BOSTON (AP) So long
Boston Bruins T-Shirts Womens , Gordon Howe.Bye-bye, Robert Hull.Au revoir, M. Richard.Those Hockey Hall of Famers and the rest of the players who won an NHL
championship from 1954-65 are being stripped off the Stanley Cup this spring to
create room for a new layer of names without making the trophy too big to be
skated around the ice by the winning captain or checked on an airplane for its
next journey.”People in Saskatchewan are a little upset Gordie’s name is coming
off, but that’s the tradition,” said Mike Bolt, one of the Hall of Fame staffers
assigned to escort the Cup around the world. ”It can’t get any bigger. … We
wouldn’t be able to do what we do.”Perhaps the most iconic trophy in sports, the
Stanley Cup is unique among major prizes because the NHL passes it from team to
team instead of producing a new one for every champion. It’s also the only one
that includes the name of every player to win it in each season – though the
names come and go.Since it was first donated in 1892 by Lord Stanley, the
governor general of Canada, the Cup has grown from a 7-inch-high bowl to a
3-foot trophy more the size of a large wedding cake, with three small layers
under the original bowl and five more bands under that that fit about 13 years
of champions apiece.The top one of those bands, honoring much of Toe Blake’s
Montreal Canadiens dynasty and three of Punch Imlach’s four titles in Toronto,
will be removed in a matter of weeks. It will be flattened and displayed along
with two previously retired rings – covering the 1927-40 and ’41-53 championship
teams – at the Hall of Fame in Toronto. (In place of the name-by-name listing,
teams are engraved on the upper rings).The process will need to be repeated
every 13 years, meaning a player’s name lasts on the Cup a maximum of 65
years.”I run into some of the older timers, like from the `70s, even the `80s.
They’re always like, `Hey
Boston Bruins Hoodies Womens , Mike. How many years have I got left on the Cup?”’ Bolt said. ”Some guys start doing the math, `Oh, I won’t be around anyway.’ But if
you win it when you’re young, you’re going to be around when your name comes
off.”On tour to promote the start of the NHL playoffs on April 11, Bolt stopped
at The Associated Press bureau in Boston this week after visiting a children’s
hospital and before going to a hockey arena to surprise another group of kids.
He dons white gloves and unsnaps the latches to reveal the Cup in its
form-fitting, blue velvet travel sanctuary.The black base is chipped and dinged
from years of celebrations by joyous champions. There are also a few
misspellings, and one name is crossed out. Still, seeing the trophy remains a
thrill for many fans; earning a spot on it is the ultimate goal for every NHL
player who has ever laced up a pair of skates.”That’s the best part of the job,
watching the reaction. That’s one of the things that does not get old,” said
Bolt, who accompanies the Cup on its travels for the traditional summer tour
that allows every player on the winning team to spend a day with it – often in
his hometown, no matter where on the globe he grew up.”I’ve seen grown men cry;
they can’t believe they are this close to it,” Bolt said. ”It’s like a
celebrity. Everybody’s always happy when the Cup’s around.”Players like Gordie
Howe, Bobby Hull and Maurice ”Rocket” Richard might not have known that their
immortality has an expiration date, but modern players realize getting one’s
name on the Cup isn’t forever any more.”We knew it’s going to be there for about
40 years,” said Patrice Bergeron, a member of the Boston Bruins‘ 2011
championship team who is hoping to extend his time on the Cup with another title
this year. ”It’s still pretty special.”Brad Marchand
Boston Bruins Hats Womens , who also won it all in 2011, was consoled by the knowledge that the band with his name will go on permanent display at the Hall of Fame
after it is removed.”You can’t take away the fact that we won,” he said. ”We’ll
still have all the memories.”VULCANIZED RUBBER SOULFans in Nashville have come
up with a way to pass the time while waiting for video reviews. When the
referees skate over to check on a Predators goal, the in-house public address
system plays the Beatles song ”Let It Be.” Fans sing along, waving their
cellphone flashlights as if at a concert.ZEBRA FAREWELLReferee Tom Kowal worked
his last game on Saturday when the Bruins played the Panthers in Boston. When
the milestone was noted in the arena, fans gave him an ovation and both teams
gave him the customary salute by banging their sticks on the ice or boards.
After the final buzzer, the players remained on their ice to shake hands with
him.Kowal, who worked 1,094 regular-season games and 12 in the playoffs over 18
years, is the third and last official to retire this season, according to the
NHL Officials Association. Thirty-year linesman Shane Heyer worked his last game
on Friday, and referee Dave Jackson hung up his skates after 25 years in Los
Angeles on Thursday.LEADERS (Through Tuesday’s games)Points: Connor McDavid
(Edmonton), 103. Goals: Alex Ovechkin (Washington), 46. Goals-against average
(minimum 40 games): Marc-Andre Fleury (Vegas), 2.14. Save percentage (min. 40
games): Fleury, .931.GAME OF THE WEEKTantalizing matchups with postseason
positioning and outright berths at stake in the final week of the season include
Pittsburgh at Columbus on Thursday and St. Louis at Colorado on Saturday.—AP
Sports Writer Teresa Walker in Nashville, Tennessee
Custom Boston Bruins Jerseys , contributed to this report.— NEW YORK (AP) — After his team’s first four skaters in the shootout couldn’t beat goalie Thomas Greiss,
Montreal Canadiens coach Claude Julien decided to go with the right-handed Joel
Armia instead of Charles Hudon.The move paid off.Armia scored in the fifth round
on the first shootout attempt of his career to lift the Canadiens over the New
York Islanders 4-3 on Monday night.“We knew the glove side was the place to go,
and you saw our lefties go to their backhand,” Julien said. “We had Hudie on our
list there to go, but he was a left shot, so we opted for Armie, who has a quick
release, and I thought that was going to give us the better chance.”Max Domi and
Jonathan Drouin each had a goal and an assist, Artturi Lehkonen also scored and
Noah Juulsen added two assists. The Canadiens rallied from a 3-1 deficit after
20 minutes to win for the fifth time in the last six meetings with the
Islanders.“Everybody knew we weren’t as good as we can be in the first period,”
Armia said. “I think everybody knew that if we’re going to have a chance to win
this game, we’re going to have to be a lot better, and I think we did a pretty
good job of that.”Antti Niemi started in place of Carey Price and made 21 saves
before stopping all five of New York’s attempts in the shootout. Montreal has
won seven of 11 (7-3-1).“We are a resilient group,” Domi said. “We bounced back
and it was good to see. We know what it takes to win. It’s fun. Winning is
great. When you come back to win in another team’s arena, it’s even
better.”Casey Cizikas scored twice and Valtteri Filppula also had a goal for the
Islanders, who snapped a season-high five-game winning streak. Greiss stopped 32
shots.“We were awful, plain and simple,” New York coach Barry Trotz said. “The
right team won tonight. That was our worst game of the year.”The Islanders went
on the power play with 27 seconds left in regulation when the Canadiens were
caught with too many men on the ice but came up empty on the man advantage for
the fourth time in the game.Trailing by two after 20 minutes
www.sabresshoponline.com , the Canadiens came out with increased intensity in the second. They outshot the
Islanders 15-6 and pulled within one with a power-play goal late in the period.
Domi fired a shot from the right circle that beat a screened Greiss on the
goalie’s blocker side with 4:24 remaining. It was Domi’s eighth goal and
team-leading 15th point.Montreal nearly tied it almost two minutes later on
another power play, but Jeff Petry’s shot hit the goalpost.The Canadiens then
tied it at 7:43 of the third when Lehkonen scored on a tip in front on a long
shot by Juulsen.“We had a slow start that first period and we weren’t
ourselves,” Julien said. “We talked about what we needed to do … and what needed
to get better and I guess the guys just responded well.“That’s what you need to
see. Not every game is going to be perfect. How you react to certain situations
is important. I thought our reaction after the first was extremely good.”The
Islanders got on the scoreboard first when Cizikas knocked in a loose puck off a
rebound of Adam Pelech’s shot from above the left faceoff circle 4:04 into the
game for his first goal in eight games.The lead lasted less than two minutes.
Drouin got a pass from Domi and beat Greiss from the left circle for his fourth
at 5:59.Filppula regained the lead for New York just 1:45 later. Komarov stole
the puck from Brendan Gallagher and skated up the left side on a 2-on-1 rush,
went around a sliding Canadiens defenseman and passed it in front to Filppula,
who beat Niemi glove side with his fifth.Cizikas skated up the left side on a
2-on-1 with Ross Johnston and tried to send a pass to his teammate. It deflected
back to him off the skate of Montreal’s Jordie Benn, and Cizikas beat Niemi for
his fifth. It gave him his first multigoal game since Oct. 7, 2017, against
Buffalo.NOTES: Domi has eight goals and four assists in his last 10 games. … The
teams play two more times this season, on March 14 at the Nassau Coliseum, and
March 21 at Montreal. … Islanders president and general manager Lou Lamoriello
became the third GM in NHL history to be in charge for 2,400 games, joining
David Poile (2,704) and Glen Sather (2,700). … Bailey snapped an eight-game
point streak.UP NEXTCanadiens: At the New York Rangers on Tuesday
night.Islanders: At Tampa Bay on Thursday night to open a two-game trip to
Florida.
