Month: June 2024

The UTAH Hockey Club & the NHL want your vote

UTAH Name Vote until June 20  I cast my vote, will it count, in all probability it will not influence UTAH in its franchise naming, but I wanted to go on record and respond to their TOP SIX names.

Utah Venom  Only because there are more rattlesnakes with colorful names than you could hope to know about, but the NHL already has ducks, penguins, and sharks they really do not need any snakes.

Utah Hockey Club (Utah HC)  Generic and unimaginative.

Utah Blizzard  Considering Cottonwood Canyon, Utah is one of snowiest places on Earth, but most hockey fans equate Utah with desert climate not winter.

Utah Outlaws  A winner all day long, the ultimate underdog outlier against all odds and a dark sweater design that plays into a team with an attitude.

Utah Yeti  I sincerely hope they do not name their franchise after a camping cooler.

Utah Mammoth  A Mammoth what?, a Wooly Mammoth or Mammoth Falls, too ambiguous.

Buffalo Winter Voted Outlaws

Panthers Keep Calm and Carry On

Florida 4 – Edmonton 3 (Finals Panthers 3-0)  Edmonton hosted a Finals game to the delight of their fans who partied inside and outside the arena but the Oilers just could not match the Panthers’ level of play and although Edmonton made the game close at times, eventually the better team won.

Florida’s growth from experience as a team from where they were in the Finals last season to this season’s domination of their Cup opponent is impressive, while Edmonton appears similar to what Florida looked like in the Finals last year…a bit overwhelmed.

History highlights a team in the Stanley Cup Finals can overcome a 0-3 deficit to win the series next four games and the Cup, it does seem unlikely, but this is how history is made or will this become the 21^st sweep of the Stanley Cup Finals?

Saturday Night’s Matchup

Florida versus Edmonton (Finals Panthers 3-0)

Florida Victorious

Florida 4 –  Edmonton 1 en (Finals Panthers 2-0)  It took Edmonton more than half the first period to register their first SOG and ironically they scored five hole to take the 1-0 lead, then did not take another shot on net until less than five minutes remaining in the first period.

Florida outshot Edmonton 13-3 in the second period tying the game 1-1 then the Panthers spoil the Oilers run of PKs in the third period and Mr. Rodrigues scored twice before Mr. Ekblad scored an empty netter for the 4-1 final and two game series lead.

Although the Oilers stepped up their hitting and blocking, they barely managed 4 SOG in the first and then only 3 SOG in the second period, this will not get the job done against an opponent whose goaltender is playing well above a .900% save percentage.

It must be disheartening for fans listening to excuses proffered by Mr. McDavid after both losses admitting nervousness being on the “big stage” for the first time to explain loss one and last night said, “I thought they went up a level and we didn’t match it today.” One has to ask, “why not?”

Tomorrow’s Matchup

Florida versus Edmonton (Finals Panthers 2-0)

Florida victorious in Game One

Florida 3 – Edmonton 0 en (Finals Panthers 1-0)  Scoring on their first shot on goal Florida took the quick 1-0 lead, then again early in the second period scored for the 2-0 lead before banging in an empty netter for the 3-0 win and earning their first Finals series lead in three Stanley Cup Finals appearances.

Edmonton may have outshot Florida but the Panthers killed off three Oilers power plays, outhit the Oilers by nearly 30 hits, out blocked, and gave the puck away less as Florida’s goaltender Bobrovsky stopped all 32 Edmonton SOG for the shutout.

Winning the first game of the Finals does not guarantee your team the Stanley Cup, but it does go a long way towards establishing momentum, attitude, and getting within three games of hoisting the silver chalice.

Monday Game Two

Florida versus Edmonton (Finals Panthers 1-0)

Score Stopping Skinner versus Brick Wall Bobrovsky

Goaltending  Both Edmonton and Florida are capable of scoring five or six times in a game as well as their goaltenders playing nearly perfect in net.

Will the netminders control the series or will the powerful offenses find their mark? I suppose if we were to ask Forrest Gump he would reply, “a little bit of both”, but that seems wishy washy to me, and as a hockey fanaticus I have to go with my gut instinct on who will win the Stanley Cup. (Buffalo Winter SC prediction: Florida Sweeps)

Florida Panthers’ Sergei Bobrovsky Started 17 games winning 12, earning one shutout while posting 2.20 goals against average playing at a .908 save percentage.

Edmonton Oilers’ Stuart Skinner Started 16 games winning 11, earning one shutout while posting 2.50 goals against average playing at a .897 save percentage.

Stanley Cup Champion Goaltender  At first glance your supposition could be that Florida has the edge in net.

But as fans we know at times statistics can be misleading as highlighted by the disparity in SOG that has occurred during these playoffs with teams winning by barely producing 10 or 12 SOG for the entire game.

Florida Panthers versus Edmonton Oilers (Stanley Cup Finals 0-0)