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Morning Skate: The Penguins and Sharks will give us a fantastic Stanley Cup Final
The perfect scenario.
John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports
Lace ‘em up. Time for the Morning Skate.
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THE STANLEY CUP FINAL IS SET
Sidney Crosby, Phil Kessel and Evgeni Malkin took a backseat to the Bryan Rust Show in Game 7. If you would've told me a rookie with five career goals would be the deciding factor in a Game 7 involving those three guys and the long-awaited return of Steven Stamkos, I would've been highly skeptical. And yet, here we are. The Penguins are headed to the Stanley Cup Final to face the San Jose Sharks.
The Penguins rode three scoring lines to the Eastern Conference title. As for the Lightning, they bowed out with gusto considering the adversity they faced this spring.
One thing's for certain: This Sharks-Penguins series is going to be bonkers.
BLUES RETROSPECTIVES
St. Louis Game Time has a few postmortems on the Blues that are worth your time. The first is this good piece. Here's an excerpt:
While it didn’t end with a cup being raised over Backes’ head and a party on 14th and Clark, the Blues took fans on one helluva ride this season. The best run in nearly two decades. I’m not one of those people who say “Cup or nothing”. Those are very depressed people and I have a family to take care of. The Blues went further than fans thought and came within two wins of a Cup Finals appearance, which would have been their first in nearly 46 years. What are you going to do? ... moan about what the Sharks did and St. Louis didn’t? Go ahead, but withhold from calling fans out for being thankful for a great f***ing ride.
Besides, there are plenty of accomplishments to celebrate.
TONIGHT’S PLAYOFF FUN:
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TRADE REACTION
I love trades. I love the playoffs. So I'm pretty pleased that the Canucks and Panthers gave us a transaction to talk about before the Stanley Cup Final even gets underway. You know who else is pleased? Panthers fans. Though Litter Box Cats penned a nice farewell to Erik Gudbranson.
Here’s a fun fact for you: The guys picked second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth overall in the 2010 NHL Draft have all been traded.
Tyler Seguin: from Boston to Dallas. Erik Gudbranson: from Florida to Vancouver. Ryan Johansen: from Columbus to Nashville. Nino Niederreiter: from the Islanders to Minnesota. Brett Connolly: from Tampa Bay to Boston.
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ON MALKIN AND MESSIER
DON SWEENEY IS OFF TO A GREAT START
Not really. I told you in the previous Morning Skate that Bruins fans were concerned about the four-year, $10 million contract the Bruins GM signed Kevan Miller to. For that fanbase, it's just another sign this offseason will be as shaky as the last.
NEWS AND NOTES:
- Veteran Senators defenseman Chris Phillips has retired.
- Eyes On The Prize weighs the merits of moving down at the draft.
- The benefit of coaching in Detroit is there's two legendary predecessors you can look up to. Which one should Jeff Blashill model his lineups after?
- Here's how Rangers fans can survive the long offseason.
- Is it time for the Avalanche to move on from Cody McLeod?
- Jared Spurgeon continues to improve in Minnesota.
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