How about a couple more overtime games in the playoffs last night? It seems like very night we’re getting at least one game that needs extra time to be decided, which is why the Stanley Cup Playoffs are the best playoffs in professional sports. And last night’s slate was loaded with action. Before a little chatter about last night’s games, here’s the schedule for Tuesday night:
Carolina can be the first team to advance to the second round tonight with a home win over the Islanders; they lead their series 3-1. The two Western Conference series are tied at two games each entering tonight’s action.
In the first period of the late game last night in Seattle, Cale Makar took a run at Kraken leading scorer Jared McCann (see above). McCann did not return — and will not be available for Game Five according to his coach last night — but his teammates held the fort and were able to tie the series at two games apiece with a 3-2 win in overtime. Makar will have a conversation with the league office on Tuesday because of the hit.
The other series that ended last night tied was the Rangers vs. Devils. New Jersey put on a masterful defensive performance, limiting the Rangers’ best offensive players all night. Patrick Kane and Vlad Tarasenko led the Blue Shirts with three shots on net each, but Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider and Vinnie Trocheck had that many combined. After the Rangers dominated the first two games in Jersey, the Devils have come back and won twice at Madison Square Garden. What a fun series!
A couple outlets in Chicago reported on Monday that the Blackhawks have been pleasantly surprised by their season ticket renewal rate this spring. After finishing with the third-worst record in the league (if we count tie-breakers used for the draft lottery), the Hawks were looking into a future that does not include Kane or Jonathan Toews. But their fans have signed back up for another year — likely hoping they have Connor Bedard to cheer for in October. A couple nuggets from Phil Thompson’s report for the Chicago Tribune caught my attention:
Before [last] season, the Hawks barred several national ticket brokers from hoarding season tickets, which “killed our renewal percentage by not allowing a good chunk of those tickets to renew,” Blackhawks president of business operations Jamie Faulkner said.
[Faulkner] said 68% of season ticket holders renewed last season, but they’ve reached 80% renewals for next season in April. It should be noted that the Hawks reduced the season ticket pool and have considered putting a cap on available season tickets, in part to preserve their value.
That’s good news for the franchise. But, again, we’ll see how it holds up in the coming year.
Scott Powers at The Athletic provided this week’s doom and gloom, which will prove to be the test for the Blackhawks’ tickets sales department. Even though there will be more young players moving up to the NHL — which should make the team more intriguing, if not more exciting — the ceiling will likely still be quite low. We don’t know who the Hawks will sign in free agency to round out the roster, but with general manager Kyle Davidson already indicating he is not in the market for long-term deals, we’re looking at more rentals in the coming year. Here’s a summary from Powers’ comments this morning:
But … though the Blackhawks may be young, more exciting and give fans some reasons to be optimistic about the future, they aren’t likely to be much more competitive. The Blackhawks will probably finish right around where they did this season.
Finally, Luis and Patrick absolutely crushed it yesterday with reaction to Aaron Rodgers getting traded to the Jets. So long, farewell. I can’t wait for the NHL season to start, and we’re just two days away from the draft.
NEWSLETTER
