Quick Cap: Anthony Cirelli’s overtime goal sends the Lightning to the Stanley Cup | Raw Charge
We’ve got an all-Sunbelt Stanley Cup Final and I for one am thrilled about it. I would have preferred the Predators to be the Western rep, of course, but it is what it is.
NHL Scores: Lightning get through to Stanley Cup Final | ProHockeyTalk | NBC Sports
Brayden Point’s status will be an interesting concern going forward.
Storylines For Stars’ Stanley Cup Run Abound – If You Look For Them | Defending Big D
The bad takes machine got fired up, so DBD’s Taylor Baird tears it down.
Stars eager, anxious to return to ice after enjoying well-deserved rest | Sportsnet.ca
Imagine running a story with the headline “Stars NOT eager, anxious to play in Stanley Cup Final”. C’mon, Sportsnet.
A Black Fan Club Sought to Diversify N.H.L. Stands. Now They’re Aiming at Its C-Suites. | The New York Times
This is extremely cool. The Black Girl Hockey Club (@BlackGirlHockey) was founded to help fans feel more comfortable going to games, but now founder Renee Hess is getting consulted by the league itself about how they can do better at diversity and inclusion.
31 Thoughts: Is Matt Dumba next up on the Wild trade block? | Sportsnet.ca
Friedman has some notes on the Capitals’ hire of Laviolette, including one that says that the Caps were intrigued by how well the Preds’ defense corps performed under him. John Carlson is fine, I guess, but…meh.
Report: Mike Babcock was a finalist for Capitals head coaching job, but ‘noise’ around him sunk his candidacy | Russian Machine Never Breaks
Well, that’s one way to put it. I’m relieved that the Capitals passed on giving Babcock another NHL job; no team needs that kind of environment. It’s absurd that they were considering him, though, with all the former players who talked about how he verbally abused them or their teammates–how is that going to get the best out of a flat roster? Fear and humiliation don’t actually make you better at your job.
Canucks’ Boeser on trade rumours: ‘I want to stay in Vancouver’ | Sportsnet.ca
Sportsnet: Brock Boeser is from Minnesota; clearly he wants to be traded to the Wild!
Boeser (plays for a team that made it to game seven of the second round, with a talented young core): Actually, Vancouver is pretty great; I like it here.
The IIHF’s U18 World decisions show a lack of care about the women’s game | The Ice Garden
The IIHF’s mission statement, as Michelle Jay points out, is to “govern, develop and promote men and women’s ice hockey” and oh boy are they falling down on half of that. This is brutal, especially with non-North-American women’s teams finally starting to find some parity.
Why the Winnipeg Jets should be interested in trading for Matt Dumba | Sportsnet.ca
I’m not actually sure the Winnipeg Jets currently have any defenders. I could not name a single guy playing defense for them right now. (Okay, Josh Morrissey, but that’s cheating; he’s namedropped in the article.)
Dam Good: Lulea’s Jenni Hiirikoski starts off scoring | The Ice Garden
I have got to figure out a way to watch some SDHL games. Jenni Hiirikoski is so cool. Not the most journalistic take, maybe, but hey.