hockey
We talk pucks and objects of that kind. We yell, complain, and analyze in the language of hockey fandom. Gretzky can do no wrong.
2023 Conference Finals Preview
I always enjoy the Final Four of any sport's season, because it's the last stop before the whole enchilada is decided. No matter what the sport, that final round before the championship is immensely grand. In the NFL, it's the Conference Championship. In MLB, it's the League Championship Series, and in the NBA and NHL, it's the Conference Finals. The 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs are now down to the Final Four, with the two berths in this year's Stanley Cup Final being officially decided. Since the 2013-14 season, the Conference Finals have been contested between each of the four winners of the division brackets, with the East series pitting the Atlantic vs the Metropolitan, while the West series pits the Central vs the Pacific. The series are as follows:
By Clyde E. Dawkins12 months ago in Unbalanced
Grading the Seattle Kraken's 1st Postseason
The second season of existence for the Seattle Kraken is definitely one they will remember for years to come. The Kraken became the NHL's 32nd franchise, joining the league four years after the Vegas Golden Knights, and because Vegas went all the way to the Stanley Cup Final in Year One, a lot of fans expected something close to that for the Kraken. Seattle was nowhere close to that level in their inaugural season, but their sophomore year saw some big time signings, and a huge turnaround.
By Clyde E. Dawkins12 months ago in Unbalanced
Reviewing the 8th Season Finale of "How We Ruined Connor McDavid's Career"
For nine years, CBS had How I Met Your Mother. Hulu currently has the sequel/spinoff series, How I Met Your Father. The NHL has topped that with a sitcom of their own, as the Edmonton Oilers are giving us the NHL's longest running sideshow: How We Ruined Connor McDavid's Career. And the eighth season finale took place on the evening of May 14, 2023 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
By Clyde E. Dawkins12 months ago in Unbalanced
What Went Wrong: High Payroll, Low Goal Count
The optimist in me wants to say, "Well...at least they won a series." I was, and still am, very happy for the Toronto Maple Leafs for getting a 19-year-old monkey off their backs. They won a series. They ousted the Tampa Bay Lightning, a team who had made three straight appearances in the Stanley Cup Final, in just six games. Everyone figured that we would get Leafs vs Bruins in Round 2. A funny thing happened: the Bruins somehow lost to the Florida Panthers. So not only do the Leafs avoid the Bruins, they get to face the NHL equivalent of a #16 seed in March Madness.
By Clyde E. Dawkins12 months ago in Unbalanced
What Went Wrong: Devils' Elite Eight Loss Ends a Dream Season
Many thought that the first team to receive a second round exit this season would be the Toronto Maple Leafs, but they ended up breaking the brooms in their elimination game. Could the New Jersey Devils do the same? They definitely had the chance to escape the proverbial axe. They were up 2-1 late in the second period, but Brent Burns tied the game at the period's final minute. A quite third period led to overtime being forced for the first time in this series, but a Delay of Game penalty resulted in the Carolina Hurricanes going on the power play, which cashed in when Jesperi Kotkaniemi's shot went past Akira Schmid.
By Clyde E. Dawkins12 months ago in Unbalanced
A Look at the 1966-67 Toronto Maple Leafs
The National Hockey League has changed a lot in the last 56 years. There were quite a few teams even in the early years of the league, but by 1942, the league was whittled down to just six teams: the Detroit Red Wings, the New York Rangers, the Chicago Black Hawks, the Montréal Canadiens, the Boston Bruins, and the Toronto Maple Leafs. The playoff format in the Original Six format was simple: top four teams qualify, and it's only two rounds--the Semifinals and the Final. That's it.
By Clyde E. Dawkins12 months ago in Unbalanced
2023 Division Finals Preview
We are now at the second round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs--the Elite Eight. While last year's opening round saw the status quo take place, what we saw this year was typical of what we are used to seeing in the NHL. We saw a pair of bigtime upsets, we saw two teams win series for the first time in over a decade, and with the results of the opening round, three-quarters of last year's Final Four are out--including both of last year's finalists. As a result of the insanity of the opening round, we have these Division Finals matchups:
By Clyde E. Dawkins12 months ago in Unbalanced
What Went Wrong: Rangers Eliminated Due to a Lack of Bread
The Division Semifinals came to a close with Game Seven in the Metropolitan Division between the New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers. This is a series loaded with history; they've been division rivals for decades, and their rivalry has included a memorable playoff meeting in 1994, the East Final series that saw Stephane Matteau keep hope alive, and the Rangers go on to win that series and win the Stanley Cup in the next round. This meeting was the first time that the clubs faced each other since the Eastern Conference Final in 2012, and it kicked off with the Rangers actually winning Games One and Two in Jersey.
By Clyde E. Dawkins12 months ago in Unbalanced
What Went Wrong: Abdicated
This really hurts. This was not an easy season for the Colorado Avalanche. The offseason was epic. We were the Stanley Cup Champions. That is the most amazing feeling in sports--being the team that ended up with the greatest and most prestigious trophy in sports. We Avalanche fans spent the entire offseason celebrating that Cup and drinking in the fact that we were at the top of the heap, the Head of the Table, or to borrow from The Flintstones, "the Grand High Poobah." It was an absolutely wonderful feeling, but it was back to work.
By Clyde E. Dawkins12 months ago in Unbalanced
The Boston Bruins in: "How to Blow a Historic Season in Just 14 Days"
You know, if there's one thing I can't stand in sports, it's undeserved crowning and chest-pounding. I've seen it a lot in sports, and the latest example was the Boston Bruins. Unlike the braggarts who pound their chests without any merit, when I'm wrong, I'm actually man enough to admit it. I actually had this team missing the playoffs, and all they did was win 65 games and rack up 135 points. That's all. It was just a record in both categories. No big deal. I can handle being wrong about that. What I can't handle is people jumping to conclusions and crowning this team as the best Bruins team of all time. I was even told that this year's team was as good as the 1980s Oilers.
By Clyde E. Dawkins12 months ago in Unbalanced
19 Years in the Making: Leafs Finally Advance
They did it! They finally did it! Normally, I would be writing a "What Went Wrong" piece about the Tampa Bay Lightning, but I can't do that, because I don't want to take away from this moment. The Toronto Maple Leafs ended up going to overtime in Game Six of their Atlantic Semifinal series against the Lightning; a game that saw Auston Matthews strike first, only for Steven Stamkos to tie it up in the 3rd period. 1-1 was the score heading into the fourth frame, and I watched with anticipation, hoping the Leafs would pull this off. We would see John Tavares, the current Leafs captain, take the puck, shoot it, and it found its way into the net.
By Clyde E. Dawkins12 months ago in Unbalanced
