Stanley Cup First Round Picks

Today's the day. We started this journey with 32 teams back in October. Now after a& grueling 82 game schedule for all of those teams, we have sixteen left standing. The ultimate prize is two months from now and its the Stanley Cup. The best of the bunch will be the one holding the trophy over its head at the end of this run.

So lets not waste any more time. Here's how we see the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs going down.

A1 Florida Panthers vs WC1 Tampa Bay Lightning
For just the 3rd time in history, we get a battle of Florida in the playoffs. Tampa has won the last two series and there's strong faith in Nikita Kucherov and his superior level of play this year. There's some questions behind him Point and Stamkos in the offensive depth. And there is some worry about the play of Andrei Vasilevskiy. He hasn't looked like himself at times this season. Florida has one of the best goaltending tandoms in the league this season and they have a balanced scoring attack. Vasy may steal a game or two and Kucherov could have a big series. At the end of the day the Panthers depth could win out.

Pick: Panthers in 6!

A2 Boston Bruins vs A# Toronto Maple Leafs
Auston Matthews is coming off having a monster year in his own right for the Leafs. He finished with 69 goals, the highest total in the league since 1996. The Leafs have been rolling and have scoring depth to match. But they still have questions in my mind between the pipes for a deep playoff run. Boston is coming in on a mission, trying to get rid of the bad taste in their mouth from last year. Boston has one of the best one two punches in net this year and they have scoring to match it.

Pick: Bruins in 7!

M1 New York Rangers vs WC2 Washington Capitals
Talk about two teams coming in as sort of polar opposites into the playoffs. The Rangers come is as the Presidents trophy winners with 54 wins (which is a franchise record) and 114 points. Washington came in as the last wild card spot with 91 points and a negative goal differntial this year. They backed into the playoffs and haven't looked very good this year. Rangers looked like a well oiled machine this should be a quick series

Pick: Rangers in 5!

M2 Carolina Hurricanes vs M3 New York Islanders
Carolina has been a solid team from wire to wire this season. The Islanders looked, at stretches this year, like a team that was going to bottom out this season. They got hot at the right time near the end of the year to get into the playoffs. New York has blown over 20 games where they have leads in the 3rd period. Sure they have [played much better under head coach Patrick Roy, but there really isn't much hope going in. They may steal a game or two this series, but it's going to be the same result as the first round matchup last year.

Pick: Hurricanes in 6!

C1 Dallas Stars vs WC2 Vegas Golden Knights
Vegas is back to defend their title, an d the first hurtle on that title defense is the best team in the West the Dallas Stars. Vegas has the experience of doing this last year, and they get help at the start of this playoff run. They get Thomas Hertl off LTIR and into the lineup. Vegas will be without Mark Stone for the playoffs, who's been dealing with injury since February. Dallas is one of the most balanced and deep teams left standing and they have the solid goaltending that could get them far into the post season.

Pick: Stars in 5!

C2 Winnipeg Jets vs C3 Colorado Avalanche
This is gonna be a fun matchups between one of the best scorers in the league and one of the best goalies in the game. Nathan MacKinnon finished second in the NHL in scoring this year, behind only Nikita Kucherov. He Rantanin and Makar lead the offensive charge. After that the scoring totals per player drop off. And not to take anything away from Alexandar Georgiev, but the guy at the other end of the ice in Connor Hellebuyck has been slightly better this year. This is going to be a tough series, but the depth in Winnipeg wins out.

Pick: Jets in 6!

P1 Vancouver Canucks vs WC1 Nashville Predators
What's really intriguing about this series is going to be the battle between the pipes. Jussi Saros against Thatcher Demko.  Give credit where it's due up front, Nashville does have some high powered weapons and a touch more scoring depth. Where the Canucks have the edge is the better defensive game and their high powered weapons top that of what's in the Music City.

Pick: Canucks in 5!

P2 Edmonton Oilers vs P3 Los Angeles Kings
Credit has to be given where its due in Los Angeles, the have a pretty balanced scoring attack. But lets face facts here, you going against the best offensive one-two punch in the game right now. Sure, Conor McDavid got off to a slow start by his standards. But by the time all was said and done, he was playing like a man possessed. And Stuart Skinner has turned another fine season in while tending goal in Edmonton. What has me worried going past round one is can he carry that all the way to a title?

Pick: Oilers in 5!

Century Club Grows

Getting an assist in a National Hockey League game is a tough thing to do. Doing it 100 times in a career is a big thing. Doing that in one season is even rarer air. As a matter of fact, as of last night, its only been done by five guys in a season.

Bobby Orr did it once (1970-71). Mario Lemieux did it once (1988-89). Wayne Gretzky did it 11 times. Now we can add two more names to that list. Conor McDavid and Nikita Kucherov.

This is the second time in league history two guys have done it in the same season. Gretzky and Lemieux both did it during the 88-89 season. We haven't had a 100 assist season since Gretzky complied 122 in a season in 1992.

For the two guys that have done it this year it really is something special. McDavid hitting 100 helpers and counting as he has ore more game left. He won't be able to catch Kucherov for the point lead on the year, but what he's done for this Oilers team this year after the slow start that he got off to is pretty impressive. And he helped power Edmonton into a playoff spot when they got off to a very slow start out of the blocks at the beginning of the year.

As for Kucherov, this is monumental. He already broke his own club record for points in a single season in Lightning history. He set the record for most assists by a winger in a season and most points by a Russian born player in NHL history. The only winger that ever had more points in a season in league history was Jaromir Jagr with 149 in 1996.

Kucherov has been carrying the Lightning for stretches this season and is a massive reason why they're a playoff team. With what these two guys have done and what Nathan MacKinnon is doing in Colorado, it going to make for one hell of a race for MVP at the end of the season.

Legend Hangs Up Headphones

Since 1989, there has been one voice behind the microphone for the New York Yankees on the radio. John Sterling. He has been behind the mic for 5,420 regular season games, and another 211 in the playoffs. He provided the sounds of the summer for fans of multiple generations. He surprised a lot of people Monday announcing his retirement from the booth at the age of 85 siting health reasons.

When you think of Yankees baseball, you can just sit back and hear any number of John's calls. It is high, it is far, it is gone, Yankees win … theeeeee Yankees win, Back to back, and a belly to belly, Bern Baby Bern!. Just to name some of the countless ones that have come across our radios. He would come up for something unique for each Yankee player for when they go deep.

There have been much praise that has been showered upon Sterling during the course of his career. There have been very few that have done it as long as Sterling has or have been associated with one team the way he has. With all the praise John gets for his work, there's also going to be critics as well. He gets made fun of for some of his calls in the past.,

But at the end of the day he been a pilar for Yankees broadcasts and has been an inspiration to many to want to get into this business. The reason for his sudden retirement is citing health issues, and he wasn't going to be able to make it to the end of the season.

The Quickest American

Playing the position of goalie is a high risk and at times thankless job. Its also one of the hardest jobs in professional sports. If you're a good enough goalie to make it to the NHL, you must be doing something right. There have been a lot of great American netminders to play the game. Mike Richter, Tom Barraso, John Vanbiesbrouck, Ryan Miller, Tim Thomas are the names that usually first come to mind. You can add another name to that list. Jonathan Quick. As of this past weekend, Quick won career game #392, passing Ryan Miller for the most by an American born goalie.

Quick has had himself quite the career for himself. He was a third round pick, 72nd overall, by the Kings in 2005. Quick made the jump to the NHL for three games during the 2007-08 regular season, becoming the Kings full time starter the next season. He played a total of 16 seasons in a Kings uniform, winning 370 games, and collecting a pair of Stanley Cup Rings. He then won another ring las season getting traded to the Vegas Golden Knights, playing ten games in Vegas. He signed this offseason with the Rangers, winning another 17 games (as of this writing), including the record breaker over the weekend in Arizona. He's won a Conn Smyth in 2012, the Jennings in 2014 and his three cup rings.

What was so special about Quick?

He lived up to his last name. He had lightning fast reflexes and made some saves that were tough to make for any normal person. He played his best hockey during the playoffs, and was a MAJOR factor as to why the Kings have their two Cups. He has been on the decline in recent years, that's why he's serving as the backup on Broadway.

But when the game was on the line and you needed a big stop, Quick would be the man to make it. There was some nights, during his time in Los Angeles, where he would keep the Kings in a lot of hockey games. He was one of the better goalies in the league for a stretch and helped get the Kigns back to relevance.

Congratulations to Jonathan Quick for becoming the all time winningest American board goalie in NHL history!