This is a shot of the Alberta legislature building in Edmonton. NBCSN has shown some nice shots of Edmonton during its coverage in the bubble. Since our NHL coverage is ending with this notebook, we wanted to leave you with this lovely shot. In the words of Jason Kenney, visit Alberta when you can.
2020 Stanley Cup notebook: Vancouver Canucks force a Game 7
Vancouver and Colorado were down 3-1, made valiant comebacks to force a Game 7, but fell short. The Canucks were one of 2 teams (also the New York Islanders) as the last remaining qualifier teams remaining in the Stanley Cup playoffs. If Philadelphia wins later today, none of the qualifier teams will make the conference finals.
The Canucks had trouble getting off shots during the power plays to force a Game 7. Vancouver only had 2 shots in 11 minutes of power play time. The team was outshot by a wide margin in the series.
Perhaps a day off in between Game 6 and Game 7 would have made a difference. The other series had that luxury, none for the Canadian team in the series.
The 2018 Winnipeg Jets and 2017 Ottawa Senators got to the conference finals. The Senators came the closest to the Stanley Cup final. The 2011 Vancouver Canucks are the last Canadian team to get to the Stanley Cup final.
Quinn Hughes had an awesome postseason. The Canucks got scoring from multiple lines. Jacob Markstrom and Thatcher Demko were very strong in goal. The Canucks were exciting to watch in the postseason. Whenever the NHL starts up again, NBCSN, seriously, show the Vancouver Canucks. We know they won't but if you don't ask, you never know.
Another #LasVegas @NHL team cheap shot. Another defenceless @Canucks player on the ice. If this is #playoffhockey, the madness needs to stop.
— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) September 5, 2020
Tyler Motte lay motionlessly on the ground with an elbow to the head. Another Las Vegas cheap shot. One of the few to actually draw a penalty. Ryan Reaves, who we have mentioned in earlier Stanley Cup notebooks, assessed a game misconduct penalty.
The MO has been cheap hits by Gary Bettman's golden team, pun intended. The penalty was similar to the boarding call in the Montréal series that didn't look as severe as what Las Vegas players have done to Canucks players without penalty.
Las Vegas has developed the habit of whining over obvious calls as a homage to Boston's level of whining. We've said this before: the Golden Knights do not play with honour.
This has been branded as "playoff hockey" the cheap hits specifically without referees calling the penalties. Hard hits might have been playoff hockey, not cheap shots, but that does depend on how far back you go in the more than 100 years of the National Hockey League.
We realise Eddie Olczyk has been in quarantine in Edmonton but he worked too hard to justify the hit, claiming that a new replay angle changed his mind. Kenny Albert and Pierre McGuire had a much more human reaction to the hit.
2020 Stanley Cup notebook: Vancouver Canucks quickly go down 3-1
2020 Stanley Cup notebook: Mike Milbury mistakes CN Tower for Space Needle
2020 Stanley Cup notebook: The day NBC tried to make us stop watching the NHL
2020 Stanley Cup notebook: 3 Canadian teams in the first official playoff round
2020 Stanley Cup notebook: The 'playoff' team that can draft Alexis Lafreniere
Canadian long weekend notebook: A year without a permanent U.S. Ambassador to Canada
2020 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs preview for Canadian teams
2020 Stanley Cup playoffs scoreboard
"We always believe in our group, we have a good mix of young and old players and all the young guys have taken another step, and they have every year. We’ve shown so far in the playoffs that our team game is our strongest weapon, so we just have to keep it going." - Edler pic.twitter.com/9YHaGYnEUG
— Vancouver #Canucks (@Canucks) September 4, 2020
Alex Edler is the dean of the Vancouver Canucks, having been with the team longer than any other player. Edler played for the famed 2011 team.
Canada's 2014 Olympic men's hockey squad
Dan Hamhuis has retired as a NHL defenceman. Hamhuis was part of the 2011 Vancouver Canucks Stanley Cup team. That isn't why Hamhuis is worth mentioning. The last time the NHL sent players to the Olympics in 2014, the Canadian team was rather impressive. That team went on to win gold in Sochi.
Hamhuis was one of 4 players on that squad playing for a Canadian-based NHL team. P.K. Subban (Montréal); Roberto Luongo (Vancouver); and Carey Price (Montréal) were the other Olympians on that roster.
John Tavares (Toronto); Shea Weber (Montréal for Subban); Matt Duchene (Ottawa briefly); and Patrick Marleau (Toronto briefly) made it onto a Canadian-based team roster since 2014.
That Canadian team was impressive, surrendering only 3 goals in 6 games, the fewest allowed by a gold medal team since 1928.
Having a Canadian star player on a team in Canada is still pretty rare. Hamhuis was a rare bird indeed. Congratulations on the retirement.
2020 Stanley Cup playoffs scoreboard
CanadianCrossing.com NHL coverage
Twillingate, NL won Kraft Hockeyville. The community won a NHL preseason game and $250,000 in upgrades for George Hawkins Arena.
The runners-up receive $25,000 in arena upgrades: Tyne Valley, PEI; Pense, SK; and Saint-Félicien, QC.
Hopefully, that NHL preseason game can have some fans.
Canadian sports notebook: Toronto and Edmonton still NHL hub city options
What sports will look like on Canadian soil in 2020
The Stanley Cup playoffs have been all within Canada, the first time since 1925 where that has happened. The Stanley Cup will be presented on Canadian soil. Of course, having a Canadian team hoist the Stanley Cup is the idea.
The conference finals and Stanley Cup finals will take place at Rogers Place in Edmonton. We figure Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson will move to the Edmonton bubble to call the "Wales" Conference final. Chris Cuthbert and Louie DeBrusk are lined up to call the "Campbell" Conference final and the Stanley Cup final.
For Cuthbert, this is a well-deserved honour. For DeBrusk, Garry Galley is a better pick.
The Stanley Cup final is scheduled to start September 22 with a possible Game 7 on October 4. This would be right around the time the season would normally start. COVID-19 has thrown off the world of sports. We don't know when the NHL will return. Finishing this season was important but the start of the next season can and will wait.
photo credit: NBCSN/NHL
Twitter capture: @canadian_xing; @Canucks
Not sure where you got the info about Cuthbert and DeBrusk for the Stanley Cup Final? I would expect it will be Hughson and Simpson. There's no chance it's DeBrusk over Simpson and seeing as Cuthbert and Simpson have yet to work together... not happening as far as I can see.
Posted by: Tyler Noble | September 08, 2020 at 05:23 PM
I was speculating on who will call the Stanley Cup final for CBC and Rogers Sportsnet. I would agree that DeBrusk isn't up for even the conference final much less the Stanley Cup final. My logic was that Cuthbert would call the final since he has to call one in his contract. Now that the 4 of them are up in Edmonton, we'll see what Sportsnet does.
Posted by: Chad | September 08, 2020 at 06:47 PM