Stanley Cup Finals Preview

It has come down to this: two teams left and one Stanley Cup at stake. The series begins Monday, and now is the time to take a look at the two teams that will be competing for the ultimate prize.

Washington Capitals: The Capitals have had a lot of adversity and playoff demons to overcome to make their second Stanley Cup Finals in their illustrious history. Maybe this time, they will actually win a game in the Finals. Every success and failure begins with Alex Ovechkin, who has finally gotten the support he needs to make it to this point. Evgeny Kuznetsov has been one of the better players on the team, and Braden Holtby has turned back the clock to when he was competing for Vezina Trophies. Defensively, they have held up surprisingly well, with John Carlson leading the way and Brooks Orpik playing surprisingly decent. They've had to overcome a 2-0 series deficit to Columbus in the opening round, beat their long time nemesis in Pittsburgh, and stave off a potential new overlord in Tampa Bay, battling back from a 3-2 series deficit in the process. If Washington is going to win, the supporting cast needs to continue to show up so Ovechkin doesn't have to try to do it all on his own.

Vegas Golden Knights: The neophytes of the NHL have made it to the Stanley Cup Finals in their first year of existence, the first to do so since St. Louis in 1968. Marc-Andre Fleury still has some life left, and if he gets hurt, they have confidence in Malcolm Subban. The defense is still largely a no-name group who was led by Colin Miller. While they are mostly second and third pairing players, a potential breakout star is Shea Theodore, who has all the makings of a top pairing player with offensive skill. Up front, they have a genuine top line in Reilly Smith, Jonathan Marchessault, and William Karlsson, and depth up front is just as good, with David Perron the best option for scoring outside the top line. They seemingly have answered every question asked of them, and they intend to answer the bell once more.

Prediction: This one is a tough one to call. Both teams have responded well to their respective coaching, and any and all questions of how each would respond to adversity, both have answered well. Ovechkin would love to win a Stanley Cup in his 14th year while the Gerard Gallant, Marchessault, and Smith would like to give the Florida Panthers one final middle finger. There's also the Blues pain factor, as at least two players from either team will be winning a Stanley Cup, further driving the stake into the Blues fans' collective hearts. I've been waiting for the Capitals' lack of depth to finally do them in and/or Vegas' luck to finally run out. My jinxing powers in hockey run hot and cold, so it's unpredictable as to which way it's going to go. I'm going with Golden Knights in 7.

Revisiting the Golden Knights

Show of hands, who thought the Vegas Golden Knights would even make the playoffs prior to the season? You can put them down, you liar. 500 to 1 was the opening line for the odds they would make the Stanley Cup Finals before the season began, and here we are, they made the Finals in their first year, something that of the teams still in the NHL, only the Toronto Arenas (now Maple Leafs) and the St. Louis Blues achieved. So, who exactly are the Golden Knights? Well, to answer that, let's look at how the roster was constructed and the people responsible for putting the team together.

In goal, there is Marc-Andre Fleury and Malcolm Subban. Fleury was the big name of the team's expansion draft, and prior to the season, some thought he would face the same fate that Peter Sidorkiewicz would face when he was taken by Ottawa in their expansion draft in 1992. When healthy, Fleury proved that he still had something left and then some. Subban was destined to be a bust for the Boston Bruins, having never cracked the roster on a full-time basis. His pick up off waivers by the Golden Knights proved to be a smart move and one that would see them swap him for Calvin Pickard as a backup. Pickard is now in Toronto's system.

On defense, it's still a largely unknown group that is headed by Washington cast-off Nate Schmidt. Colin Miller, a pick from Boston, led all blueliners on the team in scoring while Shea Theodore, who was traded to Vegas so Anaheim could get Clayton Stoner's contract off their books, looks like a future star. Former Calgary defender Deryk Engelland proved to be the face of the team's leadership, as his ties to Las Vegas, from playing there previously in the ECHL to having a home there, all made it easy to call him the unofficial captain of the team. He also chipped in a respectable 23 points.

Up front, the offense is led by William Karlsson, a former Blue Jacket who was pegged to be a great penalty killer who occasionally chipped in offense. 43 goals later, and he blew expectations out of the water. Jonathan Marchessault was taken from Florida with the provision that Vegas also take Reilly Smith's contract as well. Turns out that Marchessault's 30-goal season in Florida wasn't a mirage, as he trailed Karlsson for the team scoring lead by three points (78 to 75) and Smith was fourth on the team in scoring with 60 points. Florida's crow eating isn't just confined to those two players, as you'll find out later. Other players that made their former teams look bad include David Perron, who was third in scoring on the team despite missing a few games to injury, and he made the Blues wish they had his production on the second line. Erik Haula was taken from Minnesota and Alex Tuch was thrown in on a trade because Minnesota wanted to protect their blue line. About that, Haula missed the 30-goal mark by one and finished fifth on the team in scoring, and Tuch looks like a solid player that the team can build upon, and both provide scoring that the Wild could have used.

 Bill Foley owns the team, and he figured out right away that to build a solid team, he needed good hockey people. For all the grief George McPhee got for the Filip Forsberg trade while in Washington, his time as General Manager wasn't bad. Foley gave him another shot. Kelly McCrimmon was plucked from the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL to provide more insight. Remember when I said that the crow eating for the Florida Panthers wasn't over? That Gerard Gallant guy that they told to piss off last season at the beginning of a long road trip and left him at the airport did a pretty good job for the Vegas Golden Knights this year.

Yes, the Vegas Golden Knights making the Stanley Cup Finals is nothing short of amazing, so much so that people are calling it rigged. Look back on your predictions before the season and then tell me if you really expected any of this to happen.

The 2018 Memorial Cup Field

In one day, the Memorial Cup field went from just the host team to now having all four participants figured out. A trio of game 6 series was all it took, and beginning Friday, the Memorial Cup tournament to determine this year's best major junior squad will begin with a round robin. Let's meet the teams that will hope to hoist the Memorial Cup.

The Regina Pats are the host team in the 100th year of major junior hockey. Coincidentally, this is also the 100th year that the Pats have been in existence. The Queen City inhabitants are named after Princess Patricia, a descendent of Queen Victoria, and are known to have the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI) unit patch on their sweaters. The team itself finished third in their division, were beaten in seven games in the opening round to eventual WHL champion Swift Current. Their key players to watch include Sam Steel, Jesse Gabrielle, and Libor Hajek.

The Swift Current Broncos are the reigning WHL champions, having beaten Regina, Moose Jaw, Lethbridge, and Everett en route to the title and a date east of town. The Broncos will be in their third Memorial Cup tournament in their history, having won in 1989 and losing out on the round-robin tie breaker in 1993. Key players to watch include Glenn Gawdin, Matteo Gennaro, Giorgio Estephan, Aleksi Heponiemi, and Stuart Skinner. Despite their status as a small market team in southwestern Saskatchewan, the Broncos are not the smallest market team in the tournament. That honor goes to...

The Acadie-Bathurst Titan are a team in northern New Brunswick, and play in a town with just over 12,000 people, about 4,000 less than Swift Current. The team has endured various threats of being moved, with their most recent trouble in 2009. They are the QMJHL champions by virtue of beating Chicoutimi, Sherbrooke, Victoriaville, and Blainville-Boisbriand. Key players to watch include Samuel L'Italien, German Rubtsov, Evan Fitzpatrick, and Noah Dobson.

Technically the youngest franchise in the tournament, the Hamilton Bulldogs were formed in 2015 after the original Belleville Bulls were relocated in 2015. The current incarnation of the Bulldogs replaced the AHL version of the Bulldogs in that time. They became the OHL champions by beating Ottawa, Niagara, Kingston, and Sault Ste. Marie. The team is led by Robert Thomas, and also features Will Bitten, Matthew Strome, and Kaden Fulcher.

So, how do I think this tournament will play out? Despite being eliminated in the first round of the WHL playoffs, Regina still has some pieces to become the second straight host team to take home the Memorial Cup tournament. Swift Current has possibly the most key pieces to win it all, and certainly, they have the best offense and hottest goaltender of the teams remaining. Acadie-Bathurst has some really good players and Dobson is an X-factor heading into his NHL Draft year while Hamilton has proven people wrong this year time and time again, beating a Sault Ste. Marie team that was widely thought to be the favorite to represent the OHL. Prediction? I think Swift Current walks away with the Memorial Cup trophy in a hard fought battle with Hamilton.

2017-18 NHL Conference Finals Preview

It is down to the final four, and anyone left has a chance. With the series beginning tonight, let's get to it.

(1) Tampa Bay Lightning vs. (1) Washington Capitals

The Lightning have been fairly dominant, as they've dispatched the Devils and Bruins in five games each. Andrei Vasilevsky is proving to be the goaltender that the Lightning hoped for, their defense is coming out of its funk in time for the playoffs, and Nikita Kucherov is now the most dangerous offensive option. Steven Stamkos is still there, but he is now more of an X-factor, as teams seem to have forgotten about him.

The Capitals are a bit of a surprise, in that the goaltending was a major question mark coming into the playoffs. Braden Holtby entered the playoffs in game three against Columbus, and he's turned back the clock to his Vezina winning days. Defensively, they've been competent, and their offense has been carried by Alex Ovechkin and Niklas Backstrom.

Prediction: Capitals in 7

(1) Vegas Golden Knights vs. (2) Winnipeg Jets

Vegas has been fairly good in the playoffs, with Marc-Andre Fleury carrying the team on his back with stellar play in net. Their no-name defense has the best chemistry of any of the remaining teams, and a surprising offense led by William Karlsson is the impetus behind their success. A player to watch for to potentially break out this series is Jonathan Marchessault, who has the scoring ability.

The Jets have been great all season, though their question was whether they could keep it going in the playoffs. After a hard fought win against Nashville in seven, they've emphatically answered it with a resounding yes. Connor Hellebuyck appears to be this year's version of Matt Murray, with a playoff debut for the ages, their defense is coming together despite not having eye-popping numbers, and Mark Scheifele is becoming a superstar with his playoff run. The Jets are doing this without a great amount of help from Patrik Laine, and if he gets going, look out.

Prediction: Jets in 6