Yes, finally the Stanley Cup Final starts tonight. So before the puck drops (and ahead of Bettman's State of the League address) here are some news and notes I meant to get to earlier.
Blog Note: The Reviews for the Conference Finals will be up within the next two days, I regret putting them off for this long.
While The Men Watch
I was going to do a full post on this after reading the ton of response (99% of it backlash) on CBC partnering with WTMW but that idea fell apart. Instead here is a quick Bad/Good look at the partnership:
The bad is that it demeans all females in the hockey community by stereotyping them as puck bunny who know nothing about the sport, which is sad since there are a lot of females who are really knowledgeable when it comes to hockey. It also takes away from the broadcasters and journalist who cover the sport for a living, since it portrays a "it doesn't take much" message in order to cover hockey, much less the STANLEY CUP FINAL!
The good (there is a bit of light in this dark tunnel) is that it might help create new fans for hockey. Stay with me on this: aside from the controversy it has created (which, if anyone who watches wrestling knows, controversy draws people in) the people who already follow the WTMW women might not know much about hockey and this will help draw them into the sport. It may not be the right way, but it's a way.
MacKinnon a No-Go
When I first read that Nathan MacKinnon (a.k.a The Second Coming of Crosby) is not able to partake in the Canada-Russia series in August because of an underage policy, I wanted a refund.
Joking, joking, I still want to see the series. Plus I'm in the process of getting season tickets for the Mooseheads, so there's that.
Back to the subject in hand, I get why there is such a policy (want guys to go through the system) but this is ridiculous. If the OHL has an "exceptional player" rule that allows someone to come into the league a year earlier than they should, then Hockey Canada should allow an exceptional talent (like MacKinnon) to not need to participate in the U-18 camp and be allowed to play in this series. There is a 99% chance he'll be on the World Junior team, so why not see how he will play against some of the guys that will be in that tournament.
The Weeks Champions
Congratulations to the Shawinigan Cataractes for winning the Memorial Cup
Congratulations to the Florida Everblades for winning the ECHL's Kelly Cup
Congratulations to Ryder Hesjedal for winning the Giro d'Italia (not hockey related, just a proud Canadian moment)
Tonight's Prediction
Los Angeles Kings 2
New Jersey Devils 3 (OT)
Both team's have had rest (the Kings had more), but travel is still an issue. The Devils haven't needed to board a plane since beating the Panthers in the opening round and should feel more at home than if they face anyone who wasn't the Flyers or Rangers. The Kings might not hang on to their undefeated road record for long.
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