The Monday Morning Goalie

Taking shots …

1 – TIME TO SWEEP?: In case you haven’t noticed, and judging by the attendance & TV ratings you have, there are some extremely exciting things going on in the NHL Conference Finals. The Florida Panthers look to sweep the Carolina Hurricanes tonight in Game 4 of the ECF in Sunrise and scan their ticket to a third straight Stanley Cup Final. DID YOU KNOW only the 1980-84 NY Islanders have appeared in five straight Stanley Cup Finals? The 1976-79 Montreal Canadiens weee the only other team to appear in at least four straight Cup Finals (expansion era). The Cats are poised to join elite company as the only teams to appear in THREE straight Cup Finals. The others are the 2020-22 Tampa Bay Lightning, 1983-85 Edmonton Oilers, 1974-76 Philadelphia Flyers and 1968-70 St. Louis Blues. I’ve gotta think Florida will finish it off tonight against a bewildered Carolina unit.

2 – EGGS BENNY: Florida centre Sam Bennett plays in his 100th career playoff game tonight. He’s poised to become a free agent at season’s end, since the Panthers were unable to extend him during the season. I’ve seen it posted that the Holland Landing, ON product could fetch $10M per season on his next deal? The former Flame leads the Panthers in goals in these playoffs (9), which ties him with Mikko Rantanen for the league lead. At Saturday’s Game 3 pregame news conference, Bennett told us the move from Calgary benefitted him for a couple reasons: 1) This was a better fit culturally, and 2) The Panthers immediately put him at centre, where he feels more comfortable. He’s a joy to watch, and a menace on the ice. Should he score just one more goal, he’ll become just the fifth Panther in franchise history to reach double digits in the playoffs (Matthew Tkachuk, Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Reinhart & Dave Lowry).

3 – HOT EATS, COOL TREATS: These playoff runs are so fun and special, and the stories which pop up along the way are so novel. Dairy Queen owes the Florida Panthers a ton over the past week since word came down that the team visited a DQ in Raleigh on the day of Game 2. Then Cats forward Brad Marchand revealed to the media that he scarfed down a blizzard after the second period of Game 3, then promptly went out and scored. “I know that our General Manager’s a bit of an ice scream aficionado,” smiled Florida coach Paul Maurice on Sunday. “Maybe that comes from him. Maybe he greenlighted it. There’s a story – Bill Zito’s feeding the guys ice cream in between periods!” The Panthers seem like a team whose knees are really knocking, eh?

4 – OIL COUNTRY: The 2025 Conference Finals are averaging 6.5-goals scored per game after the Oilers routed Dallas 6-1 on Sunday to grab a 2-1 series lead. Only the 2014 Conference Finals were higher scoring in NHL history. Edmonton goalie Stuart Skinner is now 6-3 against the Stars’ Jake Oettinger in the playoffs and Sunday’s win tied Stu with Andy Moog for fourth all-time in Oilers career playoff wins. … There’s nothing in the NHL like watching playoff games at Rogers Place, which is true home ice advantage for the Oil. “There’s not a better rink in the NHL,” playoff leading scorer Connor McDavid noted after his 2-goal performance on Sunday. “It’s so special to play here.” It truly is a Mecca that you have to put on your sports bucket list. … Btw here’s the list of the most playoff wins by franchise since 1980: Edmonton (199), Pittsburgh (197), Dallas (197), Boston (193) and Detroit (191). … They’re already starting to talk about a Stanley Cup Final rematch here in South Florida. Think it’ll happen?? Who would win it???

5 – THE MEMMER: The Western Hockey League champion Medicine Hat Tigers will be looking to improve to 2-0 when they face the 0-1 Quebec champion Moncton Wildcats Monday at the Memorial Cup in Rimouski, Quebec. The Ontario Hockey League champion London Knights are 2-0, while the host Rimouski Oceanic are 0-2 after the first three days of competition in the Canadian Hockey League championship showcase. … The coverage (social media) out of Rimouski is amazing and everyone looks to be having such a great time! The best Memorial Cups I was ever at were Spokane in 1998 and Halifax in 2000. In 2001 in Regina, I was too busy working to enjoy anything outside of games and events but IT’S THE GREATEST SPORTS TOURNAMENT IN THE WORLD! Yes, World Juniors included. Ask me why sometime …

6 – RUN IT BACK?: However the Toronto Maple Leafs look next fall, they won’t look like the team which lost in seven games to Florida in Round 2. Gone is President of Hockey Brendan Shanahan, and so likely will be flashy forward Mitch Marner. His contract’s up and according to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, the two teams Marner would like to sign with are Vegas and Florida (wouldn’t we all). Methinks the Golden Knights would be a better fit for a variety of reasons, but we’ll see. Meanwhile there are reports Chicago and Detroit are prepared to pay top dollar for Marner, who was non-committal about returning. In other words, say your good-byes Leaf fans. … Speaking of, so many Leaf fans are saying the way Florida is demolishing Carolina makes them feel better about losing out in Round 2. Whatever gets you through the night!

7 – CFL: I’ve seen the tidal wave of grumbling about the glitching in Saturday’s CFL preseason broadcasts on CFL+ (streaming) but it worked A-OK for me in Boca Raton, Florida as I watched almost all of Winnipeg’s 15-9 home victory over Saskatchewan. If you expected anything more than a field goal-fest then that’s your problem because Preseason Game A is nothing more than a glorified practice. Still, there was a nice crowd at Princess Auto Stadium, the Riders got to see all four of their quarterbacks and they didn’t give up a sack! … Preseason or not, the crowd at McMahon Stadium in Calgary was pathetic as the Stampeders routed the Elks 31-4. This business of “wE dOn’T wAnT tO cOmPeTe wItH tHe StAnLeY cUp PlAyOfFs” is hogwash. Montreal, Calgary, Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg, and Ottawa are lonnnng out of the playoffs. The only thing the Stamps are competing with right now are the mountains, as usual. Do better! … For a complete wrap on the weekend CFL action, see the post below.

8 – THIS WEEK: If you’d like to get out and watch some preseason CFL football, the games will be better in Week 2. It’s another four-banger, with all four games coming Friday night: Montreal at Ottawa, Hamilton at Toronto, Winnipeg at Saskatchewan and BC at Edmonton. … If you’re silly enough to bet on CFL exhibition games, take the home teams this week. … Oh, and use the Promo Code RP200 to claim your welcome Double Bet Bonus up to $200 at Coolbet.com.

9 – BATTER UP: The Western Canadian Baseball League season opens this week and I can’t wait to get back to Moose Jaw to broadcast games for the defending East Division champion Miller-Express! (And it’ll be fantastic to get out of this oppressive Florida heat). The season opens Wednesday with the defending league champion Okotoks Dawgs at Medicine Hat. Thursday’s slate includes the Regina Red Sox home opener as they welcome the Swift Current 57’s and on Friday, the Miller-Express welcome Carter Beck and the Saskatoon Berries!!! Carter was named Missouri Valley First Team All Conference outfielder with Indiana State this spring. Ross Wells Park will be bumpin’ Friday night!

10 – RUSH HOUR: Kudos to the Saskatchewan Rush for making it all the way to Game 3 of the Best-of-3 NLL Final before eventually bowing out to the Buffalo Bandits Saturday at Keybank Center. The game was a lot closer than the score indicates and it was heartwarming to see the continued tireless efforts of Robert Church and my favorite Rush player, Ryan Keenan. I still have his jersey! ESPN2 did a great broadcast. It’ll be an interesting off-season for the Rush, deciding how their bench looks coming back next season. … Meanwhile the CEBL’s Saskatchewan Rattlers are off to a tough start at 0-3, all home losses.

On this Memorial Day, thank you veterans for your service,
RP
@rodpedersen