What is with the Panthers? Two OT win against the Canes. If they go all the way and win the Cup, Toronto can have some consolation in that they were beaten by the Champs.

Florida was the last team to clinch a playoff spot. They are making the regular season look meaningless. They are winning a lot of 1 goal games. 4 of the last 5 games went to OT. The hockey Gods are on their side.



The last 2 years, Toronto lost to Stanley Cup finalists (Eastern Champs), the year before they lost to the Champs. It still sucks.

Rumours of Dubas and Spezza coming to your town KK.

Panthers are for real. They were arguably one of the best teams after the All-Star break and people are forgetting that it wasn't that long ago they had the best record in the league. They also got hot at the right time and have all four lines pulling in the right direction. Plus, Tkachuk has been a beast (loving his OT walk-off celebrations) and it doesn't hurt to have Bob playing a Conn Smyth worthy playoffs. I think they're the team to beat for the remainder of these playoffs. Regardless of what happens, all four teams are exciting to watch and it should be a great Stanley Cup Final.

Safe to say Las Vegas will be lifting the Cup tonight. 6 -1 after 2 periods. Absolute slaughter. Florida barely made the playoffs, this is the right outcome. Bobrovsky was very average all year. He wasn't even their starting goalie when the playoffs started. He got hot for a few rounds, then reality. Vegas deserves it.
There gonna be a bit of a party in Vegas tonight, well, bigger than normal I guess.

I'm just glad Matthew Tkachuk didn't lift the cup. He has become the new Marchant of the league. I wish he would have been out their with his teammates for that beat down tonight. If he wouldn't have played like such a selfish jerk in those first two games in Vegas this might have been a series.

Yes, I am very disappointed there will be no crying Tkachuk meme. Totally agree he has replaced Marchant as the rat of the league. Always hacking and slashing, while he chews on his mouth guard like an 8 yr old.
Very pleased that Gudas did not win either. The guy has no class at all. The guy screams into a 3rd string, rookie goalies face when eliminating them. Karma.

Amazing. Just a few years in the league and they've been to two finals and won one. Flyers haven't had a sniff in a generation and haven't hoisted the chalice in 50 years.

A poor finals for Florida, but what a run.

6 years in the league. They made the final in their first season. Their owner said they would win in 6. Crazy. Very good, hard working team. They deserve it. They were good all year too. Florida just barely made the playoffs. The right team won.

They were a good team from the get go, not like the old days when a new team came into the league. They were a good team due to the way they got their players from other teams.

Which was essentially a mob of unwanted, discarded and unprotected players. Makes it even more amazing. Expansion drafts are full of undesirables. Their culture and coaching must be excellent. Or maybe it's the Vegas effect. It's long been held that teams that come to Vegas, lose in Vegas. The distractions, as it were, tend to skew results for the home side.

Regardless, it's a fantastic achievement in today's sportsscape (is that a word? Looks odd when I type it out). I remember when they lost the first one. Their run had been amazing and expectations were instantly off the charts. There was much speculation about how the fan base had been spoiled by such express success, and that it would all be down hill from there. That the fans would desert the team, and that the team would struggle to replicate their initial success. So much for that.

They have made some bold trades too. Eichel and Stone are great players. They signed UFA Pietrangelo. Good team, they got a bit of luck with Aden Hill being able to step it up. He was their 4th goalie of the year, due to injuries.

Fun fact. Las Vegas Golden Knights were the team with the most Canadian players, on their roster. 24.

Two things I want to talk about. One is the Blackhawks have hit the generational jackpot. I think they have a 17 year old McDavid who is saying stuff like I need to make the team first. This kid is the business.

The other thing is I don't think the Flyers could operate without a former player running things. They've cleaned house again and appointed Jonesey and Danny Briere to run the front office. I like them both well enough as former players, but could it be possible for NHL teams to move away from the nepotism vibe? I suppose some have done, handing the reigns to analytics guys who never played. Are there some? Like in baseball the best GMs tend to be nerds who understand numbers and contractual issues, negotiating. But the Flyers always go for a homer. Clarke, Holmgren, Hextall and on and on. Whatever one thinks about this approach I can say unequivocally that it has not worked for the Flyers. Will this time be different? I have my doubts...

And they are completely cleaning house and starting over. I guess that means it won't take long to see the results and see if they know what they are doing. I mean Jonesey! Sheesh

Yeah, the Blackhawks got a beauty.
Keith Jones is a head scratcher. He's been a TV analyst since 2005.

Yeah, he's been a Flyers color man. I've listened to him hundreds of times by now. Never struck me as particularly bright, not that he isn't. But you don't listen to him and think this man is destined to run a franchise. Briere went straight corporate as soon as he retired. Slick suits, gladhanding at casinos and stuff. Maybe he's more cut out for it, or he looks like he is anyway. But you know, when a certain way of doing things is proven ineffective for decades you'd think they might try something different. They should have won the draft dammit

Keith Jones is on The NHL Network, on SiriusXM quite a bit. I like him, and respected him as a player. Going from an anylist to team Prisident is a big leap. Briere has at least some NHL executive experience.