Ashley Messier builds hockey legacy with sights on PWHL, Olympics
2h ago
Mark Messier is her distant cousin, but this Sask. hockey product is carving her own path.
The Stanley Cup playoffs are finally here.
Finally.
Hopefully, the road to the Stanley Cup is a lot more thrilling than the road to the playoffs. The playoff races were non-existent.
But now we know what we’re getting in Round 1 and there are some historic matchups, especially for the North Division.
The Winnipeg Jets and Edmonton Oilers battle for the first time since a Game 7 in 1990. It’s also the matchup of the final AVCO Cup from the WHA days.
Then you have the Montreal Canadiens against the Toronto Maple Leafs — a playoff matchup I haven’t seen in my lifetime. The last battle of one of the most storied rivalries in sports was 1979 when Montreal swept the Leafs on its way to its fourth straight Stanley Cup title.
The Leafs haven’t defeated the Canadiens in the playoffs since the 1967 Stanley Cup final, which is the last time the Leafs won the Cup.
We’ll have to endure a week of meaningless hockey, but hopefully the payoff is the drama we were all expecting when this rare all-Canadian division was born six months ago.