18           15                7   

Rage Massive Lead - A Win Away

GM Matt can now taste his first NHLP Championship Cup. With a massive 18-15-7 point lead heading back to Florida the lead may just be too many with the tie-breaker in hand. Edmonton will need a blowout or to keep Florida from scoring and that isn’t something they have proven able to do all series. Edmonton has many leaks and a goaltending issue while Florida has been all-around the more solid team. For Matt his three players in the finals all lead Florida with 6 points each, a well-rounded mix that has showed up in the finals. The CTR had Green Bay as the favorites in the finals 18-15, a score that is exactly flipped heading into game 6. During the first three rounds the final three Knights players had outscored Matt’s three Rage players 54-45, but not so when it mattered most. If the Rage can hold on they will have also accomplished something rarely ever seen in the NHLP, the playoffs leading scoring point getting team losing. It just isn’t anything that has happened very often. Cleveland (Tyson) did it last in 2017 with scoring rounds of 17-13-6-7 (43) where both other teams in the finals had 45 and Carolina (Joel) had 59 to lead all teams but did not win. Last season GM Chad’s four rounds (40-38-34-19) were all better then Cleveland’s highest round during their Crosby toe-tap victory season. Entering the finals Cincinnati had lagged 20 points (86-66) behind the Knights. It isn’t that the Knights players haven’t scored in the finals, they will likely hit or past the predicted 18, but the Rage players have just been a point better each with 6 apiece, of their expected 5, while still game 6 and maybe 7 to play. Matt is hoping to end it in 6, meaning he could only lose if Florida won the game and Ryan’s Oilers lead team had a 4 point gain, which isn’t something likely to happen. So should Florida win game 6, almost with certainty we’d expect Matt to hoist his first Cup. For Ryan, his incredible season is going to have to go the distance. At the minimum an Oilers win and no worse than staying three points down. Heading into a game 7, at home, with Draisaitl, there would always be the possibility of everything going in with a final 7-2 type win, even with 2 or 3 empty net goals and a comeback of three points to win on the tie-breaker. Ryan needs 7 and Matt just needs Florida to win back to back NHL Stanley Cups at home to win his first ever Cup. Just a game away.

     14           13                6   

Magical Battle for First Cup

The 35^th NHLP Championship is one for the ages, not for the faint of heart. A back-and-forth game 4, where the one ice NHL series of Florida and Edmonton has been a mirror reflection of the battle in the NHLP Finals. Edmonton comes back from a first period 3-0 deficit to win in overtime, on a goal by Draisaitl to move the NHLP’s Finals to a 14-13-6 – Cincinnati – Green Bay – NY Rangers. The Oilers comeback was so rare that the last time a road team did the feat was in 1919 in a game won by Montreal. Ironically enough, the oldest living Canadian, Margaret Romans of Latvia, Quebec, who was born in 1912, was 7 years old at the time of the game. Both GMs, Matt and Ryan, must feel like they are 113 years old, with the emotional highs and lows of the series taking a toll on the GMs. Of the 9 goals scored in the game, a Rage or Knight’s player was in on all but one of the goals. “We’ve never had an NHLP Finals with this much talent,” GM Jr stated, an undeniable fact. The series now has 33 points and will soon be the first NHLP Finals in league history to top 40 points, with 37 the most scored, a record to be passed in game 5. We already know the losing GM will be the first GM ever to lose scoring double digits, and both GMs might top 20 points. The Halifax Destroyers (Shawn) hold the record of 21 points scored in the Finals, another record in jeopardy. The NHLP could not have asked for a more exciting finals in “Anniversary Season #35,” and the fact that both GMs are vying for their first Cup, only adds to the emotional toll of the moment and magnitude of the event.

     8           7               5       

Rage Takes Series Lead

As expected Florida came out strong in game three and pounded the Oilers 6-1, with GM Matt’s Cincinnati Rage having their best night. The Rage scored four points to Green Bay’s one and now have taken an 8-7-5 lead over Ryan and Charlie. Matt also took into hand the tie-breaker should he tie either of his opponents. It was a terrible night for GM Charlie who just couldn’t afford to drop this far behind. McDavid was always good for a point gain in any game against either of the three man teams, but having to gain three or four points against the star players in the series was never likely to occur. For Ryan the good news was Nugent-Hopkins played, however, only Lundell scored for the Knights who are very much in this series. Matt hopes to extend the lead and Florida go up 3-1 after next game, giving him a chance to end the series in each game thereafter. The NHLP Finals has been everything the league predicted and might not even be half over heading into game four.

6                 5                      4

McDavid Keeping Charlie Alive

After game two of the NHLP Cup Finals, there is just no separation of the three NHLP teams. The series is 6-5-4 Green Bay, NY Rangers and Cincinnati. McDavid now has 5 points for GM Charlie. The longer the Rangers can stay in this, now only a 3 to 5 game series, the more chance this can happen for Charlie. Charlie cannot win a three way tie so has to stay ahead of one of the other two. With Florida having home ice advantage, if McDavid was to just gain one point on GM Ryan in Green Bay the rest of the way, a Florida win would seal Charlie’s second Cup. It doesn’t appear games are going to be low scoring, which bolds well for Ryan and Matt for they are easily up on Charlie by 9 and 6 points respectively according to the CTR. We should see more from Cincinnati at home, as home teams usually do win and Matt does have three Florida players. McDavid is playing the best hockey maybe of his career and an overtime win could have really helped Charlie, hoping he can gain just two and end in four games. This series being 1-1, likely means Cincinnati will be creeping back into this. All in all this is turning into, if it isn’t already, the best NHLP Finals in history.

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2                 2                     2

One Minute

You really can’t get any closer of an NHLP Finals after one game. GM’s Ryan, Matt and Charlie are all deadlocked 2-2-2. “I need a short series” GM Charlie stated. That he does and if he gets that four game sweep, don’t discount McDavid who could strike for a four point game any time. Charlie needs a quick series as he is running half what Ryan and Matt are running. If you looked at the first game statistics Charlie had 31 minutes ice time from McDavid and 4 shots on goal. Ryan’s three guys had 71 minutes and 23 seconds of time on the ice and 9 shots. Matt’s three 72 minutes and 32 seconds and also 9 shots. Literally nothing separated they guys. Charlie is hanging on as the CTR says he just can’t win being down 9 points but he is where he wants to be after game one. As for Ryan and Matt, they exactly where they are supposed to be, neck and neck. Is the 2025 Finals going to come down to the last game? So far, everything says this is shaping up to be the best Finals in the 35 year history of the NHLP.