Morning Skate: Settled

Friday is here, folks!

Welcome to the first Friday in June, a solid, if not sleepy, Friday if you’re a fan of the local basketball team.

If you’re not, hopefully you’re still swimming in good vibes this Friday.

In the hockey world, Colorado took a 2-0 lead over Edmonton in the Western Conference Final last night, while the New York Rangers will be hoping to do the same tonight.

Game 1 of the Edmonton-Colorado series was a wild affair, but last night’s game was a bit more of a business-like win by the powerhouse Avs.

It’ll be interesting to see if the Oilers can shift momentum at home, as it should be a frenzied atmosphere at Rogers Place.

Sky had you covered with yesterday’s bit of Bruins news, as the Bruins organization brought back depth forward Joona Koppanen.

(Hearing his name reminded me of when the Bruins had both a Joona Koppanen and a Joonas Kemppainen, or a Danton Heinen and Dante Hannoun.)

However, there was another bit of news that went a bit more under the radar, as the Boston Herald reports that longtime skating coach Kim Brandvold has left the B’s to join Jay Pandolfo at Boston University.

Brandvold was well regarded for his skating and skills knowledge, so it’ll be interesting to see how the B’s replace him.

Elsewhere, Calgary’s Darryl Sutter won the Jack Adams last night.

The league will announce the winner of the Masterton Trophy tonight, the O’Ree Community Hero Award Saturay, and the Selke Trophy Sunday.

We all know why we’re awaiting the Selke results, but the Masterton features some local ties too: Zdeno Chara is one of the finalists, as is good guy/local guy Kevin Hayes.

Today’s discussion topic

I saw the name Jack Studnicka when I was poking around news sites — do you think this is the year he becomes an NHL regular, or do you fear that ship has sailed?

It seems like some of the enthusiasm for his prospects has cooled over the past year or two, though it’s worth remembering he’s still just 23 years old.