’s World Championships where she led the Canadian team to six gold medals and six silver medals, scoring 23 goals and 68 points in 59 tournament appearances.

Moving to the pro level, Pierre Turgeon had the most points of any player that was not elected to the hall this year. He was taken 1st overall in the 1987 entry draft and played 19 years in the league for Buffalo, the Islanders, Montreal, St. Louis, Dallas and Colorado. He finished his career having played in 1,294 games, racking up 515 goals, 812 assists for 1,327 points. He cracked the 100 point mark twice, scoring 106 with Buffalo in 1990 and his career high 132 points for the Islanders in 1993. They guy had a ton of offensive upside, and could have been so much more if it wasn't for the injury in the 93 playoffs.

Then we move to the men between the Pipes. Tom Barrasso took the league by storm when he came on  the scene in Buffalo. He joined the league in 1983 and won the Calder and vVezina in that first year, and later added two cups in Pittsburgh. By the time all was said and done, he won 396 games, most by an American at the time he retired, in a 19 year career. During that time he played in Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and one year stints in Ottawa, Carolina Toronto and St Louis. He won 20 or more games 11 times, including two thirty win and a forty win season. He also holds the record for assists by a netminder with 48. He was a pretty good puck handler and had great reflexes to make the big saves when he needed.

The Stanley Cup twice was carried by Mike Vernon, 1989 in Calgary and 1997 in Detroit. He, like Barrasso, started his career in 1983 in Calgary and finished 19 years later after stops in Detroit, San Jose, and Florida. He won 385 games, 262 of which were as a Flame, 2nd most in team history. He had one of the best catching gloves in the game which helped propel him into the star relm with his hometown Flames.

Finally there's King Henrik, who spent his entire 15 year career on Broadway with the Rangers. He owns the team record with 459 wins. He never won hockey's ultimate prize in the Cup, but he's still done more than that on an international level. His career is drapped in Gold, as Lundqvist has won gold medals at the Olympics (2006), IIHF World Championship (2017), and IIHF World Junior Championship (2002). He also has an Olympic silver medal (2014), two World Championship silver medals (2003, 2004), and a third-place finish at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. Some of the saves that I've seen Hank made are the stuff of legend and I'd only seen close to since Hasek was playing in Buffalo. Hank's desire to win was matched by few.

Vegas Meet Stanley

Six years is all it took. Six years after joining the National Hockey League, they have a title to show for it. the Vegas Golden Knights are your 2023 Stanley Cup Champions. Its an unconventional hockey market, and Vegas captured the biggest prize in the game in an unconventional manor.

Going into the series, the Panthers looked to be a tough opponent for Vegas, considering what the Panthers had been able to do over the previous three rounds. In the end, it looked like those previous three rounds had caught up with the Cats as they were outplayed during the course of the series Vegas had more of a jump in their step and the Panthers at times looked like they couldn't keep up. Like they were running around and not really playing their brand of hockey. Vegas got in their heads and came away with the victory in five games.

This win speaks to how well Vegas has been able to build their team and do it quickly. They made the finals their first year in the league in 2018, losing to the Capitals in five games. Nobody had expected that from a first year team. Vegas kept at it and built off that success. They made the playoffs every year but one in the teams existence, that being the 2021-22 season. They took advantage of a re worked expansion draft that some of their expansion brothers didn't have. Teams like Minnesota , Atlanta Columbus and Nashville had to pick from a slew of players who had a hard time getting big minutes with other teams in the league. The higher quality players weren't as as available to those teams as what Vegas had to pick from. So Vegas had a bit of a leg up early on.

To build off that, Vegas took those assets and were able to move pieces to find the right mix of guys to their roster and build this winning team. There's been some annoyance from fans of other teams in the league over Vegas winning and doing it as quickly as they managed to. Well I can tell you that this is a sign of Vegas management having a plan and making it work to that end goal of winning the cup. They made it work for that end goal. Other franchises have done the same thing it just takes longer to get the right mix in there.

Congratulations to the Golden Knights on winning the 2023 Stanley Cup

Stanley Cup Finals Preview

The time has finally arrived. We started this journey back in October with thirty two teams. Now here we sit with two teams left standing. And its two teams that are coming from non traditional hockey markets. Its the Florida Panthers taking on the Vegas Golden Knights.

This marks the 2nd finals appearance ever for the Panthers, who's only other trip to the finals was way back in 1996. They came in as the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference. They beat the Bruins in seven, the Maple Leafs in five and finally the Hurricanes in four. As for the Vegas Golden Knights, they won the Pacific Division and are playing in the cup finals for the 2nd time in their six year history. In this playoffs, they got by the Jets in five, Oilers in six and finally the Stars in six.

Here are the dates and times for every game in the finals:
June 3 Florida Panthers 8:00 p.m. Vegas Golden Knights T-Mobile Arena 
June 5 Florida Panthers 8:00 p.m. Vegas Golden Knights T-Mobile Arena
June 8 Vegas Golden Knights 8:00 p.m. Florida Panthers FLA Live Arena
June 10 Vegas Golden Knights 8:00 p.m. Florida Panthers FLA Live Arena
June 13 Florida Panthers 8:00 p.m. Vegas Golden Knights T-Mobile Arena
June 16 Vegas Golden Knights 8:00 p.m. Florida Panthers FLA Live Arena
June 19 Florida Panthers 8:00 p.m. Vegas Golden Knights T-Mobile Arena

Its a battle of one team with plenty of finals experience against the other who hasn't. Florida has only three guys that have played in the finals before: Marc and Eric Staal and Carter Verhaeghe. Vegas has twelve guys on their roster who have been in the finals before.

What has me worried at the start of this series is the Panthers having over a week off between sweeping Carolina and the start of this series. The Cats are going to come out a bit sluggish at the start of this series, for which I see Vegas taking full advantage of to kickstart things. Plus, you also have to throw in the nervous factor as well for Florida. Only thr4ee guys have ever played on this stage before, so its kind of a big deal for the Panthers. There are some good going for the Panters right now. Sergei Bobrovsky is playing outstanding hockey in net, and they've had offensive heroics from Matthew Tkachuk. Both guys could be front runners for Florida for the Conn Smyth as MVP of the playoffs.

On the other side of the Ice, Vegas has been here before. This is the second time in just their sixth year in the league in the finals. They have half of their roster that has played on this level as well, not all of them here but they have done it before. Like Florida they've had hot goaltending and timely scoring. Aidin Hill has been outstanding over the last two rounds in net for Vegas. And when the Golden Knights need timely scoring, enter Jonathan Marchessault and William Karlsson.

That's why this series is a little tougher to pick because both teams seem to be pretty evenly matched heading into this final round. But at the end of the day I think experience wins out.

Pick: Vegas in 7!

NFL Legend Passes

Jim Brown. One of the greatest running backs to have ever stepped foot on a football field. He stared as a multi sport athlete at Syracuse and took off once he got to the NFL. The Hall of Famer passed away on Thursday at the age of 87.

There isn't much more that can be said that hasn't already been said about the star athlete. While growing up on Long Island, Brown earned 13 letters while playing football, lacrosse, baseball, basketball, and running track. When he got to Syracuse University, he stuck with lacrosse and the sport that made his career, football.

He was drafted by the Browns, 6th overall in the 1957 NFL draft. He played nine years in the N FL, playing in 118 games. He won an NFL title in 1964. Brown carried the ball 2,359 times for 12,312 rushing yards and 106 touchdowns, which were all records when he retired. Brown won rookie of the year in 1957, was a three time league MVP, the only non quarterback to win three MVP's. Brown was a nine time all pro and an eight time pro bowler. He's had his number 32 retired by the Browns and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971. He finished with 100 or more yards in a game 58 times out of the 118 games he played which was an eye popping number.

This man has gone down, and will go down in the books as one of the very best to ever touch a football. He set a standard for what other great backs strive to be. Emmitt Smith, Barry Sanders, Curtis Martin, Jerome Bettis all have Jim Brown's talent and skills to live up to. We could talk about his athletic skills till the cows come home. He was more than just a great athlete. He was a leader.

What we mean is, Jim Brown was a strong voice, and a highly respected one at that, in the community in regards to equal rights. Brown was one of the few athletes, and among the most prominent African Americans, to speak out on racial issues as the civil rights movement was growing in the 1950s. He participated in the Cleveland Summit after Muhammad Ali faced imprisonment for refusing to enter the draft for the Vietnam War. The summit is considered an important turning point for activism by athletes.

The sports world morns the loss of one of the greatest athletes, and people, to ever step foot on a field.

New Low's In Oakland

This is something that's really worth noting. It's been well documented how bad things have gotten for the Athletics out in Oakland. Stadium is falling apart and they've been putting bad teams out on the field for quite some time now. It has hit a new low last night. Oakland drew 2,064 fans to their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, a 9-8 win for the A's.

The 2,064 fans was the lowest crowd for a game in Oakland since 1979.

Yikes!

There's good reason why the numbers are diving in Oakland, and its in the owners box. John Fisher, a man who's estimated net work is around $2.4 Billion, has owned the team since 2005. They made it to the ALCS in his first year as owner in 2006, but the team hasn't come anywhere close to that since. Prior to last season, the A's had four straight winning seasons.

Last year they won only 60 games, and as of this writing, they are 10-34 on this season. Ownership seems like they don't give a crap about investing into their club and putting a winning product on the field. Part of that may have to do with the fact that the stadium is falling apart and Fisher has shown signs of trying to possibly move the club to Las Vegas.

That's the biggest factor keeping fans away from the Coliseum. Bad play is a factor too, sure. But nobody wants to come out and watch a team that has a threat of moving soon. That's a great way to alienate your fanbase is to basically tell them that you don't care and you want out. And to make matters worse, the team has just a few weeks left to try and get something put together to show the league and Vegas that they have a plan for the ballpark. If that doesn't get done, its going to look really bad for the franchise and its already plummeting numbers.

Bad product on the field, bad attendance at home games and ownership that doesn't seem to give a crap about what's going on in the park is a receipt for disaster for the 2023 Oakland Athletics

Stanley Cup Conference Finals Preview

And then there were four. We started this playoff rush with sixteen teams, we've now hit the final four. over the next two weeks we will see who earns the right to play for hockey's ultimate prize. And its from unexpected hockey places. One team out West and three from Southern States, who would have figured that back in October. Here we are with Vegas, Dallas, Carolina and Florida as the last four teams left standing. So lets not waste anymore time and lets get into it. Here's how we see the conference finals going down.

M1) Carolina Hurricanes vs. WC2) Florida Panthers
This is the first ever meeting between these two clubs in the playoffs. Carolina comes in after beating the Islanders in six games and then the Devils in five. Carolina is now here for the 5th time in team history, since moving to Carolina. Last trip here was a 2019 loss to Boston. Florida reached here upsetting the Bruins in seven games, then beating the Maple Leafs in five games. This marks the second ever conference finals appearance for the Panthers, last time getting here in 1996 when they beat Pittsburgh.

Both teams have had to go at least five games in every series, Florida had to go the distance with Boston, but then had an easier series against Toronto. Florida seemed to really find their footing halfway through that Boston series. When they went to Sergei Bobrovsky. Now nothing against either Boston or Toronto, both very good teams, but both teams had one thing in common going against Florida. They were both top six heavy and didn't have much overall depth to them. Florida was able to use four lines and use speed to wear teams down.

They basically going to be looking in a mirror of sorts playing the Hurricanes. Carolina is built on speed and rolling four lines. They used that to great success against both the Islanders and Devils. Carolina maybe the fastest team left standing in this playoffs. Nothing against the other teams, but that's the way it looks to the naked eye. And Freddy Andersen, who's had injury issues this year, has come back into the nets and looked like he's a man possessed in the playoffs.

Pick: Hurricanes in 6!

P1) Vegas Golden Knights vs. C2) Dallas Stars
This marks the 2nd meeting between the two teams, the last one being won by Dallas in the 2020 bubble. Dallas got here by beating the Wild in six games and then the upstart Kraken in seven games. This is the tenth conference finals appearance for Dallas, the last one being against this same Vegas team just three years ago. Vegas got here by beating the Jets in five games and the Oilers in Six games. This is the fourth appearance in the conference finals for Vegas, the last one coming in the 2021 loss to Montreal.

This is the more even matchup of the two series, because both teams play a loser style to the other. Roope Hintz has gone off in the playoffs with 19 points and has really been a driving force for the Stars. Benn and Seguin have been there too, as has surprising numbers from Max Domi. Ottonger has been outstanding in the Stars nets in the playoffs, allowing under three goals a game.

They going up against a Vegas team who's been here four times in their six seasons in the league. Jack Eichel has seemed to really find his game and has been playing fantastic hockey here in the playoffs. Aiden Hill has been good in net for the Golden Knights.

Only thing that worries me here is the top six scoring in Vegas. They aren't as deep and well rounded as Dallas.

Pick: Stars in 6!