A quick mix of the things we learned from hockey week, serious and less, and four lines deep. Is it Monday already?
1. The Toronto Maple Leafs series – Tampa Bay Lightning – positioned as a Round 1 demonstration match – will be analyzed, tested and dismantled to death over the next 48 hours.
Two fast, superb crimes that unleash wizards in the power game. Two underrated defensive cores that have to fight hard and smart, but will have their hands full.
If you are a Maple Leafs (or a fan), here are four things you should be interested in:
• Andrei Vassilevski: So rare is the real No. 1 player in today’s NHL that Vassilevski – winner of eight playoff series, flawless in the elimination games – is a flaming comet shooting across a sea of dimly lit stars.
That Big Cat enters the postseason with a series of four wins and this colleague Jack Campbell has only seven games in total postseason experience.
“He’s been playing great since he came back from injury,” said Wayne Simmonds. “He made the big stop when necessary, closed teams and allowed us to play our game.”
Campbell must meet the best.
• Depth: “I firmly believe that many series are won and lost by the deep boys,” says Simmonds.
He is not wrong.
No one can question the top of the Leafs these days. This is the aging and / or unproven bottom of the team, which will have to increase its game.
Of course, Lightning lost its valuable unit, Gourd-Coleman-Goodrow, but Nick Paul (16 goals), Brandon Hagel (25 goals) and Ross Colton (22 goals) are not too shabby.
• Coach: Sheldon Keef has done a fantastic job in the regular seasons. Honestly, he should get more credit for his work (but that is the fate of all coaches blessed with talented athletes).
What Keefe hasn’t done – yet – is to outsmart the man on the other bench when it really matters. Although he is in a higher position in chess matches with John Tortorella and Dominique Duchamp, Keefe is not adapting well enough to win the playoffs.
John Cooper, the NHL’s longest-serving bench boss, is a major motivator who knows how to wake up the locker room and play on the podium.
It will also be a challenge.
• Intimidation: Lightning ranks fourth in hits; Leafs are in 24th place. Tampa ranks 22nd in blocked shots; Toronto ranks 29th.
The champions will be physically – very physically – out the door. Corey Perry and Pat Maroon will try to agitate and harass. They will be ruthless. How maple leaves react to grinding will be crucial.
“I think it’s about initiation, not revenge, to be perfectly honest,” Simmonds said.
“We want to be the first team to jump and cope with full force, whether it’s hitting, crushing, suffocating our opponent.”
2. If Gary Batman’s parity dream lives everywhere, it’s in Hart’s trophy.
Not since Alex Ovechkin returned to each other in 2008 and 2009, the NHL has not become a multiple MVP. In the 13 seasons since then, 12 different players have won the award.
Only Connor McDavid (2017 and 2021) won it twice during this period. A unanimous champion last season, he will be tough to win this year – although he broke the race with 123 points. This is the highest amount the player has accumulated in 29 years (Mark Rechi reached that number in 1992-93, but needed 84 games to do so).
With all due respect to Johnny Godreau, Roman Josie, Jonathan Huberdo, Igor Shesterkin, Kiril Kaprizov, Stephen Stamkos, Cale McCarthy, Leon Drysight, and so on, I look at my newsletter and see two horses racing between McDavid and Matthews.
I asked Huberdo who he would choose.
“That’s a good question,” the Panthers star replied. “Matthews has a great year, so I would probably give it to him. He is special. I had a chance to play in the All-Star Game with him. If you give him the puck, he will score every time. Not many boys can get close to 60 goals. “
Besides himself, who would Matthew choose if he had the floor?
“There are so many guys to choose from. It’s hard. But obviously [Huberdeau] he would be one of the boys. Looks like he drove the bus for [Florida] along with a few other boys. He really stands out, “said Matthews.
“You see a man like Josie in Nashville who was just amazing – something like that, just driving the bus for this team. So, I think there are a lot of guys you can look at and choose from.
“You know, it looks like McDavid and Dreisytle, we’re so used to doing this every year that you kind of lose track of how good a season these two have.”
This is the most difficult choice and will be the narrowest voice since Taylor Hall overtook Nathan McKinnon in 2018.
3. The Leafs-Lightning series will feature the last two NHL top scorers with 60 goals, each hot in his first 100-point campaign.
Here are Matthews’ 60 goals by type:
Wrist Shot – 28
Beckhander – 9
Moment frame – 8
Council – 7
Slap – 6
Envelope – 2
He achieved the achievement with 17.2 percent of shooting, 1.93 goals for 60 (1st), 44 goals of equal strength (first), 348 shots (first), 16 goals in power play (third), 10 winning goals (fifth), four empty nets and ping 13 posts / crossbeams (third).
Here are Stamkos’ 60 goals in 2011-12, by type:
Wrist Shot – 32
Slap – 8
Moment frame – 8
Council – 6
Beckhander – 5
Envelope – 1
Stamkos had a higher shooting rate (19..8), more wins in the game (12), fewer power play goals (12) and fewer empty net players (two). He also appeared in all 82 games, nine more than Matthews.
When we talked to Stamkos about this magical season, he said that he was most proud of his 48 goals of equal strength, especially as a player who was once considered a little power play specialist.
This season Evgeni Malkin was by far the second in equal goals with 38.
Matthew’s 44 Evenings this season is the closest anyone has come to Stamcos since and you have to trace all the way back to Alexander Mogilny’s 49 ESG in 1992-93 to find the last sniper to hit the mark. .
4. Clever news from the National Hockey League Players’ Association, revealing the search for a new union boss around 9pm ET on Friday amid the hectic last night of the regular season, with the media busy with playoff matches.
The PA’s executive council voted in favor of setting up a search committee to hire the successor to executive director Donald Fer. Ian Cole, Zack Hyman, Justin Folk, Sam Gagner, Kyle Okposo, Nate Schmidt and Kevin Shattenkerk will lead the job search.
Fer has guided players through two intense rounds of collective bargaining, reaching agreements with Commissioner Gary Batman in 2013 and 2020.
“Don was great. Great communicator. The PA was very organized and went through some difficult times with negotiations. They are difficult, “said Jason Spezza.
The veteran took on the challenge of getting new players to wrap their heads around the history and complexity of the owner-player relationship.
“I think it’s difficult,” Spca said. “As the league gets younger, there are fewer and fewer boys who have gone through labor disputes. So I think Don and his team did a great job. The Executive Committee decided on a transition plan to come up with something, and I think that’s good. I think PA is in good shape right now.
“We will find the right person to manage things and leave the game in good shape, but I think hockey is in great shape overall. We just want to keep building. ”
5. Fun with numbers.
The matches of the first round of the NHL, but with the final ranking of the teams by percentage points in brackets:
Florida (1) vs Washington (13)
Carolina (3) vs. Boston (10)
Toronto (4) vs. Tampa Bay (8)
New York (7) vs. Pittsburgh (12)
Colorado (2) vs Nashville (16)
Calgary (6) vs. Dallas (15)
Minnesota (5) vs. St. Louis (9)
Edmonton (11) vs. Los Angeles (14)
My opinion: 11th place Oilers are the biggest winners here. They are not only the only team outside the top seven of the NHL with a home ice advantage, but they also drew the third weakest opponent in the tournament. Prize for playing in the weakest division.
Eighth place Lightning has the biggest dissatisfaction, drawing four placed Toronto. Punishment for being close to the Atlantic Ocean.
6. In these troubled times, it is imperative that we rely on our diligent researchers for important information.
Fortunately, people at Time2Play.com analyzed the data to find out which base of NHL fans consumed the most alcohol in the good old hockey game.
According to a study by the site, Maple Leafs fans consume an average of 3.9 beers in the evenings of the match – top in the league. Chicago, Tampa, Colorado and Arizona finished in the top five, while New York Rangers (1.8) were the most responsible.
Full results:
7. Just because Ben Chiaro was hired from worst to first doesn’t mean the Florida Panthers have cut ties with the Montreal Canadiens.
When he heard that Carrie Price was finally ready to return a few weeks ago, Chiaro made sure to write a text message.
“I told him I wanted to be able to be with him, to be there with him,” Chiaro said. “In the last few years, we have built a good relationship there, the defense and him. We had a good unit.
“I am just happy to see him again. And he is such an important player for this city, this franchise. Important for the league, really. He is such a big name, especially as a goalkeeper. So it was great to see him again. “
Price finished second to Andrey Vasilevsky of Tampa in the goalkeepers’ category for the NHLPA 2022 poll:
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