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2021 Stanley Cup Semifinal Preview

After six months of only divisional and country-exclusive play, four teams are left standing with a chance to win the Stanley Cup. There are clear favorites in each semifinal: Vegas and Tampa Bay expect to move on and meet each other with a championship on the line. Don’t discount dark-horse Montreal (winners of seven straight games) or the plucky New York Islanders. Making it to the final four during a season held in the midst of a global pandemic is an impressive accomplishment in and of itself. Both squads are hoping to go even farther.

These four teams have lived in their own divisional worlds for the past half-year. Now they face the challenge of an unknown opponent. Overcoming that challenge means a berth in the finals, and a shot to win hockey’s ultimate crown.

NHL Stanley Cup Playoff Previews: Round 2

Hello, Nashville! Welcome, Edmonton!

The first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs featured some stunning upsets. Here’s a fresh look at the second-round matchups and where we might be from here.

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NHL playoff predictions: How will the first round shake out?

The NHL postseason is here.

How will the first round of the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs shake out? Is this the year the Toronto Maple Leafs end their championship drought? Can the Pittsburgh Penguins repeat? Will the Chicago Blackhawks keep their decade-long dynasty going? Keep reading to find out.

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New York Islanders finally release alternate jerseys from their holding cell.

The New York Islanders are finally freed from the penitentiary known as the Nassau Memorial Coliseum, and will soon begin their first season at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.

What better way to commemorate one’s release from prison than with these new third jerseys?

The Islanders posted a photo gallery of the new look on their website. No matter which way you look at it, you can’t escape the sense of … escape.

We’re actually fans of the minimalist look in general, and nothing says minimal like black and white. Problem is, when you throw a couple stripes on the sleeves, and eschew piping and gray trim (like these guys), the look becomes a little too stripped-down.

As in, “strip down, it’s time for a cavity search.”

The Rangers and Kings return to the Finals, and this time it’s different.

Twenty years is a long time. It didn’t hit me until this weekend that’s how long it’s been since the Rangers went to the Stanley Cup Finals. I was 10 years old when that happened and although I was somewhat pulling for Vancouver (I liked their logo, and we all did dumb things when we were younger), I remember being happy for New Yorkers when the Rangers won. The celebration was massive. ESPN — ESPN! — showed the victory parade. I’ve only rarely seen a city so grateful to win a title.

That 1994 squad was led by center Mark Messier, defenseman Brian Leetch and goalie Mike Richter and its top-to-bottom depth was impressive. New York ended up winning the President’s Trophy that season and set a team record for points in a season. After easily dismissing the Islanders and Capitals, the Rangers had to gut out a memorable seven-game series against the Devils. Once the Finals rolled around, New York was in control before teasing the Canucks with the possibility of a Game 7 upset at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers won the game 3-2 and the series 4-3.
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John Tortorella is fired, and we’re left to wonder why.

Head coach John Tortorella was fired by the New York Rangers today with one year left on his contract.

Why?

Asked directly, general manager Glen Sather told reporters on a conference call: “It wasn’t one thing, and I’m not going to speculate or start to criticize what happened with Torts and give you a lot of reasons why we decided to do this.”

OK.

Let’s try this from another angle.

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Why Chicago, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh and Boston will advance.

In the first round, we predicted six of the eight series correctly. The two we were most unsure about were the two incorrect picks – no surprise at all that New York or Los Angeles won.

Now that the second round is here, the picture becomes a little more clear. Only one of the four series will go the full seven games. Which will it be, and who will move on?

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Stanley Cup playoffs: Why San Jose, Chicago, Pittsburgh and Boston will advance.

The playoffs have been interesting so far. Some teams have surprised me. Others haven’t at all.

The biggest surprise was the play of the New York Islanders. I thought Pittsburgh would wipe the floor with the Isles and that they should feel lucky if they pick up one game in the series. New York ended up staying with the Penguins in almost every game, and lost two heartbreakers at home in overtime. I never thought I’d say this, but the Islanders look as if they are finally turning things around. (Just in time for their move to Brooklyn!)

Another surprise was the performance of the Minnesota Wild. I’m not surprised that they lost to Chicago, but because they got bounced in only five games. Losing their top goaltender didn’t help, but Minnesota’s offense was stagnant the whole series. The Wild also looked terrible in Game 4 as they got shut out at home and handed the Blackhawks all the momentum in the series. Nevertheless, Minnesota looks stable and if they can add another scorer and fix their inconsistency in the net, they should be a force next season.

Speaking of net consistency, here’s Vancouver. The Canucks’ first-round sweep didn’t surprise me at all. They looked flat-out awful against the Sharks. Roberto Luongo started the first two games in net and didn’t look that bad, but then he was pulled for Cory Schneider, who wasn’t an improvement. Vancouver needs to fix its goaltending problem next season, or else they can kiss their fading Stanley Cup hopes goodbye.

Anyway, we’ve said goodbye to eight teams and are now off to the Conference Semifinals. Here are my predictions for the second round.

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Throwback Thursday: ‘Hockey Sock Rock’

The “Hockey Sock Rock” features then-New York Rangers players Phil Esposito (on lead vocals), Ron Duguay, Dave Maloney and John Davidson. Since this “music video” was shot in 1979 as a fundraiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, all four have enjoyed varying degrees of visibility — Esposito as a GM and TV personality in Tampa, Davidson as president of the St. Louis Blues (a position he’s leaving this week), Maloney as the New York Rangers’ color commentator and Duguay as a Rangers TV analyst on the MSG Network.

My favorite comment among those left on YouTube: “if you put it in hd, you can actually hear their dignity being torn in half.”

It just melts the lockout blues away …

Recent history repeats itself in Conference Finals

Looking at the matchups in the NHL conference finals, I felt like I had traveled back to the mid-1990s.

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