Just under two months ago, players and staff from 24 NHL teams entered the bubbles in Toronto and Edmonton. By next week, the Stanley Cup for the 2020 season will be handed over to a new champion. It’s pretty amazing the NHL pulled this thing off, and also bittersweet that this stretch of hockey is coming to an end, with the start date for next season not yet determined.
For this week, let’s enjoy the Cup Final while we can. This post can be an open thread for the rest of the series.
The Dallas Stars defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 1 on Saturday night (check out the recaps — and coverage throughout the series — from Defending Big D and Raw Charge). The outcome is what I expected, with Dallas having four days of rest and Tampa having played twice in that time, with both of those games going to overtime. Despite this opening loss, I expect the Lightning to win the series eventually. They have too much talent and depth and I think that will win out. Dallas is a great defensive team and succeeded at keeping Tampa out of high danger areas in Game 1, but that’s a system deployed by Columbus, Boston, and the Islanders as well. The Lightning know how to overcome that.
Who do you think will win?
Who will win the 2020 Stanley Cup Final?
| Dallas Stars | 16 |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | 46 |
The week that was
There have been rumors that the Blue Jackets are shopping around part of their goalie tandem. Could we see one of Joonas Korpisalo or Elvis Merzlikins traded in this offseason? Or is the goalie market too saturated? Can we get fair value for them at this point?
The Cannon Cast discussed the NHL awards, and which ones the league got right and got wrong.
Our player reviews continued with three young defensemen: Seth Jones, Zach Werenski, and Andrew Peeke.
Ohio Sports Update
The first leg of the Battle of Ohio took place on Thursday night, with the Cleveland Browns defeating the Cincinnati Bengals in an entertaining if sloppy affair. The Browns improved from their opening week debacle in Baltimore, while Joe Burrow continues to show why he was the top pick in the draft, and has a bright future for the Bengals.
After deciding back in August to not play football this fall, the Big Ten reversed course this week. I’m happy to get to see this Ohio State team in action — they are expected to be playoff contenders again — but of course have concerns about the safety of the players and coaches. There have already been a number of postponed games due to COVID throughout college football already. Will the rapid testing and lack of fans in stadiums be enough to keep Big Ten teams safe? I doubt it, but I hope I’m wrong.
Play me out
It’s the 21st night of September, so while you might expect me to link to the famous song by Earth, Wind & Fire, instead you have to watch the annual series of parody videos by comedian Demi Adejuyigbe. It started as a dumb thing to amuse his roommate, and has gotten bigger and better each year. I can’t wait to see what (if anything) he has in store this year.