Let’s first look back at how the Latvians did in the Stanley Cup. To be fair, the look is not wide-ranging, as only Theodore Bluger and his Pittsburgh Penguins reached this stage of the season, starting the 1st round against the New York Rangers with a 3-1 lead to four wins. In the next matches, the Rangers players were better, who won the game in the extra time with a 4: 3 win both in the game and in the whole series. Blugers stood out in one of those seven games. The loss of the Penguins from the Stanley Cup coincided with the World Championship group tournament, so Blugers was expected to help the Latvian national team.
However, this was not expected, as the hockey player refused the national team after a couple of tense days.
Why so, there were still no real and clear answers. It is known that the national team manager Rūdolfs Kalvītis has communicated with Bļugers during the series, but to put it mildly, it is not recommended.
The Penguins will have a tough summer this year, with the team trying to sign contracts with still-productive veterans Eugene Malkin and Chris Letang, but it won’t be easy, which still makes a significant contribution.
Speaking of the Stanley Cup final series, let’s focus on the team that will challenge the current champions of Lightning in Tampa Bay – the Avalanche team in Colorado, which has made it to the finals for the first time since 2001. Both the team model of that time and today have one thing in common – Avalanche has a plethora of superstars. The other thing is that the 2001 Avalanche captain Joe Sakik is the team’s architect and general manager, creating a core of players who will now be fighting for the trophy.
The Avalanche have been a major favorite for several seasons, but the worst possible epidemic has always prevented them from going beyond the 2nd round. The avalanche finally broke out this spring, with a 4-0 win over Nashville’s Predators in Round 1, a 4-2 win over St. Louis’s Blues in Round 2, and a 4-0 victory over Edmonton’s Oilers in Round 3. . Reaching the Stanley Cup final with two losses, Colorado is one of the most dominant play-offs in recent NHL history.
True, we can add a few question marks to the coveted race in Colorado. First, in the series against Nashville’s Predators, they had to play against their opponents ‘second and third goalkeepers because one of the Wezin Award nominees (presented to the best goalkeeper of the season) and Predators’ main goalkeeper Juse Saross were injured. Although the series celebrated a 4-0 victory, winning the second and fourth games was not easy. In the 2nd round against the 3rd game of the “Blues” series, Jordan Binington, the main goalkeeper of the St. Louis club, was injured. The continuation of the Blues series was still able to show resistance, but that was not enough. Edmonton’s Oilers with goalkeeper Mike Smith, on the other hand, wouldn’t even be close to the conference finals unless Connor McDave and Leon Draizait win a phenomenal Stanley Cup, scoring at a pace not seen since Wein Greck’s 80s. These two men deserved a separate article to look at their phenomenal performance. It was not for nothing that the 1st game of the Avalanche and Oilers series became the most productive match in the Stanley Cup in 36 years (8: 6 won in Colorado).
Understandably, the Colorado team’s biggest weapon is their attack – in the playoffs, they are by far the most productive team with 65 goals in 14 games (average 4.64 per game).
They also lead in the majority with 31.1% sales, while the game was rather mediocre in defense – the minority passed 75.7% of the time (10th place), while the average 2.86 goals in the game is an acceptable, mediocre figure, but not an elite performance.
The new Avalanche Canadian defender Keil Macar has taken the lead in the attack – the 23-year-old defender has 22 points in 14 games. During this year’s Stanley Cup, he has not only declared himself one of the best defenders in the NHL right now, but has seriously claimed his place on the list of the best defenders of all time. Makara’s skating technique and speed are admirable, he is successful in the attack and is able to cope with his defensive responsibilities. There are also threats from all sides in the ranks of the attackers – Neitan McKinon, Gabriel Landeskog and Miko Rantanen are able to threaten the enemy’s fortress from any position. Arturi Lehkonen, whose goal in the extra time of the 4th conference final, led to Colorado’s grand final. He has 11 points. The Avalanche has a great depth of line on all lines, and before the final there is a small question about the safety of the goal. Home goalkeeper Darsiy Camper suffered an unpleasant injury in one of the 2nd round battles, when the shoulder of the opponent’s stick protruded between the camper’s helmet grille and hit him close to the eye. Camper continued to play in the series, but he didn’t seem to track the puck as well as usual. In the final of the conference, the Czech Pavel Francouz successfully took the place at the gate of the Avalanche and acted convincingly. Camper has said he is 100% healthy at the moment, so he is expected to make it to the final in the final match of Denver in Denver.
The Colorado offensive car will face convincingly strongest opponents to date, the champions of Lightning for the past two years, who are writing the history of the league themselves.
Lightning is the first team since the mid-1980s and Wayne Greck’s Edmonton Oilers to reach 3 finals in a row. They’ve also won 11 series in a row – so many series in a row that only the New Yorkers ‘model of the early’ 80s, as well as the Montreal Canadiens in the late 1950s and 1970s, were able to win. In today’s pay-ceiling era, the team’s success is phenomenal, with Lightning placing itself among the best NHL teams in history, despite the outcome of the final series, and applying for dynasty status very seriously.
During the playoffs, the champions were favorites only in the conference finals, while in the other series, including the finals, they were and will be in the final qualifiers. In the 1st round, the Tampa Bay team once again upset Toronto’s Maple Leafs (Series 4-3), in the 2nd round they eliminated the best team in the regular season at the Florida Panthers (Series 4-0), and in the final of the conference after two losses in the first games, Lightning. won four races in a row, playing the New York Rangers 4-2.
Nikita Kucherov took the lead with 23 points in 17 games during the Stanley Cup. Ondrey Chamber was successful in important games (16 points), and the team’s most experienced men, Steven Stemcoss and Viktor Hedman, were also successful in the playoffs (15 and 14 points, respectively). The main forge of the team’s success is goalkeeper Andrejs Vasilevskis, whose success list already classifies him among the best goalkeepers in the history of the NHL. The Russian goalkeeper was also at the level this spring, repelling 92.8% of his opponents’ shots. The champions in the playoffs have been the second best defensive team so far, and they are among the best blockers in the Stanley Cup.
Lightning boasts an enviable depth and experience. Two of the team’s veterans, Cory Perry and Pets Maroon, write their own history – for Marun, this is the fourth final in a row (in 2019 with St. Louis, the next three years in Tampa Bay), but Perry has only become the second player in history to play for three years in a row. in the finals, with three different teams (Dallas in 2020, Montreal in 2021), he lost to Tampa in both cases. Marian Hossa has done so in the past, losing the first two finals until finally winning the third race in 2010 with the Blackhawks of Chicago.
The two teams have very serious questions about the composition of the decisive matches before the season – “Lightning” has been without one of its leaders in the center Breiden Point since the 7th game. True, his return to the field is possible, it was already allowed in the final of the conference and with each passing day Points are closer to return to the games. The Avalanche may have to play without their third top scorer, Nazima Kadri, who was injured in the final of the conference after Evander Cain’s rough play. Several leading Canadian hockey watchers report that Kadri will no longer play this season, and if that turns out to be true, it undermines the Avalanche’s potential for attack.
Before the series, the favorites are the Avalanche hockey players, whose style is similar to the old saying about the Brazilian national football team – throw as much as you can, we will throw more.
The Colorado team’s attack potential is really threatening, but the Lightning have already gone through a bloodbath called the Atlantic Division to get here at all. Lightning played in the strongest NHL division, first stopping the Toronto Maple Leafs and their attack, which is among the best in the NHL. In the 2nd round, the Florida Panthers attack was completely stopped – panthers played the NHL’s most productive season in 26 years and they were by far the most productive team this season, but they were only able to score three goals in four games against Lightning. If Lightning is by far the most serious obstacle for the Colorado team to the coveted cup, then the Lightning hockey players themselves, with teams of approximately equal strength and high attack potential, have fought the entire Stanley Cup. The Avalanche will be fresher before the final, and they have a great opportunity to get a handicap, as the first two games will take place at their home in Denver. It is important to add that this city is located on a high altitude, so it is always more physically difficult for opponents to play there.
The NHL finals between Tampa Lightning and the Avalanche in Colorado will begin on the night of Thursday, 3:00 a.m. Latvian time, with a game in Denver, and we have to determine the champions by the morning of June 29, when the 7th game of the finals is scheduled.
