yesterday 10:40
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It is said that lightning never hits the same place twice. More than one affected club has been convinced of the cruel opposite of the old folk wisdom overseas.
A professional cup dream killer has grown inconspicuously from Tampa Bay. Since 2020, they have beaten seven different teams from the Eastern and two from the Western Conference in the playoffs. After 11 winning series, the last victim separates them from the next title.
The New York Islanders last won three Stanley Cups in a row 40 years ago. They closed their hegemony with their fourth title in 1983. Since then, 18 clubs have taken turns on the winners’ throne, and although some have succeeded more than once, none have been able to triumph more than twice in a row. NHL dominations have been sought in recent years in Pittsburgh, Chicago and Los Angeles. But where hawks have recently fought penguins and kings, lightning is now striking uncompromisingly.
The team from Florida is regularly transformed into a mythical hydra in the decommissioning section. When his opponent tries to cut off his head, he grows new, wiser, stronger. And with each additional victim he devours, he becomes more unstoppable.
John Tortorella, the first coach to help Tampa Bay win the Stanley Cup and the last to beat her in the playoffs, said after the former team made it to the third final: “We created a monster.” And he was not far from the truth.
Lightning’s management produced a demonstration prototype of the hockey perpetua mobile, but more admirably, it kept it intact despite some player departures. It will be all the more pleasing that the basis of the machine, which does not get tired and does not stop, is also the Slovak defender Erik Černák.
Together with star names such as Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman and Andrei Vasilevsky, he has been contributing to important victories, trophies and finals for the third year in a row. At a time when the number of Slovak players and points in the NHL is declining, it is such a big patch not only on the defense of Lightning, but also on the soul of fans from the Tatras after the departure of Trenčín legends from the champion.
The last four victories of the season separate Erik Černák from leveling the record of Marián Hoss and lively celebrations on two continents. And Tampu Bay from the rightful title of Lord of the Rings of the 21st century.
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