The Monday Morning Goalie

Taking shots …

1 – WELL, WELL, WELL: The Days Of Our Lives has nothing on the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs as far as plot twists go. Where shall we start today? How about the Edmonton Oilers, whom many of their own fans had written off – I won’t say most fans – after falling down 0-2 to the LA Kings in Round 1. Lo and behold, after Calvin Pickard was swapped for Stu Skinner in goal, the Oilers have rallied for a pair of weekend home victories and tied the series up 2-2. I’ll refrain from saying “I told you so”, but I told you so. After coming back from 0-3 in the Stanley Cup Final last year, these Oilers were nowhere near dead in this one. Still, they’re going nowhere with goaltending like this. … Oh, and then there’s the Winnipeg Jets. They had the St. Louis Blues well in hand after a pair of home wins to open the series at Canada Life Centre, yet they let the Blues wiggle off the hook to come back and tie the series 2-2. St. Louis has outscored Winnipeg 12-3 the past two games and fans are lamenting “Regular Season Connor Hellebuyck versus Playoff Connor Hellebuyck”. Winnipeg, you deserve better.

2 – CHIRP, CHIRP: Are you paying attention to what’s going on here in South Florida? The Panthers won two ROAD games to open the series with a 2-0 lead yet the Lightning roared back with a 5-1 victory here in Sunrise on Saturday. The Bolts’ Brandon Hagel has already served a suspension in this series – for flattening puckless Cats captain Aleksander Barkov in Game 2 – and is set to return for Game 4 tonight at Amerant Bank Arena. Meanwhile Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk got away with an equally dirty hit in Game 3 which has Tampa fans wild. Chucky got a 5-minute major at the time, but escaped a suspension. Not sure why he gets away with so much, but you’d have to ask the NHL about that. Meanwhile coaches Paul Maurice and Jon Cooper have engaged in a *friendly* chirpfest in the media. OH MY GOD YOU’VE GOTTA LOVE THE PLAYOFFS SO MUCH!

For more on the series, check out my column in today’s South Florida Tribune.

3 – ELSEWHERE: For the fourth time since the inception of this playoff format in 2014, there will be no first round sweeps. … The Battle of Ontario is scintillating with Toronto up 3-1 on Ottawa. … The Montreal Canadiens are a Xerox copy of the Senators; young and scrappy but like Justin Trudeau, “Just Not Ready”. … Confucius say: “Don’t ever count out a Kelly McCrimmon team.” The Vegas Golden Knights were thisclose to being down 3-1 to Minnesota, yet won Game 4 in overtime and are headed back to the Fortress at 2-2. … To me, the Carolina-New Jersey series has been blah (Canes lead 3-1). … Monday night Tampa Bay is at Florida (Panthers lead series 2-1) and Colorado is at Dallas (2-2).

4 – AROUND THE NHL: Not making the playoffs is the worst feeling in the world (as far as sports-related feelings go). Hopefully the Calgary Flames are watching this and thinking “let’s never go through this again”. Same for the Vancouver Canucks. … It’s a head-scratcher that GM Chris Drury got a multi-year extension with the NY Rangers, yet head coach Peter Laviollette was let go. But even though MSG is considered toxic, that’s going to be a coveted job. … The buzz in the press box is that the *old* coaches like John Tortorella and even Anaheim’s Greg Cronin are going the way of the dodo bird. I’d suggest that it’s not about being “old”, but rather being Old School. Having spent some good time with 91-year old Scotty Bowman in Tampa Bay last week, I can see why he’s the winningest coach in hockey history. Because of how adaptable and innovative his thinking is, I could see him stepping onto a bench today if he wanted to! Again, it’s not about being *old*. It’s about thinking *old*.

5 – JOIN THE REGIMENT: The comparisons to Sidney Crosby aren’t going away. In fact, they’re only being solidified as Maddox Schultz scored the winner 28 seconds into overtime and the Regina Pat Canadians beat Quebec 3-2 to claim their record fifth Telus Cup (formerly the Air Canada Cup). Some rare players just have a rare knack of rising to the moment. The Regina boy will go #1 overall to the big Pats this spring and happy times will arrive within a couple of years under the Orange Top. As for the Pat C’s, I’ve long maintained the 1988 Regina Pat Canadians are the best ever but they never had a Maddox Schultz. Sorry Cory Paterson!

6 – CELEBRATION SUNDAY: There were multiple Sask teams posing for team photos with a trophy on Sunday! The Melfort Mustangs blanked the Weyburn Red Wings 3-0 at Northern Lights Palace on Sunday to win their second straight SJHL championship. The ‘Stangs are the first team to repeat as SJHL champs since … since … the Melfort Mustangs in 2015 & 2016. Before that, it was the Yorkton Terriers in 2013 & 2014. (Remember when Jarret Stoll was buying the Terriers’ team meals at the Royal Bank Cup????). … Anyway, what can you say about Mustangs Coach & GM Trevor Blevins? He just wins. Same goes for head scout Rick Oakes of Moose Jaw. 

7 – NFL DRAFT: Dyyyyyyying to talk about the weekend’s NFL Draft and Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders dropping all the way from the Top 5 to ROUND 5 where he was eventually selected by the Cleveland Browns. The pundits claimed collusion on behalf of NFL owners to bar the Sanders family from the NFL – more on that in the next point – but that was dispelled when the younger Sanders saw his name get called. I’m also not totally sold on the narrative that Shedeur’s brashness caused him to fall that far either. He’s not the first cocky player to come out of college. Chicago’s Caleb Williams said and did some really bizarre things before being taken #1 by the Bears one year ago. But something nefarious went on here. Either way, the story overshadowed every other prospect in this Draft but the NFL likely doesn’t care. It was the most-watched Draft in four years.

8 – ESPN: Not a great couple of weeks for the Worldwide Leader In Sports. Careless comments by talkhost Pat McAfee have ESPN teetering on a lawsuit from a Southern female college student (look it up), NFL analyst Shannon Sharpe has stepped away from the network as he deals with a rape lawsuit/allegation, and network face Stephen A. Smith accused NFL owners of colluding against Shedeur Sanders, which was later to be proven wrong. I have to ask, what’s bigger: ESPN or the NFL? My guess is there will be some heated meetings in New York and Bristol, CT this morning. … And Draft guru Mel Kiper Jr had an absolute MELTDOWN! Sometimes we unwittingly craft our own exits. 🔥 

9 – CFL: New Commissioner Stewart Johnston has said he plans to “ease into” his new role however I can’t see that happening. As positive as the whole announcement and last week’s welcoming news conference was, there’s an unbelievable amount of work for him to do in this job. For starters, it’s true: it’s beyond alarming that only a handful of media showed up on Thursday at a downtown Toronto hotel for Johnston’s introductory news conference. Plenty of valuable relationships have been allowed to erode. Just like when former Roughriders President Jim Hopson used to hand me a gas card and a road trip, Stew Johnston needs to be out there pressing the flesh and kissing babies. When you do that, everyone benefits. It can start right after Tuesday’s 2025 CFL Draft.

10 – RANDOMS: The Blue Jays got pounded 11-2 and 5-1 at the NY Yankees on Sunday and at 13-15, now sit 4th in the AL East. They are who we thought they were. … Few folks around me even care that the NBA’s Miami Heat have scheduled home playoff games at the EXACT SAME time as home Panthers games, including tonight’s Game 4 versus Cleveland at Kaseya Center. NHL & NBA fans are not the same people. The Cavs are looking to complete a sweep, and likely will. Still the season was a win for the Heat, who became the first team in NBA history to advance from the 10th seed in the Play-In all the way to the playoffs. … The 2025 Western Canadian Baseball League season opens May 28 with Okotoks at Medicine Hat. … The 2025 Canadian Elite Basketball League season opens May 11 with the Calgary Surge at the Edmonton Stingers. … Both leagues are biiiiiiiiiiig competition for the CFL. HUGE!

Have a great week,
RP