SEASON'S ALMOST OVER ... SO, MORE HOCKEY

 The New York Rangers have put veteran forward BARCLAY GOODROW – and his outrageous (for a fourth-line player) salary of $3.65 million -- on waivers in what has been reported to be a pre-arranged deal with San Jose. The woeful Sharks, it seems, are roughly $15 million shy of the minimum $65M a team must spend … unlike the Rangers who are trying to unload players with bloated deals (like Goodrow) while trying to beef up some positions … and still remain true to the NHL’s salary cap of $88M that goes into effect this year … Speaking of pre-arranged … there was a rumor the Florida Panthers were interested in NY defenseman ZAC JONES … but couldn’t do anything until season’s end. The Stanley Cup finalists, holding a 3-2 lead over Edmonton in the best-of-seven series that, win or lose, will be over Monday night at the latest, clearly need help on the blue line … Given the Rangers’ problems on defense, however, it’s likely they would prefer to hold on to Jones, native Richmonder who appeared in 31 games but none (healthy scratch) in the playoffs … In the last of a two-year contract, he makes $825,000.

Through 45 games, Stanley Cup playoffs on TV (ABC, 

TNT, ESPN+) were up 38 percent over a year ago. 

Finals Game 4 (Florida at Edmonton) averaged 3.1 

million viewers on ABC … If only the networks would 

hire directors and/or producers who don’t think the 

great unwashed at home would rather watch fans do 

whatever fans do than zero in on a post-whistle scrum. 

How often have we seen the obvious start of some 

extra-curricular activity only to have the screen switch 

to the crowd? Too often, that’s what.

Call it The TIGER WOODS Effect … Edmonton has 

become only the fourth NHL team to force Game 6 in 

a Cup final after trailing three games to none … that is, 

despite its big guns being silent (for the most part). 

Nevertheless, ABC must think we can’t get enough of

 CONNOR McDAVID … who has been getting the 

star treatment even if he hasn’t deserved it … not in 

this series anyway ... I know, I know, the Oiler great 

had four points (for the second straight game) 

including a couple of goals in Tuesday’s 5-3 thriller 

but … the first was a weak shot that goaltender

 SERGEI BOBROVSKY misplayed badly … the 

second into an empty net with 17.3 seconds to go after 

Florida’s MATTHEW TKACHUK made a diving, 

stick-extended save … only to watch McDavid score 

when the Panthers’ OLIVER EKMAN-LARSSON 

skated away (apparently thinking the puck was going 

in) and teammate SAM BENNETT made a half-

hearted effort to stop him … McDavid, who had 132 

regular-season points to lead the league, was MIA in 

the first three games (like most of his teammates) … 

but still has 42 points for this year’s playoffs to 

challenge all-time leader WAYNE GRETZKY who 

finished with 47 in 1985. The 2023-04 NHL player of 

the year, McDavid, 27, already has a record-34 assists, 

breaking the former mark of 31 set by Gretzky 36 

years ago. … A quick note about assists: It could be 

the least reliable stat of all (any sport). Once a player 

gets (even earns) a reputation for being consistently 

good at setting up teammates he can count on inflated 

totals especially at home. At least in hockey they pretty 

much go by the tick-tact-toe theory based on which 

two players touched the puck before a third scored … 

Come to think of it … basketball’s rebounds are right 

up there with hoops’ assists as most subjective stat of 

all. BILL CHAMBERS of William & Mary still holds 

the NCAA record for rebounds, one game, with 51 set 

as a senior in 1953. Until the day he died at age 86 in 

2017, Chambers remained embarrassed (his word) for 

an achievement he knew was impossible. “They must 

have counted every time I got a finger on the ball,” he 

once told me during a break from a round of 

racquetball while he was coach at his alma mater 

(1957-1966).

Until next time ...

Until next time ...