Tag: 2023魔都新茶论坛

The Dallas Stars are returning to the Western Conference Final for the second time in four seasons. On Monday, the Stars shut down the Kraken 2-1 to win Game 7 and received a sensational performance from goaltender Jake Oettinger.

The Stars opened the scoring courtesy of Roope Hintz late in the second period. Kraken defenseman Jamie Oleksiak, who had played a strong game up to that point, couldn’t corral the puck in the neutral zone, and Hintz made the Kraken pay. Hintz went top shelf and beat Kraken goaltender Philipp Grubauer to give the Stars a 1-0 lead at the 15:59 mark of the second period.

🌟 IT’S ROOPE 🌟

Roope Hintz RIPS one blocker side and this #Game7 has its first goal! #StanleyCup

🇺🇸: @espn ➡️ https://t.co/Xul3x8VBHN
🇨🇦: @Sportsnet ➡️ https://t.co/wnHw6dQIOI pic.twitter.com/Urlb8JfFm7

— NHL (@NHL) May 16, 2023
The goal was Hintz’s ninth goal of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and his fourth of the series. Hintz also registered four goals and two assists over the series’ final four games.

This particular Game 7 proved to be a defensive battle, evident in the fact that there wasn’t a goal through more than half of the contest. However, the Stars got some much-needed insurance in the final period.

At the 12:48 mark of the second period, rookie forward Wyatt Johnston scooped up a loose puck and tucked it over the shoulder of Philipp Grubauer to give the Stars a 2-0 lead. It was the fourth goal of the postseason for the 20-year-old Johnston.

While the two goals were impressive against a confident Grubauer, Oettinger added another spectacular performance to his Game 7 lore. The Stars goaltender turned aside all 21 of the 22 shots he faced in Game 7.

This came after Oettinger stopped 64-of-67 shots against the Calgary Flames in Game 7 of their opening-round series during the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs. That marked the second-most saves in a Game 7 in NHL history, behind only Kelly Hrudey (73).

The Kraken added a goal at the 19:42 mark of the third period, thanks to Oliver Bjorkstrand, but it was too little, too late. Despite the loss, goalie Philipp Grubauer played extremely well as he recorded 26 saves.

Now the Stars will face off against the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Final after the Golden Knights beat the Edmonton Oilers.

After the Edmonton Oilers were swept by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2022 Western Conference Final, it was clear that the franchise needed more stability in between the pipes. So the team went out and signed veteran goaltender Jack Campbell to a five-year, $25 million contract last summer.

Yet one year later, the song remains the same.

The Oilers were let down by the goaltending position throughout the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, which ended with them being eliminated by the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday.

Let’s start by briefly going back one year. During the 2022 postseason, veteran goalie Mike Smith had his fair share struggles:

He posted just an 8-6-0 record to go along with a 3.37 goals-against-average
That included allowing a mind-boggling 19 goals in four games against the Avalanche in the Western Conference Final.
Smith completely came unglued as the Oilers blew a 3-1 third period lead in Game 4 and lost the contest, 6-5, in overtime.
As injuries were signaling the end of Smith’s career, the team chose to address the goaltending position in the form of Campbell. He signed a fairly substantial contract, but, at least in the first year, did not live up to it in the regular season.

The veteran netminder tallied a 21-9-4 record, a 3.41 goals-against-average and a .888 save percentage in 36 games.

As a result of those shortcomings, Campbell was overtaken by Stuart Skinner, 24, who didn’t have a ton of experience entering this year. Skinner had a 29-14-5 record to go along with a 2.75 goals-against-average and a .914 save percentage in 50 games (48 starts).

While Skinner did produce a very strong regular season manning the Oilers crease, his performance during the Stanley Cup Playoffs was one to forget.

Skinner had a 5-6-0 record with a 3.68 GAA and a .883 save percentage in 12 games.
Over the course of the Oilers’ series against the Golden Knights, Skinner produced a 3.17 goals-against-average and surrendered at least four goals in four of the six games.
When Edmonton needed a stellar performance to keep their playoff hopes alive, Skinner again gave up four goals to the Golden Knights and was replaced by Campbell after two periods.
Always follow the bouncing puck. 🤭 #StanleyCup

🇺🇸: @espn ➡️ https://t.co/WIU6lWMfRk
🇨🇦: @Sportsnet ➡️ https://t.co/wnHw6dQIOI pic.twitter.com/ePRNOJ83GS

— NHL (@NHL) May 15, 2023
Campbell actually played well when he replaced Skinner in three of the games in the series. He yielded just one goal in Game 3 and didn’t give up anything else. Over the course of the postseason, Campbell went 1-0-0 with a 1.02 GAA and .961 save percentage in four games.

Considering how well Campbell played when he did see time in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, it may have benefitted the Oilers to go back to him as the full-time starter after Skinner surrendered 10 goals over the first three games. Yes, Skinner did give up just one goal in Game 2, but he let in four and five goals respectively in Games 1 and 3. During the postseason in his career, he owns a 2.45 career goals-against-average despite giving up 21 total goals in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ seven-game series against the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2021-22.

Obviously, Campbell didn’t exactly perform the way the Oilers envisioned when they signed him to a five-year deal in the 2022 offseason. Skinner is signed through the 2025-26 season and is certainly too young for the Oilers to give up on despite his postseason struggles. Meanwhile, Campbell also probably isn’t going anywhere considering that he’s got four more years on his contract.

It’ll be interesting to see how the Oilers handle the goaltending position when the 2023-24 season begins. Both have had their fair share of bright spots. However, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them work in tandem throughout the regular season until one proves that he deserves to be the full-time starter.

They are not in an entirely different position entering this offseason as they were exactly a year ago. One thing is for sure though: this is a team that is way too talented else where — hello, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl — to bow out in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the same reason year in and year out.

The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame is the pinnacle of achievement for every NBA player, coach and executive — a sign that your career was not only great but also worthy of immortalization. The 2023 class is riddled with familiar NBA names, including Dirk Nowitzki, Dwyane Wade, Pau Gasol, Tony Parker and Gregg Popovich, who will all be inducted on Saturday.

Like most of the sports world, we generally have a hard time living in the present and always want to look to the future, so we thought it would be interesting to take a look at all 30 NBA teams’ current roster to see who their most likely next Hall of Fame inductee would be.

Please note the key words there: First, “current roster” — the player has to be with the team at this very moment to be considered. Second, “most likely” — meaning we’re not saying that the person is certainly going to get in, but it is just the best candidate available. And lastly, “next,” indicating that the person selected has to be the one who’s going to reach the Hall of Fame the soonest.

For the purposes of this exercise, we looked at players, coaches and members of the front office (we decided to leave owners and governors out, because that’s not much fun). As you’ll see, some are extremely obvious — hi, LeBron! — and others are true head-scratchers — Wizards, yeesh!

The NBA schedule was released on Thursday and we’ve tracked key dates from all angles, including games to circle for the Lakers, Celtics, Knicks and Warriors. Below we are looking at reunion dates, when a marquee player who has switched teams will be making his first trip back to his former home arena as a visiting player (Gabe Vincent or Max Strus returning to Miami is cool and all, but it’s not going to make this list, nor is Grant Williams going back to Boston or Bruce Brown returning to Denver). We’re looking at the big fish here.

Games are listed in chronological order. Let’s get to it.

*LP denotes League Pass

1. Chris Paul in Phoenix: Warriors at Suns — Nov. 22 (ESPN)
   Paul returns to the Valley with the Warriors after spending three seasons with the Suns and helping lead them to the 2021 Finals. Paul basically aged out in Phoenix, which brought in Bradley Beal to form a big three with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, but he was the key figure in getting that franchise on a title-contending trajectory.
2. Mikal Bridges in Phoenix: Nets at Suns — Dec. 13 (LP)
   Bridges wasn’t a marquee player in Phoenix, but he became one in Brooklyn and he’ll surely have an extra hop in his step for this one. Bridges was traded to Brooklyn in the Kevin Durant deal but didn’t come back to Phoenix post-trade last season.
3. Jordan Poole in Golden State: Wizards at Warriors — Dec. 22 (ESPN)
   Poole was a big part of the Warriors’ 2022 championship but only lasted one season after signing a four-year $140 million contract. Things ended pretty badly for Poole with Golden State, starting with the punch heard round the basketball world from Draymond Green and finishing with an abysmal postseason showing in 2023. He’ll be a go-to guy in Washington and will surely be looking to jack up plenty of shots against his old team.
4. Jalen Brunson in Dallas: Knicks at Mavericks — Jan. 11 (LP)
   Brunson didn’t play in New York’s only trip to Dallas last season, so this will actually mark his first time on the American Airlines court as a visiting player. This will be a tough one for Mavericks fans. Letting Brunson get away looked bad at the time. It’s borderline stomach-turning now.
5. Kevin Durant in Brooklyn: Suns at Nets — Jan. 31 (ESPN)
   Durant only played eight regular season games for the Suns after the trade last year and none of them were in Brooklyn. Durant’s time with the Nets was muddled. He performed at an MVP level when he played, but they never made it past the second round and he eventually tried to get his coach and GM fired before he forced his way out.
6. Marcus Smart in Boston: Grizzlies at Celtics — Feb. 4 (ESPN)
   Smart will receive a massive ovation when he returns to face the Celtics as a member of the Memphis Grizzlies. With Derrick White arguably supplanting him as the better player, Smart became expendable. Kristaps Porzingis is in Boston as a result.
7. Bradley Beal in Washington: Suns at Wizards — Feb. 4 (NBA TV)
   It’s only fitting that on the same night Smart returns to Boston, Beal’s return to face the Wizards will get the stepchild NBA TV treatment, where Wizards playoff games were stuck for years in the Wall-Beal era.
8. Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn: Mavericks at Nets — Feb. 6 (TNT)
   Like Durant, Irving will also be making his first trip back to Brooklyn as Dallas didn’t play the Nets following last year’s trade. This is the one I’m looking forward to the most. Irving absolutely torpedoed the Nets over multiple seasons. I would assume a massive round of boos are in order.
9. Fred VanVleet in Toronto: Rockets at Raptors — Feb. 9 (LP)
   VanVleet was an integral part of the Raptors’ first championship as a franchise. He got a huge deal with the Rockets and rightfully left as Toronto continues to toe the line of keeping its core intact and finally entering the rebuild phase.
10. Damian Lillard in Portland? Heat at Blazers — Feb. 27 (TNT)
    Well, look what we have here, the Miami Heat in Portland, for the Blazers’ lone nationally televised game of the season, almost directly AFTER the trade deadline. Might the league be anticipating a Damian Lillard deadline trade to Miami? It hasn’t happened yet, but keep the date circled on your calendar. Adam Silver certainly has done so.

Another day, another talking point regarding James Harden and the Philadelphia 76ers. This time the All-Star guard is saying that he thinks his relationship with the team is beyond repair. After returning from China — where he publicly called 76ers president Daryl Morey a liar — for an event he’s hosting in Houston this weekend, Harden spoke briefly about his relationship with the Sixers and the amount of patience he has with the situation.

“I’ve been patient all summer,” Harden said via KHOU 11. “For me, it’s just focus on what I can control and getting ready for this season.”

When asked if he thinks his relationship with the Sixers is beyond repair, Harden responded “I think so.”

So basically, nothing has changed since Harden requested a trade demand in late June, or since he called out Morey earlier this week and how he would never play for a team of his. Harden, who opted into a $35.6 million player option with Philadelphia in late June, is seemingly upset at Morey and the 76ers for two reasons. Harden was likely expecting a lucrative long-term offer from Philly this summer after taking a pay cut last offseason to give the team more financial flexibility. When that offer never materialized, Harden requested a trade, but those talks have fizzled.

While Harden has the patience to call Philadelphia’s bluff of ending trade talks with the Clippers (his preferred trade destination) with the intention of bringing him into training camp, there are costly ramifications on the horizon.

If Harden follows through with holding out of training camp like what’s been reported, it could cost him his free agency next summer. Because Harden is in the final year of his contract, the CBA states that if he “withholds services” for more than 30 days and isn’t traded by the Sixers this season, then he won’t be allowed to become a free agent next summer until Philadelphia “expressly agrees otherwise.”

It’s a potentially risky standoff for both sides, and Harden is likely betting on the Sixers not invoking that clause as it wouldn’t land well with other players around the league. However, the Sixers also have an obligation to get the best deal possible for the their organization going forward, so dumping Harden at the first offer also isn’t ideal. It’s a tricky situation, and as we inch closer to training camp opening on Oct. 3 the tension will only rise as both sides try to figure out the best path forward.