We won’t have another NHL game to watch until Saturday night. Congrats to the Vegas Golden Knights, who finished off the Dallas Stars with a punishing 6-0 win to clinch the Western Conference title last night. Vegas got on the board early and never took their foot off the gas. It was a fun game to watch if you don’t like the Stars; it was over before the second period horn sounded.
- This was a pretty impressive stat from last night’s game. Vegas hit the 60-goal mark as a team in their 17th postseason game. There are a few others recent teams on this list, including Colorado and Edmonton both from just last year. But 1992 caught my eye. Both the Blackhawks and Penguins did it in 16 games; only three teams reached the number faster at that point. If you’re old enough to remember those two teams, it was fun to watch until the Stanley Cup Final.
- If you were wondering what the schedule is for the Stanley Cup Final, at least the Panthers know they’re flying to Vegas this week. Gotta be honest… not a huge fan of planning on Game 7 being on a Monday night.
- With the Stars eliminated, we now know where the Blackhawks’ entire 2023 NHL Draft lines up — for now. Every pick is now slated. And we’ve got the entire list for you. How does nine of the top 100 overall picks sound?
- In the Memorial Cup, the Seattle Thunderbirds were in action against Quebec last night. Unfortunately, Seattle lost the game 3-1 to bring them to 1-1 in the tournament thus far. The one goal for the Thunderbirds came from defenseman Nolan Allan — with an assist from Kevin Korchinski. Colton Dach was credited with a team-leading seven shots on net in the loss.
- Some business news from Chicago sports that might be of interest to the Blackhawks and their fans. Front Office Sports reported Jerry Reinsdorf’s Silver Chalice media property has acquired controlling interest in Stadium. Here’s where it gets my attention as a Blackhawks fan:
But sources indicated further, large-scale moves are expected by Stadium in the new Reinsdorf-led structure. Those moves will be closely watched against the backdrop of the October 2024 expiration of the regional rights contract for the Bulls, White Sox, and Chicago Blackhawks with NBC Sports Chicago.
- This was a fun memory for me yesterday that came from… the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. On May 19, 2010 I was in the media section of the 300 level at the United Center getting ready for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Blackhawks and Flyers. I was seated next to some Philly media who were clearly hyped that hockey was going to be the top story on their sports broadcast that night — finally. Well, that was until they watched Roy Halladay finish off a perfect game as the teams were warming up. So much for the top spot that night!
- Finally, how about two 8 seeds from south Florida making it all the way to their respective league championship series?!? The Miami Heat clinched their NBA Finals berth last night with a thorough beating of the Boston Celtics. Boston, like Dallas, never got off the bus last night.