1. My heart is with the Florida Panthers but my brain says the Oilers will take the next two games. (It's also a gut feeling.) Goaltending will surprise and McDavid will come up $$.
2. Whatever Corey Perry is drinking should be bottled.
3. Brad Marchand already beat him to it.
4. If Florida wins tonight, Bob gets my Hart vote; much as I love Bennett, Tkachuk and the rest of the Mus-Cat-Teers.
5. Let's not forget that Kenny Holland built this team of Oil, but did he develop enough "greasy" battlers? That is, apart from Perry.
6. At any moment – possibly tonight – Bob will feel his age.
7. The Hockey News on Bob: "His age has made him sharper and more patient than his useful self."
8. The highest-rated Panther in The Hockey News' "Top 100" happens to be Matthew Tkachuk in the 11th spot. (He's one ahead of Sid Crosby and one behind Kirill Kaprizov.)
If The Stanley Cup Final Can't Get Any Crazier, Here We Are
NEVER SAY NEVER.
9. Bob comes in at 18 and Aleksander Barkov at 19. Sam Reinhart squeezes into 25.
10. When it comes to the rise of puck fans in Dixie, Sunrise is the new Hockeytown USA – Southland version!