Here’s what’s new for Saturday, New York Rangers fans.
Will the East Take Back the Cup? – Sportsnet
In Sportsnet’s 10 most compelling NHL story lines to watch, they raise a very interesting question. Could an Eastern Conference team win the Stanley Cup next year?
It’s a question that was first raised once a bulk of the wheeling and dealing was over and done with, weeks after free agency began. And now the answer is becoming clearer. It’s high time for an Eastern Conference team to take back the Cup.
New York Rangers
The Western Conference has dominated in the Playoffs over the past five years. In that time, the Eastern Conference has won the Cup just once – the Boston Bruins in 2011 – while the Los Angeles Kings and the Chicago Blackhawks have gone back and forth, taking turns winning over Lord Stanley.
It was in the wild wild west where the NHL was the most competitive and the most talented, but things are different now. The two Conferences have started to see more of a level playing field as a few of the top names from the West have been planted over in the East.
Former LA King Justin Williams now fights for the Washington Capitals. One of the most recent Stanley Cup champions, Brandon Saad, now skates with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Not to mention Jarret Stoll, another former King, is now on the New York Rangers‘ roster.
The keys to winning the Cup have fallen into place on their new coast. They fit in. They’ve begun to turn the lock. And when that lock opens, the East will finally be able to take back the Stanley Cup this year.
David Levin’s Long Skate from Israel – Sportsnet
Think you’d have a hard time breaking into the NHL? Take a look at David Levin’s story.
Levin grew up in Israel – not exactly your average hockey town – yet grew a passion for the sport of ice hockey. At the age of 10, he had first laid eyes on the sport in a video of an NHL game. In that moment, he knew exactly what he wanted to do.
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Levin was determined to play professional hockey.
He had to make do with what was readily available to him. So, he played roller hockey until he had mastered that. Then three years ago, Levin was finally able to set hockey skate to ice for the first time. Like anyone who has never gone ice skating before, Levin fell often and used his outreached arms and the boards/glass as his brakes. Though it wasn’t long before he made a name for himself here in the hockey world.
He put in the time and the effort and soon his hours of practice paid off. Fast forward to the 2015 OHL draft and Levin has been picked first overall by the Sudbury Wolves.
If that is not the most incredible defiance of odds you have ever heard, you’re lying. Okay, I don’t know that, but you have to admit this stuff is straight out of a movie. Even Levin’s former high school hockey coach, Lindsay Hofford, said, “It’s something that happens only in a Disney movie, something that you say just isn’t possible.”
If he can do it, what’s stopping anyone else dreaming of becoming a professional hockey player?
Next: McIlrath Finally Makes the New York Rangers Roster
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