It’s my Parting Shot for my Monday Musings…..

“Sheldon Keefe and the Core Four!” Not only does it sound like the makings of a bad musical group, but they can’t play worth a darn come the Stanley Cup playoffs! Saturday’s 5-1 loss in Boston in Game 1 of their opening round series is only one game, granted, but it looks like more of the same from past years! And, Brad Treliving can’t possibly let them all slide through to next season, can he?!

Just like 13 goals scored in the second W-H-L playoff series between the Blades and Red Deer last Tuesday was an anomaly – so, too, will be the 13 goals scored in Game 1 between my Jets and Colorado for the rest of the series. I still think the Avalanche will prevail, but there won’t be double digits total worth of goals in another game in this set!

There have been 12 series played, thus far, in this year’s W-H-L playoffs with only one set going as much as six games! There have been six, four-game sweeps and five series going just five games! What is more surprising to me is that Swift Current and Everett both bowed out in the second round, or Conference semi-final sets, in just five games! The Silvertips handed Saskatoon one of their worst losses of the season and looked like contendors that night, but were beset by a myriad of injuries down the stretch. As for the Broncos, they made a big deal to get Conor Geekie to complement a quartet of N-H-L Draft picks, none of whom are expected to return next season! That might mean an “oops” in Speedy Creek in 2024-25 – possibly!

And, at the risk of being misunderstood, Scottie Scheffler’s run of four P-G-A Tour titles, including a Master’s win, is more impressive than Nelly Korda’s five consecutive L-P-G-A Tour victories, including a major title yesterday, because the fields for the five men’s events have been stronger than those on the women’s side. I don’t mean physically-speaking, get that out of your head, I mean in terms of numbers of players in the various tournament fields in the world rankings! Hopefully, I made myself clear and didn’t offend anyone!!

That’s my Parting Shot. I’m Les Lazaruk…and it turned out nice again!…..