The Stanley Cup continues its world tour as it made its way to Russia to spend a few days with Andrei Vasilevskiy, Nikita Kucherov, Mikhail Sergachev, and (presumably) Alex Volkov. Despite being traded to Anaheim last season, Volkov should have a day with the Cup following the 2020 win. While we wait for confirmation on that the Big Three have begun their celebration…
This has gotten entirely out of hand. pic.twitter.com/xDiA1JgkQX
— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) September 6, 2021
The most notable thing out of the video has to be that it appears Kucherov is growing out a mullet, which might just be the ultimate power move, especially if he wins the scoring title.
Before it left the Czech Republic there was another food consumed out of the bowl as Erik Cernak had what appears to be some bread dumplings and goulash of some sort. And beer. Always beer.
When in Prague..you have to eat and drink! Just ask #stanleycup champion @JanRutta! @nhl@TBLightning @HockeyHallFame pic.twitter.com/MNerVZhgbH
— Philip Pritchard (@keeperofthecup) September 4, 2021
Personally, I love goulash so this bumps up to number two in my personal list of the foods consumed so far by Lightning players and staff.
Since we enjoyed a nice relaxing Labor Day holiday in the Raw Charge office we haven’t had a chance to comment on the Montreal Canadiens moves over the weekend. They decided not to match the offer to Jesperi Kotkaniemi and instead traded a semi-conditional 2022 first-round draft pick and a 2024 second-round pick to Arizona for Christian Dvorak.
Habs fans are spinning this as a positive as they are picking up a solid center with a reasonable cap hit in Dvorak. The former Coyote can replace some of the ice time that Philip Danault provided for Montreal last season. He won’t post quite as strong defensive numbers, but should count for a little more offense than Danault. It wasn’t a bad move by Marc Bergevin to pull off on short notice. Carolina ends up with a slightly expensive young prospect and Arizona picks up a couple of draft picks and a healthy advantage in the race to the bottom of the standings.
Should they start printing Shane Wright jerseys for the Tempe Coyotes? Probably not yet, but they will be busy checking out some of the top prospects in the OHL for the 2021-22 season. It’s never too early to start thinking about the next draft! Especially if you’re the Coyotes who already are up to three first round picks (their own, Colorado’s pick from the Darcy Kuemper trade, and one of Montreal’s from the Dvorak trade).
They could have some bright young prospects playing in their new arena (site unknown as of now). It looks like Tempe might be the front runner for them after their lease in Glendale expires after this season. They recently submitted a bid for two parcels of land near Arizona State University. It’s unlikely that they would be able to build a new arena in time for the 2022-23 season so even if things work out in Tempe, they will need a temporary home for at least one season. They could work out a one-year extension with the city of Glendale or find another arena – the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum has been mentioned as a possibility.
Twenty-one days to go until Lightning preseason hockey. Hang in there.
