NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – June 12, 2017
NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – June 12, 2017
The Pittsburgh Penguins win the Stanley Cup, updates on next season’s salary cap & more in your NHL morning coffee headlines.
NHL.com: For the second straight year, the Pittsburgh Penguins are the Stanley Cup champions.
Matt Murray turned in a 27-save shutout performance while Patric Hornqvist and Carl Hagelin scored late third-period goals to give the Penguins a 2-0 victory over the Nashville Predators in Game 6 of the 2017 Stanley Cup Final, winning the series four games to two.
For the second consecutive year, Penguins captain Sidney Crosby was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.
The game was not without some controversy, as an early second-period goal by Predators center Colton Sissons was overturned because the play was whistled dead by the referee, who lost sight of the puck just before Sissons scored. The Preds center also came close to scoring in the third, rattling a shot off the goalpost.
Sidelined Penguins center Nick Bonino revealed he suffered a broken tibia in his left leg during Game 2 of the series.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Penguins are the first team since the 1997-98 Detroit Red Wings to win consecutive Cup championships. In this day and age, that is a remarkable achievement.
Crosby joins Hall of Famers Bernie Parent and Mario Lemieux as the only players to win consecutive Conn Smythe Trophies. He also joins Parent, Lemieux, Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky and Patrick Roy (who won it three times) as the only players to win it twice. Crosby has his detractors but he’s firmly established himself as this generation’s greatest player.
This was a difficult loss for the Predators and their fans. However, their run to the Stanley Cup Final smashed the myth that Nashville wasn’t a hockey town. In my opinion, this isn’t a one-off for the Predators. Their window of opportunity is now wide open. They have the depth in talent to be a Cup contender for the next several years.
The deadline for teams to request players with no-movement clauses to waive them in order to be exposed in the upcoming NHL expansion draft is 5 pm ET today. Those player will have until 5 pm ET on June 16 to reach a decision.
The first contract buyout period begins on June 15. The deadline for teams to request players carrying NMCs whether they want to be placed on waivers for the purpose of contract buyouts is 11:59 am ET on June 15.
TSN’s Bob McKenzie reported the following yesterday via Twitter regarding the NHLPA and its salary-cap escalator:
NHLPA internal debate is whether to apply full 5% inflator or some lesser number than 5 but greater than zero. Virtually no chance it’s 0.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) June 11, 2017
Outside of any growth prediction, or lack thereof, from NHL, a 2% inflator would add about $1.4M to the current upper limit.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) June 11, 2017
In any case, NHL is hoping NHLPA makes inflator decision no later than next 5 or 6 days. Everyone in hockey eager to see next season cap #.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) June 11, 2017