Stanley Cup Storylines

Now that the Red Wings and Penguins have officially avoided what would've been a disastrous (for the fans…and the League) nine day layoff between the 3rd and 4th rounds, the hockey world can focus exclusively on the marquee matchup the hockey gods have presented us with.

Without further ado, here are five storylines to watch as the Stanley Cup Final unfolds:

1) A Repeat?
In North-American major professional sports, no team has won back-to-back titles since the NFL’s Patriots in ‘04 and ’05. The last NHL team to repeat as champion was the Wings themselves back in ’97 and ’98. They will be attempting to win their 5th Stanley Cup in 13 years (and only 12 seasons), which as a Leafs fan pretty much makes me want to cry.

I think the long long-term contracts to Zetterberg and especially Franzen will eventually hinder them, but you have to hand it to Ken Holland and his entire front office who have been the best in the business for almost 15 years. A fifth Cup, including two back-to-backs, elevates them again historically. By the way, the Wings spent a total of $2.2 million on goaltending this year.

2) The Playoff Goal-Scoring Record
The all-time single season playoff goal-scoring record is 19 and held jointly by Jari Kurri and Reggie Leach. Sidney Crosby (14 goals) is within reach and Evgeni Malkin (12) has an outside shot of breaking the mark. The two have combined to score 40% of the Pens playoff goals and have pushed each other in a way no two teammates have since Mario and Jagr almost 20 years ago. Zing!

(Sidenote: How many players would pass up an empty net goal, like Crosby did in the dying seconds of game four versus Carolina, while chasing such a colossal record? Not many. And certainly not Malkin or Ovechkin.)

3) Benedict Hossa
That was the name given to Marian Hossa by a friend of mine (obviously a huge Pens fan) after Hossa spurned Pittsburgh’s $50 million offer and chose instead to sign a one-year deal in Motown for “a better chance at the Cup”. The next 10 days will ultimately determine whether Hossa made the right choice, but one thing is absolutely certain: Hossa is the only athlete that we can truly believe when he says “it’s not about the money”.

4) Team Canada’s Olympic Goaltending Situation
Two weeks ago Cam Ward was the “it” goalie and received considerable ink (ahhh, type?) as the best option for third goaltender on next year’s Canadian Olympic roster. Now, I’m not sure why the third stringer for a tournament that doesn’t start for another nine months has suddenly become such a hot topic, but it has. And Marc-Andre Fleury is now getting his turn as flavour of the day and you can be sure that should Chris Osgood collect his fourth ring (3rd as starter) many will speculate that he too deserves consideration. There is no disputing the numbers Osgood has put up over his career, and Stanley Cups are why you play the game, but these Detroit teams that he backstopped haven’t exactly depended on him for greatness. I wouldn’t say he has won Stanley Cups as much as he hasn’t lost them.

Anyway, so much can happen in the four months of NHL hockey prior to the Olympics that all anyone can say for sure is that behind Brodeur and Luongo are several capable possibilities. And Osgood isn’t one of them.

5) The Grizzled Rookie
Winnipeg native Darren Helm is on the verge of earning his second Stanley Cup ring and amazingly will still enter next season as an NHL rookie. The game five overtime hero for Detroit has played just 23 regular season games total over the last two years (versus 34 playoff contests) meaning he’ll be perhaps the most decorated rookie ever to play in the NHL.

Here is how the 22 year-old Helm has spent his last five springs: two trips to the Stanley Cup Finals (’09 & ’08); one loss in the Memorial Cup Final (’07), third round (’06) and second round (’05) losses in the WHL playoffs; and a Junior “B” championship with the Selkirk Fisherman.

Oh, and he also won back-to-back World Junior Championships for Canada.

Winning is all the guy knows.

The New Canada Cup?

Imagine a tournament featuring Canada's best hockey players competing not for their country, but for their provinces in a revamped and modernized version of the Canada Cup...

Of course this has absolutely no chance of ever happening (except maybe in a lockout year), but it gave me a reason to waste 10 (15, 20?) hours putting together seven rosters (my apologies to NWT and Nunavut, there just isn't enough talent coming from the deep North to construct those rosters)...






My official pre-tournament rankings would look like this (have your say in the poll on the right sidebar):

1) Ontario - Easily the best set of forwards in the country (albeit from the largest population). Jason Spezza would make every other province's roster but there isn't room for him here.

2) Quebec - Who starts in net? Either way la belle provence looks good on paper, especially with the emergence of Kris Letang, who made Ryan Whitney expendable in Pittsburgh and just finished outplaying Mike Green by a mile.

3) Alberta - Slightly better top-to-bottom than B.C.

4) B.C. - The defence is tremendous but scoring could be an issue.

5) Saskatchewan - Considerable grit but not a lot of flash. No word on whether Getzlaf will have recovered from the inexplicable overuse at the hands of Randy Carlyle.

6) Manitoba - The 2009 World Junior back-up Chet Pickard gets the nod in net...by default. What happened to goaltending in 'The Tobe'? Terry Sawchuk, Joe Daley, Ron Hextall, Ed Belfour and then a giant vacuum that threatens to make them also-rans in this tourney, much like the...

7) Maritimes - Even with Crosby double and triple shifting it still wouldn't be enough to make up for the lack of defensive depth. And yes, John Slaney is still playing (11G, 16A, 53GP) for the Frankfurt Lions of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL).

Just Lose

A simple message to Brian Burke, Ron Wilson and the entire Toronto Maple Leafs organization: Lose. Tank. Throw in the towel. Do anything and everything you can to ensure your team doesn’t earn another point in the standings.

Actually, with a goaltending tandem of Curtis Joseph and Martin Gerber, a dozen third and fourth line forwards, and an overpaid and underwhelming group of defenceman, maybe they’ve done all they can.

With only three meaningless regular season games remaining for the Leafs it’s time for the team to do what they probably should’ve been doing all year long. Namely, losing on purpose. Re-inserting the corpse of Lee Stempniak into the line-up would be a good start.

As of this morning, Toronto is the 24th best team in hockey or the seventh worst, depending on your point of view. Only teams that finish in the bottom five have a mathematical chance of winning the draft lottery and the first overall selection that goes with it because no team can move up more than four places. The New York Islanders, Colorado Avalanche and Tampa Bay Lightning are locked into the first three slots but fifth (worst) place is certainly well within reach for the Leafs and they could conceivably still move all the way into fourth.

Here’s how it can happen:

If Atlanta wins two of their last three (WSH, FLA, TB ), Los Angeles wins any of their last three (@EDM, @VAN, SJ), Phoenix wins any of their last three (STL, @SJ, ANA) and the Leafs lose all of their final three (@NJ, BUF, OTT) Toronto would end up 27th and sit in the fourth position going into the lottery.

After four straight seasons without qualifying for the playoffs, the only potential reward for the long-suffering members of Leaf Nation is the possibility of a top draft pick at this summer’s NHL Entry Draft. Obtaining a Tavares or a Victor Hedman in the draft would be a huge piece for Toronto to pair with Luke Schenn in the re-building process.

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Speaking of Tavares, he and his London Knight teammates are one win away from moving on to the third round of the OHL playoffs and a potential marquee showdown with the Windsor Spitfires. The two teams finished 1-2 in the OHL standings and have been angling toward this match-up all year long.

And as good as Tavares has been this year (breaking the OHL career goal scoring record, turning the World Junior Championship into a personal showcase, and generally living up to the hype like he’s Lebron James) you have to wonder when the Hunter brothers, Dale and Mark, will join him in moving on to the next level.

They purchased the Knights and took over day-to-day operations in 2001 and all they’ve done since is put together the most impressive record in all of junior hockey and built a player development program that continuously pumps out NHL talent.

In addition to Tavares, the list of high caliber players who have sharpened their skills under the tutelage of the Hunters is remarkable…and for the most part, star-studded.

Rick Nash - Columbus Blue Jackets
Corey Perry - Anaheim Ducks
Sam Gagner - Edmonton Oilers
Patrick Kane - Chicago Blackhawks
David Bolland - Chicago Blackhawks
Sergei Kostitsyn - Montreal Canadiens
Brandon Prust - Phoenix Coyotes
Danny Fritsche - Minnesota Wild
Dennis Wideman - Boston Bruins
Dan Girardi - New York Rangers
Mark Methot - Columbus Blue Jackets
Kyle Quincey - Los Angeles Kings
Steve Mason - Columbus Blue Jackets

That group of players would be the backbone to a great NHL roster and speak volumes about the ability of the Hunter brothers as a management team. If I’m Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk or Edmonton Oilers owner Daryl Katz or any other NHL franchise in need of new life, I know what direction I’d be looking in.