Hi, this is Fred Wallace with ” Off the Wire “,….. proudly sponsored by Pete’s Auto Body.
Pete’s Auto Body; because we care about our community….
The 2021 Stanley Cup Final begins tonight in Tampa Bay as the defending champion Lightning go against the Montreal Canadiens.
From almost every regard, you’ve got to like what Tampa Bay brings to the table.
They’re more experienced, they’ve been there before at this stage of the playdown, as recently as last year.
Their netminder, Andrei Vasilevskiy, is a Vezina Trophy winner, and his save percentage on an annual basis has always above .900. I recognize Montreal has Carey Price in goal, but I’ll call it a tradeoff.
On the blueline, Victor Hedman might be the best in the game and he’s surrounded by a solid if not spectacular crew that includes Cernak, Sergachev, Savard & McDonagh; certainly far deeper than the Canadiens blueline beyond Shea Weber.
And up front, even with Nikita Kucherov ailing at the moment, the Lightning have an arsenal including Conn Smythe candidate Brayden Point plus Johnson, Killorn and OHL alumni Stamkos, Goodrow, Maroon and Cirelli who always seems to come up BIG in Big moments.
So Tampa Bay is the -250 favorite to win the series, which makes sense.
But……….Montreal, the # 4 entry from the North, were not the favorite against the Leafs, the Jets or Vegas.
The Canadiens won those series in 7, 4 & 6 games respectively so they only need a 5 gamer to hit for the cycle, so I’ll take Montreal for their first Stanley Cup since 1993.
For Pete’s Auto Body, I’m Fred Wallace.