The Lightning
Louis Domingue’s Hockey Fights Cancer mask carried special meaning this season. Joe Smith wrote a great piece at The Athletic about the goalie’s connection with the kids who designed the mask.
It started off as a simple idea, really. Every November, for “Hockey Fights Cancer” month, players around the NHL wear lavender jerseys, masks, and other gear to recognize the fight millions struggle with every day. Domingue, who had just visited a local pediatric cancer hospital, wanted some kids to help design his mask, to make it more personal.
Sled hockey gold medalist Declan Farmer will be coaching in the Lightning Made Sled Hockey summer camp this summer. Get more details about how to register here.
And now for some fun summer trade speculation. First, Joe Smith and Murat Ates wrote about the possibility of the Lightning acquiring Jacob Trouba.
That’s where I think Winnipeg’s baseline ask will be this summer — a first-round pick and a top-level defensive prospect. Will Tampa Bay be willing to pay that much (or more) for Trouba? That’s well above my pay grade, but I believe the Lightning have the assets to step up and bring Trouba’s time in Winnipeg to a close.
Then, Kent Wilson, also at The Athletic, wrote about the Flames’ willingness to move a right handed defender in order to clear some cap space and possibly acquire draft picks. He mentions Travis Hamonic and TJ Brodie as options.
In reality, the Bolts would most likely prefer to swap dollars for dollars in order to ease their own cap issues. J.T. Miller ($5.25 million), Alex Killorn ($4.45 million) and Tyler Johnson ($5 million) could all be offered as a result.
Though Calgary might like the look of one or all of those players, their own cap problems make a potential trade for any of them much more difficult.
The Prospects
The Game
Another Stanley Cup Final game, another officiating controversy. This time, the Blues scored what would become the game winning goal after an obvious missed tripping call in the offensive zone that allowed them to keep possession. The call overshadowed a strong performance from Jordan Binnington and another goal from Ryan O’Reilly.
Just before the goal, there was no penalty on Bozak here.. Play continued, even though Acciari appeared injured, because the Blues possessed the puck. pic.twitter.com/BTPff2NCZj
— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) June 7, 2019
The stars made two depth signings bringing back defender Roman Polak for one year at $1.75 million and forward Mattias Janmark for one year at $2.3 million. Here’s Defending Big D on both players:
Erik Karlsson underwent successful groin surgery. As great of a player as he is, all these lower body injuries have to be raising concerns for teams considering signing him as a free agent this summer.
#SJSharks say Erik Karlsson underwent surgery to address groin injury and is expected to be ready for next season.
— Stephen Whyno (@SWhyno) June 5, 2019
The Newfoundland Growlers won the ECHL Kelly Cup in their first season. Take that, Vegas Golden Knights.
Led by two goals from rookie Giorgio Estephan and 23 saves from goalie Michael Garteig, the Growlers finished off the Toledo Walleye with a nail-biting 4-3 win in front of an announced sellout crowd of 6,329 to take the best-of-seven series by a count of four wins to two.
An old friend is going on a big adventure. Andrej Sustr is headed to Shanghai to play for Kunlun Red Star in the KHL next season. Sustr always seemed like a thoughtful person during his time in Tampa and I hope he enjoys his year in China and gets the most out of the chance to have new experiences in a new country.
We have a new member in the team! The Kunlun Red Star has signed defenceman Andrej Sustr to a one-year contract. #krs #redstarhockey pic.twitter.com/ddktkh7z2u
— Kunlun Red Star (@KRSchina) June 7, 2019
Why the site was quiet yesterday
If you’re one of the folks who checks the site daily, you probably noticed that we didn’t have any new content yesterday. We went silent for the day in solidarity with our friends and co-workers in the Vox Media Union currently working to a secure a fair contract.
We enjoy covering the team here every day and interacting with you all but sometimes, we have to do what we think is right and in this case, that meant supporting the union’s walkout yesterday.
If you want to learn more about what Vox writers are trying to accomplish, you can follow the Vox Media Union on Twitter.
