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SJHN Daily: What Canes Winning Cup Means? PWHL San Jose Signs Czech Olympians
Rejoice, San Jose Sharks fans, the Vegas Golden Knights did not win the Stanley Cup.
Last night, the Carolina Hurricanes finished off the Golden Knights 2-0 in Game Six of the Stanley Cup Final.
Jordan Staal took home the Conn Smythe.
Jordan Staal becomes the oldest winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy#SoundTheSiren pic.twitter.com/YMU3HLeawi
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) June 15, 2026
Brandon Bussi, who made his NHL debut against the Sharks in October, was the winning goalie.
No ex-San Jose Sharks lifted the Cup last night, but former Sharks such as Tomas Hertl and Adin Hill were with Vegas, as was assistant coach Joel Ward.
You do have to feel for Brent Burns, who was with the Canes from 2022 to 2025. Burns joined the President’s Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche last summer, but the Knights beat the Avs in the Western Conference Finals.
Congrats, Carolina! It was a victory for analytics and smaller hockey players, too!
Hurricanes GM Eric Tulsky started his hockey career as an analytics blogger, and the Canes’ line-up featured five 6-foot-0 and under regulars versus zero on the Knights’ side.
I can understand why the default would be to trust that NHL teams know more about every aspect of the game than random bloggers.
— Eric Tulsky (@EricTulsky) July 23, 2014
In the most smug voice I can muster: "well he's not ideal size…is he really the kind of guy you win with in the playoffs?" Walker, Ghost, Stank, Blake all just proved that you just find good players and good things happen.
— Half-wall Hockey (@halfwall_hockey) June 15, 2026
AT SAN JOSE HOCKEY NOW…
Joshua Ravensbergen talks Carson Carels’ love of Dairy Queen and Scott Wheeler discusses the 2026 NHL Draft on the latest San Jose Hockey Now Podcast! Plus; Keegan, Sheng, and Zubair talk about the NHL combine, Sheng’s brutal Airbnb stay, and the latest San Jose Sharks offseason rumors:
Why Connor McDavid over Macklin Celebrini for MVP? Sheng Peng breaks down all his NHL award votes.
16 beat writers make the picks in a top-20 mock draft…who did Sheng select for the San Jose Sharks at No. 2 or 20?
Macklin Celebrini turns 20 — and the Prospects Scrimmage is on Jul. 2.
OTHER SHARKS NEWS…
The San Jose Barracuda announce their opening night is on Oct. 3.
ESPN ranks the San Jose Sharks’ 23rd in their “way-too-early” rankings for next season.
Joe Pavelski’s son was also drafted into the OHL.
What might Celebrini and Will Smith contract extensions look like?
AROUND HOCKEY…
PWHL San Jose signs two Czech Olympians:
Welcome to San Jose, Dáda!
Two-time Czech Olympian Daniela Pejšová has signed a two-year Standard Player Agreement!
📰 https://t.co/lILQmmtiVQ pic.twitter.com/NiBU08lKjl
— PWHL San Jose (@PWHL_SanJose) June 15, 2026
Czechmate♟️🇨🇿
2026 PWHL Walter Cup champion and Czech Olympian Natálie Mlýnková has signed a one-year Standard Player Agreement!🗞️ https://t.co/sSfy4gUCyU pic.twitter.com/1ahjLLF4qS
— PWHL San Jose (@PWHL_SanJose) June 14, 2026
PWHL San Jose’s initial 10-player roster is set:
PWHL San Jose's initial 10-player roster is set. No more additions through the expansion process. San Jose can sign free agents along with every other team beginning June 19.
Here's the group GM and head coach Troy Ryan has assembled: 5 forwards, 4 defenders, 1 goalie. pic.twitter.com/tuYnlh2vsF
— Kyle Cushman (@Kyle_Cush) June 15, 2026
John Tortorella is unsure of his future.
Twenty years later. Just as iconic. pic.twitter.com/iruvDa2bHh
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) June 15, 2026
Jaccob Slavin is the second American to win a Stanley Cup and Olympic gold medal in the same year.
Seth Jarvis and his friends celebrating after the Canes won the Stanley Cup ❤️ pic.twitter.com/9cngT9k6wK
— ESPN (@espn) June 15, 2026
Jack Han refreshes us on the Hurricanes’ tactics.
"Probably no one, including myself [would have believed this was possible.]"
Brandon Bussi is living the ultimate dream 🏆 pic.twitter.com/NOYe4bf1VH
— ESPN (@espn) June 15, 2026
Dan Vladar is close to a big extension with the Philadelphia Flyers.
What would a Dylan Larkin trade to the Utah Mammoth look like?
Two Colorado Avalanche skaters receive NHL All-Star honors.
What does the trade market for Jacob Markstrom look like?
If they don’t trade the pick, who might the Florida Panthers want at ninth-overall?
The Pittsburgh Penguins need another impact forward.
Logan Stankoven. Jalen Brunson.
Two former Dallas players. Two championships in one weekend. pic.twitter.com/zQvQMIxXvS
— The Athletic NHL (@TheAthleticNHL) June 15, 2026
The Canes truly deserved the win. They played so well in every round.
That 3rd period shutdown to keep that big fat ZERO on the scoresheet for FV was a masterclass.
One of the best wins of the season was at Carolina back in December. This was a great Carolina team. Beating them, Colorado, Dallas, Minnesota… Those are wins the team can build on this upcoming season.
On my own power rankings, I’m going to be bold and place the Sharks much higher than 23rd. I’m gonna say 16th and if they have a strong offseason, maybe even a little higher.
I just have a great feeling about the offseasons that a bunch of the young guys are having. They are super motivated
I think it will all come down to 2 things, and these 2 things may actually be 1 thing.
The goal ending is what it is right now they’re hoping for improvement internally. Unless it completely goes in the garbage, these are the two guys.
Better defenders should help the guys in goal quite a lot. Maybe they don’t get hung out to dry so often
Look at GSaE. Asky was awful. If that doesn’t improve the state of the D won’t matter much.
I don’t think GSoE is a great stat. Improve the blue line, then we can figure out the goalie situation
Then you’re wrong. It’s a great stat. You don’t like it because it doesn’t fit your narrative. It might be the most important stat for goalies currently tracked. In November when Asky was playing well he led the league in GSAe. After that he dropped like a rock.
This is the correct take. The key word is “expected” – meaning it accounts for your defense hanging you out to dry. On the site I looked at to see where Asky finished, he was at almost 19 saves below expected, which was 96th out of the 98 goalies who got minutes (TBF, it’s a cumulative stat, so there were some goalies who were worse on a per minute basis but played fewer games). Regardless, he was bad, and when you factor in how good November was, he was really, really bad the rest of the time in order to… Read more »
Great detail.
I just don’t think it’s very good at doing that. And even if the stat is perfect, the players and the job itself are so impossibly difficult to gauge that past performance has almost no correlation to the future. Dobes gave up a crapton of goals in Anaheim, too. Take away Bob’s Selke forward and suddenly he sucks. It’s a house of cards. We saw what Asky can do in November. And then the confidence took a major hit. Improve the fucking defense and if that happens, I won’t stand in the way of anyone criticizing a goaltender for giving… Read more »
Sorry, I meant Dostal for the Ducks. Hockey names, amirite? There is a v over one of the letters, too.😂 And even in the Cup Finals, Andersen got pulled for being bad in the first 3 games, Bussi came in and played pretty neutral in OT and game 4, then was lights out in games 5 and 6. It was a ballsy call to pull the guy who got them there and throw a rookie who hadn’t played in 6 weeks straight into the fire. He came in, didn’t play much better than Andersen if at all (GSAx is your… Read more »
Can he be good? Yes, will he be good is the question. I believe he will be great. Time will tell.
Honestly, you’re writing up hypotheticals and stuff about trusting his D and the stat being too rigid, and all I am thinking about is the alarming number of times he waved his glove at shots that should have been easily saved and completely whiffed. If he’d been a baseball catcher, he’d have led the planet in passed balls. Sure we can get into all these other scenarios and stuff. And I am not disagreeing the defense needs to be better. But let’s not ignore what should have been painfully obvious – namely that Asky needs to be better about making… Read more »
We aren’t going to agree completely on anything other than “a lot of stuff has to improve”. I even mentioned the noisy movements and the glove hand was definitely a big problem for him. I do not like the stat. You will not get me to like it. I’m not going to convince you of anything either, I see that now. I always knew that was true with Snarky, so it’s fine. One other thing I forgot about is that Andersen’s agent, Claude Lemieux took his own life on May 28th, which was the day before the last game of… Read more »
Doesn’t matter if you don’t like it. You might as well say you don’t like the final score of games when the Sharks have less goals. Same level of silly protestation.
That’s cool – not going to try and make you like a stat. I am a little curious what stats (if any) you do like to evaluate goalie performance? GAA can depend pretty heavily on the shot volume you face. Sv% gives no consideration at all to the quality of shots you are facing. I would never call GSAe a perfect stat – I think there are flaws in all of the expected goals stats (not just hockey, soccer too). What I do like about it is that it at least attempts to factor in very real variables that the… Read more »
Yup. He was beat way too much on direct shots with full line of sight especially glove side.
Type all the words you want. You’re simply wrong. Everytime you say directly of indirectly that it’s affected by the skaters, you are wrong. Go read up on the stat. This is a silly argument to have just because you don’t want to hear that Asky sucked Ask-hole after November. You do get that I never said he can’t or won’t be good right?
I am a big Asky fan, and really believe he can be great. I made a couple games in November and he was just awesome. That said, he was very bad later in the year and Ned was just better.
He’s such a great kid, too. I really want him to be successful. I’m rooting hard for him. But that doesn’t mean my eyes aren’t open. He’s got work to do.
We all do. But the first step in fixing a problem is admitting there’s a problem. He was shit after November and GSAe is definitive proof that it was more him than the beer league defense if front of him.
Then you’re still wrong. Even NHL goalies believe in it. Sounds like you don’t understand it so you want to discount it because it goes against the unrealistic optimism that drives much of your love of the players. I say that as a fellow optimist. Just not quite at the level you are.
You’re 100% wrong about the barkov effect on Bob. As was already stated, the stat removes the effect of the surrounding skaters. You simply don’t understand it.
It really was.
As much of a team win as I’ve seen in quite a while. Which is something I really appreciate.
FV must be always.
Carolina’s win should be a bias check for the Sharks when it comes to some of their own players. I’m not claiming there *is* a bias in the organization, but this is a clear moment to ask themselves “are we properly evaluating our altitude challenged players?” The answer might be yes, but now is the time to have that honest check in. There has been a longstanding bias in the league that has lead to some of these player types being overlooked, and that bias should continue to be challenged. We don’t want to wait until Cagnoni/Pohlkamp/Cardwell etc. are on… Read more »
Stankoven would be surprised too.
5’9” to 6’2” is 5” inches and could be 20 lbs. it’s dramatic. This Canes team should be viewed more as the exception not the rule.
height isn’t the only thing keeping the players you named out. Polkamp we’ll see. People need to prepare themselves that he simply may not be as good at the NHL level as they’ve fabricated in their minds. He may be good, but the odds aren’t great. Cags struggled defensively against bigger dudes. If he doesn’t figure out how to minimize that he’s an AHL guy only.
Aho was MIA, Stanky has a motor like a Merlin v1560 and has elite speed and Jarvis wasn’t especially great. So you could say that Carolina’s smaller guys were kinda carried by the bigger guys
Aho was a bit frustrating through a few stretches early in the series but he wasn’t MIA. You have to watch closely. Even when he was flubbing some passes and shots, he was always moving, getting himself into areas to make plays or pick off passes, etc. that were easy to miss but often shifted play in right direction. In the last 2 games, he was actually very, very good. And no, I wouldn’t say the smaller guys were carried by the bigger guys. They had one bigger guy on each line. Hall and Svechnikov aren’t small guys. Once they… Read more »
Aho had 5 points in 6 finals games. How is that MIA?
With that, I share the skepticism that Carolina’s success means there will be a trend of teams stocking up on small players.
I don’t mean to say any of those guys in particular should be hyped more or less than they are. The broader point is that there is a narrative in the NHL, especially around the draft, that short players have less value and won’t be able to play their game when the playoffs roll around. The narrative exists, but that also doesn’t mean every undervalued sub 6′ player is the next Hutson, Point or Stankoven either. Some players have challenged the short guy narrative over the years, but Carolina just made a big splash showing that there is a place… Read more »
Shorter players do have less value unless they have an elite trait. Typically it’s speed or agility. Eklund and Cags both lack an elite trait. People are twisting themselves into knots trying to make fetch happen. Winning a cup almost always takes the biggest, most skilled players. If skill is equal it typically cones down to size and will and of course health. No one throws out their “small” lineup like the NBA. The NHL playoffs is a war of attrition. The fewer number of games the Canes played likely had a massive effect on this Cup final.
Should say “do NOT have as much value…”
Ack nevermind, had it right the first time.
Snark said it correctly. There wasn’t a single skater in Carolina’s top 6 that wasn’t an elite skater with elite or high end traits in several aspects of skating, whether it was top line speed, acceleration, agility and edgework, and/or being a strong skater who was hard to knock off balance. While there is a preference for bigger guys that can absorb body contact in the playoffs, I don’t think teams are not looking at smaller players. It’s just that they do have to evaluate whether a player has elite traits in some areas, usually in the skating area in… Read more »
He was the number 1 D for a top university to this year. Part of the top D pair for same top university program last year. Was a Hobey Baker finalist. Has had consistent, significant improvement in his game each year. He’s got a heavy shot, is good offensively and defensively. He plays physically. And he is not small. He’s 210 lbs. If he was 5’11” and 170 lbs I’d maybe have more concern, but he’s built more or less like Orlov. Is he going to come in and be a top ten d-man in the NHL? Probably not. Is… Read more »
Great. Success in college doesn’t guarantee success in the NHL. Never has. Gives hope but plenty of guys are studs at lower levels only to find themselves as 4th liners and 7th D in the NHL. I’m not saying he won’t succeed, I’m saying some people here need to temper their expectations. His physique is definitely something that gives me hope that he can carve out a role. Not being as short as Cags should help too.
Absolutely. There’s definitely risk there and I probably would hedge more, but I have been high on him since his draft year and watched him in games pretty regularly and I feel very good about his odds as a second paid D-man, especially since he’s a righty. Hopefully he pans out, but definitely a chance he doesn’t if he can’t handle the NHL tempo.
That’s the key. There’s nothing like NHL pace. If you look at the numbers, most guys drafted can’t actually handle it.
A big part of his game is playing with pace. I recall Remenda watching the prospect game a few years back and saying”is he a defenseman or a forward?” Because it says defenseman, but he’s always leading the rush. Admittedly, prospect game isn’t the place for evaluating pace, but Pohlkamp is a high energy, high pace guy. In the NCAA frozen four, he played a very conservative game, always getting back on defense. Which is what his coach wanted from him. Might have been due to his foot injury which was pretty significant. I think the biggest risk is injury.… Read more »
The way he played in that prospect game was awesome but that wasn’t what “pace” means. Playing with pace is processing and moving your feet and the puck to the correct position at near mistake free levels. Offense can’t die on your stick and you can’t be out of position defensively. You’re not going to know if he can do it until we see him play in the NHL. Dickinson struggled greatly with this the first half of the season. Got a little better later but he’s not there yet. It would be amazing if Polkamp is a day one… Read more »
I imagine AHL time to see how he does and then if he gets the call up it will be sheltered minutes.
Yup. That’s how you develop normal prospects. Everyone has to remember that no other prospect in the system is going to hit the NHL like Cele. It wasn’t just his skill and athleticism, it was his brain. His pace was higher than most players from day one. Right now Smith may be the only player on the roster that can think at his level but smith doesn’t have the consistency of drive yet. He’s on a normal development curve. Polecat deserves patience. He hasn’t played a single game in the NHL and some her are already trying to give him… Read more »
fwiw, I saw pretty much was I expected to see from Sam last season. He was in over his head. Jumping from the OHL to the NHL is a massive step and he had plenty of flaws even at the OHL level. On the up side, his physical talent is evident and that does translate. May sound odd, but I liked Sam’s season. Schaefer is such an outlier. Pohlkamp presents very differently than Sam and the quality of competition he played against was really high. Denver played lots of games against other top NCAA teams, and they were usually 1… Read more »
I thought Sam did great for the situation he was forced into. I think he would benefit with some time in the AHL still but as long as they make sure to continue to not overwhelm him I can see them continuing with his development at the NHL level. He doesn’t seem to let bad plays ruin his confidence and it sounds like he’s very coachable. as far as the Polecat clip, yeah it’s great. It’s against college players though. To be clear, I’m not saying he won’t be good. I’m saying let’s give him some games before we start… Read more »
Grier definitely likes size but I don’t think he has a knee-jerk reaction against small players. He drafted Cagnoni and Pohlkamp after all. But I think it remains true that sub 6ft players need to be exceptional to make it in the NHL. Big guys can get away with some flaws in their game because the size gives them extra reach, physical presence, etc. But small guys really need to have some exceptional combination of skating, hockey IQ, and compete. Clearly small guys CAN succeed in this league. But you also can’t build a team out of short kings. Stankhoven… Read more »
My Dad used to described the awkward nature of two left-handed boxers fighting each other. Because they practiced almost exclusively against right-handed boxers. In the NHL, its often about having a roster that can adapt to the other team. Vegas couldn’t stop … Jordan Staal?!! Staal with his $3mil salary. Staal had 2G and 3A in the first three rounds of the series. Jackson Blake averaging ppg in the playoffs, at just under 18mins a night. Taylor Hall on his 6th NHL team, also ppg at just 16min per game — also with a $3mil salary. The Canes brought so… Read more »
That’s true. It’s a very balanced and deep roster. It’s also worth noting that it works because all those players buy in, which is kind of a sports cliche but you can really see how it works in Carolina.
He took Cagnoni in the late 4th round and Pohlkamp in the early 5th round. Picks that late are all bonuses if they pan out. It’s more relevant whether he takes a small player in the first two rounds. I don’t know that picks that late say much about his bias one way or the other. taking them that late. Pohlkamp may not be the 6’1″+ dman minimum that is desired but he certainly isn’t small. I don’t know what he weighed when drafted as he wasn’t invited to the combine but he’s 5’11” and 205 lbs. I don’t know… Read more »
Sharks need to get answers on Pohlkamp and Cagnoni. I’m not sure they need final answers this season, but they do need to get enough insight to know whether to continue the ice-time investment at the NHL level. Because if one or the other succeeds, that’s a meaningful roster void getting addressed.
I’ve seen Cagnoni in person many times. I’m just not seeing it. I want to be wrong. I really do.
Pohlkamp, on the other hand, I have a belief that he could be a good RHD3 and maybe even have a higher ceiling. Not buying PPQB work yet on him, but I haven’t seen enough of him to have an informed opinion.
Don’t know if Pohlkamp should be the PPQB. But he shoud be on the PP.
His shot from the left circle (the Ovie spot) could be a massive asset. That’s where they clocked his 102mph goal in the Spengler Cup. Only 1 goal in the NHL was clocked faster this season.
The idea of Pohlkamp firing from the circle with Regenda in front was really intriguing. We won’t see it because Warsofsky doesn’t like Regenda and so he’ll find a home elsewhere. But pretty sure that combo would have been very productive.
Polkamp should not be on PP1. Takes more than shooting hard to make a good NHL PP execute at a high level.
He’s my favorite prospect and I am not seeing an NHL player long term either. If he can add another 10-15lbs of muscle and a faster first step maybe he gets there.
The thing is that Carolina is a pretty unique and disciplined organization. They seem to have the most coherent and detailed plan for the team they wanted to build from top to bottom in the organization, from the GM Tulsky down through Brind’amor and the scouting staff. They seem one of the most consistent teams in obtaining players to fit their system. In the age of copycat teams, Carolina’s ‘blueprint’ for building a team seems like it is going to be really hard for teams to emulate. Evidently Mikko Rantanen wasn’t quite a fit, then they trade him and get… Read more »
Last time I checked, Canes had a 6’4″ 220lbs C dominating the FO circle, score 6 goals in the Finals and also won the Conn Smythe.
Size still matters. (& she’ll keep repeating that! 😉 )
Yup.
I don’t believe I claimed it didn’t. I’m not alone in acknowledging Carolina got significant contributions from a player type that is often undervalued. Acknowledging that doesn’t take away from the amazing Conn Smythe worthy run that Jordan Staal had. Challenging the narrative around small players doesn’t mean completely throwing out conventional wisdom about size. Bid dudes aren’t going anywhere. You can’t field an entire team full of sub 6′ players, and Carolina’s success this year doesn’t happen if their small guys aren’t surrounded by size. But those small guys did contribute significantly, and I think its important for other… Read more »
They also have that Slavin guy. Heard things about him
There may be 10 players drafted in the 1st round who are 6’0 and under. Two more are listed at 6’05. In the end, talent prevails.
What position though? Not many D. Forwards and especially wings can be smaller to a certain degree. They have to have severe Napoleon syndrome though like Boyle.
At least three D!
Lin, Villeneuve and Bleyl
Villeneuve is fun to watch. Very interested to see if that translates.
Whelp, good luck to them… I’ll be curious to see if it actually plays out that way.
It’s a weird draft year in many ways. The top 2 on the consensus board are under 6′. Glad the Sharks won the lottery and aren’t so subject to what would have been a nailbiter at #9. If the top 5 D were off the board, would it have been Gustaffson at 9? Love him at 14, not as much at 9. It all comes down to how the team evaluates these guys, and the 12-20 range in the first round might be just as interesting as the 2-11 range. Lin might be gone before the Sharks pick at 20… Read more »
In the end, the top of the draft always stands pat. After playing out hundreds of draft scenarios in one’s head, it may prove to be quiet and uneventful!
You could totally be right. If Toronto takes McKenna and the Sharks take whoever, we will just say “oh, I see” and move on with our day. But this is an objectively weird year at the top with Toronto not really rebuilding, needing a lot of work on the team, and a lot of pressure on them, and then the Sharks already have a full pipeline of forwards and the only major need is RHD PP1QB, but that player is mostly 3 or 4 on the rankings instead of 2. If there ever was going to be a move at… Read more »
On the same page with Raddysh. I was thinking more akin to 4x$45mil, but same concept. if it works, fantastic. If it doesn’t, at least it ends not too far down the road. The Blackhawks have 12(!!) picks in rds 1 & 2 in the next 3 drafts. If they want Stenberg, or for that matter, McKenna, they have the ammo to move up and trade with Toronto or SJ. If the Blackhawks think one of these guys IS the key to fully unlocking their offense, they’d be foolish to leave this draft without one of them. If I’m Chayka… Read more »
That’s what I expect. I would love to extract even Korchinski out of Chicago for the move if that’s all that’s available.
15-14-3 with a .907 sv%
last year’s stat line in Providence for … Brandon Bussi
Gotta appreciate how often its a goalie from way off everyone’s radar that wins a Cup. Even if Freddy Anderson got most of the W’s along the way.
Bussi their number 1 all season.
Did you see that his first game was against the Sharks and if he had crapped the bed, he might not have gotten another shot? Funny how things go
A few take aways that lowkey surprised me: 1) you may actually need 2 goalies. The knights didnt make a goalie change, the canes did. This was huge. 2) Taylor Hall was a beast and a mismatch. I actually think this is where the sharks may be on a great path already. We have some serious talent up front that will create scary matchups for opponents. 3) the canes and knights played very very very good defensively, and had none of the top Norris dmen. their top forward guys played a very disciplined, structured 200 foot game, that may have… Read more »
Both teams gave up a ton of goals in the finals.
Canes have elite depth that causes mismatches. They have basically 3 very good 2nd lines
Svetch-Aho-Martinook
Hall-Stanky-Blake
Ehlers-Staal-Jarvis
Not a 1st line among them but all are very good 2nd lines. Elite depth & Health wins SC almost every time.
Getting ehlers there was huge
I doubt that the Canes haven’t tried to obtain a top tier dman. It’s just they haven’t picked in a position to have a crack at them in a long time. But you’re right. I think they’re system is predicated more on having a solid D that can defend first, and quickly get the puck on the stick of their support forwards to transition play quickly up the ice. Norris dmen with few exceptions aren’t where you want to invest your cap. Most of them are high end point getters with liabilities in their defensive game, Cale Makar and Quinn… Read more »
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RoEfkeG5bQ
extended Pohlkamp interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWX0Zh1h02M
A review of Canes GM Tulsky’s better moves. Worth noting how many of these were for guys other teams either undervalues or simply didn’t value at all.
fwiw, this list didn’t have a single guy Tulsky decided not to retain. Brady Skjei and Teuvo Teravainen among them. Sometimes the best move is the guy you decide just isn’t worth keeping, even if he’s a respectable player.
Yep, like letting Burns & Orlov walk and replacing them with a younger stud in K’andre Miller.
Miller is now a SC champ while Burns got swept out of the POs.
Miller will always be noteworthy to me as he was selected one slot AFTER the Sharks picked that pipsqueak Ryan Merkley. I will never forgive DWjr for that dumba$$ pick.
I get that this is the time of year where everyone is going to do the whole “the Canes won the Cup so how should we implement the things they did” discussion. I would just encourage peeps to remember a few things before saying “but the Canes”: The Canes had the best record in the NHL over the past 8 years, but couldn’t win a Cup until now. Whether their style of play and type of roster can be successful in the postseason has been a legitimate questions for years, and I am not sure those questions were answered quite… Read more »
Warsys gonna have to hit the gym
ok… tell that to Scotty Bowman.😉
Awww…. call the wahmbulance.
?
Wasn’t for you. I like acknowledging my fans sometimes. Looks like they removed their “vote” on the initial comment. 😜 🤣
Solid points. The Canes played 3 teams who finished under 100pts. They also were a healthy team, aided by making quick work of their opponents. The lone team over 100pts, MTL, as you point out, played substantially more hockey in rds 1 and 2 than Carolina did in rds 1-3 !!! Carolina played about 4 periods worth of OT, meaning they played a bit over 14 games worth of ice time in the first 3 rounds. That’s not a lot of hockey for 12 wins. Also worth noting, they won all 5 OT games in rd 1-3. I’m not sure… Read more »
Canes also did not have to play any Florida-based teams. Bolts & Cats have been a major obstacle in the Canes previous playoffs.
Only real lesson to learn about the Canes is “Timing is Everything”!
Brilliantly stated. Agree with everything you said. The only thing worth copying from them in my opinion is commitment, style of play, and structured defense.
I would have accepted “playing defense”
The way they play all over the ice is to be admired too though.
To be fair Rod has said they play the way Florida does, and that’s the standard. Or at least that’s what he said when they beat him last year. So teams are already copying it.
This finals was played pretty straightforward, it was talent on talent, playmaking, and generally fairly good looking hockey. I feel like Florida played a much grimier game.
Agreed.
sounds like lip service. canes are a high shot volume team, Panthers aren’t quite the same.