Grab bag: The next step in killing the loser point

In the Friday Grab Bag:
- Your favorite team raised ticket prices. Is that bad?
- A potentially controversial take on the loser point.
- An obscure player who enjoyed what may be the shortest decade-long career in history.
- The week's three comedy stars.
- And a classic YouTube clip of Don Cherry explaining how a hockey net works while trying really hard not to murder his co-host.

>> Read the full post at Vice Sports

The 2016 OGWAC rankings

The Old Guy Without A Cup is one of playoff hockey’s best traditions. Every season, right around this time, fans start hearing about the grizzled veterans on the remaining teams that are chasing the very first championship of their NHL careers. Some have had agonizing near-misses in the past; others have never even come close. In many cases, the drama is unmistakable because we know that this is probably their last chance.

The Old Guy Without A Cup, or OGWAC for short, makes for a great story. They’re easy for fans to root for, and can serve as inspiration for their teammates. Over the years, it’s even become tradition for the winning captain to seek out his team’s OGWAC for the honour of receiving the first handoff.

Ray Bourque is probably the best OGWAC story of all-time; back in 2001, it was almost impossible not to cheer him on as the then 40-year-old defenceman chased his first title in what would be the final season of his 22-year career. When he finally got it, hockey fans were treated to one of the era’s most emotional moments.

Other memorable OGWACs include Lanny MacDonald in 1989 and Teemu Selanne in 2007. Last year, it was Kimmo Timonen, the 39-year-old veteran who’d never won a thing over the course of his long career, right up until Jonathan Toews handed him the Cup.

This year, as always, there are a handful of candidates in the running to be this year’s feel-good story. We’re obviously looking for guys that are old, which we’ll define as 33 and up. They also need to playing an active role in their team’s Cup hunt; you’ll occasionally see a scratch earn OGWAC status (like Denis Savard in 1993), but it’s rare. And bonus points will be awarded for near misses and adversity faced along the way.

With all that in mind, here are the ten best OGWAC candidates left standing in this year’s playoffs.

Steve Ott, St. Louis Blues

The notorious pest is in his 13th NHL season, almost all of them spent doing the thankless work of a third or fourth-liner. He’s also a divisive player, one who proudly plays the agitator role, has been suspended multiple times and once thought it would be a good idea to do this.

Near misses: Ott’s longest run came as part of the Stars team that made the conference final back in 2008.

Adversity tracker: It’s probably fair to say that Ott is one of the most hated players in the league. Does that count as adversity? I’m not sure it does.

Bottom line: A big part of any OGWAC story is the player being fun to root for, which will disqualify Ott in the eyes of many fans. But if you can talk yourself into the whole “guy you love to hate” thing, you might be able to get on board.

Jason Spezza, Dallas Stars

Spezza hasn’t hit our 33-years-old cutoff yet, but he likely will by the time the Stanley Cup is won, so he qualifies. Still, it’s almost impossible to think of him as “old”. This guy was a K-Mart model as a kid, and he still looks exactly the same today.

Near misses: Spezza was a key part of the Senators run to the final in 2007, and was a rookie on the 2003 team that lost a heart-breaking conference final to the Devils.

Adversity tracker: He’s battled injuries for much of his career, including back problems that cost him most of his 2012-13 season.

Bottom line: Spezza checks most of the OGWAC boxes, but as long as his back holds up he seems like a guy who has lots of hockey ahead of him. He makes the list, but we can’t rank him that highly.

>> Read the full post at Sportsnet

Weekend report: The Maple Leafs... win?

The second round of the playoffs are ongoing, and we'll get to all the action down below. But by far the biggest moment of the weekend, everyone would no doubt agree, was Saturday's lottery to determine the selection order for the 2016 entry draft.

No? Not everyone? That was mainly a Canadian thing?

OK, it's possible that the lottery was a bigger deal north of the border than it was down there in the country that actually produces playoff teams. Still, for one night at least, fans of Canadian teams had something to root for.

On paper, the Leafs Leafs winning the top pick was the most likely result; they went in with a 20 percent chance of taking the top spot. In reality, it was all but unthinkable. These are the Maple Leafs. Nothing good ever happens to the Maple Leafs. This is a team that's become the NHL's version of the Browns or Cubs, the go-to synonym for a perpetually bad team that never wins anything. And yet they somehow hadn't had the top pick since 1985, and while they used that on one of the most beloved players in franchise history in Wendel Clark, they were just one year away from getting Mario Lemieux instead. The Leafs hadn't even had the second overall pick since then—oh, they'd finished second last twice over that span, but both times had already traded their pick in advance. They'd only picked as high as third once, and they used that on a career fourth-liner.

All of which is to say that every true Leafs fan went into the lottery already knowing what was going to happen: The Leafs would lose all three drawings, drop out of the top three, and wind up picking fourth in a draft with three franchise players. It was the twist ending that everyone could see coming a mile away.

And that's why, when Bill Daly flipped over the No. 4 card to reveal an Oilers logo instead, you could almost hear the collective record scratch from Leafs Nation. The Leafs had won something. A few minutes later, we found out they'd won it all.

And sure, winning it all is relative. We're still talking about a draft lottery, which by definition is the domain of the league's losers. The eight teams still alive in the playoffs are the ones who are actually trying to win something meaningful.

But the Maple Leafs haven't been part of the group for a very long time, and on Saturday they may have taken a big step toward finally getting there. And it was the weekend's biggest shock, no matter what the odds said going in.

Top Five

Celebrating those who've had the best week.

5. Winnipeg Jets—The Leafs may have been the draft lottery winners by virtue of securing the first overall pick, but the biggest jump was by the Jets. They came in holding the sixth slot, and moved all the way up to second. That probably means they'll end up with Finnish winger Patrik Laine, a gifted sniper who's drawn comparisons to Alexander Ovechkin. (And who delivered the evening's unquestioned highlight with this impressively laid-back interview.)

Hmm... a flashy Finnish winger with a knack for scoring goals. It feels like that's worked out pretty well in Winnipeg once before. And it's the reason that you could make a strong case for the Jets being Saturday's biggest winners.

4. Jonathan Drouin—Last week, we highlighted the production of Tampa's Triplets line, particularly Nikita Kucherov. That line remains hot, with Tyler Johnson moving to within two points of the league's postseason lead. But Drouin deserves some love, too, especially given what he had to overcome to get here.

You know the story by now: Drouin was the third overall pick of the 2013 draft, but had yet to break through in the NHL. He didn't play much as a rookie in last year's playoffs, and after an underwhelming start to this season he was sent down to the minors. He responded by walking out on the team, hoping to force a trade that never came. He eventually returned, although without any guarantee that the Lightning would give him another shot at the NHL.

They eventually did, in part due to the absence of Steven Stamkos, and Drouin is making the most of it. After recording four points in the opening round against Detroit, he's added three more in two games against the Lighting. That included this goal, the first of his playoff career, in Saturday's crucial Game 2 win.

Drouin is the sort of player who can be awfully fun to watch when he's on. But he may be even more fun once the offseason arrives, and the Lightning have to figure out what to do with him. If they're still going to trade him, you'd have to think the price is rising with every strong game. But could they bury the hatchet and keep him? If Stamkos is on the way out, that may start to seem like the best option... if the various egos involved can handle it.

>> Read the full post at Vice Sports