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Red-hot Stanley Cup Final goalies cool off

August 28, 2020 - 8:16 am

Goaltenders Marc-Andre Fleury of the Vegas Golden Knights and Braden Holtby of the Washington Capitals finally cooled off during Game 1 of the NHL’s Stanley Cup Final. The two allowed nine goals during Vegas’ exciting but sloppy 6-4 victory. Fleury is a leading candidate to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP; Holtby was coming off consecutive shutouts in Games 6 and 7 of the Eastern Conference Final. NBC analyst and former NHL goalie Brian Boucher, who set the modern-day record for longest shutout streak, said the goalies weren’t entirely to blame for the rash of goals. “They both could have been better, but at the same time nine goals against is not always an indication of how a goalie plays. A lot of pucks were coming off the boards and a lot of guys were left alone in front. From a goaltender’s perspective, it was a difficult game to get into a groove.”

Knights match accomplishment of old St. Louis Blues

August 28, 2020 - 8:41 am

The Godlen Knights have become the first NHL expansion team in 50 years to advance to the Stanley Cup Final. The last to do it were the the 1967-68 St. Louis Blues, one of six new teams that season as the league doubled in size. The new teams played in the same division, and one was guaranteed of making the final. Both the old Blues and Knights featured great goaltending — St.Louis had Glenn Hall; Vegas has Marc-Andre Fleury. There were other similarities between the teams, such as leading scorers who were only role players with their old teams. The Knights will face either the Washington Capitals or the Tampa Bay Lightning in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final.

Woe Canada – Stanley Cup drought continues for hockey playing nation

August 28, 2020 - 8:55 am

It has been 25 years since a Canadian-based hockey franchise won the Stanley Cup. The Montreal Canadiens were last to do it in 1993. Before then, teams such as the Canadiens and Edmonton Oilers had a stranglehold on the Cup. The upstart Winnipeg Jets are the last Canadian club standing, joining first-year Vegas, Washington and Tampa Bay in hockey’s final four. Economic factors, such as U.S. free-agent dollars, have contributed to the long dry spell. With expansion into warm-weather American cities, only seven of the 31 NHL teams are based in Canada.

Winnipeg’s love affair with Jets

August 28, 2020 - 9:03 am

Winnipeg lost its NHL team to Arizona following the 1995–96 season. But the Jets returned in 2011 and are now in their first Western Conference final. Winnipeg leads the Golden Knights 1-0 in a best-of-seven series. Game 2 is Monday night, when another whiteout is expected from Winnipeg fans. A four-block party outside Bell MTS Place gets underway hours before the puck drops. And, win or lose, lasts for hours after the game concludes.

Knights’ fever grips Las Vegas

August 28, 2020 - 9:52 am

Golden Knights fever is gripping Las Vegas as the second round of the NHL playoffs continue. Longtime observers of the local sports scene are comparing to the team’s popularity to that of the UNLV basketball team during its heyday. It has been 27 years since UNLV last played in the Final Four. Knights goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was only 5 years old when the Rebels beat Duke to win the 1990 national championship. “You’d go to the bank, and everybody would ask how the Rebels were going to do against Oklahoma, against LSU. I think what is happening (with the Knights) is similar. The most important part is that it is uniting the community like UNLV basketball did.”