Eklund: So Who Had Joel Kiviranta for the Hattrick In Their Picks? Best Story Ever?

I don’t know if anything even comes close. I consider myself a knowledgeable fan and never heard of this guy before his 1st goal and he decided to toss in the tying goal and OT winner.

Congrats to the kid for shining in the most important game of the year for Dallas.

Looking forward to a good series with Vegas but unless someone finds a way to put some shots in Lehner, they are in trouble.

Eklund, McDavid is the best player in the world.

Looks like Kiviranta has a starting spot until further notice.

Two words: Jordan Binnington.

This sounds like a movie, mostly because of how many things you exaggerated about.

Dallas did not struggle all year. They were on pace for almost 100 points and were the 2nd best defensive team in the NHL.

MacKinnon is not the best player in the world.

Colorado was not some heavily favoured dominant team. They finished just a couple wins ahead of Dallas and were decimated by injuries.

Keep reaching.

1) Messier in 94 eastern conference finals with the guarantee. As much as it hurt watching the devils lose like that, you can’t even make that stuff up. He made a guarantee and scored 3 in game 6. That is magical.

2) big IF, but if the ducks win in 2003. That hit on Paul Karyia from Stevens when everyone thought he died. You saw him basically come back to life and his breath filled his visor. Goes to the locker room comes back and on the next shift puts it top shelf where momma keeps the chocolate chip cookies.

3) Jordan Binnington from Christmas of last year to game seven of the Stanley cup finals. Never seen an individual have such an impact on an entire hockey club.

Eklund: So Who Had Joel Kiviranta for the Hattrick In Their Picks? Best Story Ever?
- Eklund

I don't know about best story ever but Joel Kiviranta is a name 90% of hockey fans probably never heard of - amazing how no one signed him. But who knows if he will become a solid NHLer or just a flash in the pan

To cap off this story, at the end of his interview he said : “ I just hope I play next game.” Unreal.

Eklund: So Who Had Joel Kiviranta for the Hattrick In Their Picks? Best Story Ever?
- Eklund

Eva!!!!!!!

MacKinnon is the best player IMO...hockey isn't just offence

I'll take MacKinnon on my team any day, all day.
He's up there in the conversation for sure.

Good karma on couturier for his cheap shot on Lehkonen




Love to see it hockey Gods!

There ya go Brucey!

https://youtu.be/jsaTElBljOE

There ya go Brucey!

https://youtu.be/jsaTElBljOE
- gergeswillems

I dont even know what he is thinking, he trash talking the Canucks and they honestly played a lot better than Flyers did. Flyers should have been swept IMO. What I watched was not the same team I watched all year. Actually similar to Isles last year VS Canes.

The word 'arguable' for Mack being the best is in there folks - no need to hose Ek for something he already put a caveat in for.

As for Kiviranta - I missed the game and did a double take when I saw the recap, checked the stats and still can't make much sense of it. To add, kid was slated on the fourth line. There aren't many parallels to that, it's as improbable a scenario as I've seen in hockey in a long while.

The word 'arguable' for Mack being the best is in there folks - no need to hose Ek for something he already put a caveat in for.

As for Kiviranta - I missed the game and did a double take when I saw the recap, checked the stats and still can't make much sense of it. To add, kid was slated on the fourth line. There aren't many parallels to that, it's as improbable a scenario as I've seen in hockey in a long while.
- Bartacus

The underdog Stars who struggled all year defeating the dominant Avs is a huge exaggeration. They were separated by just a few points in the season, Dallas did have the 2nd best defence in the NHL (what a struggle), and the Avs had numerous injuries and were playing a 3rd string journeyman goalie.

This was not a shocking result.

The underdog Stars who struggled all year defeating the dominant Avs is a huge exaggeration. They were separated by just a few points in the season, Dallas did have the 2nd best defence in the NHL (what a struggle), and the Avs had numerous injuries and were playing a 3rd string journeyman goalie.

This was not a shocking result.
- Kooleus

Agreed! I didn't say the Stars winning was shocking - that was predictable enough. What I was getting at is that Kiviranta's performance was highly atypical from your average first game for a 4th line 24 year old who's been middling in the AHL to date. Awesome for the guy, but highly unusual to see it happen. I assume Dallas will just hope Cogliano stays injured, because looking at their lineup I don't know who you'd feel comfortable replacing with Kiviranta, despite the fact he obviously has earned it.