The Puck Stops Here

After a tough seven game battle with Edmonton, the Carolina Hurricanes have won the Stanley Cup. Congratulations to Carolina and their fans. They are the Stanley Cup champions and they worked hard and deserve it (though they are a rather lacklustre champion).

Cam Ward wins the Conn Smythe, despite the fact I think he is a poor choice. Yes Ward played well, but do you actually think he was the best goalie in the playoffs? If he wasn't the best goalie in the playoffs how can he be MVP? I think that Dwayne Roloson and Ilya Bryzgalov both played better in the playoffs, although neither was around to raise the Stanley Cup. Ward was the surviving goalie. When everything was over, he was the only one left standing. He played well, but he wasn't the best in his position. If it was up to me, the Conn Smythe would have gone to Chris Pronger even in a losing cause.

Ward's Conn Smythe win is a fitting choice in some ways. While Carolina may have won the cup, they are not an elite team. While Ward may have won MVP, he wasn't the best goalie throughout the playoffs. That honor goes to Dwayne Roloson.

In the end, a small market southeastern team beat a small market Alberta team in the Stanley Cup finals. If we are to believe the NHL brass, we have the new CBA to thank for that. A final like that would have been impossible without it. In fact a final like that hadn't occurred since last time. I would argue that the CBA has not changed the type of market that makes the finals this year, but it has changed how good the team is. The teams are not as good.

In the end, I think the 2005/06 season will go down as a year of transition. It is the first year back from lockout. It is a year when the CBA imposed parity and is a year or two before the big market advantages of the CBA become significant. It is a transitional year when the NHL tried a bunch of new rules and new enforcement standards. In time, some of it will survive, but other parts will be thrown away and new changes will be brought in. It is also a transitional year in terms of the NHL's players. We saw retirements of many all time greats including Mario Lemieux, Mark Messier and Brett Hull. We saw a great rookie crop emerge. Some of them are likely to be hall of famers of tomorrow. Some are likely to fade away. I think hockey is lucky to have the likes of Alexander Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Hernik Lundqvist et al. While there were great individual season efforts by Jaromir Jagr, Joe Thornton, Nicklas Lidstrom. Miikka Kiprusoff and others, I think none will go down as all time great seasons. In the end, this season was not so much spectacular because of what happened on the ice as it is interesting because of what transitions the NHL is making. While I wish the NHL well, I am very skeptical on their changes. I hope it turns out for the best, but I have strong doubts. I think this process cost the NHL any great teams this year. When great teams start to emerge again, most likely they will be only in the biggest markets. I am uncertain if that will be as soon as next year or if it will be a longer wait. The NHL got back on the ice this year, but the biggest stories still took place in the boardroom off the ice.