If you are a hockey fan, you’re likely glued to your television set while watching coverage of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The National Hockey League’s annual championship tournament ranks with the more familiar NFL, NBA and MLB playoffs in terms of prestige — and excitement.
The NHL is the world’s No. 1 professional ice hockey league, so there’s always dramatic twists and turns guaranteed in each of the best-of-seven elimination series and, as a result of that, an enormous amount of entertainment value.
It’s alnost a certainty that sports bars and lounges around the South County region have been streaming games live on big screens for customers to enjoy. Likely, you’ve already caught part of a game or two of what is aptly termed “the coolest game on earth.”
“I’m a fan of all sports but there’s nothing like the excitement and intensity of the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs,” noted Bonita Vista High School roller hockey and Olympian High School boys lacrosse coach Keith Quigley, an Eastlake resident. “The intensity can’t be matched!”
Southern California hockey fans, in particular, were put on the edge of their seats by the Anaheim Ducks’ second-round cliffhanger series against the Edmonton Oilers. The second-rounds series went to a dramatic Game 7 on Wednesday, with the Ducks advancing to the Western Conference Finals on the strength of a winner-take-all 2-1 victory.
Winning the seventh game was only the icing on the cake as the Ducks rallied in the series after dropping the opening two games on home ice to the Oilers, who were making their first Stanley Cup playoff appearance since 2006.
The Ducks are now one series victory away from advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals.
However, following Friday’s 3-2 overtime loss to the visiting Nashville Predators in Game 1 of the conference finals, the Ducks will once again be fighting an uphill battle for playoff supremacy.
Make sure to stock up on pizzas and drinks if you are watching at home as it could be another long series. The Ducks will be out for revenge after being eliminated in the opening round of last year’s Stanley Cup playoffs.
This year’s NHL version of the Final Four also includes the Pittsburgh Penguins and Ottawa Senators, who are paired in the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Ducks or Predators will meet either the Penguins or the Senators in the upcoming Stanley Cup Finals. Pittsburgh is the defending Stanley Cup champion.
NBC-TV has the broadcast rights to the NHL playoffs. Games are being carried over-the-air as well as on the NBCSN cable channel.
The 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs have already delivered their share of heartbreak to fans in certain cities across North America. The Predators, a wild card qualifier, eliminated the Chicago Blackhawks, the top-seeded team in the Western Conference, in the opening round of the playoffs while the New York Rangers, another wild card eliminated the Montreal Canadiens, the top-seeded team in the Eastern Conference, also in the opening round for the two biggest shockers so far.
Meanwhile, the Oilers eliminated the San Jose Sharks, last year’s Stanley Cup finalists, were eliminated in the opening. The Ducks swept the Calgary Flames in four consecutive games to face off the playoffs.
The Ducks won the regular season Pacific Division title while the Predators finished fourth in the Central Division. Nashville is bidding to become the biggest underdog in history to win the Stanley Cup.
Game 2 in the Anaheim-Nashville series is Sunday, slated for a 4:30 p.m. (PT) start at the Honda Center in Anaheim.
So far, two of the 12 completed playoffs series in this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs have gone to a deciding seventh game. Six more have gone to six games.
Add Gulls
Closer to home, the San Diego Gulls, the top minor league affiliate of the Ducks, are embroiled in their own playoff drama.
After eliminating the arch rival Ontario Reign in a wild and wacky deciding fifth game in their American Hockey League Calder Cup Pacific Division semifinal series, the Gulls find themselves on the brink of elimination in the Pacific Division Finals after dropping Game 4 of their best-of-seven series by a score of 4-3 Friday night at the Valley View Casino Center to the visiting San Jose Barracuda.
The top-seeded Barracuda now holds a 3-1 lead in the series heading into Game 5 Saturday night at the Valley View Casino Center.
San Jose, the top minor league affiliate of the Sharks, can wrap up the series championship with a victory in Game 5. Should the Gulls extend the series, the Barracuda would hold home ice advantage for the final two games in the series, should it go that far.
A possible Game 6 would be played Tuesday at the SAP Center in San Jose. A potential Game 7 would be played Wednesday at the same site.
The Barracuda has won the last three games in the series after the Gulls, seeded second in the division playoffs, captured the opening game in a 3-2 overtime upset in Game 1.
Being behind the eight ball is nothing new for the Gulls, who rallied to eliminate the Reign after losing the opening game of their best-of-five semifinal series on home ice.
Beating the Barracuda on a consistent basis in the playoffs has been another story, however. Despite being out-shot 42-32 in Game 1 of the division finals on May 5, the Gulls managed to steal a win on Kevin Roy’s goal 38 seconds into overtime. San Jose came back to win Game 2 the next night by a decisive score of 5-1 to tie the series at a win apiece.
The series then shifted to San Diego for the next three games, with a golden opportunity for the Gulls to sweep the series and advance to the Western Conference Finals. But the hosts were severely disappointed when they put together their best game so far in the series, according to Gulls head coach Dallas Eakins, in Game 3 on Wednesday night.
The Gulls held three one-goal leads only to lose at 17:40 of the first overtime period on a breakaway goal by Timo Meier, the Sharks’ No. 1 pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.
The Gulls had an opportunity to swing the series in their favor but let it slip through their grasp; instead the Barracuda regained home ice advantage.
It turns out that home ice advantage may, in fact, turn out to be meaningless. In an interesting twist, neither the Gulls nor the Barracuda could post a win in the other team’s building during the regular season. In the division finals, however, the Gulls have already racked up one road win while San Jose has won two road games.
Regardless of which team fans may be rooting for, the Calder Cup playoffs have been wildly entertaining to date. Already, two of the favorites have been eliminated from contention for the league’s coveted championship trophy.
The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, the team with the top record in the AHL during the regular season, were upset by the Providence Bruins in the opening round of the Atlantic Division playoffs, while the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the second-seeded team in the Atlantic Division playoffs and the team with the second best record in the Eastern Conference, were eliminated by the Hershey Bears.
It’s been a dream match-up in the Pacific Division Finals.
The Barracuda finished with the top regular season record (43-16-4-5) among Pacific Division teams and, in fact, posted the second best winning percentage .699) in the 30-team league.
The Gulls finished with the second best record in the Pacific Division (43-20-3-2), trailing only the Barracuda, and finished with the third best winning percentage (.669) in the AHL during the regular season.
San Jose and San Diego ranked first and second, respectively, among the 16 Western Conference teams. Either the Barracuda or the Gulls will hold home ice advantage in the upcoming conference finals.
The Gulls have been battling injuries and call-ups to the parent club through both rounds of the Calder Cup playoffs. The team has used 52 players this season; Eakins continues to pair the team’s remaining healthy players, plus youngsters on amateur contracts, in an effort to find the winning combination.
It’s been a grind every game.
“I thought our worst game of the series was that first one that we won,” Eakins explained. “I thought we played a tiny bit better, not a whole lot, in Game 2, but the score was much different.
“I thought Game 3 was our best game, and a game that I thought we should have won. We had crossbars and goal posts when we were winning 2-1, and their goals were interesting last night. Two came off of blocks that ended up right on their stick at the side of the net and the other one was a puck that was coming in front, hit their defensemen’s skate and ends up in the net.”
It’s been clear that execution on special teams has been the deciding factor in the division finals thus far. The Gulls carry a 2-for-14 power play conversion (14.3 percent) into Game 5. San Jose, regarded as the fastest team in the league, scored three power play goals on four opportunities in Game 4 and is 6-for-14 (42.9 percent) in the division finals.
San Jose finished with the league’s second best power play percentage (23.8) during the regular season. The Barracuda also owned a superior penalty kill percentage to the Gulls (83.7 to 81.2).
By the way that Game 4 started, it looked the Gulls might be making a major comeback in the series. The Gulls had the 10,617 in attendance waving their rally towels early on based on their spirited play. After being out-played (and out-shot 129-83) in the opening three games of the series, it appeared as if the Gulls had finally found a magic formula to neutralize their Bay Area adversaries.
Instead, the Barracuda rode the momentum of first-period power play goals by Barclay Goodrow and Ryan Carpenter to forge a 2-0 lead. San Jose later tacked on a third goal by Colin Blackwell at 11:30 of the second period to lead 3-0.
The second period was wide open, featuring 20 shots between the teams, and three goals. Unfortunately for the Gulls, two of those goals were scored by the Barracuda to take a 4-1 lead in the game.
The Gulls began their rally on a goal at the 13:29 mark of the second period by Mitch Hults, fresh out of Lake Superior State University and appearing in his first Calder Cup playoff game. The goal energized the crowd into a towel-waving frenzy. But San Jose quickly played spoiler when Tim Heed, a Second Team AHL All-Star in 2016-17, scored a power play goal 2:27 later to boost the visitors to a commanding 4-1 lead in the game. Orange County product Nic Kerdiles gave the hosts some hope when he scored a power play goal 3:35 into the third period to halve the Gulls deficit to 4-2.
San Diego goaltender Dustin Tokarski, who had replaced starter Jhonas Enroth to start the third period, left the ice with 1:45 to play in favor of an extra attacker and Sam Carrick trimmed the Barracuda lead to 4-3 on a goal with 16.6 seconds to play.
The game ended with the crowd on its feet cheering for a potential game-tying goal to send the game into overtime.
The Gulls out-shot their adversary for the first time in the series 32-26 but the result was another frustrating loss. Goodrow (one goal, two assists), Carpenter (one goal, one assist) and Joakim Ryan (two assists) swept the postgame three star awards for San Jose.
Carpenter, who appeared in 11 NHL games this season with two goals and two assists, leads all AHL playoff scorers with seven goals and 13 points in nine games Carrick and Kerdiles each had a goal and assist for the Gulls in the Game 4 loss. Kerdiles (four goals, four assists) and Carrick (four goals, three assists) lead San Diego in playoff scoring.
San Jose goaltender Troy Grosenick, the AHL’s Goaltender of the Year in 2016-17, sports a 2.44 goals-against average and .910 save percentage heading into Game 5 of the Pacific Division Finals. Enroth, who was spectacular in the series against Ontario and one of the Gulls’ bona fide heroes in Game 1 and Game 3 of the division finals, has a 2.76 GAA and .922 save percentage.
“We’re encouraged by our play, but these games in the playoffs, especially when you’re the top two teams battling it out right now, they’re going to be tight, they’re going to be contested, and we’ve got to find a way to get that puck in the net off those posts and crossbars, rather than it being in our net off broken plays,” Eakins emphasized.
The Gulls have directly assisted the Ducks in their quest for the Stanley Cup championship trophy by developing players in San Diego for the parent club. Goaltender John Gibson, along with forward Nick Ritchie and defensemen Brandon Montour and Shea Theodore were Gulls matinee idols last season.
Ritchie scored the game-winner in the Game 7 win over Edmonton while Gibson stopped 21 of 22 shots (.958 save percentage) to pick up the win.
Ritchie, who scored the first goal in Gulls AHL history, appeared in 77 regular season games with Anaheim this season, netting 14 goals and 28 points. In 10 playoff games, he has two goals.
Gibson, who led the Gulls out of the gate in their inaugural season with seven wins, posted a 25-16-9 record in 52 regular season game appearances in 2016-17 with a 2.22 GAA, six shutouts and .924 save percentage, is 7-3-1 in 12 playoff games.
Montour, a two-time AHL All-Star selection, appeared in 36 games for the Gulls this season and 27 regular season contests for Anaheim and all 12 playoff games. Theodore appeared in 26 games for the Gulls this season and 46 games for the Ducks, including playoffs.
The Gulls are continuing to develop players for the Ducks even in the Calder Cup playoffs. Max Jones, Anaheim’s first pick in the 2016 NHL draft, has showcased his ample talent in both playoff series for the Gulls. He has a goal and assist in eight postseason matches and has been a force physically with his 6-foot-3, 200-pound frame as well as with his speed.
See you at the rink!
Barracuda closes out Gulls’ season with 2-0 shutout victory in Game 5
The Gulls ended their season with a 2-0 loss to the San Jose Barracuda in Saturday’s Game 5 of the teams’ Pacific Division Finals. The top-seeded Barracuda wins the best-of-seven series four games to one and will now move on to face the Central Division playoff champion Grand Rapids Griffins in the Western Conference Finals.
The second-seeded Gulls, visibily hurting from a talent drain in the injury and call-up departments, pushed themselves to the limit in an attempt to stave off playoff elimination. But they could not overcome healthier, deeper and faster San Jose team despite playing on their home ice.
Barclay Goodrow, an AHL All-Star in 2015-16, scored an even-strenghth goal at 10:24 of the first period, assisted by Jacob Middleton and Zack Stortini. Adam Helewka added a power play goal off assists from Julius Bergman and Mirco Mueller at 14:00 of the second period.
The Gulls found it difficult to beat 2016-17 AHL Goaltender of the Year Troy Grosenick, who appeared to play his best in Game 4 and Game 5 of the series. Grosenick made stops on all 34 shots he faced after stopping 29 shots in Game 4.
San Jose piled up a 10-6 edge in shots in the third period to finish with a 35-34 edge in shots in the game. The Barracuda out-shot San Diego in four of the five games in the series.
The Gulls had a golden opportunity to get back in the game when San Jose’s Timo Meier, the hero in the Barracuda’s 4-3 overtime win in Game 3, was assessed a five-minute major penalty and game misconduct on a charging call against San Diego’s Stu Bickel at 5:29 of the third period.
Bickel lay on the ice after being smashed against the dasher boards and then collapsed onto the ice after attempting to right himself. He was carried off the ice by teammates and later transported to a local hospital.
The Gulls, however, could not capitalize on the penalty, for the most part prefering to play and dump and chase game in the corners, as time began to run out on their season.
Veteran San Jose coach Roy Sommer, an Oakland native, said his team’s ability to kill he five-minute penalty was the turning point in the game.
“It was classic on our part,” he said. “I’m not sure they even got off one good scoring chance.”
Most of the shots fired in Grosenick’s direction either bounced off defenders in front of him or whizzed wide or above the San Jose net.
Unable to climb back in the game, the Gulls were later forced to kill a two-minute boarding penalty to Tyler Morley at 15:46 of the period that effectively used up the remaining time in the game.
The Gulls pulled starter Jhonas Enroth with two mintues to play in favor of an extra attacker. They got off one shot that deflected off the post but neither team could score with the empty net.
Ironically, San Diego held San Jose’s Ryan Carpenter, the leading scorer in the Calder Cup playoffs, without a point in the deciding contest in the loss.
The Gulls finished 4-6 in their two Calder Cup playoff series while the Barracuda improved to 7-3.
San Diego coach Dallas Eakins remained proud of his banged-up team.
“Success sometimes isn’t always measured in winning a championship,” he said somewhat stoically. “I think, success is, at the end of the day, knowing you gave it your absolute best. With our injuries and the call-ups, our guys gave it their all. They really supported each other. They did everything they could.
“This team is made up of a group of fighters. They scrape and claw.”
Among those on the injured list was forward Corey Tropp, who led the team in regular season scoring with 21 goals and 54 points in 62 games. Bickel was the latest Gull to join the injured list in the third period.
“I was looking at my board the other day and noticed there were 10 guys who should have been in our line-up. That’s the American Hockey League. I’m fine with that.”
San Diego defenseman Jeff Schultz called his teammates a “unique group of guys.”
“We had a good mix of young guys and veterans guys, a lot of skill,” he said.
He also praised the support from the team’s sizable fan base. Game 5 attracted a crowd of 7,368 to a pre-Mother’s Day event. The Gulls ranked third overall among the 30 AHL teams during the regular season with an 8,876 attendance average.
But even spontaneous chants of “Let’s Go Gulls!” could not boost the San Diego team to the next level in the Calder Cup playoffs. The Gulls ended their season for the second year in a row in the division finals. They lost to the Ontario Reign 4-1 in five games last season.
Attrition eventually took its toll on a San Diego team that set franchise records for wins (43) and points (91) during the regular season.
Enroth, who started the playoffs in spectacular fashion, gradually saw his goaltending average go up as the playoffs wore on. He finished Game 5 with 33 saves on 35 shots.
Enroth finished the Gulls 10 playoff games with a 2.69 GAA and .924 save percentage after posting a stellar 1.73 GAA and .936 save percentage in 18 regular season games with the club.
Grosenick, who allowed an average of less than two goals per game in the five games against the Gulls in the division finals, enters the conference finals with a 2.21 GAA and .920 save percentage.
He finished the regular season with a 2.04 GAA, 10 shutouts and a .926 save percentage.
Sommer, the AHL Coach of the Year, gave the Gulls credit for putting together a hard-fought series despite their shortcomings in the lineup.
“Who thought that we’d come down here and win all three games,” he asked out loud. “This is the toughest building to get a win in the whole league, just look at their record (23-9-1-1 during the regular season).”
The Barracuda will host the opening two games in the best-of-seven conference finals May 20 and May 21 at the SAP Center. Grand Rapids, the second-place regular season finisher in the Central Division standings, upset the top-seeded Chicago Wolves four games to one in their best-of-seven division finals.
The AHL’s Eastern Conference Finals are still in progress. The Hershey Bears hold a three-games-to-two edge on the Providence Bruins while the Syracuse Crunch lead the Toronto Marlies by a 3-2 margin in their best-of-seven series.
Add Ducks
Anaheim rallied to tie their Stanley Cup Western Conference Finals series against Nashville at a game apiece with a 5-3 win Sunday afternoon. Five players with connections to the Gulls either this season or last season had an impact for the Ducks in the victory.
Nick Ritchie and Ondrej Kase each scored goals while Brandon Montour and Shea Theodore each picked up assists. Goaltender John Gibson made 30 saves on 33 shots to pick up his eighth win in 13 playoff games. The goal was Kase’s first in the Stanley Cup playoffs while Ritchie picked up his second game-winning goal in this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs.
Following the Gulls’ exit from the Calder Cup playoffs, Sam Carrick, Nic Kerdiles and goaltender Jhonas Enroth were recalled to Anaheim. All were healthy scratches for Sunday’s game.
