Tag: Nikita Kucherov

Conn Smythe tracker after Stanley Cup Final Game 2: Can anyone dethrone Cale Makar?

Makar could soon be the king of the Cup champion.

Oh boy, after that complete evisceration, where do I even begin?

Let’s try this: On Saturday night, the Avalanche and Lightning took each other on in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final, and Colorado took a 2-0 series lead. Cale Makar had–

Hmm, no. I feel like I’m underselling it.

Another attempt: On Saturday night, the Avalanche (-160) positively demolished the two-time defending Cup champion Lightning, 7-0. They got off to a fast start, never looked back, and continued to enjoy more Blink 182.  The series feels over, and Colorado is the NHL’s new overlord.

Ah, there, that’s better.

With the Avs now two wins from the Cup, the discussion around their playoff MVP, the Conn Smythe winner, will only heat up. I have to say: I’ll be surprised if anyone snatches it from a superstar like Makar. The man at the forefront of one of the great team defensive performances we might have ever seen.

But, you never know. Let’s see where the race for the Conn Smythe stands after two games of the Cup Final. Spoiler alert: A big Avalanche has fallen on this list.

Conn Smythe tracker after Stanley Cup Final Game 1: Cale Makar is NHL’s next great D-man

We could be looking at the NHL’s next special blueliner.

Every great NHL team has two common characteristics: at least one great No. 1 center and at least one great No. 1 defenseman.

The Colorado Avalanche are in the Stanley Cup Final against the two-time defending champs in the Lightning (-1.5), so it’s obvious they’re pretty good. But they wouldn’t be here, and they wouldn’t be three wins away from the franchise’s first Cup in more than two decades if it weren’t for their top center Nathan MacKinnon and top defenseman Cale Makar.

As we get set for the rest of this potential barnburner of a series, it’s these two superstars who lead the way for the NHL’s top postseason honor: The Conn Smythe Trophy.

But before this series gets really heated, who else is in line for the prestigious award? Let’s dive in!

A shirtless Nikita Kucherov gave an epic interview at the Lightning boat parade

“Unreal.”

Shirtless Nikita Kucherov is back for another round of fun times in front of microphones after he ripped Montreal Canadiens fans in the post-Stanley Cup winning press conference last week.

Although Kucherov with a shirt is also pretty amazing, let’s focus on what he did on Monday during the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Stanley Cup parade on boats: during an interview he was hilarious: “All the people right here, unreal. Love them all. Let’s party hard, our time baby, back to back!”

He repeated “unreal” a few times more and then doused the reporter in beer. Yep, he’s having a good time.

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Nikita Kucherov fully embraces his role as the NHL’s newest villain with ‘$18M over the cap’ shirt

Nikita Kucherov, expert troll.

There might not be a NHL player more hated than Nikita Kucherov right now. First it was his epic tirade against Montreal Canadiens fans — and Marc-Andre Fleury — in his postgame press conference after the Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup.

Now, Kucherov has gone full heel in the best way possible. On Sunday, Kucherov posted a picture of himself out on a boat holding both the Stanley Cup and the Lombardi Trophy gifted to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers earlier in the year. While a neat picture on its own, it’s the shirt Kucherov is wearing that has produced the most waves out of hockey fans.

The shirt reads “18M over the cap” with a picture of Kucherov drinking a beer at his postgame presser.

Talk about expert level trolling by Kucherov here. Famously in the regular season, Kucherov spent the entire year on injured reserve while recovering from surgery but came back in the playoffs to net 32 points in 23 postseason games. Once Kucherov came back in the playoffs, the Lightning went over the salary cap by $18 million, causing many hockey fans to cry cap circumvention.

Now, Kucherov is flipping the script and proudly flaunting his team’s incredibly legal and smart — yet a smidge dishonest — roster maneuvers for the world to see.

I, personally, love Kucherov embracing his villain status since winning back-to-back Stanley Cups. The hockey world needs its heroes and villains, and Kucherov is playing his part to perfection.

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A shirtless Nikita Kucherov rips Canadiens fans in epic Stanley Cup press conference

This is quite a press conference.

Nikita Kucherov is the NHL’s version of J.R. Smith.

Smith, you’ll recall, went shirtless after winning an NBA title in 2016 and again in 2020.

Kucherov is now a back-to-back Stanley Cup winner with the Tampa Bay Lightning (who, as our Mary Clarke wrote, are a dynasty, like it or not), and after celebrating the win over the Montreal Canadiens, he joined a Zoom press conference sans a shirt.

He ended up saying quite a few noteworthy things, which we’ll detail below for you, ranging from ripping on Habs fans to Vezina Trophy voters. Here’s a roundup of those moments that are being shared a ton on Thursday morning: