The Colorado Avalanche won the first game of the Stanley Cup Finals, defeating Tamp Bay Lightening, 4-3 in overtime. The Avalanche have the best rink players (forwards, defense, centers) the Lightening have the best goalie in the NHL.
Will the baseball axiom, in a short series pitching prevails, hold up in the Cup Finals as to the team with the best goalie?
Tune in June 18, Saturday 6 PM MDT on ABC nationally.
Don't forget Brook's Place Tavern is the place to be for the Avalanche games!! 18 HDTVs, surround sound & now a 50" TV outside!! $4.50/Avalanche Pints now til close!!
I am very happy that the Av's won. But let's not overlook that Univ of Denver won the NCAA championship, Denver East High School won the National High School championship. Denver is indeed the ice hockey capital of the country.i
A new twist potentially for next season. The USA has denied Kirill Kaprizov, a forward for the Minnesota Wild re-entry into the US. He is arguably the best player on the Wild.
Carrying this policy to the Avalanche, who cut Kuemper loose and signed a Russian goalie, Alexandar Georgiev. Hope that he didn't go home to visit.
It's still pretty scary what's going on with Russians in the NHL, obviously due to the Russian war in Ukraine. Igor Fedotov who was the first to face this treatment, but also Egor Afanasyev, Artem Grushnikov, Ilya Sorokin, Denis Guryanov and Dmitry Samorukov all have somewhat the same issue that Kaprisov does. The Avs playoff breakout superstar Val Nichushkin also played for CSKA Moscow, but his name hasn't come up in association with the Russian army draft as far as I can tell.
If the NHL were to blacklist all the Russian players it would decimate the NY Rangers. Panarin, Shesterkin, to begin with. Kaprisov does not have an issue with the Russian military rather the U.S. won't give him a visa to re-enter the U.S. Hope that it is just a technicality.
