Sunday, June 03, 2018
Vegas on Fire!!
The Vegas
Golden Knights continue to roll along in the 2017-2018 NHL playoffs.
It has become one of the greatest mysteries in sport.
The team was
given a few guidelines to set up shop, and they drafted a few players
to get their inaugural season underway. The other teams in the league
were told they could protect several players, but that they might
have to let a few good players go in a draft to Vegas. It appears
that the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Florida Panthers were hurt the
most in the Vegas draft. The Pens left Marc Andre Fleury unprotected,
and the Panthers let Jonathan Marchessault fly the coop.
The Vegas
team had to fork out $ 500 million to get into the league. They had
to guarantee seat sales. They had to show that the city deserved a
major league franchise. I am sure that league management worried
about their decision to set up shop in Vegas. No need to worry any
more.
The Golden
Knights are for real, as they proved again on Monday night. They
faced the Jets again in Winnipeg, and they knew they had to face that
“Whiteout” crowd again. They were not phased. They stormed out to
a 2-0 lead, and never looked back. The win tied the series at a game
apiece, with five games remaining. The win put Vegas in the driver's
seat for the series. They have a relatively small player to thank for
their success.
His name is
Jonathan Marchessault, and he hails from Quebec. He was born and
raised there, and spent his entire Junior hockey career there. He
credits his junior coach, Patrick Roy, for some of his success.
Listed at 5' 9”, and tipping the scales at 175 pounds, Marchessault
was never drafted in the NHL. He was signed as a free agent by
Columbus, shipped off to Tampa Bay, then to the Panthers. The
Panthers left him unprotected, and Vegas picked him up. He is in the
second year of his contract, and he will make less than a million
dollars this year.
That will
change significantly next year, more than 5 times that amount, at the
very least. He netted two markers last night, and now has 6 goals and
9 assists in the playoffs. He recorded 75 points in the regular
season on 27 goals and 48 assists. Last season he led the Panthers
with 30 goals, and added 21 assists.
Another part
of the Marchessault mystery lies in the number of years that it took
for him to gain this status. He bounced back and forth to the
American Hockey League in his first attempts to crack an NHL lineup
with stints in Connecticut, Springfield, and Syracuse. Imagine the
frustration he felt from 2011 to 2015. All in the past. Now it's
Vegas, baby!
The Canadian
side of my brain is cheering for the Jets. Yet another part of my
brain marvels at the accomplishments of the Golden Knights. When I
met Marchessault in Florida a couple of years ago, he really
struggled with English. In last night's interview he stated clearly,
“We showed the hockey world that we deserve to be here.”
To sip from
Lord Stanley's mug, the winner of the Western Series will have to get
by the winner from the East. Would that be Tampa Bay or the Capitals?
You and I both know that Ovechkin and company do not intend to get
silver medals.
Ah, but all
local eyes are now centered on Chilliwack, British Columbia, the site
of the Royal Bank Cup. The Dukes won in overtime last night, almost
guaranteeing a spot in the semi finals, at the very least.
Playoffs-Spring,
2018
For those of
you who follow basketball, and the Toronto Raptors, the conclusion to
this season was a dreadful disappointment. Again, as has been the
case many times, the Raptors came up against the Cleveland Cavaliers
and LeBron James. The Raptors had nothing to stop James in his quest
for another NBA crown. They swept the Raptors in four straight games.
The score in the last game played Monday night? 128-93. As they say
at the end of every Raptor
season, there is work to be done.
Alexander
Ovechkin and his Washington Capitals finally found a way to defeat
the Pittsburgh Penguins also on Monday night. It has been a long
struggle for the Capitals in their quest to conquer the Pens. Sidney
and his teammates raised the Stanley Cup the last two years, and they
seemed prepared for this year's playoffs. But the big Russian bear
and his fellow Caps put an end to that, abruptly, in overtime,
earning the right to face the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The
Lightning appear to be the favourites in this Eastern Conference
match up. Team guru Steve Yzerman has put together a team that is
ready for almost any kind of play. The defensive corps is second to
none, and offensively, they have Steven Stamkos. Teams focus on
Stamkos to try to limit his play, and tend to forget about the other
outstanding talent on the team.
I
was thinking about writing the word “surprising” to describe the
Las Vegas Golden Knights. At this point in time, there is very little
about that team that could be construed as unknown. The team is well
coached by Gerard Gallant, and it was put together carefully. Mind
you, they picked up some pretty fine talent in their draft. The
finest, of course, is Marc Andre Fleury, whom they plucked from the
roster of the Penguins. He has been nothing short of spectacular, and
seems to be enjoying the experience. The Knights now await the winner
of the Nashville-Winnipeg series.
The
Jets were all set to close the door on the Predators Monday night.
Their fans packed the MTS Centre arena, and were impressive with
their “white-out shirts and towels”. They blow the doors off with
their noise, and can be very intimidating. All of that stuff did not
phase the Predators. They waltzed out to a 4-0 shellacking of the
Jets, and will meet in the seventh and deciding game on Wednesday
night. The game will be played in Nashville. Belleville Bulls fans
will follow the play of P. K. Subban in that game.
If
the Predators do move on to face the Knights, Mr. and Mrs. Subban
will be somewhat torn. P. K.'s younger brother Jordan is the backup
goaltender to Fleury. The two did face each other in the regular
season.
In
a thrilling final game at the Dudley-Hewitt Cup, the Wellington Dukes
emerged victorious, and they are now packing their bags to head to
Chilliwack, British Columbia to contest the Royal Bank Cup. We went
to watch one of the games at the DukeDome. It was great to see all
the Dukes' fans there. But frankly, the television picture was
horrendous, and we decided to rely on radio coverage. We locked into
the Dryden radio station, naturally a little biased. We plan to do
the same for the RBC.
Download
the “Mixlr” app and search for the Chilliwack Chiefs. You do
realize I got that information from my son, and I am not sure how
well I could handle that. It is unfortunate that one of the local
stations is not carrying the game. They did carry the broadcasts of
previous visits of the Dukes to the Canadian finals. Hopefully, the
Dukes will play in the final game which is usually picked up by TSN,
The Highland Hall at the arena would be packed for that contest!!!
