Happy Sunday, everyone! It’s a great time of the year to be a sports fan; we have almost round-the-clock playoff hockey and basketball this weekend, with some baseball thrown in for good measure (even though watching the Rangers has been less than pleasant this season). There were four playoff hockey games yesterday, with the two afternoon contests inexplicably starting at the same time. There are four more games on the docket today, so happy watching!
Stars Stuff
Hopefully he’ll be plying his trade with the Dallas Stars next year:
Stars prospect Miro Heiskanen’s season came to an end today in HIFK’s Game 7 loss in semifinals. 18-year-old had 9 points in 12 playoff games and led team in TOI most nights.
— Sean Shapiro (@seanshapiro) April 14, 2018
Correction:
I had forgotten about this, so one more game with HIFK for Heiskanen before World Championships https://t.co/XHfPYLk59m
— Sean Shapiro (@seanshapiro) April 14, 2018
I’m definitely on the “fresh blood rather than retread” bandwagon, so most of the names mentioned in this article would make me happy:
Roundtable: Who should the @DallasStars hire as their next coach after Ken Hitchcock’s retirement? https://t.co/jrWhG90d6f
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) April 14, 2018
Sean Shapiro weighs in on the topic du jour in his latest podcast:
NEW PODCAST: The Stars need a new coach, let’s look at the options
SOUNDCLOUD: https://t.co/mKXZNUoqkb in other podcast venues soon— Sean Shapiro (@seanshapiro) April 14, 2018
Sean is quite busy lately, as he also sat down with Mike Modano to talk about the state of the Stars:
Q&A: Mike Modano on Ken Hitchcock, Tyler Seguin, and the future of the Stars https://t.co/MCWdAp4TUN
— Sean Shapiro (@seanshapiro) April 14, 2018
Here is the Texas Stars playoff schedule if you’re so inclined:
The #txstars and Ontario Reign will kick off their Division Semifinal series on Thursday at @HEBCenter at a special 7 p.m. start time.
Read: https://t.co/WcVgcSpRGi pic.twitter.com/fexvpJePtR
— x – Texas Stars (@TexasStars) April 14, 2018
League News
- It was a day of high scoring in the playoffs yesterday. The Nashville Predators earned the first decision of the day, holding on to beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-4. [NHL]
- The Tampa Bay Lightning took down the New Jersey Devils 5-3. The final score was a bit closer than the game actually seemed. [NHL]
- The Boston Bruins might be a better team than the Toronto Maple Leafs. They took a 2-0 series lead with a 7-3 victory last night. [NHL]
- The San Jose Sharks held on to beat the Anaheim Ducks and take a 2-0 series lead. [NHL]/
I’m pretty surprised as well. It was a dirty hit to be sure, but I did not see a three-game suspension coming:
Leafs surprised by length of Nazem Kadri’s suspension https://t.co/wbyiYZ8VEP pic.twitter.com/YOIjsylEva
— Hockey Night in Canada (@hockeynight) April 14, 2018
Down Goes Brown checks in with his Saturday and weekend story lines:
From earlier: Breaking down what needs to happen for the Leafs to get back in it. Plus the Devils and Avs look for upsets, a classic 60s brawl, and lots more in the Saturday Storylines. https://t.co/nxSayhIhpS pic.twitter.com/0m6X7uzcfn
— Down Goes Brown (@DownGoesBrown) April 14, 2018