The Finals Are Set

Happy Monday! The NBA and NHL Finals are set, some NFL guys are getting PAID while others are getting released, and we even had a trick play work in baseball.

Let’s take a look at all this and more.

We’ve Arrived To The Stanley Cup Finals

🏒 The Florida Panthers defeated the New York Rangers 2-1 on Saturday and took the series in game 6. The Panthers make it to their second consecutive Stanley Cup after dominating most of this series except for a couple of OT sessions. The Rangers only had a chance to take this series to game 7 thanks to the goaltending of Igor Shesterkin, who couldn’t have played any better than he did.

It’s another year where the winner of the President’s Trophy doesn’t win the Stanley Cup. The last team to win both was the Chicago Blackhawks in 2013.

🏒 The second-best team in the NHL this year behind the Rangers was the Dallas Stars. They were 2nd in the NHL in points and led the entire Western Conference… and they just lost in 6, too!

The Edmonton Oilers have done the unthinkable after such a wild start to the season. The Oilers got off to an abysmal start at the beginning of the season and made a coaching change early on. The troops rallied all season, and last night, goalie Stuart Skinner kept this train rolling. Skinner made 34 saves against the Stars last night, and the Stars outshot the Oilers 35 to 10. The Oilers are going to need more shots if they want to have any type of chance against the Panthers.

So, the schedule is set.

While both teams avoided touching their conference trophies because of some type of bad hockey karma that might rub off, the top dogs at the NHL were working the schedule for the Finals. Before we look at the schedule, we’ve got some points to make.

1. The state of Florida doesn’t scream “HOCKEY!” but somehow, they’ve had a team in the last 5 Stanley Cup Finals.

2. Not including a weird COVID year, this is the first time we’ve got a Canadian team in the Finals since Vancouver made it in 2011.

3. This is the first time since 2006 that the Oilers have made it to the Finals.

4. These finals will set the record for a Stanley Cup's farthest distance between the two cities. Edmonton to Miami is 2,541 miles, and the flight situation isn’t great for fans. There are ZERO direct flights between Miami and Edmonton, and there is only one direct flight between Edmonton and Orlando, and it only flies on a Saturday.

Finally, here’s the schedule.

NBA Finals

🏀 After Boston swept the Pacers and the Dallas Mavericks finished off the Minnesota Timberwolves in 5, we’ve got our NBA Final set and scheduled.

Luckily for sports fans, there will be no overlap of schedules any night. Game 1 of the NBA Finals starts Thursday. Here’s the full schedule, with all games also being on ABC.

• Game 1: Mavericks vs. Celtics, Thursday, June 6 (8:30 ET)

• Game 2: Mavericks vs. Celtics, Sunday, June 9 (8 ET)

• Game 3: Celtics vs. Mavericks, Wednesday, June 12 (8:30 ET)

• Game 4: Celtics vs. Mavericks, Friday, June 14 (8:30 ET)

• Game 5: Mavericks vs. Celtics, Monday, June 17 (8:30 ET)*

• Game 6: Celtics vs. Mavericks, Thursday, June 20 (8:30 ET)*

• Game 7: Mavericks vs. Celtics, Sunday, June 23 (8 ET)*

💰️ The Boston Celtics are -220 to win and the Dallas Mavericks are +184

Around the NFL

💰️ Justin Jefferson just got his bag of money. The Vikings WR signed a 4-year deal worth $140 million. This deal makes Jefferson the highest-paid non-QB in the league. Jefferson holds several NFL records, including becoming the fastest player to 5,000 career receiving yards, the most yards through a player's second, third, and fourth season, and the youngest player to lead the league in receiving yards

✂️ The Washington Commanders have released kicker Brandon McManus after two women have filed a lawsuit against the kicker, alleging that he sexually assaulted them during a charter flight to London for an NFL game last year while he was playing for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

👋 NY Giants TE Darren Waller is expected to retire from the NFL at the early age of 31 after he’s dealt with a ton of injuries throughout his career. Waller has only played two full seasons during his 9-year career. The Giants drafted TE Theo Johnson from Penn State in the 4th round this year as a potential replacement.

What else is going on?

⚾️ We had a trick play work in the college baseball world series yesterday. Check it out.

⛳️ Bobby MacIntyre won the Canadian Open yesterday for his first win on the PGA Tour. It was a special moment as he’s been missing Scotland during his time on the Tour, and he flew his Dad over to caddy for him during the final round.

⛳️Yuka Saso won her 2nd US Open at Lancaster Country Club on Sunday. She finished -4 on the weekend, and the closest competitor was Hinak Shibuon, who finished -1. NOT ONE OTHER GOLFER CAME IN UNDER PAR. Wow!

That’s all for Monday rundown. Have a great start to the week and we will’ll see you back here on Wednesday!

-The DB