Miami's Coleman, Tampa Bay Lightning Win Stanley Cup

 

A Texas boy helped make it Tampa Bay's night on Monday in Edmonton.

Blake Coleman (Miami), a forward from Plano, TX scored a second-period insurance goal and the Tampa Bay Lightning went on to defeat the Dallas Stars, 2-0, in Game 6 of the best-of-seven series and claim the 2020 Stanley Cup. It was the Lightning's second Cup in three Final appearances all-time, and its first NHL playoff title since 2004.

Drafted 75th overall by New Jersey in 2011, Coleman, who grew up as a Stars fan, played parts of four NHL seasons with the Devils before being traded to Tampa Bay in February. After tallying one assist in nine regular-season outings, he finished with five goals and eight assists for 13 points in 25 Stanley Cup playoff contests over the last two months in the postseason bubbles of Toronto and Edmonton. Those sites were made necessary by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic that canceled the remainder of the NHL regular season in March.

Coleman, 28, prepped with Tri-City and Indiana in the USHL before skating for Miami from 2011 to 2015, where he notched 60 goals and 107 points in 143 NCAA games. He also led the Red Hawks to the 2013 CCHA regular-season title, the 2015 NCHC postseason crown, and the 2015 NCAA tournament. A bronze medal winner with the U.S. at the 2018 World Championship in Denmark, he has already registered 57-38—95 points in 246 NHL regular-season games.

Also on Tampa Bay's roster this season from the NCAA ranks were Alexander Killorn (Harvard), Kevin Shattenkirk (Boston University), Ryan McDonagh (Wisconsin), Luke Witkowski (Western Michigan), Cory Conacher (Canisius) and Curtis McElhinney (Colorado College).

Stars Stay Alive in Stanley Cup Final

Joe Pavelski (Wisconsin) scored the tying goal late in the third period, and the Dallas Stars pulled out a 3-2 victory in double overtime in Game Five on Saturday night to stay alive in the Stanley Cup Final. The Tampa Bay Lightning now lead the best-of-seven NHL championship series, three games to two.

Jamie Oleksiak (Northeastern) assisted on the game-opening goal for Dallas in the first period, but Tampa Bay battled back to take a 2-1 lead with just over 16 minutes remaining in regulation. Pavelski, a 2006 NCAA champion with Wisconsin, then knotted matters off a rebound with just under seven minutes left, setting a new record for American-born players with his 61st career NHL playoff goal.

The Stars then won it midway through the second extra session, despite being outshot, 41-33, on the night. Game Six is Monday night in Edmonton.

Shattenkirk Stakes Lightning to 3-1 Stanley Cup Final Lead

Kevin Shattenkirk connected from the right side on a power play less than seven minutes into overtime, and the Tampa Bay Lightning moved to within one victory of claiming the Stanley Cup with a 5-4 win over the Dallas Stars on Friday night in Edmonton.

Dallas, which fell by a 5-2 count in Game 3, took a lead of 2-0 in the first period before Tampa Bay fought back to tie matters at three goals apiece. After the Lightning went up, 4-3, in the third period on a goal from Alex Killorn (Harvard), the Stars forged a 4-4 tie on the second goal of the game from Joe Pavelski (Wisconsin), who now leads Dallas with 12 goals this postseason. 

Shattenkirk then scored in the extra session to put Tampa Bay up, three games to one. He and Killorn also collected assists on the night for the Lightning, who have now won three straight games in the best-of-seven series.

Shattenkirk helped BU to an NCAA title in 2009. Pavelski did the same with Wisconsin three years earlier, while Killorn helped Harvard to an ECAC Hockey runner-up finish in 2012.

Game 5 and the potential end of the 2020 NHL season is slated for Saturday night at 8 p.m. ET (NBC TV). A win by Dallas would force a Game 6 on Monday night.

MSU's Petry Re-Signs with Montreal

Jeff Petry (Michigan State) will remain a Montreal Canadien for the next four seasons. According to the Canadiens web site, the former Spartan defenseman recently signed a deal worth an average annual value of $6.25 million that will extend his contract with the Habs through the 2024-25 NHL campaign.

Petry, 32, has played in 680 career NHL regular-season games with Edmonton and Montreal, and has registered 69 goals and 184 assists for 253 points to go with 269 penalty minutes. Drafted 45th overall by Edmonton in 2006, he skated with the Oilers from 2010 to 2014 before being traded to the Canadiens on March 2, 2015.

Petry, from Ann Arbor, Mich., played two years of junior "A" hockey with Des Moines (USHL), winning the league's Clark Cup championship in 2006, before suiting up for three seasons at MSU from 2007 to 2010. In 118 career NCAA outings as a Spartan, he notched 9-58—67 points to go along with 86 PIM. He was also named a Second-Team All-America selection following his third and final season in East Lansing.

The 6-foot-3 rearguard has also played in 51 career AHL regular-season contests with Springfield and Oklahoma City (now Bakersfield). He has also appeared in three World Championships with the U.S., and won a bronze medal in 2013.

Shattenkirk Scores, Tampa Ties Stanley Cup Series

Kevin Shattenkirk (Boston University) scored the third goal of the first period on Monday for the Tampa Bay Lightning, and it stood up as the game-winner in a 3-2 victory over the Dallas Stars that tied the best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final at one contest apiece.

Shattenkirk, who captained BU to the 2009 NCAA title, wristed in a shot from the right point late in the first period to put the Lightning up, 3-0. The goal, his second of these playoffs, made him the third player (and defenseman) with Hockey East ties to score a goal this series, following both Joel Hanley (Massachusetts) and Jamie Oleksiak (Northeastern) for the Stars in Game One.

Joe Pavelski (Wisconsin), who won the 2006 NCAA championship with the Badgers, deflected home a puck late in the second period to put Dallas on the board. It was his team-leading 10th goal this postseason. 

Game Three of the NHL championship is Wednesday night (8 p.m. ET, NBC) in Edmonton.

Hanley, Oleksiak Put Stars Ahead in Cup Final

Joel Hanley (Massachusetts) opened the scoring and Jamie Oleksiak (Northeastern) tallied what turned out to be the game-winning goal as the Dallas Stars opened the 2020 Stanley Cup Final with a 4-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Edmonton. 

Hanley took a pass in the slot and wristed the puck home just 5:40 into regulation for his first career NHL goal. After Tampa Bay forged a 1-1 tie before the end of the first period, on a goal set up by Blake Coleman (Miami), Oleksiak picked up his own rebound and then fired the puck into the top of the net with 12:30 elapsed in the second period to put the Stars back ahead for good.

Tampa Bay outshot Dallas, 36-20, overall while both teams combined to go 0-for-5 on the power play. Game Two is Monday night in Edmonton (NBC TV). 

Hanley played at UMass from 2010 to 2014, where he registered 17 goals and 75 points to go with 127 penalty minutes in 131 career games with the Minutemen. He formerly played in the NHL with Montreal and Arizona, and spent the majority of the past two seasons with Texas (AHL).

Oleksiak, who was drafted 14th overall by Dallas in 2011, has spent his entire NHL career with the Stars, except for parts of two seasons in Pittsburgh. He posted four goals and nine assists for 13 points along with 57 PIM in his lone season at Northeastern (2010-11), and in 313 career NHL regular-season outings has collected 18-40—58 points and 255 PIM.

Coleman, a Texas native who played his first 3 1/2 NHL seasons with New Jersey, skated at Miami (Ohio) from 2011 to 2015 where he recorded 60-47—107 points and 276 PIM in 143 NCAA appearances. He has also notched 57-38—95 points and 204 PIM in 246 NHL regular-season contests with New Jersey and Tampa Bay.

Four Named to U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame

Jerry York (Boston College), Dean Blais (Minnesota), Tony Granato (Wisconsin) and Jenny Potter (Minnesota-Duluth) will all be inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame this fall.

York, a 1967 BC graduate who has led the Eagles to four NCAA titles since taking over as head coach in 1995, has notched a record 1,067 career wins overall with BC, Bowling Green and Clarkson since 1972, including 600 wins and 11 Hockey East regular season championships at his alma mater. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto last year.

Blais, who played at Minnesota between 1969 and 1973, and later played three years professionally with Dalls (CHL), became an assistant coach at North Dakota in 1980. He became head coach in 1994 and subsequently led UND to national titles in 1997 and 2000, and also guided Nebraska-Omaha to the 2015 NCAA Frozen Four before retiring two years later. In his long career, he also served as head coach with Roseau High School and International Falls High School in Minnesota, as an assistant/development coach with the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets, and as GM/Head Coach of Fargo (USHL). He also guided the U.S. at four different World Junior Championships, winning the gold medal in 2010.

Granato skated for Wisconsin from 1983 to 1987, where he tallied 100 goals and 220 points for the Badgers. He went on to play 13 seasons in the NHL from 1988 to 2001 with the New York Rangers, Los Angeles and San Jose, recording 248 goals and 244 for 292 points in 774 regular-season outings, and also played for the U.S. at the 1988 Olympic Winter Games in Calgary. A long-time NHL assistant coach with Colorado, Pittsburgh and Detroit, he twice served as head coach with Colorado, and has been head coach at Wisconsin since 2018.

Potter began her NCAA career with Minnesota in 1998-99 before transferring to UMD for her final three college campaigns. She registered 141-186—327 points in all, and also helped the Bulldogs to the 2003 NCAA title.  A four-time Olympian, she earned two silver medals, a gold medal and a bronze medal while playing for the U.S., and also won a CWHL title with Boston in 2015. A former pro player with the Minnesota Whitecaps, she has served as an assistant high school hockey coach in Minnesota, and as head coach with the women's programs at both Trinity College and Ohio State University.

In other news, the 2020-21 NCAA hockey season is not expected to begin until just before Thanksgiving. 

Stars Off to Final for First Time in 20 Years

The Dallas Stars are returning to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 20 years. The Stars ousted Vegas on Tuesday night, 3-2, in overtime of the fifth game of their best-of-seven NHL Western Conference Final series in Edmonton.

It will be the first trip to the league final for the Stars since 2000, when they lost to the New Jersey Devils in six games, one year after winning the Cup for the only time in franchise history. The organization, which was born as the Minnesota North Stars in 1967, played in two Stanley Cup finals (1981, 1991) in that incarnation before moving their operations to Texas in 1993.

Leading the Stars from the collegiate ranks is forward Joe Pavelski (Wisconsin), who has a team-leading  nine goals so far this postseason. Pavelski helped Wisconsin to the 2006 NCAA title, and first made the Stanley Cup final in 2016 with San Jose.

Other former collegians who have played for Dallas this season include Ben Bishop (Maine), Andrew Cogliano (Michigan), Taylor Fedun (Princeton), Rhett Garner (North Dakota), Joel Hanley (Massachusetts), Stephen Johns (Notre Dame) and Jamie Oleksiak (Northeastern). Bishop backstopped Tampa Bay to the 2015 Stanley Cup Final.

Remember the 11th of September

 He would have turned 50 this year. Rest in peace, Mark #NineEleven

BC's Demko Saves Canucks' Campaign

Thatcher Demko (Boston College) certainly made his Stanley Cup Playoff debut a memorable one. Demko, 24, stopped 42 shots on Tuesday night to backstop the Vancouver Canucks to a season-saving 2-1 win over the Vegas Golden Knights at Rogers Place in Edmonton. The best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series now stands at three games to two for Vegas, with Game 6 scheduled for Thursday.

Starting in place of injured regular netminder Jacob Markstrom, Demko stopped 38 of 39 shots at even strength, and all four attempts he faced while Vancouver was shorthanded, as the Canucks were outshot, 43-17, overall on the evening. The only goal Demko surrendered came late in the second period, although Vancouver tied the game just 24 seconds later on a goal by Brock Boeser (North Dakota), who then assisted on the game-winning goal in the third period.

A fourth-year pro out of San Diego and the U.S. National Team Development Program in Michigan, the 6-foot-4 Demko played in an NHL career-high 27 games during a COVID-19 abbreviated regular season for the Canucks, going 13-10-2 with a 3.06 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage. He appeared in nine games for Vancouver during the 2018-19 season, after making his league debut in 2017-18 and posting a victory in his first-ever start, his only appearance at the NHL level that year. In 39 career NHL regular season games, he has registered a 18-13-3 mark (2.96, .909). He spent the bulk of his pro career with Utica (AHL) from 2016 to 2019, fashioning a 55-36-5 record (2.56, .915) with three shutouts in 107 regular-season appearances with the Comets.

Selected by Vancouver in the second round (36th overall) of the 2014 NHL Draft following his freshman campaign at BC, when he was named to the Hockey East All-Rookie Team, Demko backstopped the Eagles to Beanpot Tournament titles and NCAA Frozen Four berths in both 2014 and 2016. He went 62-26-10 (2.08, .928) with 13 shutouts in 98 career appearances at the Heights, including 10 shutouts as a junior as he earned Hockey East first team accolades and second team All-America status that winter. He also won the Mike Richter Award as the nation's top goaltender that season, and was also tabbed as the Hockey East Player of the Year before turning pro shortly afterwards. 

ADDENDUM: Demko made 48 saves in a 4-0 shutout in Game 6, but the Vancouver bubble finally burst in Game 7 , a 3-0 Vegas win. He stopped 33 of 34 shots in the finale, but the Canucks surrendered two late empty-net goals after Demko was pulled for an extra attacker.