SIMMONS SAYS: Lightning is made to win now and for years to come

Andreiva Silevsky goes nowhere.

He has been signed for Tampa Bay Lightning and $ 9.5 million over six more seasons. He is signed for $ 2 million less a year than Orston Matthews is currently earning. Perhaps, assuming Matthews re-contracts with Maple Leafs two years later, it will be $ 4 million less annually in the future.

If Lightning returns and wins the Stanley Cup, Vasilevsky will win the Corn Smyth Trophy for the second consecutive year as the most valuable player in the playoffs.

This is Lightning's magic, sensation, and pretty great business, whether you win three times in a row or not.

They are set to succeed — now and in the future. And much more happens when the NHL salary cap spikes in the next few years.

Nikitakcherov has scored 93 playoff points in the last three seasons and is the most delicate player in hockey, but he doesn't go anywhere.

He has a $ 9.5 million contract for another five seasons. That's $ 1.4 million less a year than Reefs currently pays Mitchmanner, and will become a free agent at the age of 27.

It's not just Vasilevsky and Vasilov. Briden Points have been signed for an additional eight years at $ 9.5 million. Victor Hedman has been signed for another three years at a bargain-based price of $ 7.87 million, and Reefs has signed draft opponent John Tabares for another four years for $ 11 million in one season.

Indeed, Lightning must find a way to deal with the playoffs' solid Ondley Parat and the pending free agents of sound depth players such as Jan Lutta and Nick Paul. However, the upper part of the list remains as it is.

The best playoff goalkeeper of this generation. The best playoff defense before this year. The best playoff goal scorer before the points drop. The best playoff coach. I don't go anywhere.

On the other hand, almost half of Colorado's roster has free agents on hold. Among them, important players such as goalkeeper Darcy Kaempfer, center Nazem Kadri, defense Josh Manson, speedy wing Andre Brakovsky, and Arturi Rekonen. They may be able to afford some of them. They can't afford them all.

This seems to be an annual challenge for almost every team. It's not Tampa Bay either. Lightning depends on its foundation. And they built it pretty perfectly.

This and that

Whether or not Avalanche won the Stanley Cup, I can claim that Cale Makar won the Conn Smythe Trophy ... and choose the playoffs. MVP Connor McDavid will give Conn Smythe's love to my ballot if there is a vote. He is still leading the scoring playoffs ... the reputation of one organization has been struck in the last few days and weeks as much as Hockey Canada has. Barry Trottz said he needed a week to relax and worry about coaching when he was fired by the islanders. future. Now, one week becomes two weeks, two weeks becomes four, four becomes six, Winnipeg Jets, Bruce Cassidy hired in Las Vegas, Pete Devoa hired in Dallas, even John Tortorella in Philadelphia. I saw him hired at. Currently, Jets is still holding a coaching bag, so to speak. Perhaps the best place to turn right now is Jim Montgomery, an assistant in St. Louis. … When he coached Andrew Wiggins, Sam Mitchell told him, "The best way to silence critics is to win." It took a while. Mitchell is no longer coaching the NBA. Wiggins is no longer in Minnesota. He won the Golden State in the NBA Finals ... After all these years, knocking Paule Maurice isn't enough to win the playoffs. So where is he hired? In Florida, where the Panthers are looking, the playoffs win ... Reefs could have used Sean Burke as a leader in goalkeeping. Few people know more about that position than he does. He left Montreal and went to Las Vegas to work with Cassidy.

Listen there

This is the world of Auston Matthews. The rest of us just live there. Latest example: On Tuesday night, Matthews was awarded two of the most prestigious awards in hockey, the Hart Memorial Trophy and the Ted Lindsay Award, and the second Rocket Richard Trophy. Wednesday morning I tested positive for COVID-19 ... I'm writing this column in much the same way Anthony Cirelli is in the Stanley Cup Finals ... Matthews is also the first in the First Team All-Star Center Chosen his biography. His linemate Manner has been named the first right-wing team for the second year in a row. How often does this happen in Leafs, the forwards of the two first teams? Well, this way, last time, Reefs had the first team's All-Star Center, and only SylApps and Gordie Drillon just 83 years ago had wings in the same season. Remember them. … The greatest reef of the last 50 years, Björesalming, created the first All-Star team only once. Among those who voted before him in the five second team seasons of Bobby Orr, Brad Park, Larry Robinson and Denis Potvin ... President Brendan Shanahan of Reefs and his centerman Detroit Steve Yzerman was the first team all-star together in 2000. The best all-star run for linemates was in the 1960s when Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull finished together five times in the first team ... With being named the first team All-Star for the second year in a row, Manner was all about Matthews. The history of leaves that somehow seem to have been lost in a fawn. The great Frank Mahobrich created his first All-Star team twice in Toronto, but not for the second year in a row. Runny McDonald has never created the first All-Star team. Neither was Dave Andreychuk. Also, unlike future Matthews, Manner does not have to compete with McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Nathan MacKinnon for all-star spots and awards. Unless the Dry Zytle becomes a full-time wing in Edmonton.

I heard the scene

Do not trade players like 24-year-old OG Anunoby or 23-year-old Alejandro Kirk. Find a way to build around them. They are foundation players. It is impossible to replace them. They have an unusual skill set. They grow into an important part of the championship team ... language issues. Twelve writers regularly feature the Montreal Canadiens. Only one person voted for Matthews with a heart. Eighteen writers regularly feature Maple Leafs. 17 people voted for Matthews as the first option to win a heart. Who voted for McDavid ... In the last 21 innings, Shohei Ohtani gave up one earned run, hit two home runs for fun on Tuesday, and hit eight home runs against Kansas City ... with Steve Nash. It's still amazing to see four Canadians selected from the top 32 picks in the NBA Draft after Wiggins and Jamal Murray and all. Mathematics doesn't seem to be realistic. And two from GTA ... Alexandre has made 34 major league starts: the Blue Jays have won 26 of those games ... I've always been to honor those who died at the NHL Awards-or other award shows. I'm impressed last year. So I was curious because Tom McCarthy's name and portrait weren't included on Tuesday night, as others think so too. It should have been. The NHL tells me it was their mistake ... If you give me 15 minutes to prepare, I can win the debate calling McDavid the most valuable player in hockey. And in 15 minutes, you can do the same with Matthews. This is not a one-year question, but last year McDavid was first and Matthews was second, and this year Matthews was first and McDavid was second. I think we have this for about 10 years.

And something else

A little bit like seeing the historically hated Claude Lemie sitting at the Red Wings table at the NHL Awards. That makes me laugh. Lemieux turned out to be an agent for this year's rookie Moritz Seider ... Good news: Luke Richardson has finally been hired as NHL head coach. Bad News: Have you ever seen the roster that the Chicago Blackhawks are supposed to coach? … Finally, I'm very happy to see the late Dick Thornton elected to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. It's about 45 years late, but it's no wonder ... I didn't know this until Ricky Ray won the Hall of Fame vote. He was the greatest passerby in the history of Argos and Edmonton Elks ... and when he thinks he's Elks, Ricky Ray ... Vancouver Canux brings Dale Tallon home as a senior adviser to the club. I did. They did so only when they learned that Gilbert Perot wasn't available ... The Blackhawks hired a Megan Hunter as assistant GM.The hunter is the niece of former NHL player Mark, Dale, and Dave Hunter, and the daughter of brother Ron, who played junior with former NHL goalkeeper Don Edwards ... I have no votes, but my in 2022. Personal Hockey Hall of Fame classes start with Sedin's twins, goalkeeper Roberto Luongo, and former Reef Alexander Mogilney and lean towards Vancouver. And it does not include builders or women. The class will be announced Monday afternoon ... Hall of Fame hockey writer Larry Brooks refused to vote for this year's NHL Awards and his personal protest against the lack of access to players every day (I fully agree). And the NHL Masking Policy ... Canada Chase Claypool has recently declared itself to be the NFL's top three receivers. Mathematics may not be his best theme, given that he finished 53rd in the Pittsburgh catch last season and 35th in the receive yard. The Steelers are pretty thin in quarterbacks. But it's good to be confident ... sometimes I could be completely wrong: never see Riddle as the WWE main event ... my new favorite NBA rival: Denver Nuggets Against Miami Heat. Nikola Jokić vs. newly drafted Nikola Jokić ... Apple TV worked so well with Ted Lasso that he bought the expensive rights to the improperly named Major League Soccer ... Colorado Barranchi regularly powers It's the only team that looks like they're playing When they're playing at the same strength ... There should be a show called NBA Trade right after the NBA Draft. I'll explain all the deals that took place on the night of the draft and which player currently belongs to which team ... Until another point of view, with Geno Lewis of Alouettes as the best player in the CFL this season. going to. He is a special recipient ... Carlos Delgado (50), Derek Jeter (48), Del Curry (68), Mikhail Sergachev (24), Rudy Gobert (32), Kent Austin (59), Greg Millen (65), Dikembe -Mutombo (56), Ken Hodge (78), Robert Reichel (51), Ed Jovanovsky (46) ... and whatever became Unel Escobar.

Greatness of Sedin over numbers

Daniel and Henrik Sedin's numbers don't always work.

Henrik is 67th in the NHL, 29 points ahead of his twin brother Daniel. Daniel is currently ranked 76th in history.

Among those who are ahead of Sedin in scoring are Rod Blind Amour, Theofruly, Vincent Danhus, Jeremy Renick, Pierre Tarjon and Bernie Nichols. Neither has been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Some of them may never get there.

However, the numbers do not necessarily define the best player, or the player who brought originality and nuance to the hockey game.

On Monday, I expect the Sedin twins to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. The 18-member voting committee (which requires 14 votes to be elected, which is by no means a trivial argument) has surpassed Henrik's 1,070 points and Daniel's final 1,041 points. I hope you can understand all the meanings of hockey.

Together, Sedin changed the game or invented a new way to play in a better way. They were connected in a way that twins are often connected. They knew what each other was doing before either did it. Sedin's power play is often like a Globetrotter. In modern comparisons, you can imagine two Nikitakcherovs coming together on ice and finding each other openly.

It would definitely be disappointing for someone with a career point of 1,327, like Pierre Turgeon, to see a player with almost 300 points behind him elected to the hole. .. And it affects Renick, who deserves 1,216 points, and Fleury, who deserves 1,088 points, if they are passed again.

Monday must be Seddin's day, but to achieve that, we need to look beyond the statistics.

High resolution putting amp, referee under the microscope

In the National Hockey League, obviously too many men's penalties are missed and overtime goals in the championship series Is recorded, but it shouldn't have been counted in the first place.

The replay was pretty clear about it.

Just a few days earlier, home plate referee Doug Edings missed 29 calls, the worst official match of the Major League season. All this causes and consequences: The Blue Jays, who beat Guillermo Martinez, spoke with a hump the next day and were suspended for five games due to his actions. The replay was clear about Eddings' abilities.

In all professional sports, referees, referees, and referees have two distinct problems. First, the quality of officials does not meet the constantly improving quality of those who play the game. To make matters worse, the quality of the TV photos (nightly replays, high resolution photos, amazing details of the shots) can make all the mistakes even more apparent from home.

This is obvious every time you watch an NFL game. What is being called or is not being called in the field is very clear in the TV replay. As a result of further examination, path interference in live time is not always path interference or hold.

Sports other than baseball seem to be hampered because they don't want to do anything about their own union contracts and crude referees, but they want to solve their official problems. They want to get better. They don't want the game to be determined by bad goals and / or wrong goals.

However, the quality of television images today complicates the matter. If we can see the phone we missed in the replay at home and we can't miss the phone on the ice, on the court or in the field, the trust between the executives and the fans must be even worse.

And I don't know how professional sports handle it.