Should the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the odds and come from behind to knock off the Chicago Blackhawks, hockey fans can expect to see Stanley Cup in Prince George this summer.
The assumption is that Tampa coach Jon Cooper would bring the Cup to his hometown in P.G. where his parents Bob and Christine Cooper continue to live.
The 47-year-old Jon Cooper is hoping to continue a pattern of winning a championship in his second season behind the bench. This is his second full season coaching with the Lightning.
In 2012, Cooper won the Calder Cup with the Norfolk Admirals, his second year coaching in the AHL.
He also won championships in his second full season in the United States Hockey League (Green Bay Gamblers 2010) and the North American Hockey League (St Louis Bandits 2007 and 2008).
Cooper is not a finalist for the Jack Adams NHL Coach of the year Award (Calgary’s Bob Hartley is the odds on favorite over Nashville’s Peter Laviolette and the Rangers’ Alain Vigneault) but his playoff success has quickly elevated him into an elite category with the brightest innovative minds in the game.
#
Losing game one of the Stanley Cup final may cost the Tampa Bay Lightning the series. One should never overreact to the first game in a best of seven final, but Tampa showed its inexperience on the big stage when they dropped that 2-1 decision to the Chicago Blackhawks.
The Lightning played cautious by trying to sit on a 1-0 lead most of the game, a recipe that is doomed to fail against a veteran Chicago team.
Tampa effectively shutdown Toews, Kane and Hossa but in a two minute span in the second half of the third period, the Blackhawks lesser lights struck twice to stun a Lightning team that is just 5-6 on home ice in the post-season.
Tampa has been resilient following a loss in the playoffs (7-1) but the urgency is magnified with game two Saturday.
Mentally, the Lightning will be tested. On Wednesday, they lost for the first time in the playoffs after scoring the first goal (9-1). In addition, the Lightning had been a combined 41-0-2 (8-0 in playoffs) when leading after two periods prior to losing to the Blackhawks.
Chicago became the first road team to win when trailing after two periods in a Stanley Cup Final game in 15 years (since the Devils on June 5, 2000 vs DAL).
Since the Cup Final went to best-of-7 in 1939, the team that has won game one has captured the Stanley Cup 77.3% of the time (58 of 75 series).
Tampa has too much talent to fade away, but when the series concludes, will we look back at that two minute sequence in the third period of game one as the turning point?
#
For the first time in 20 years (Bellingham Ice Hawks 1990-95) the BCHL has an American-based franchise.
The Wenatchee Wild enter the league with an impressive résumé as the 17th team, but there location adds to the travel challenges of the other clubs, especially the Prince George Spruce Kings.
Wenatchee becomes the 6th team in the Mainland Division which also includes P.G., Surrey, Langley, Chilliwack and Coquitlam.
The distance from Prince George to Wenatchee is a whopping 1,031 kilometres. Ideally, P.G. would like to cut back on travel time and expense, something that won’t happen while crossing the border.
It’s not exactly a hop, skip and jump for the other Lower Mainland teams with trips ranging from 332 kilometres (from Langley) to 365 kilometres (from Coquitlam).
On the positive side, the Wild had a winning record in each of their seven seasons of existence in the North American Hockey League (NAHL) and will add to the profile of the BCHL. This past season they had six players on their roster committed to NCAA Div. I programs.
In addition, the Wild averaged just over 3,000 fans per game over the last seven years.
It appears that Wenatchee, population 113,438, has a strong hockey base, and could lead the BCHL in attendance, however, many of the 16 teams that competed in the 2014-15 BCHL season lost money.
Short term, expansion revenue ($1.2 million or $75,000 a team according to Kevin Mitchell of the Vernon Morning Star) should aid struggling teams, but in the long term, it remains to be seen how much of a hindrance the extra travel will be on the viability of franchises like Prince George.
From the Quote Rack:
Tampa Bay Lightning management said that anyone buying premium seats near the rink for the Stanley Cup Final MUST wear team or neutral colors. And a lot of rich people in Florida were going “So what are our colors?”
RIP Lennie Merullo. He was the last living player who played for the Cubs in a World Series. And most Americans are thinking “How’d he make it to 130?”
Contributor Janice Hough of Palo Alto, California www.leftcoastsportsbabe.com
For Game One of the NBA Finals, the Warriors invited a fan known only as ‘Sweetie’, who turns 105 this month. ‘Sweetie’ reportedly adopted the Warriors because she was tired of waiting for the Cubs.
New York Jets fans will have to pass through metal detectors to get into games at MetLife Stadium. Well, it’s a start–but most experts agree that where they really need metal detectors for Jets fans is at the NFL Draft.
Contributor Bill Littlejohn of South Lake Tahoe, California
Winnipeg added supplemental CFL draft pick Garrett Waggoner to its defensive backfield. Experts say it’s good to get Waggoner, but sad the Bombers won’t have the horses to put in front of him.
Police were called to a Michigan McDonald’s after it turned away a man wearing scuba gear. I recall carrying jumper cables into a restaurant once; they warned me not to start anything.
Comedy writer RJ Currie www.Sportsdeke.com
Country star Garth Brooks had to cancel his three shows in Tampa in order to accommodate the NHL Lightning’s Stanley Cup home games. See, this is what happens when you only have friends in low places.
Johnny Manziel threw a water bottle at a heckler at The Four Seasons Hotel in Irving Texas last Saturday. The heckler decided not to file charges as the throw was intercepted.
Comedy writer TC Chong of Vancouver (http://alwaysfunny.com/)
And in case you missed it:
A Fargo, North Dakota man has been convicted of driving a Zamboni while intoxicated at a girls hockey game and sentenced to nine days in jail. Experts suggest that any appeal by the convicted Zamboni driver would be on thin ice.
Comedy writer Marc Ragovin
Hartley Miller is the sports director and morning news anchor for 94.3 the Goat. His column appears Fridays on myprincegeorgenow.com. Send along a quote, note, or anecdote to [email protected]
Follow him on twitter: @Hartley_Miller
