NHL Week in Review (June 1-7)
The Stanley Cup Finals are under way as the Los Angeles Kings and the New York Rangers face-off to achieve a dream of every player. King Henrik would do his best to keep the Rangers in the series as once again he would be the best player o the ice for the Rangers. He would face 43 shots in game 1 including 20 in the third period alone. Still thanks to Lundqvist the Rangers would push the Kings to overtime where a bad play would finish the game in favour of the Kings. The second game would be another close one as the Rangers would once again get out to an early 2-0 lead in the first only to let the Rangers back into the game. After two overtimes the Kings would come out on top once again taking a commanding lead in the series that goes to the east coast for the next two games. The series so far has clearly been in the favour of the Kings as they continue to come back and win as they get stronger as the game goes on. As they get stronger the Rangers seem to be getting weaker as the game goes on and it has clearly not gone well. Two games are in the books and the Kings are in a good spot to win their second Stanley Cup in the last three years. The Rangers will be looking to make their own comeback in the series when they go home to MSG. As the series moves on one player has started to take over like he has done throughout the playoffs this year. The goaltenders are having a fantastic series but for the Kings the key to the playoffs has been Drew Doughty. Doughty has played great hockey throughout the playoffs and in the finals has continued to be a key to the Kings. He is also the perfect representation of the new breed of defence in the NHL as he is the offensive force of the defensive corps. The NHL continues to add these players as every team seeks a defensive player that can get involved and score goals. These players are risky though as they jump into the play and away from the blueline. It doesn’t matter how skilled a person is in the offensive zone there will always be a time where the defenceman jumps into the play and leaves his defence partner out to dry. That can many times lead to a breakaway for the other team and sometimes a key goal. That would be expressed in the first game when Drew Doughty would look to jump into the play in the first period and attempted a toe drag. From that the rangers would poke the puck away and earn a breakaway that led to the first goal of the game. As the Kings came back the mistake by Doughty had been erased but the style of the defenceman would definitely come into discussion after the game. Then in the overtime Doughty would look to get involved again and this time would successfully pull the puck in between his legs an earn the winning goal for the Kings. It was a great example of the good and the bad of these players as they can cause headaches for their teams and for the other teams. Doughty has been one of the main reasons for the Kings making the finals and they will look to him to continue being that force. The series moves on this upcoming week as the Kings look to put this series away and earn their first quick series of the year while the Rangers try to extend the series a little longer and avoid the sweep.
Overtime:
(Thoughts on the past week in the NHL)
Boyle to New York
As the Stanley Cup Finals were getting ready to begin the New York Islanders and the San Jose Sharks would strike a deal sending the rights to Dan Boyle to the Islanders for a 5th round draft pick in what could be the start of a rebuild in San Jose
Changes in Steeltown
The Pittsburgh Penguins are continuing their offseason of change as they would name their new GM bringing in Jim Rutherford to fill the position and in only a matter of hours Rutherford’s first move would be the firing of head coach Dan Bylsma
World Cup Return
The NHL will likely not return to the Olympics in 2018 and with the World Championship taking place without the majority of the top NHL players the NHL will reportedly look to the return of the World Cup in September 2016
The Sport Addiction 