Around the NHL: Chris Tanev left Game 4, PWHL Minnesota won the inaugural Walter Cup, and more!
1 month ago
It’s a busy day around the hockey world.
The Professional Women’s Hockey League has an inaugural champion, while their nicknames are reportedly ready. Moreover, another famous tournament has concluded its round robin, and a former Flame left a game due to an injury.
Let’s dive into the latest edition of Around the NHL!
PWHL wins the first ever Walter Cup
The first PWHL classic game was this past Sunday, and saw nearly five whole periods, a 1-0 shutout, and an overturned goal that would’ve seen the first Walter Cup handed out right then, before Boston scored not a minute later to send it to a decisive Game 5 on Wednesday.
Well, it took an additional 61 minutes or so, but PWHL Minnesota won the inaugural Walter Cup, defeating Boston 3-0. The team came back from the dead, as they were down 2-0 in the series to Toronto without even scoring a goal, but managed to reverse sweep them to win in five games.
Overall, the team picked up four shutouts in their ten games, but were also shut out three times, including in Game 4. The fifth and final game saw Liz Schepers score her first of the playoffs 6:14 into the second period, before a dominant shift in the third period saw Michela Cava score her fourth of the postseason. That was followed by Kendall Coyne Schofield’s empty net goal, sealing the win for Minnesota.
What a heck of a first season it was for the PWHL, but there was also some more news announced on Wednesday.
PWHL nicknames have been decided
According to Senior Vice President of the PWHL, Amy Scheer, the league will launch nicknames and logos for the teams in August.
The debut season sort of saw the league figure it out as it went, or at least release information as the season went along. This includes the “jail break” rule, if a team scores on a penalty kill, the player in the box is released, the power play is ended.
However, it was quite odd calling teams “PWHL (city)”. Thankfully, that will come to an end next season!
Utah owner Ryan Smith narrows the nickname to just four names
Speaking of nicknames, the newest team in the league, the team from Utah, has narrowed down their nickname to just four, according to owner Ryan Smith.
On Wednesday’s edition of the Pat McAfee show, Smith noted that both the “Utah Yeti” and the “Utah Mammoth” were two of the four names that the team could use. However, he didn’t disclose the other two names.
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Below is the full list of names.
- Utah Blast
- Utah Powder
- Utah Mammoth
- Utah Mountaineers
- Utah Black Diamonds
- Utah Swarm
- Utah Yeti
- Utah Caribou
- Utah Frost
- Utah Venom
- Utah Squall
- Utah Outlaws
- Utah Hive
- Utah Freeze
- Utah Fury
- Utah HC
- Utah Glaciers
- Utah Canyons
- Utah Blizzard
- Utah Ice
Utah will just go by “Utah Hockey Club” for their first season, before rebranding ahead of the 2025-26 season. Outlaws would be my pick!
Memorial Cup round robin has finished
The 2024 Memorial Cup is between three teams now.
Heading into Tuesday’s game, the battle for the spot in the semifinals commenced, with the Moose Jaw Warriors defeating the Drummondville Voltigeurs 5-3, sending the Québec Maritime Junior Hockey League champions packing.
Wednesday’s game saw the battle of the two undefeated teams, as Ontario Hockey League champions London Knights faced off against the host team (also of the OHL), Saginaw Spirit. It was actually the Knights who ended Saginaw’s hopes of winning their first J. Ross Robertson Cup in Saginaw (the franchise has eight cups total), as the Knights defeated the Spirit in the Conference Finals.
It was the same result on Wednesday, as the Knights defeated the Spirit 4-2, as Easton Cowen scored with just over a minute left to send the Knights to Sunday’s final. The host will play on Friday against the Warriors, who they previously defeated 5-4.
Chris Tanev left Game 4 with an injury
Some sad news here, as former Calgary Flames defenceman Chris Tanev left the game after blocking a shot from Evander Kane. The 34-year-old didn’t return for the third period.
When asked about him, Dallas Stars head coach Peter DeBoer didn’t give an update on Tanev, but said “Fingers crossed he’ll be good for next game”, according to Dallas News’ Lia Assimakopoulos.
To make matters worse, the Stars fell 5-2 to the Edmonton Oilers, meaning that the two teams will play at least two more games, with the next game coming in Dallas on Friday. With right-shot defenceman Jani Hakanpää also down, the Stars’ right-side of their defence is in flux.
Tanev was acquired before the 2024 trade deadline, with the Stars moving prospect Artem Grushnikov, a 2024 second-round pick, and a conditional 2026 third-round pick. The condition on the final pick is that the Stars need to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals, or the pick doesn’t transfer.
Hopefully Tanev is good to go for Game 5, and go Stars!
Thanks for reading! You can follow me on Twitter @Ryley_L_D.
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