The sounds of moaning and the gnashing of teeth that you hear floating on the winds are the national angst of our neighbors to the north. Not a single Canadian NHL team will appear in either conference Finals of the Stanley Cup Playoffs as Edmonton and Toronto both lost the past few days to teams from (this somehow doesn’t sound right) hockey hotbeds like Las Vegas and Raleigh. Throw in those Florida Panthers and the winners of the Seattle-Dallas game seven and you have a Great North shutout, eh?
For those of you hockey fans, here’s today trivia question—name the six original NHL franchises beginning with 1942.
High school postseason play and meets start this week although softball is entering week two of action. District track meets will feature competition between teams that typically don’t meet during the regular season as individuals vie to move on to the regional level. The same
holds true for softball and baseball. Butler narrowly beat Troy in the MVL boys track meet with Greenville’s squad placing sixth while on the girls side Troy beat Tipp with the GHS girls finishing fourth.
Congratulations to Lady Wave Addie Klosterman for winning the high jump event clearing a height of 5’3” and Emily Gibson and Brooke Schmidt for going 1-2 in the discus throw. Wave junior TJ Barr took home league honors in the high jump, crossing the bar at 6’2”.
In the WOAC meet Ansonia’s girls claimed the title with Tri-Village senior Torie Richards being named female track athlete of the year while senior Eain Parks of Arcanum was the male honoree. In the MAC Versailles girls placed second in a meet won by Minster for a record 33rd time and the Tiger boys were third with Marion Local taking home the trophy. Good luck to all contestants and teams this week as they look to qualify to the next step along the way to Jesse Owens Stadium in Columbus and the state meet!`
The Wave boys tennis team finished the regular season by placing fourth in the MVL tournament (won by Tipp) and an overall 12-7 mark and begin sectional play this week with the top four in singles and doubles moving on down the road to the districts.
In district baseball brackets, in D-IV Tri-Village earned a one-seed with Russia a two-seed and Bradford a four. In D-III Arcanum claimed a three-seed and Versailles a five while in D-II Tipp has a one-seed, Eaton a five, Bethel an eight, and Greenville a fifteen, the Wave traveling to Urbana Tuesday to face the ten-seed Hillclimbers. MVL Miami Division champion Troy is seeded second in D-I pairings as the Trojans finished 17–1 in league play.
As softball reaches the sectional championship round and the right to move to district finals play later this week, in D-IV top seeded Covington hosts Tri County North, two-seed Russia hosts Newton, and three-seed Ansonia hosts Riverside.
In D-III pairings two-seed Arcanum hosts Brookville, three-seed Miami East faces Springfield Shawnee, and number nine Tri-Village travels to number one Indian Lake.
Meanwhile in D-II Greenville puts their number one seed ranking on the line taking on five seed Bishop Fenwick Tuesday at Lady Wave Stadium. Number three Tipp goes north to Benjamin Logan and number four Eaton travels down Route 122 to Franklin.
A few quick hitters to end the day—
Celtics-Heat and Lakers-Nuggets as the NBA conference finals start, who do you like?
The second leg of the Triple Crown takes place in Baltimore this Saturday as the Preakness Stakes field breaks from the gate. Can Mage repeat his Kentucky Derby win at the slightly shorter 1 and 3/16 mile distance?
Bonehead award winner for the second time in the past few months—Memphis Grizzly superstar Ja Morant, once again brandishing a gun on social media. Time to kiss those lucrative sponsorships good-by as well as a possible NBA suspension!
The original six NHL teams from 1942 on; the Boston Bruins, Chicago Black Hawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadians, New York Rangers, and Toronto Maple Leafs. There are now 32 franchises, a testament to the popularity of the sport. Would you ever have thought of hockey in Phoenix, San Jose, Nashville, and Columbus as well as Tampa and Miami?
Finally, the Indianapolis 500 time trials are this weekend as the “greatest spectacle in racing” prepares for the 107th edition at the Brickyard on Sunday May 28th. For the 20th time since 1978 a Chevrolet Corvette will be the official pace car, this year’s model a Z06 hardtop convertible. Nothing represents the start of summer like hearing “Back Home Again in Indiana” played by the Purdue University band and the roar of the engines starting!!
