Sports Time Radio

I have to say that I’m a little disappointed in the National Hockey League, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that they gave into the big money that television offers these leagues to televise these games. I guess just about every other league would’ve done the same thing though.

The Stanley Cup finals started last night, but I’m not sure how many people remember that it was even on, or which teams were playing in it.

I case you forgot lot I’m sure some people did the Las Vegas Golden Knights hosted the Florida Panthers in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals last night.

Now why do I think that there are quite a few people who may have forgot that the Stanley Cup finals were starting.

Well, the Golden Knights hadn’t played since May 29th when they won their Western conference semi-finals match up against the Dallas Stars four games to two. The Panthers hadn’t played a game since May 24th when they swept the Carolina Hurricanes out of the Eastern conference semi-finals.

So, coming into last night the Golden Knights hadn’t played in four days which isn’t a huge deal, but the Panthers on the other hand hadn’t played in 10 days coming into last night Game 1.

The Panthers were clearly playing the best hockey in the NHL playoffs until the end of the conference semi-finals, but after 10 days off there was no way that Florida could continue the momentum, they had coming into the Stanley Cup finals.

The Panthers did get on the scoreboard first when Eric Staal scored at 9:40 of the 1st period. The Golden Knights even the score in the 1st period at 17:18 when Jonathan Marchessault. The 1st period ended 1-1, so things seemed on par for both teams at this point.

Both teams scored in the 2nd period as well, but this time it was the Golden Knights that scored first. Shea Theodore score at 10:54 of the period to give the Golden Knights a 2-1 lead. Anthony Duclair was able to even the score for the Panthers when he scored at 11 seconds left in the period to even the game up at 2-2.

Heading into the 3rd period of a tie game everything seemed normal, but then everything changed, and I wonder if the Panthers having 10 days off had anything to do with it.

The Golden Knights pulled away in the 3rd period scoring three goals. Zach Whitecloud scored what ended up being the game winning goal at 6:59 of the 3rd period. Mark Stone scored the Golden Knights 4th goal of the night at 13:41 of the period. It was Reilly Smith who capped off the Golden Knights 3rd period scoring by netting their 5th and final goal of the night at 18:15 of the period.

So, for two periods the game had been pretty even and then the team that had the four days off before this game was able to breakout and pull away to get the win. Did Florida having 10 days off have anything to do with their 3rd period collapse? Is it possible that the Panthers suffered from some fatigue from not being in a game situation for as long as they had been?

I’m sorry, but a team having to wait as long as the Panthers did to play in the most important series the NHL has just doesn’t seem right.

There is a way to prevent this from happening, but I don’t think there’s a sport out there that has ever tried to do it. The Panthers and even the Golden Knights had to sit as long as they did due to the television contract that the league has with the networks that show the games. Now I understand that the NHL wasn’t in much of a bargaining position when they agreed to these contracts with ESPN and Turner, but if they would’ve put a clause in the contract that would’ve allowed the Stanley Cup finals start date to be moved ahead if the conference semi-finals end early the Golden Knights and especially the Panthers wouldn’t have had to sit around so long and we would’ve had hockey on television while they still had a little momentum to draw television ratings.

I’m not sure if will ever see a league like the NHL be in a position to have that kind of set up and it’s doubtful that Major League Baseball or the National Basketball Association would ever be able to do it either, but it makes sense. The only league with the power to do this kind of thing is the National Football League and there’s no way they’d even move the Super Bowl up.

Oh well it is what it is, but I’d like to know what you think. Did the 10-day layoff contribute to the Panthers Game 1 Stanley Cup loss? Also let me know how you think the rest of the series will play out.

As always don’t forget to look for me on Twitter, I’m @Burketime.