For The First Time Since Before The Invention Of The iPhone, Sidney Crosby And Alexander Ovechkin Will Both Miss The Stanley Cup Playoffs
The NHL is currently stacked with superstars. There are 32 teams in the league and I'd argue over half of them have at least one superstar on the roster. There's another superstar about to enter the league at the draft named Connor Bedard. He was born on July 17, 2005. Right after the NHL lockout. The first season he was alive for was the 2005-06 season. That was the rookie season for Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin.
It also just so happens to be the last time a regular season ended without at least one of these guys going on to play for Lord Stanley's Cup.
This is the first year since 05-06 where neither the Capitals or Penguins have advanced to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. That's mainly thanks to the fact that the Penguins have made the playoffs every single year since 05-06. They haven't won a series since the beat the Flyers in the first round back in 2018. But they've at least made it to the dance every season since. Washington hasn't won a playoff series since 2018, either, but they won the Cup that year.
We've been inching closer and closer to this time, but it still felt like it would never come. The NHL is filled with superstars. McDavid, MacKinnon, Matthews, Jason Robertson, Pastrnak, Jack Hughes, Cale Makar, Draisaitl, Kucherov, Matthew Tkachuk, Shesterkin, Kaprizov, Adam Fox. It might be the most loaded Stanley Cup Playoffs we've seen in 15 years as far as star power goes. But guys like Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin will be watching from home. And for the first time since they were 19 years old, they can watch the Stanley Cup Playoffs together.
P.S. -- Ron Hextall, yiiiiikes.