Another busy week of NHL action has come and gone, as we’ve seen some incredible things happen both on and off the ice. With that said, it hasn’t been all good for some teams, as they’re facing some adversity in the postseason. In this piece, we have NHL news from the Stanley Cup playoffs, which of course includes the fact that the Stanley Cup Semifinals are set. As always, at Vegas Betting, we have the latest news.
Unfortunately for the Colorado Avalanche, the Vegas Knights managed to eliminate Colorado in six, tough games. Consider that the Avalanche were favorites for most of the season going into the playoffs. The problem came down to even-strength play as the Vegas Golden Knights were just the better team from Game 2 onward.
Colorado, unlike most teams, does not do a formal “clean-out day”. So, any injury news may be slow in coming. Some stories we may never know. There was some rumored speculation that Nathan MacKinnon may not have been 100%. One thing is for sure. In the middle of the series, the MVP candidate saw way less ice time than usual. That is all that we have to go on.
The controversial parts of the post-game press conference felt like several but there were two key pivot points. One was this exchange between Adrian Dater and MacKinnon. The question itself was delivered in a way that could be best described as awful. Once, one hears the full context, there is a cringe-worthy nature to again the question and response.
This part of the press conference has probably been replayed hundreds of thousands of times across social media by now. As writers err journalists, there is a responsibility to ask the tough questions. The line of questioning here is far from the case. It’s embarrassing at best and infantile and credential revoking worthy at worst.
From MacKinnon’s response, you can tell that he was irked yet not surprised by Adrian Dater’s question. While he’s an outstanding player, his ability to negotiate the press conference may have been as good. The very last thing the player wanted to do was to answer such infantile nonsense. Despite that, the center answered anyway in a way that sent a resounding message to the other reporters. Simply, ask the player a real err another better question. Unfortunately, we will not see Nathan MacKinnon and the Colorado Avalanche anymore in the 2021 NHL playoffs.
The quote machine that is MacKinnon continued onward in what had to be a tough press conference. It was a bitter pill to swallow for the Hart Trophy finalist. MacKinnon went several games without a point before two assists in Game 6 versus the Vegas Golden Knights.
However, the way MacKinnon and the Colorado Avalanche lost was clearly more troubling for him. The center felt Colorado could be better in this series. He believed they should have won. Nine years of not winning reared their ugly head all in one quote and it was frank and honest.
MacKinnon refused to throw his teammates, coaching staff, or anyone under the bus. He articulated his frustration in a way that everyone could understand. There are few times that a player can be candid. One of them is the post-elimination press conference. Usually, there are the measured responses. MacKinnon made a statement with his. They spoke volumes. Come next season, he’ll look to prove all of his doubters wrong and help his team get back to the playoffs where they belong. Maybe even one day get them to the NHL Stanley Cup glory.
Somber news has come out of the province of Quebec, as Jeff Petry is not expected to return to the Montreal Canadiens for Game 1. with the team finally divulging the following details. However, it is interesting to see that how the injury occurred is receiving a bit more scrutiny and further examination. This was interesting from Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette and telling.
“Maybe this will make things clearer about the situation surrounding the Petry injury. In past years, the photo holes were plugged shut with a plexiglass blank secured with a small padlock. In the season shortened by the pandemic, photographers were given a universal key and would unlock the blank before the game and would replace it when they left the photo position. This season all the photo holes were left open whether there was a photographer assigned to that position or not and the blanks were missing. I’m guessing this was a pandemic measure to reduce the handling of the blanks, which would have necessitated disinfecting after each use. The blanks were back in place for Monday’s game after Petry’s injury.”
From Twitter
It’s quite a shame that Petry may even miss a game or two of this series because of what amounts to be a fluky injury with extremely odd circumstances. No one truly revealed how bad Petry’s malady is as far as his hand. The only thing that is known is this. Alexander Romanov expects to play when called upon which feels more likely. Fortunately, Montreal has some defensive depth but again, puck-moving defensemen are rare in this business. Petry missing any time makes an impact. The longer the defenseman is out, the longer the odds are that Montreal can advance to the Stanley Cup Final. It will be a story worth keeping an eye on.
