Devon Toews and the Avalanche are one win away from the Cup

The Colorado Avalanche are one win away from winning the Stanley Cup. That also means that they are one win away from preventing the Tampa Bay Lightning from threepeating. And the overtime winner is shrouded in controversy over a call from which the Lightning benefited last year. It couldn’t be more perfect.

Nothing going on here on the homefront, but hey, it’s the Stanley Cup Final. What did you expect?

Islanders Bits

• Chris Simon was the Weird Islander this week, and Dan and Mike were joined by one of Mike’s long-time friends, Eric Needell to discuss the “incidents” of Simon’s Isles tenure. [LHH]
• Shannon Hogan guested on the Talkin’ Isles podcast. She discussed her swimming career, how she got into broadcasting, her first season with the Islanders, and the difficulty of working through the pandemic.
• This (Yester)Day in Isles History: The Islanders select Oliver Wahlstrom and Noah Dobson in back-to-back picks (2018); Lou Lamoriello wins his second straight Jim Gregory Award (2021).

Stanley Cup Final

• So Nazem Kadri leaves the second round with a broken thumb, undergoes surgery, comes back in Game 4 of the Cup Final, and scores the OT-winner. I mean, come on. These scriptwriters are getting lazy. [NHL]
• No, but actually that is probably one of the best stories I’ve seen in a long time. It’s a dream come true for any player; just ask Kadri. And nobody knew it was in at first. [Sportsnet]
• Jon Cooper described the loss as “heartbreaking,” but his team won’t give up yet. [NHL]
• The reason it was “heartbreaking” was that the Avalanche had at least six players on the ice when Kadri scored. But as this article notes, just last year, the Lightning were on the fortunate end of a similar too-many-men situation, referencing there being seven guys on the ice when Tampa scored in Game 2 last year. Shit happens; deal with it. [Sportsnet]

• But it will take the heart of a champion to win three straight games—two on the road—after a loss like that. [ESPN]
• Steven Stamkos is trending toward the all-time greats among NHL captains. [The Athletic]

Elsewhere

• In somewhat of a stunner, the Florida Panthers decided against taking off the interim tag from Andrew Brunette and instead hired Paul Maurice. [NHL]
• The Chicago Blackhawks promoted Meghan Hunter to Assistant GM, making her the fourth woman to hold such a position in the NHL. Old Islander Mark Eaton will carry that title, too.
• Time to get in on the scam: The NHL and NHLPA have partnered with an NFT platform. [ESPN]
• This truly warms my heart, not in a dastardly schadenfreude way like watching my least-favorite teams lose, but in an actual and genuine way: Kyle Okposo, after his wonderful bounce-back season, has taken on a veteran leadership role with his young team and will likely be named captain of the Buffalo Sabres. [The Athletic]