Sara Civian

1 week ago | bleacherreport.com | Sara Civian

The bad news? The 2024-25 season is over, and it'll be 100-plus days until NHL hockey is back. The Florida Panthers wrapped a bow on it Tuesday with a 5-1, Game 6 win over the Oilers for their second straight Stanley Cup. The good news? We've still got the draft and free agency right around the corner, and it's shaping up to be a fascinating scene all around with an increased salary cap. Before the madness kicks off, let's assign one word to every NHL team's offseason outlook.

1 week ago | bleacherreport.com | Sara Civian

Brad Marchand might be playing hockey with a youthful vigor in his new Panthers uniform, but the 37-year-old former Boston captain has gained plenty of perspective since he won his first and only Cup in 2011 as a Bruins rookie. He remembers the losses more than the wins, such as his last trip to the Cup Final in 2019, which ended in Game 7 heartbreak as the Blues hoisted the Cup.

1 week ago | open.substack.com | Sara Civian

Brad Marchand, 37, has scored 10 goals these playoffs and six in this Final. If you asked me to sum up his 2025 playoff run with one stat about his goals, here it is: Seven of the 10 have given the Panthers the lead. His pair in Game 5 led Florida to a 3-2 series lead over the Oilers as he joined Mario Lemieux as the only two players in the past 59 years to score five goals in multiple Stanley Cup Finals.

2 weeks ago | bleacherreport.com | Sara Civian

Winnipeg Jets star Connor Hellebuyck delivered one of the most dominant regular seasons by a goaltender in recent NHL history, and now he's got two trophies to show for it. For the doubters, though, it still might not be enough. His postseason struggles, critiqued and used as a stick to beat him with, will be the black cloud over his head despite his awards. However, that's a load of nonsense.

2 weeks ago | thecivreport.substack.com | Sara Civian

Good morning, hockey fans. In Games 1 and 2 of this Stanley Cup Final, we were treated to two elite teams going shift-for-shift, pound-for-pound, pony-for-rat as the Oilers and Panthers had to break random NHL records each night to get past each other. There were spurts of dominance, like Edmonton outshooting Florida 14-2 in the third period of its Game 1 win, and Florida’s high danger chances in the first overtime period of its Game 2 win.