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After beating the New York Islanders on Thursday night, the Tampa Bay Lightning will play in the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2015. Since the NHL is trying to hold the tournament as quickly as possible, the opening game is scheduled for tonight.
How we got here.
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) September 18, 2020
But we're not done yet. ⚡️ #GoBolts pic.twitter.com/rp3WDUI5MM
During the Stanley Cup Final Media Day Jon Cooper praised the Dallas Stars head coach Rick Bowness, saying that “I’m probably not sitting here today without a lot of the help of Rick Bowness.” Julien BriseBois, who also attended the press conference, noted that Steven Stamkos still hasn’t been ruled out for the Stanley Cup Finals, however the Lightning’s captain is rehabbing and won’t play in Game 1.
Rick Bowness was on Jon Cooper’s staff for five seasons.
— NHL (@NHL) September 19, 2020
The @TBLightning coach shares the history of their relationship. ⬇️ #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/wFTWEHD6sv
Copper and BriseBois had an old school Tampa Bay Devil Rays hat laying between them during the press conference. On the same day the Tampa Bay Lightning advanced to the SCF, the Tampa Bay Rays clinched the playoffs in the MLB. Cooper finished his media availability by wishing good luck to the Rays.
*Future voice*
— Tampa Bay Rays - x (@RaysBaseball) September 18, 2020
It's cool, man,
Life is good, you know what I mean? pic.twitter.com/e7YK2SaS6N
The NHL also announced that the winners for the four most prestigious regular-season trophies will be revealed during a 30-minute show before Game 2 on Monday. Andrei Vasilevskiy and Victor Hedman are the only remaining Lightning finalists.
Winners of the five remaining regular-season trophies will be announced during “2020 NHL Awards presented by Las Vegas,” a 30-minute show that will air at 6:30 p.m. ET on Monday, Sept. 21 (NBCSN, Sportsnet and TVA Sports).
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) September 18, 2020
Details: https://t.co/cW2KG9g5ji #NHLAwards pic.twitter.com/1gEB8pkCcU
Dom Luszczyszyn of the Athletic has the Tampa Bay Lightning as the main favourite of the final series, however injuries might be a big issue for the Lightning [The Athletic, paid content]
The Lightning are as close as you can get to a perfect team. They have it all from elite forward talent to a stud number one defender, to depth at every position and strong goaltending. And that’s all while missing their captain, another elite player. The Stars have some of those things, but not enough of those things, and the things they have simply aren’t on the same level as what the Lightning have.
The Athletic have also a pretty amazing report about the Lightning’s celebration of the Eastern Conference title, which also revealed how every member of the Lightning organization in the bubble feels as a part of the team [The Athletic, paid content]
The Stars black aces refused to leave the bench to be part of the picture with the trophy. Not only did the Lightning’s black aces come on the ice for the photo and the celebration, essentially their entire traveling party in the bubble was on the ice and was in the photo. The only people missing were management. Otherwise, there were 48 members of the 52-person Lightning bubble on the ice celebrating. It was because they were all a part of it. They have all made a similar sacrifice. They have all been in that bubble working toward a common goal, one the Lightning are four wins short of attaining.
Other News and Notes
The negotiations between the St. Louis Blues and Alex Pietrangelo have stopped. The Vegas Golden Knights have recently expressed an interest in a Blues captain.
Sources say contract talks between the St Louis Blues and Blues captain, Alex Pietrangelo have broken off. The team has advised Pietrangelo to pursue unrestricted free agency.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) September 18, 2020
The Pittsburgh Penguins have re-signed Jared McCann to a two-year contract.
The Penguins have re-signed forward Jared McCann to a two-year contract.
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) September 18, 2020
The deal runs through the 2021.22 campaign and carries an average annual value of $2.94 million.
Details: https://t.co/PlteNvm4iO pic.twitter.com/7kNICYhCFe
The Ottawa Senators return to its roots with the implementation of a modified original logo. The new uniform will be announced on October 6.
News Release: The #Sens have unveiled the team's new primary logo: https://t.co/gviWuCkZNs pic.twitter.com/VBERgIeJ8o
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) September 18, 2020