@FlameRaptorRaven

3mo

How Mika Zibanejad was Found and Lost

Mika Zibanejad played game 1000 tonight in Madison Square Garden… against the team that drafted him. Considering Zibanejad now has 800 career points in 1000 career games, it may lead you to wonder how the hell Ottawa let him get away. Those that are unaware of his story may assume that Mika was a nobody when the Senators drafted him, but that is far from the truth. Mika Zibanejad entered the 2011 NHL draft as the biggest riser out of anyone there. Zibanejad had burst on to the scene in Sweden’s top league as a valuable contributor at just 17 years-old. That is an actual kid playing well in one of the best leagues in the world with men. That, combined with his appealing measurables and deep offensive toolbox had scouts salivating. Pretty much every draft board had him in the latter half of the top 10 with most having him going 10th overall to the Minnesota Wild. The Ottawa Senators, picking 6th overall, already had great Swedish players on the team with a legend in Daniel Alfredsson and a legend on the rise in Erik Karlsson. However, the real decider was likely a gap at center that the Sens had. With Mark Scheifele and Dougie Hamilton on the board, the Ottawa Senators selected Mika Zibanejad. Fast forward about a year and Zibanejad became the top prospect in Ottawa’s system. It certainly helped that Zibanejad had etched himself in hockey lore with a golden goal in overtime at the 2012 World Juniors to help Sweden win their first ever gold medal in the tournament. Mika had joined the Senators at the start of the season where he managed to get his first career assist in his NHL debut. But Ottawa sent him back to Sweden for the rest of 2011-12. He would never go back to Sweden after returning to Ottawa as his talent was far too good to deny. He had a couple brief stints in the AHL, but he was a regular in Ottawa’s lineup from 2013 to 2016. He put up 150 points in 272 games as a bottom 6 forward who eventually found his way to the 2nd line. He was a 20 goals scorer and 50 point getter by the time he was old enough to get a drink in the States. So what the hell happened? Why wasn’t Mika a lifelong Senator? On July 18th, 2016: the Senators sent Mike Zibanejad and a 2018 2nd round pick to the New York Rangers for a 2018 7th round pick and 29-year-old Derrick Brassard. Obviously, this trade has aged extremely poorly for the Senators, but even at the time it was questionable. Imagine if the Kraken traded Beniers along with a 2nd round pick for Nick Schmaltz. Not a bad trade for either side necessarily, but definitely highly questionable for the Kraken. Why did they do it? That’s the obvious question and it actually had a simple answer: money. The Senators were kinda loaded with young talent at this time. They had Erik Karlsson who was the best D-man in the NHL, Mark Stone who had emerged as a Selke candidate and point per game winger, Jean-Gabriel Pageau who had similarly emerged as a Selke-vote getter along with a few others all under the age of 25. The cap constraints the Senators were going to face when they inevitably had to pay all that talent made Zibanejad expendable. Zibanejad,of course, has made that decision look foolish with 656 points in 718 games, but perhaps he had to leave. In an article from the Athletic written by Arthur Staple in 2023: Bobby Ryan, who was Zibanejad’s linemate in Ottawa, claimed that Mika needed a change of scenery to transform into the player he is now. He also mentioned how Mika struggled with all the expectations that came with being a hyped prospect in a hockey city. Personally, I think that last part is BS since he became a hyped young player in New York, but I do think Ryan has a point about the change of scenery. The Senators played a defense-first forechecking style that fit Brassard better than it did Mika. In fact, in the very first season after the trade, Brassard played a major role alongside Karlsson and Stone in getting the Senators 1 Game 7 OT winner away from an appearance in the Stanley Cup final, ironically closer than Zibanejad has ever gotten with the Rangers. Still, hard to imagine New York isn’t ecstatic with how the trade has worked out. Mika currently sits tied for 4th all-time in goals, 9th in assists and 7th in points with the Rangers and will surely climb those leaderboards in the next few seasons, especially considering Mika has only missed 2 games in the last 4 seasons.

OTT2

1NYR

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The Streak Continues

Teams to score first in a game that clinches the Stanley Cup are a mind-boggling 35-0 since 1988, including this game where Taylor Hall scored the first goal of the game (although you probably knew Carolina scored the first goal of this game considering it was a shutout. There have been some very wonderful players to put in this first clinching goal. Glenn Anderson, who is especially known for being a money player, scored the first goal in the 1990 SCF for the Edmonton Oilers. Jaromir Jagr scored the first goal in the 1992 SCF to lift the Penguins over the Blackhawks. To end the New York Rangers' long drought, hall-of-famer Brian Leetch scored the first goal in the 1994 SCF. Uwe Krupp scored the only goal in the 1996 SCF in triple overtime to lift the newly-minted Avalanche over the Panthers. 12x All Star Nicklas Lidstrom scored the first goal in the '97 Stanley Cup. Devils legend Scott Niedermayer's short-handed goal was the first in the '00 Stanley Cup. Skipping a bit to the 2010s, future HOFer Patrice Bergeron scored the first goal in that infamous 2011 SCF. KINGS LEGEND DUSTIN BROWN scored the first goal in 2012. Justin Williams in 2014 got both the goal AND the Conn Smythe. This pattern continued with Duncan Keith in 2015. Brian Dumoulin is the active player with the oldest goal in 2016 with the Penguins. Factor (Ryan O'Reilly) had the Smythe and the goal in 2019 for St. Louis as they won their first cup. Brayden Point led the Lightning in playoff scoring with his goal adding to that wondrous pandemic amount in 2020. Ross Colton is the same as Uwe Krupp, the lone goal to win it in 2021. Mark Stone (who YOU saw in THIS game) did it in 2023. Finally, Sam Reinhart's FOUR goals in 2025, including the first, helped Florida win in game 6 of the 2025 SCF. What a list, amirite???

@rafiki

9.3

The "Most Boring Final in NHL History" is ANYTHING but that!

Mitch Marner's performance in Game 3 of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final was one for the history books. During the second period, Marner's three-goal, natural hat trick came in just 6:10, making it the fastest hat trick ever recorded in a Stanley Cup Final. It was also the first hat trick scored in a Stanley Cup Final outside the opening period and only the third single-period hat trick in SCF history. Marner added an assist during the frame, giving him a total of four points for the period. The last player to record four points in a Stanley Cup Final period was Frank Foyston, who tallied three goals and an assist for the Seattle Metropolitans in Game 3 of the 1919 Stanley Cup Final. That series is remembered for a much different reason, though: after five games, Seattle and Montreal were tied at two wins apiece with one tie, and the deciding game was canceled due to the Spanish flu pandemic. As a result, no Stanley Cup champion was crowned, making 1919 the only Stanley Cup Final ever left unfinished. To this day, the Stanley Cup bears the inscription, "Series Not Completed." But Carolina was ready with some history of their own, and the Hurricanes' comeback was nearly as remarkable as Marner's historic period. Carolina scored three goals in just 39 seconds to erase a four-goal deficit, breaking the previous Stanley Cup Final record of 56 seconds set by the Montreal Canadiens in 1954. The Hurricanes also became just the second team in NHL history to tie a Stanley Cup Final game after trailing by four goals, joining the New York Rangers in Game 1 of the 1972 Final against the Boston Bruins. According to Andrei Svechnikov, the turnaround began during the second intermission. "To be honest, it was kind of quiet a little bit," Svechnikov said. "Roddy came out and gave us a little speech and we knew what we had to do" (NewsObserver). Between Marner's historic hat trick and Carolina's record-breaking rally, Game 3 became one of the most statistically remarkable contests ever played in a Stanley Cup Final. Quote Source: https://www.newsobserver.com/sports/nhl/carolina-hurricanes/article316032823.html

@rafiki

8.5

25 Seconds. 50 Years. Nikolaj Ehlers.

Last time someone scored a Game 1 Stanley Cup Finals goal this fast was 50 years ago. Nikolaj Ehlers just scored 2 goals in the first period of Game 1 of the 2026 Stanley Cup Finals. His first goal, coming just 25 seconds into the first period, is now the 3rd fastest goal in a game 1 in the Stanley Cup Finals after Reggie Leech (0:21, 1976) and Sid Smith (0:15, 1951). But he didn’t stop there; Ehlers also became only the second player in Stanley Cup Finals history to score 2 goals in the first period of Game 1. For 35 years, Al MacInnis stood alone. Tonight, Nikolaj Ehlers joined him. Not bad for his first Stanley Cup Finals Game. **Repost so it's on the actual game**