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Lace 'em up. Time for the Morning Skate.
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SAY HELLO TO THE NEW GUYS
The Western Conference playoffs suddenly seem a little fresh.
For the fourth straight season, the Anaheim Ducks fell in a Game 7 on Wednesday night. This time they did so in the first round, and to a Wild Card team in Nashville. It's certainly a low point for coach Bruce Boudreau and his Ducks, but it leads to a high point for the Western Conference overall.
If you're not from California or Chicago then the NHL playoffs may have grown a little stale over the last few years with the Kings, Ducks and Blackhawks all dominating the conference and the playoffs. And now they're all gone, fallen to the Sharks, Predators and Blues, respectively.
Here are the last Stanley Cup appearances for the remaining Western Conference playoff teams:
Dallas: 2000
St. Louis: 1970
Nashville: Never
San Jose: Never
This is good. It's exciting! We're now guaranteed a 50 percent chance that someone wins the Stanley Cup for the first time in ages. That's how you grow fan bases in "non-traditional" hockey markets. It's great for the league, it's great for the sport and it should be so much fun to watch.
ISLES TAKE GAME 1
Maybe Tampa Bay's injury woes are going to be a problem. The Lightning got defused in Game 1, falling 5-3 to the Islanders. Ben Bishop had to be removed from the game. Speaking of ...
VEZINA TIME
The Vezina Trophy nominees were announced early last night, and you'll be shocked to learn Braden Holtby was one of them. Of course you aren't. Holtby's fantastic season makes him the frontrunner, but he'll be going up against Lightning goalie Ben Bishop and Kings goalie Jonathan Quick.
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- It's the big one. The Penguins and Capitals begin their highly anticipated second-round series on Thursday night.
- Who wins the series likely comes down to seven key factors.
- The narrative shouldn't just be Sid vs. Ovi.
- If the Sabres want to make the playoffs next year, they should be paying attention to the postseason right now.
- A tight budget will hamstring the Senators again this offseason.
- The Panthers' new logo leaked and it looks purrfect.
- What should the Devils do about Michael Cammalleri?
- Shaking up the lineup is a priority for the post-window Rangers.
- Brayden Schenn was suspended three game for his hit in Game 6 on T.J. Oshie.
- The Oilers might just get the first overall pick again. What should they do with it?