It’s my Parting Shot for my Monday Musings, plus a quick appearance from the Fearless Predictor…..

Before I toot the horn of my Winnipeg Jets, the news item that interested me this morning was that Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon have chosen to play for Canada at the Double-I-H-F World Men’s Championship. Bravo, I say! And, I’ll take it a step further – any player, no matter from which country, who is no longer in the Stanley Cup playoffs…and feels as though they should be considered to play in the 2026 Olympics…should absolutely want to play in the upcoming Worlds! If not, bye bye Milano!!

As for my Jets, I was watching “American Idol” and “Tracker” while last night’s game was on because we have one T-V and my wife doesn’t like watching televised sports! Live stuff, she’s there – and screaming like a banshee – but forget televised! Anyway, I started watching the recording of the game, going through it quickly as I’ve perfected this way of viewing important games. Needless to say, with two-and-a-half minutes left in the third period, I was resigned to the fact that the President’s Trophy winners were gagging in the playoffs again! The two goals in the final two minutes, including the tying tally with three seconds left, made me feel great – mostly because I had added an extra hour on to the recording! However, that only looked after the first overtime period! I hadn’t looked at my phone or checked out the score anywhere else! I recorded “Stanley Cup Rewind” on Sportsnet and started watching that, from the start of the second overtime, at 5:30 this morning. However, that recording ended with 5:13 remaining in the fifth period. So, it was onto N-H-L in 30, which allowed me to see the final result just before 6 a.m.! I resisted shouting with joy and waking up the neighbourhood!! As for how my heart held out, watching the drama unfold, remember – I called six overtime game between the Saskatoon Blades and Moose Jaw Warriors a year ago! Not much can faze me after that!!

So, now it’s on to the second or Conference semi-final round, which starts tonight with Florida at Toronto. Quickly, The Fearless Predictor had five of the eight opening round series winners right, and the Edmonton over L-A Kings result was bang-on in six games. I also said two other series would end the in the correct number of games, but I had the wrong winner in Ottawa and Colorado! As for looking ahead to the set that opens tonight, my heart says Toronto in seven, but my head – which is my official selection – says Florida in six games. I’ll deal with the other three semis – and a revised Stanley Cup final prediction – tomorrow!!

That’s my Parting Shot. I’m Les Lazaruk…and it turned out nice again!