STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF PREVIEW: Eastern Conference

By: Mike Rifkin

The most incredible playoffs in all of sports are upon us. Here is a preview of the First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Eastern Conference 

ATLANTIC DIVISION : (1) BRUINS VS (WC2) PANTHERS: The Bruins had a historic regular season, having the most wins and points in a regular season. The Panthers did defeat the Bruins twice during the season. The biggest question for the Panthers is what should they do in goal. Should they roll with the hot hand in goal with Alex Lyon, who played well down the stretch, or do they go to Sergei Bobrovsky? Lyon defeated the Bruins in January, while Bobrovsky lost to Boston in October in their only start against them in the regular season. Aleksander Barkov had two goals and four assists against the Bruins. Linus Ullmark was 2-0-0 with a 3.00 GAA and a .925 save percentage against the Panthers. David Pastrnak had four goals in four games against the Panthers. 

Prediction: Bruins in five 

(2) Maple Leafs vs. (3) Lightning: This is a rematch of last year’s first-round matchup that saw the Lightning win in seven games. The Lightning are looking to get to their fourth consecutive Cup Final, while the Leafs are looking to win their first series since 2004. The Leafs won two of three meetings during this regular season. William Nylander had three goals and three assists during the regular season meetings. Ilya Samsonov, the presumed starting goalie for the Leafs, did not play against the Lightning in the regular season. Andrei Vasilevskiy went 1-2 with a 3.06 GAA and .911 save percentage against the Leafs in the regular season. In 104 playoff games, Vasilevskiy is 63-38 with a 2.30 GAA and a .923 save percentage. The trio of Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov, and Steven Stamkos combined for a goal and five assists against the Leafs during the season. 

Prediction: Lighting in seven 

Metropolitan 

  1. Hurricanes vs. (WC1) Islanders: The Hurricanes took three of four meetings against the Islanders during the regular season. Brock Nelson had three goals in the four meetings. Sebastian Aho had three goals in the season series. Frederik Andersen was 2-1 with a 2.67 GAA and a .905 save percentage. The Hurricanes will be without Max Pacioretty and Andrei Svechnikov, who are injured. Ilya Sorokin, who should be a Vezina finalist, was 1-3 against the Hurricanes with a 2.79 GAA and .911 save percentage. 

Prediction: Islanders in seven

(2) Devils vs. (3) Rangers: The Devils won three meetings during the regular season. Jack Hughes had four goals and six points in the four games. In four meetings, Nico Hischier had four points (1g, 3a). Vitek Vanecek went 3-0-1 with a 2.70 GAA and a .908 save percentage. The Devils did add Ondrej Palat during the offseason. In 138 playoff games, Palat has 48 goals and 94 points. Igor Shesterkin was 1-2-1 with a 3.23 GAA and a .907 save percentage against the Devils. Last year in the playoffs, Shesterkin had a 2.61 GAA and a .928 save percentage. Chris Kreider has 34 career goals in the playoffs. Kreider also had three goals in four meetings against the Devils this season. Mika Zibanejad had a goal and three assists in the four meetings. 

Prediction: Rangers in seven 

Same Team, Different Direction

By: Mike Rifkin

Two of the three longest playoff streaks in the NHL belonged to the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals. Both teams have missed the playoffs for the first time since 2005-06. Pittsburgh won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017, and Washington won the Cup in 2018. Since winning these Cups, neither team has won a playoff series. Both front offices believe they are obligated to their star players, Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby, to remain competitive as long as they are still playing. Both players are still playing at a superstar level. Alex Ovechkin has another 40-goal season, giving him 822 for his career. Sidney Crosby has a 33-goal and 91-point season. 

The Penguins had a decision over this past summer when Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin, both of whom are franchise icons in their own right, were free agents. The Penguins were able to bring back both, along with Bryan Rust. The Capitals made a splash over the summer when they signed goalie Darcy Kuemper, who won a Stanley Cup last year with the Avalanche. Kuemper has had a solid season with a 2.83 GAA and a .910 save percentage and was tied for second with five shutouts. 

As I said, both front offices must keep their franchise superstars in contention. The Trade deadline was when we saw things shake up for both teams. The Penguins went into a buying mode but weren’t pushing all in. They brought in Mikael Granlund and Dimitry Kulikov. The Capitals went into sell mode, trading Dimitry Orlov and Garnett Hathaway to the Bruins. They traded Marcus Johansson to the Wild, Lars Eller to the Avalanche, and Erik Gustafsson to the Maple Leafs. In return, the Caps received many draft picks in 2024 and 2025, and defenseman Rasmus Sandin is 23 years old. It will be interesting to see how the Capitals utilize the draft compensation, whether they keep it all or move them for a player who could have a significant impact.

This offseason will be interesting to see what both these teams do. Both teams can use an infusion of speed and youth onto their teams. The Caps added that when Dylan Strome and Sonny Milano signed on this past summer. Strome, a former third overall pick, put up a career-high 23 goals and 64 points. Milano put up 11 goals and 32 points. The front office did sign both multi-year extensions. 

That’s where both teams went in different directions. The Caps recognized they weren’t good enough to win the Cup this year, and the Penguins still tried to push for it. We will see what is left to be had this summer. Both teams will have significant competition in a very competitive Metropolitan division and Eastern Conference. 

History

By: Mike Rifkin

Tuesday night, the Boston Bruins defeated the Washington Capitals 5-2 and, in the process, set a league record with 133 points in a season. They broke the record held by the Montreal Canadiens in 1976-77. The points record comes a game after the Bruins set the all-time wins record with 63 breaking the record set by the Detroit Red Wings in 1995-96 and tied by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2018-19. The Bruins will look to do something that those two teams were unable to do, win the Stanley Cup. The Bruins’ last appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals was in 2013 when they lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in six games; they last won the Cup in 2011, defeating the Vancouver Canucks in seven games. 

Many people, myself included, wrote the Bruins off at the start of the season due to injuries, some unknowns, and improvements from other teams in the Atlantic Division. According to ESPN, the Bruins are the fourth team in NHL history to lead a division for an entire season joining the 1977-78 Canadiens, 1984-85 Oilers, and the 2008-09 Sharks. The Canadiens and the Oilers won the Cup those years. The Bruins will rake up the hardware at the NHL awards after the season, but the only hardware they care about is winning the Stanley Cup, and their journey for that begins next week. 

Dallas Drama 

By: Mike Rifkin

On February 6th, the Dallas Mavericks traded for Point Guard Kyrie Irving from the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, a 2027 second-round pick, a 2029 first-round pick (unprotected), and a 2029 second-round pick. On Friday night, the Mavericks needed to beat the Chicago Bulls and win on Sunday against the Spurs, and the Mavericks would have a chance to make the play-in. Before the game, the Bulls announced they were resting their top two scorers, Demar Derozan and Zach Levine. 

So it came as a shock that Friday afternoon, the Mavericks announced that Kyrie Irving was not going to play along with four other players. Irving was ruled out with a right foot injury, Tim Hardaway Jr had ankle soreness, Josh Green and Christian Wood were getting rests, and Maxi Kleber had a hamstring injury. How can you justify resting if your season is on the line? There is one game left in the season, which will have no bearing on the Mavericks based on Friday night’s loss. The Mavericks went 8-12 with Kyrie Irving. Head Coach Jason Kidd said pregame that it was an “organizational decision” to pull Luka Doncic after playing 13 minutes. 

Kidd said, “ We were fighting for our lives and understanding this is a situation we’re in, but the organization has made the decision to change.” After the game, Kidd said, “It’s not so much waiving the white flag. Its decisions sometimes are hard in this business. We’re trying to build a championship team. With this decision, this is maybe a step back. But hopefully, it leads to going forward.” These are two different schools of thought from Kidd, so I’m guessing someone in the organization talked with him postgame about what to say. Because you don’t go from we’re fighting for our lives to just saying it’s a business decision. Now if the Mavericks wind up with a pick outside the top ten in the NBA Draft in June, that pick will belong to the New York Knicks based on the Kristaps Porzings trade. 

Things are very dysfunctional in Dallas right now. Who knows if they will re-sign Kyrie Irving? What does the future hold for Jason Kidd? And what happens with Luka Doncic, now I’m not saying they would trade the superstar, but earlier this week, he talked about how much he missed Jalen Brunson, who signed with the Knicks last summer, and it was a struggle for him and Kyrie together. Last season the Mavericks lost in the Western Conference Finals, and now they’re missing the play-in. It’s an epic collapse, and I will be interested to see how Mark Cuban and company navigate this offseason. 

Masters Preview

By Ross Mazin

Spring is in the air, meaning the annual tradition known as the Masters’ Tournament is upon us. The Masters is the tournament that every golfer has on their calendar. This course has so much history and commands so much respect. Augusta National has so much history behind it like Tiger winning the tournament back in 2019. We will see a lot of new faces and a lot of old faces at this year’s tournament. This year, the Masters’ tradition will see its most significant competitive change. To blunt the slowly advancing forces of golf’s equipment, the club has elected to move back the tee box on its famed par-5 13th hole by 35 yards. My pick to win this year’s tournament is Scottie Scheffler.

Searching For Answers

By: Mike Rifkin

On Tuesday night, the New York Mets were shut out 10-0 at the hands of the Milwaukee Brewers. It was the second consecutive shutout the Brewers have had over the Mets. We are six games into the MLB season, and the New York Mets have scored 17 runs in those six games. Fans and media talked all offseason long about the possibility of the Mets needing another bat. Will Pete Alonso, Francisco Lindor, and Mark Canha struggle all season? No, I don’t, but Eduardo Escobar’s struggled until September last season and has started the season slowly again. With Brett Baty leaving Syracuse’s game Tuesday with a thumb injury, for right now, Third base is Escobar’s job, but if he continues to struggle, what do the Mets do? Call up Mark Vientos. See what Robin Ventura is up to? Do they play Guillorme there? I don’t know what the plan is, but they need either Escobar to pick it up or one of the catchers and the DH spot need to pick it up. If they don’t and Carlos Correa has a great year for the Twins, people will ask the Mets why they couldn’t work things out with Correa. 

Manager Buck Showalter said after the game that he “has a lot of confidence in the group and that it will work itself out.” Is he right? Yes, this is an overreaction to the season’s first six games, but it’s very telling that something many people thought could be a problem for the Mets has become one so quickly in the season. If the Mets want to go where they want this season, they will need their offense to produce. Last season it was part of their downfall. Will they let it happen again? 

Bad Deals

By: Mike Rifkin

On Monday, MLB announced a four-game suspension for Angels’ third baseman Anthony Rendon for his conduct with a fan in Oakland on opening day. For Rendon, this is his second suspension in the last two seasons, and he was suspended for five games in June during a bench-clearing brawl between the Angels and Mariners despite being on the injured list at the time. After winning the World Series with the Nationals in 2019, Rendon signed a seven-year 245 million-dollar contract with the Angels. Before this season, Rendon has played 157 games as an Angel. He has 20 home runs and 90 RBI with a slash line of .249/.356/.415. 

But here’s a question is Rendon the worst contract the Angels have given out recently? In 2013 the Angels signed Josh Hamilton to a five-year 125 million dollar contract. Hamilton played in 240 games with the Angels and had 31 home runs and 123 RBI’S with a slash line of .255/.316/.426. The Angels traded Hamilton back to the Texas Rangers, where he was a star. 

People will complain about Albert Pujols’ contract, but that contract didn’t age well. Pujols had six seasons with 20-plus home runs and three seasons with 30-plus home runs. The CJ Wilson contract wasn’t as bad; he had a 3.87 ERA in four seasons and won 51 games. We’ll have to see what the Angels will have in store for Shohei Ohtani, a free agent after the season.  They also have the Mike Trout 12-year 426 million dollar contract. Now I will not say that is a bad contract because Trout remains one of the best players in baseball. Still, if they don’t surround him with talent, continue to miss the playoffs, and do not let him perform on the biggest playoffs stage, one will have to wonder if that becomes a bad contract they might have to rid themselves of.

Brunson Burner

By : Mike Rifkin

In their first game without Julius Randle on Friday night, the Knicks defeated their potential first-round opponent, the Cleveland Cavaliers, 130-116. Randle sprained his ankle in Wednesday’s win over the Miami Heat and will be re-evaluated in two weeks. With Randle out, Jalen Brunson dropped a career-high 48 points, nine assists, and four rebounds. 

Brunson averages 24.0 points per game, with 6.2 assists per game and 3.6 rebounds per game. That is how much he means to the team, and if he plays well without Randle, that would only help his cause. Many people said in the offseason that the Knicks overpaid for Brunson when they signed him to a four-year 104 million dollar contract. Now I can’t speak for the rest of the contract, but if year one is any indication, the Knicks got a great deal with Brunson, who should get some MVP votes. Once again, I am not saying he is the MVP. All I’m saying is he deserves votes. The Knicks’ magic number to clinch a playoff berth is one. 

Yeah, Nay or Okay: Wrestlemania 39 Hollywood Movie Parodies

By Allison Weiner

For the 2nd episode of Yeah, Nay, or Okay, In honor of Wrestlemania 39 airing tonight and tomorrow night, I am going to rate the Hollywood Movie parodies for Wrestlemania 39 aka Wrestlemania Goes Hollywood. I am not doing any of the parodies for Wrestlemania 21 but comment below if you want me to rate this in a future blog. Here are the movie parodies done for Wrestlemania 39.

  • Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch in “The Joker (Plus Batman)-Yeah (Seth “Freakin” Rollins makes the perfect Joker, especially with his character build-up since they gave him a powerful new entrance theme in 2021. I also give credit to Becky Lynch for pulling off Christopher Nolan’s version of Batman portrayed by Christian Bale as “THE MAN” going to her “MAN-Cave”.)
  • Bianca Belair and Montez Ford in “Titanic”-Nay (First off, Titanic is my least favorite movie of all time. Besides that, the parody wasn’t anything special. I felt they tried too hard to go modern with taking a selfie and using the cloud, plus Bianca and Montez’s acting for this parody was meh.)
  • The Miz and Maryse in “op Gun”-Nay (It felt like a self-promotion for the Miz hosting Wrestlemania and other parts of his gimmick for the past couple of years over trying to make an “AWESOME” version of Top Gun.)
  • Rhea Ripley and John Cena’s voice in a scene from the hit Netflix series “Stranger Things”-Okay (I love the buildup for Rhea facing a “Charlotte Flair” in a can and using her powers to break it. Cena’s voice was an interesting choice to play “Papa” to make Rhea feel angry and stressed. However, they could have picked a better scene in Stranger Things using all the members of Judgment Day.)
  • Butch, Ridge Holland, Drew McIntyre, and Sheamus is “The 40-Year Old Virgin”-Yeah (I love how they focused on Ridge Holland being Steve Carell in this parody over Sheamus and Drew. Butch also had an amazing role in the end. Overall, this parody gets the award for being almost an exact replica of the original movie.
  • The Bloodline in “Goodfellas”- Surprising and Acknowledging Yeah (Paul Heyman sells this parody. Roman nails it as Pesci’s role as Tommy Devito and Solo talks at the end.)
  • *Bonus* Audition of multiple WWE Superstars for different movies-Okay ( I didn’t know why they did it. It reminded me of the SNL celebrity audition parodies for different movies. I did get a good laugh out of it.)

Overall the Wrestlemania 39 Promos are almost as good as the Wrestlemania 21 promos.

2023 American League Preview

By : Mike Rifkin

2023 MLB season is upon us. Here is a preview for the American League. 

AL EAST : 

 Orioles : If they’re young players play as well as they did last season the Orioles can hang around in the beast of a division.

Red Sox : They signed Rafael Devers to a long term extension. A lot of their season is about banking on health of some older players like Justin Turner and Corey Kluber. If Chris Sale is healthy for the whole year that would be a major boost. 

Yankees :  The team hasn’t won a World Series since 2009, but at least they res-signed Aaron Judge and didn’t have to settle for his brother Arson. Health is already a factor for them. Early on they may have to out slug people, but if Gerrit Cole goes down then the season is over. 

Blue Jays : I already loved their roster, but adding Chris Bassitt to their rotation which should get Hyun Jin Ryu back is a great addition. They also added Daulton Varsho and Kevin Kiermaier which will help their outfield defense. Brandon Belt will provide leadership to a team with a very young core. I have high expectations for the Jays.

Rays: One thing we’ve learned over the years is to not count the Rays out despite their payroll. If Tyler Glasnow can return and be the ace he was prior to Tommy John Surgery the Rays rotation will line up accordingly. If Randy Arozarena can carry over what he did at the World Baseball Classic, he along with Wander Franco will lead the charge offensively. 

AL CENTRAL

White Sox : Hands down the White Sox were the biggest disappointment in baseball last year. They really need a bounce back season from Lucas Giolito. If Giolito returns to form along with Lance Lynn and Dylan Cease the White Sox would have one of the best pitching trios in baseball. Offensively they won’t have Jose Abreu, but if they stay healthy expect Tim Anderson and Eloy Jimenez to bounce back.

Guardians : While the White Sox were the biggest disappointment in baseball the Guardians were the best. They came from nowhere to win the division ( reminded me of Major League). Jose Ramirez remains one of the best players in the game. The Josh Bell signing was one of my favorites of the offseason. A rotation led by Shane Bieber and Triston Mckenzie and a dominant bullpen, Terry Francona’s team could win the Central again.

Tigers : It was announced that this will be Miguel Cabrera’s final season, so baseball fans will get to watch the legend one more time. Young players Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson will have to take the next step in their development for this to be a successful season in the Motor City. 

Royals : Bobby Witt and MJ Melendez are coming off of solid seasons and will only get better. Sal Perez is aging like a fine wine with another 23 homers last season. My biggest question is who steps up behind Brady Singer in the rotation? 

Twins : Carlos Correa is back after failing physicals with the Giants and Mets. They added Pablo Lopez to the rotation, but traded batting champ Luis Arraez to do it. Byron Buxton hit 28 home runs in 92 games, imagine what he can do if he stays healthy.

AL WEST

Astros : The reigning World Series Champs lost the reigning AL CY Young Award winner to free agency, and lost Jose Altuve for a couple of months with injury. They did add former AL MVP Jose Abreu. But expect whoever plays in Altuve’s place to step up. Jeremy Pena had to fill the shoes of Carlos Correa and all he did was win ALCS and World Series MVP. 

Angels : How is it possible to be a bad team when two of the best players in the world are on your team? Asking for the Angels, I know what Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout will give them if they’re healthy. They signed Tyler Anderson, who is coming off a career year with the Dodgers, The guy this team needs to step up is Anthony Rendon, who hasn’t made much impact since signing with the Angels. Can the Angels be a playoff team? Sure but they have to show me before I believe in them. ( Or they need Joesph Gordon – Levitt back for Angels in the Outfield 2)

Athletics : Are they going to be so boring that more people will have sex in the crowd? Set your expectations low, we’re still waiting to see if a new ballpark is in the future of the A’s or if they will relocate. But in player talks Seth Brown had a solid season last year. 

Mariners : Ok remember when I said I loved the Blue Jays rotation, well I love the Mariners rotation as well. Luis Castillo, Robbie Ray, Logan Gilbert, and George Kirby is a great top four. As for the lineup they added some thump with Teoscar Hernandez and Kolten Wong. Julio Rodriguez who is coming off a Rookie Of The Year campaign, is ready to become one of the faces of Baseball. 

Rangers : No team changed their identity in the offseason more than the Rangers. Bringing in future Hall Of Fame Manager Bruce Bochy. They also brought in Jacob DeGrom and Nathan Eovaldi to the rotation. The Rangers will be one of the more fascinating teams to watch this season. 

DIVISION WINNERS:  EAST: Blue Jays

Central : White Sox

WEST : Astros

WILD CARDS : Mariners, Yankees, Rangers

AWARDS : 

MVP : Shhoei Ohtani: I know this is the easy answer because there is nobody in baseball who does what he does. But if asked outside of him I would say Julio Rodriguez. But expect Ohtani to put on a Sho prior to his free agency. 

CY YOUNG : Alek Manoah : Last season Manoah was 16-7 with a 2.24 ERA. He pitched to a 2.24 ERA in the AL East, if he can replicate that or even pitch better. 

Rookie Of The Year : Gunnar Henderson : In 34 games last year Henderson hit .259 with four home runs and 18 RBIS. If the Orioles are as scrappy as they were last season, Henderson will be a big reason why. 

Manager Of The Year ; Bruce Bochy: The future Hall of Famer doesn’t need any more accolades, but I think he will turn the Rangers around. 
ALCS :  Blue Jays DEF Astros in seven games.