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Ohm-y we have a new champion

September 29, 2020, 9:08 AM ET [144 Comments]
Ryan Wilson
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The best team doesn’t always win in hockey. In actuality more times than not they do not win. This year they did. The Tampa Bay Lightning have been a wrecking ball for the past number of years and this time they were able to get through to the end. They did so in impressive fashion. Not once did they play a game where their season was on the line. They never lost more than two games in a series.

I really like it when a proper built team wins it all. It is a copycat league and for entertainment purposes I would prefer the teams that are fun and very watchable be the ones copied. Sure, not may teams can duplicate the overall success in how Tampa Bay constructed their team, but I’d rather teams try than to dumb it down and play defensive and unentertaining hockey. Nobody neutral wants to watch the Islanders play.

The one thing that might be more impressive than the Lightning was the success of the NHL’s bubble (entertainment options aside). I had serious doubts about their ability to get the games played and the Stanley Cup awarded. Not only did they get the games in, but they pitched a shutout on Covid. Not a single positive test during the two months. It certainly helped moving things to Canada. Kudos to the league

Victor Hedman was a justified Conn Smythe Trophy winner. He was a hockey cyborg playing defense this entire postseason. He is methodical in his approach and more physically gifted than most. Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov would have also been deserving winners, but having two legit forward options likely paved the way for Kucherov. Just to put into perspective what Kucherov and Point did this postseason




Yes, this total included the fake round robin round, but it is still an amazing playoff run when you are on pace with early 20’s Crosby and Malkin.

Where the hell were the boos?!

I am beyond disappointed Gary Bettman didn’t play up the booing meme. How could they not pipe in huge boo’s for the occasion? It would have been hilarious and fun, so I guess there is my answer. The other option would have been to pipe in enormous cheering for Bettman who could have played it off like “who, me?” Would have been legendary and hilarious. Instead we just got rambling.

The games are over now and we can shift our focus ahead to the draft is next week. As far as drafting goes it won’t be all that exciting for the Penguins. They don’t have a first (Kapanen) or second round (Fleury) pick. What could be exciting is the trade market with Matt Murray. We might get some closure on that front soon just in time to maybe clear cap space for Zach Bogosian or Cody Ceci.

Thanks for reading!
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