Captain Lando

It is obvious that the Lightning are stacked, but it is more than just that with this team. They have gelled as a unit and that is something that should be commended upon the Jon Cooper and the coaching staff. Not every team with fantastic players work well together, especially in pressure games. The Florida Panthers are a recent team that fits this example. Full of talent, but could not put it together when it counts. The Lightning know exactly how to work together as a unit of 23 players to get the job done and that is why they are so successful not only in the regular season. but also in the playoffs. They are also successful when a key player goes down with an injury. Case in point,(no pun intended) Brayden Point and others step up and work together to get the job down. This is what makes this team a champion. Yes, I called them a champion as that is what they are and I am not a fan of them at all. Credit is due where it is due. This is why I want my team, the Colorado Avalanche who I also see as a team who plays as a unit of very talented players go up against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup Finals. I want all the opportunity to say we dethroned the champs from the top. That is what would really put a cherry on top of all of this. Also I want Brayden Point back on the ice along with Nazim Kadri and Andrew Cogliano so both teams can go at this at full strength. No excuses at the end. Let's get this on and GO AVS GO!!!!

I understand the whole financial aspect of it all so it is what it is. There are so many other things in this world to worry about more than my screen being split with commercials while I am watching a hockey game.

We love Cogliano and what he brings to the Avs lineup.

The huge hype and talk about home ice fans will get this game 5 taken care of. Well I just looked over the game 5 stat sheet with a fine tooth comb and guess what not a single thing on it from the dreaded home ice fans to help the Rangers to this supposed easy victory.

I really want the 2 time defending champs in the Lightning so the Avs can have the shot to take down the team at on top. That is what I want and that is what I think now is going to happen.

Looks like Palat redirected that go ahead goal. Now that the game is over they decide to beat the #### out of each other. Go ahead boys beat one another up more while my team rests.

Another D Man lighting the lamp. GOAL. All Even.

Yeah and moments later the Rangers Miller gets called for hooking so its a Power Play for the Lightning.

Damn what an angle by Ryan Lindgren. GOAL

Sean Mcdonough says "Boy Zibanejab has a great shot." What the hell do you expect he is an NHL player.

2 shots on the net for the Lightning on that Power Play.

I would just think in the middle of the game the last thing that a head coach would want to see poking in his face is a microphone. The coaches however are usually pretty good about it.

The 1st Period ends with no score, but the Lightning hit the post two times. The period seemed to fly by pretty quickly as there were no penalties to deal with. Both teams could get more shots on the net, but I think that will open up more as the 2nd period moves on. Both teams should be sort of satisfied with this period.

Why I will never know that these side ice reporters ask questions to coaches in the middle of the game.

Yes indeed. The Avs have two guys like that is Andrew Cogliano and Darren Helm. They are the kind of players that just bug the hell out of the other teams with the things they do even if they don't get on the stat sheet.

Maroon sure did light the lamp in the last game.

Reeves does add a physical part to the New York Rangers game. Does anyone know who took his spot for the game?

I always want to have teams especially when it comes to these important games at full strength. That rarely does happen, but it would be nice. There is still some chance that Kadri and Cogliano could be a part of the Stanley Cup Finals that that would be a huge boost for the Avs. If the Lightning do make it past the Rangers, I also hope Point can skate because I want the Avalanche to defeat the complete Lightning squad in the Finals. The same would be said if the Rangers make it.

Darcy Kuemper has been ruled 100% fit for the Stanley Cup Finals, but the coaching staff still needs to decide whether or not it will be him or Pavel Francouz who will start in the net for game 1. As for Nazim Kadri and Andrew Cogliano both are still recovering from their surgeries/injuries , but have not been ruled out from participating at some point in the Stanley Cup Finals.

The crowd doesn't get on the ice and play the game. Yes, playing on home ice is a small X factor but what dictates how the game goes is the play of the players who suit up and take the ice. It is as simple as that. The players and coaches of both teams know what they both need to do and they have been working on that since the last game. They aren't worried about what the fans are going to be doing or not doing. all that chatter about the Rangers got this game because it is on home ice is coming from the fans and not the players and coaches. Cheering does help motivate players, but everyone of these players are professional athletes and if they cannot get motivated for a game like tonight even if it is being played on a backyard pond then they should not be playing in the game.

Some of these teams definitely needed a change such as the Flyers, Red Wings, and Jets. The other teams that have fired coaches I think these moves are going to come back to bite them in the ###. Losing a quality coach like Trotz and Cassidy is going to be extremely hard to find a replacement to top that sort of quality of coach. A team also like Dallas who really isn't that bad of a team changes coaches and going a different route could hurt them along the way. Then there is Vegas who just seems to have this thing about wanting to change things up. They have been in existence for 5 years now and this will be their 3rd coach coming up already. That doesn't make sense to me at all, especially when the previous coaches have been Gerard Gallant and Peter Deboer.

Just a few days ago 5 players from this Humboldt Broncos team who survived that horrific bus crash attended the Game 4 Western Conference Final between the Edmonton Oilers and Colorado Avalanche to make a donation to Ben Stelter you is the little boy who is suffering from a form of Brain Cancer. The donation was to offset some of the medical costs his family has accumulated. It shows that there is good in this world and these young guys have exhibited it here.

Totally shines a horrible light on the NHL and yes they need to do a lot more with this. Players lives and the families of these players lives are being destroyed. These children of these players is what is really sad.

That video really tells it like it is and hits hard. It is a damn shame because you hear these players stories after they have left the game and now they are living with life long illnesses because of this crap.

Do not get me wrong, these players are tough. Toughest athletes in any sport in my opinion, but when I see something like I saw with Draisaitl I just have to think how much painkillers the medical staff is shooting him up with to get him to be able to play at that level? In the long run I don't know if that is good or not and I know many of these players are all for it.