Morning Flurries: Final 4 is set

With the Game 7 match between the Dallas Stars and Seattle Kraken now complete the Final 4 bracket of the Stanley Cup playoffs is now finalized. Dallas and head coach Pete DeBoer put in another smothering performance and finally ousted Seattle in a 2-1 final with Wyatt Johnston who just turned 20-years old yesterday with the game winning goal. Dallas moves on to face the Vegas Golden Knights in a rematch of the Western Conference final from the bubble in 2020.

Thus, an all-southern final four was born with Las Vegas the northernmost city to host NHL hockey remaining. All teams get several days off as the schedule resumes on Thursday, May 18th with the Eastern Conference tilt.

What else has been finalized is where the Colorado Avalanche will pick in the upcoming NHL Draft, which is 27th overall. It is a position the organization has never selected from and one higher than their most recent first round selection of Oskar Olausson in 2021.

Over in Europe the lengthy round-robin portion of the World Championship continues and our favorite Moose Mikko Rantanen made an impact in Finland’s 4-3 victory over Germany with a two assist performance including this skillful play.

Also, a nice feature on Rantanen who just might be the biggest NHL star in the tournament.