Live Blog: Penguins vs. Lightning, Game 7, ECF 2016

Stamkos is in!!!!!!!! This will be epic, especially if he comes back and wins the game for them!!!! The #1 man!!!

Period 1:

So far, scoreless. But I did see a few missed calls that should've been called for the Bolts.

From the eye test it looks as is the Pens have the upper hand but don't worry, we will prevail. Let's go Lightning!!!!!

Yeah right. The shots are eerily almost equal. They are evenly matched right now

Period 2:

OK, this is bad.

1-0 Penguins, Bryan Rust scored.

1-1 because Drouin scored but this time it wasn't disallowed... but I am NERVOUS!

2-1 Penguins... Rust scored AGAIN!!!!

This is looking very very very very bad!!! Because the shots are 19-8 in favour of.. you guessed it!... the Penguins. Lightning need to pick up the pace if they want to win this!

Aaaaand the Penguins have yet another powerplay. Let the penalty kill raaage oooonnn... the Penguins never bothered me anyway!
The Lightning flurries through the air into the ground...Game 7 is spiraling in frozen fractals all around....and one shot crystallizes like an icy blast...they'll never score...the Cup Final is in the paasssst... LET IT GOOOO LET IT GOOOO...
See how nervous this game is making me?
Things are looking bad. Really bad.

Shots are now 22-8 in favour of the Penguins. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS TEAM?

Sorry, everyone I shouldn't have called this a live blog... I should've called it A LIVE RANT. BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT IS HAPPENING. THE LIGHTNING ARE COLLAPSING JUST ONE GAME AWAY FROM THEIR SECOND CONSECUTIVE FINAL. WHY, WHY, WHY????

PENGUINS GOT TWO MORE SHOTS. PUH-LEASE!!!

ANOTHER SHOT FOR THE PENGUINS. NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Period 3:

The Penguins are totally dominating. The Lightning have no chance now.

STAMKOS JUST MISSED A BREAKAWAY CHANCE!!!!!

It's over. 2-1 Penguins is the final.

Team Canada Announces World Cup of Hockey Roster

Yesterday was the deadline for teams to announce the first sixteen players they have selected to play in the World Cup of Hockey, and the remainder of the players has to be selected by June 1. Luckily for the GM, he does not have to select younger, 18-23-year-old players, as there is Team North America for them. However, Canada is the team with the most roster depth in the world, so it is incredibly hard to choose who goes, and world-class players often get left out.

Below is the roster:

Goaltenders

• Carey Price, Montreal Canadiens
• Corey Crawford, Chicago Blackhawks
• Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals

Defencemen

• Drew Doughty, LA Kings
• Duncan Keith, Chicago Blackhawks
• Marc-Edouard Vlasic, San Jose Sharks
• Shea Weber, Nashville Predators

Forwards

• Jamie Benn, Dallas Stars
• Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins
• Jeff Carter, Los Angeles Kings
• Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
• Ryan Getzlaf, Anaheim Ducks
• Tyler Seguin, Dallas Stars
• Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning
• John Tavares, New York Islanders
• Jonathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks

As can be seen here, the most notable commissions are PK Subban and Corey Perry, but they can be added later. However, the biggest surprise comes when seen that since all three goaltenders have been picked, Roberto Luongo is not on the list. For the first time since 2002, Luongo has been left out of a best-on-best tournament with Team Canada. In my opinion, I think he should go ahead of Corey Crawford, because he is about the same level but with more experience. He was very accepting of this and said that the GM told him that he is next on the list for an injury replacement. Here is Luongo's Twitter reaction:

Other notable omissions include Claude Giroux, Alex Pietrangelo, Kris Letang, Brent Burns, and Brent Seabrook, Taylor Hall, Matt Duchene, Joe Thornton, Tyler Toffoli, Ryan O’Reilly, Brendan Gallagher, Mark Stone, Wayne Simmonds, and Logan Couture, but again, all these could be named to the final 23-man roster. 

However, Marc-Andre Fleury was another goaltender not named to Canada. They have incredible depth at that position and it was a challenge for GM Doug Armstrong to pick. 

Here is the staff picking the players:

Staff

Tom Renney, President
Scott Smith, Chief Operating Officer
Scott Salmond, Hockey Operations
Doug Armstrong, General Manager
Marc Bergevin, Assistant General Manager
Rob Blake, Assistant General Manager
Ken Holland, Assistant General Manager
Bob Murray, Assistant General Manager
Mike Babcock, Head Coach
Claude Julien, Assistant Coach
Bill Peters, Assistant Coach
Joel Quenneville, Assistant Coach
Barry Trotz, Assistant Coach

One more thing... Go Canada!!! (Sorry, everyone)

Baby Pictures of Hockey Players, Part 2

Yesterday, I began putting baby pictures of hockey players up, and I promised I would continue, so here goes.


Nicklas Backstrom


(More) Nicky Backstrom


More of Nicky!


Wayne Gretzky


Another of Wayne Gretzky

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That kid behind PK -- Steven Stamkos


 More of Steve Stamkos