Good morning Toronto Maple Leafs fans!

As the NHL playoffs have somehow kept going without the Maple Leafs involved, the NHL has been announcing award nominees and yesterday they announced the winner of my favourite NHL Award:

The Mark Messier Award for Being a Good Leader like Mark Messier was as Vancouver Canucks Captain as chosen by Mark Messier presented by Lays™: Bet You Can't Eat Just One™.

It's disappointing John Tavares didn't win, since he was captain of the Maple Leafs and they greatly underperformed under his leadership like the Canucks did under Mark Messier. Jacob Trouba? Sure, whatever.

However, this now leaves time and space for my other favourite NHL Awards to be given out. Or it would if the NHL wasn't run by cowards.

So, instead of Gary Bettman handing them out on the Sphere stage in Las Vegas this summer, I'll give out the two ignored NHL Awards:

First up, it's the Sheraton Hotels Road Performer Award. This was given out once in 2004 to Joe Sakic, and was meant to be given to the player who performs best in away games.

For the 2023-24 season, that goes to Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning who put up 21 goals and 54 assists for 75 points in 41 road games. He was 15 points ahead of second place Artemi Panarin.

The other ignored award these days is the Bud Light +/- Award. Congratulations to Florida Panthers defender Gustav Forsling for his +56 this season!

Bring back these important awards Gary! We need to know who will be getting two free nights at any Sheraton branded hotel anywhere in the United States! (Valid Sun-Thurs nights only for a 2 double bed room, no points will be awarded for the stay, in non-peak seasons only, and excludes Hawaii and Alaska. The freak states.)

In other award news, the PWHL announced their awards and voters for this summer and the Professional Hockey Writers Association is mad they didn't get any say.

In a since deleted tweet the PHWA has said the PWHL is not acting like a good partner and doesn't value their coverage.

The letter doesn't mention awards voting but the timing is very coincidental. There may be some valid concerns but ever since legacy sports writers got all grumpy and publicly stated that locker room access during the pandemic was their right, I haven't really cared about their opinions on how leagues should be run outside of on the ice.

How the Coronavirus Could Change American Sportswriting Forever
An open locker room ought to be a right for journalists, but it’s mostly a privilege. The spread of COVID-19 has led major sports leagues to suspend that privilege. And it may never come back.
The RingerBryan Curtis

Speaking of the PWHL, Toronto is still in Minnesota, hoping to bounce back from their 2-0 loss to win game four against Minnesota and lock in their place in the first ever PWHL Finals. They would face Boston, who beat Montréal in three straight overtime victories.

The Toronto game is at 8PM on TSN tonight.

There isn't much, or any, Leafs news. They're still thinking about their possible coach, but they know one thing. No Gerard Gallant.

What Are the Maple Leafs Saying by Not Interviewing Gerard Gallant? - The Hockey Writers Toronto Maple Leafs Latest News, Analysis & More
Reportedly, Gerard Gallant hasn’t been interviewed for the Maple Leafs coaching role, and he’s apparently eager to be back in the NHL
The Hockey WritersKarine Hains

At the World Championships Canada blew a 6-1 lead to Austria but got the win in overtime thanks to John Tavares.

In the NHL playoffs, the Bruins held on for a other win over the Panthers, but are still down 3-2 in the series.

Bruins stay alive, edge Panthers in Game 5 of Eastern 2nd Round | NHL.com
Swayman makes 28 saves, McAvoy has 2 points for Boston
NHL logoGeorge Richards

The Canucks and Oilers played very late again. They should stop doing that. (Good morning! Edmonton tied the series)

On deck tonight is game four of the Dallas / Colorado series. The Stars are up 3-1 and are looking for their first trip to the Western Conference Finals since they defeated the Vegas Golden Knights in 2020.

That game is at 8PM on Sportsnet, TVA Sports and somewhere in the US that NHL.com won't tell me about.

It's game four of the OHL Finals in Oshawa, and Easton Cowan and the London Knights are looking to complete the sweep. After blowing out the Generals at home for games one and two, the Knights needed double overtime to take game three 7-6.

Maple Leafs prospect Easton Cowan dishes three assists as Knights complete four-goal comeback
Easton Cowan and his London Knight teammates wouldn’t be denied on Monday night in Game 3 of the OHL Championship Series.
Sportsnet| May 13, 2024, 11:17 PM

Game is at 7PM and you can watch on the CHL streaming service and on TSN.

Pick your game and settle in. Things are going to be wild tonight.

From The Branches