Official Leader of the Opposition and Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer speaks at the FCM annual conference in Quebec City May 31, 2019. Photos Andre Forget
It’s my Parting Shot for the highly irregular Tuesday feature of answering questions from the T-S-N website…..
First question…Will back-to-back Cup champs miss the playoffs? My answer…it’s beginning to look that way for Florida. The Panthers have been beset by injuries all season. Captain Aleksander Barkov has been out all season and isn’t expected to return until the fall. Plus, seven other players are listed as being on the sidelines, including Seth Jones and Brad Marchand. Florida is nine points back of Boston for the final Eastern Conference wild-card playoff spot. They have to pass five teams to get there as well, which might as well be 14 points to make up over their final 27 games. In today’s day and age of parity, augmented by some games being worth three points and others only the standard two points, that’s too big of a hole to climb out of for the Cats!
Next question…Which Canadian team should feel pressure to make a move before Olympic trade freeze? Answer…really none of them have to do something before the N-H-L breaks for the Olympic men’s tournament – no matter what the media or fan bases say! March 6th is still a month away for the absolute final trade deadline of the 2025-26 season and the Olympic break will be a great time for all 32 teams to reassess and re-evaluate where they are at and what should be done moving forward!
Last question…Who is the definitive face of each N-H-L franchise? My answer…I applaud T-S-N for putting together a panel of voters to make their choices. I must say, I was worried that the past would be forgotten and that there would be too much sway given to the more contemporary stars of each team. However, saying that Gordie Howe is the face of the Detroit Red Wings and Rocket Richard is who you think of first when it comes to the Montreal Canadiens is bang on. Long term excellence, dotted with championships, should be thee criteria for determining face of a franchise. It’s the Cup titles that explain why Wayne Gretzky (pictured) should be the face of the Edmonton Oilers’ franchise, not present-day Gretzky wannabe Connor McDavid! And, while I appreciate, as someone who has followed the Saskatoon Blades for 32 years, that Wendel Clark is considered the face of the Toronto Maple Leafs, he doesn’t have a Stanley Cup ring. So, should their guy be someone like Dave Keon, Tim Horton, Johnny Bower, Frank Mahovlich or one of the many greats from the 60s when the Leafs were last a champion? That’s the beauty of this exercise, debate all you want!!
That’s my Parting Shot. I’m Les Lazaruk…and it turned out nice again!
