Hockeywiztalks Hockey Blog

  This is a quick update blog in which I provide the latest from around the NHL. Conn Smythe Odds Jonathan Marcessault -110 Matthew Tkachuk +350 Sergei Bobrovsky +450 Jack Eichel +650 Updated Stanley Cup Finals Schedule GM 5: Tue., June 13: Panthers at Golden Knights; TNT, truTV, SN, CBC, TVAS GM 6: *Fri., June 16: Golden Knights at Panthers; TNT, TBS, truTV, SN, CBC, TVAS GM 7 *Mon., June 19: Panthers at Golden Knights; TNT, TBS, truTV, SN, CBC, TVAS Recent Trades Edmonton Oilers acquire Jayden Grubbe from New York Rangers for 2023 5th round Pick. In a 3 team trade, Columbus Blue Jackets acquire defenseman Ivan Provorov from the Philadelphia Flyers in a three-team trade that also included the Los Angeles Kings . Philadelphia acquires goaltender Cal Petersen , defensemen Sean Walker , Helge Grans , a 1st-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft , a 2nd-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft , and a conditional 2nd-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft . Los Angeles acquires defenseman Kevin Con...

 This is a Quick update on the Conference Finals Matchups in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Eastern Conference  Florida Panthers Sweep Carolina Hurricanes 4-0 Game 1 took an eternity before Matthew Tkachuk scored in the 4th OT to give the Patnhers a 1-0 lead in the series; Sergei Bobrovsky made 63 saves in the win. Game 2 went to Overtime again, and resulted in yet another Matthew Tkachuk GWG, this time the goal was scored just 1:51 into overtime on the powerplay. Sergei Bobrovsky was the story of game 3, as he made 32 saves to shutout Carolina, 1-0 to give the Florida Panthers a commanding 3-0 lead in the series. With 4.9 seconds left in the 3rd period and Florida on the Man Advantage due to a Jordan Staal tripping penalty, Matthew Tkachuk scored his 3rd Game winning goal of series to send the Panthers on the the Stanley Cup Finals. The Florida Panthers are back in the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1996, and they have had by far the toughest path to it having to...

This is a Quick update on the Quarterfinals Matchups in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs since a lot has changed since my last post. Eastern Conference Matchups BOS vs FLA Boston Bruins lead the series 3-2 In Game 4, Taylor Hall had 4 points, Linus Ullmark had 41 saves to lead the Bruins to a 6-2 victory, sending Florida to the Brink. Sergei Bobrovsky made 44 saves in a OT victory to stage off elimination in Game 5 to send the series home to Florida for a Game 6. Game 6 is tonight at 7:30pm on TNT/CBC CAR vs NYI Carolina Hurricanes lead series 3-2 The Hurricanes won Game 4, 4-1 behind two goals from Seth Jarvis, and the win also ended an 8 game road losing streak in the playoffs. In Game 5, with the Hurricanes trying to send the Islanders home for the summer, Ilya Sorokin had other ideas, making 34 saves in a 3-2 win. Game 6 is tonight at 7:00pm on TBS/SN360 NJ vs NYR New Jersey Devils lead series 3-2 After falling behind in a 2-0 hole in the series, the Devils won Game 3 in Overtime on a...

The Western Conference Playoffs picture has changed since my podcast was earlier released on Friday. Here are the updated Western Conference Matchups: Colorado Avalanche vs Nashville Predators Key Players: COL: N.MacKinnon, M.Rantanen, G.Landeskog, N.Kadri, A.Burakovsky, A.Lehkonen, V.Nichushkin, C.Makar, D.Toews, S.Girard, J.Manson NSH: F.Forsberg, M.Duchene, R.Johansen, M.Granlund, L.Kunin, C.Sissons, T.Trenin, R.Josi, M.Ekholm, D.Fabbro, A.Carrier X-Factors: COL-A.Newhook, NSH-P.Tomasino Goalie Matchup: D.Kuemper vs D.Rittich The Colorado Avalanche faced the Nashville Predators 4 times in the regular season, but they only managed to win 1 game against the Predators. It's a good thing that Colorado has home-ice advantage because the Avs have allowed an average of 5 goals against on the road in the season series with Nashville. Colorado faced Nashville 6 times in the playoffs, but they have lost 4 times to them in the postseason. Even though Colorado is going to be heavily fav...

The 2019-2020 NHL regular season is officially over. On Tuesday, May 26th, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced that league will transition into a 24-team, conferenced-based playoff format when play resumes. He also announced and explained the specific details that the NHL will operate under once the playoffs begin. Here are the details about the playoff format that Bettman outlined: -There is no set start date for the return of play -Two hub cities-one for Eastern Conference games and one for Western Conference games, which will be announced at a later date -Teams will be limited to 50 personnel in their respective hub city. A small number of support staff will also be permitted in event arenas -Phase 2 of the return to play plan is expected to begin in early June, but there's still no official date -Phase 3 will include the start of training camp and is targeted for early July -Phase 4, which has no target date yet, will include the return of play with clubs facin...