Monday LNN: Conference Finals, World Championships, and Coaching Hires
The Hurricanes are becoming kind of a joke, aren't they?
Good morning. It's an Ottawa Charge Game Day.
- The Carolina Hurricanes are now 0-11 in games played in the Conference Final since breaking their playoff drought in 2019. The Florida Panthers clawed them on Saturday by a 6-2 score and will look to complete the sweep today. As for the rematch in the West, the Edmonton Oilers have taken a 2-1 series lead over the Dallas Stars thanks to two-goal performances from Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman.
- The World Championships have concluded with a 1-0 USA Victory over Switzerland – who laid a 7-0 smackdown on Denmark in the semi-final – after Denmark upset Canada 2-1 in the quarterfinal. Nik Ehlers must've been pissed about his Jets and their second-round exit. Shane Pinto had a dominant tournament with 2 goals and 8 assists in 8 games, and Nikolas Matinpalo had a goal and assist in 8 games for the Finns, while Tim Stützle was Mid Stützle with 2 assists in 5 games for Germany.
- Blake Montgomery's London Knights are 2-0 in the Memorial Cup tournament so far, with the 4th-rounder having 1 assist. Their final round robin game is tomorrow against the Medicine Hat Tigers.
- Another coach steps off the carousel as the Chicago Blackhawks announced on Thursday the hiring of Jeff Blashill as their new head coach. Blashill had spent the last three seasons as an assistant with Tampa Bay, and previously served as the Detroit Red Wings' head coach between 2015 and 2022.
- Brett Howden, a member of the 2018 Canadian World Junior team, took the stand as a witness on Thursday, in the ongoing Hockey Canada Trial. This CTV News article lists specific graphic details of the alleged sexual assault, it's only linked here as a source of information regarding the involvement of several players that aren't facing charges.
