The Tampa Bay Lightning are Stanley Cup champions for the second year in a row.

And this time around, they won it in front of their home fans.

The Lightning lifted the Stanley Cup following a 1-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens in Game 5 on Wednesday night.

Tampa Bay, which opened the season at +750 to win the Stanley Cup, is the fourth team to go back-to-back over the past three decades.

Is it too soon to start talking about a potential dynasty?

Here is the Morning Coffee for Thursday July 8, 2021.

Stanley Cup Reaction

It was only fitting that the season ended with the league’s best team lifting the Stanley Cup.

The Lightning are absolutely loaded at every level, and their talent and depth were on display again in Game 5 with another complete performance from start to finish.

Is it too early to discuss a potential dynasty in the making?

There was a lot of talk about Tampa Bay’s salary cap situation throughout the playoffs and rightfully so.

General manager Julien BriseBois didn’t break any rules, but it would make sense for the NHL to make an effort to close the loophole that the Lightning took advantage of this postseason in order to discourage teams from attempting to mirror that same approach moving forward.

Still, if you look at Tampa Bay’s salary cap situation, there’s no reason to think they can’t get under the number and contend again next season.

 

Andrei Vasilevskiy, who opened the playoffs at +2500 to win the Conn Smythe Trophy, was handed that award last night following another brilliant playoff run.

The 26-year-old is signed through 2026-27.

Five of the Lightning’s top six defencemen are also under contract through next season, with David Savard the lone free agent.

BriseBois could opt to replace Savard and still return one of the strongest defensive cores in the NHL.

Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point and Steven Stamkos are all under contract.

Anthony Cirelli and Alex Killorn are both set to return with a cap hit under $5 million.

The biggest free agent concerns up front are Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow, who make up two thirds of a third line that along with Yanni Gourde was outstanding for Tampa Bay throughout each of their Stanley Cup runs.

BriseBois should have no problem making the necessary changes to get under the salary cap while maintaining a roster that can contend for the Stanley Cup once again.

The Lightning opened at +600 to win the Stanley Cup in 2022.

Believe it or not, they are actually the third choice to win it all behind the Colorado Avalanche (+500) and the Vegas Golden Knights (+550).

As for the Montreal Canadiens, it will be very interesting to see where they go from here following their improbable Stanley Cup run.

Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Alexander Romanov are all under 22-years-old.

Meanwhile, Montreal’s top six defencemen are all under contract through next season.

Carey Price, who was outstanding throughout the playoffs, will be back along with Jake Allen.

Phillip Danault, Corey Perry and Eric Staal are unrestricted free agents.

It will be very interesting to see which players from that group return.

The Habs need to insulate their young core with more scoring help up front, so it will be interesting to see what general manager Marc Bergevin does this offseason to address a clear need.

The Canadiens opened at +2000 to win the Stanley Cup next season.

Shapovalov Advances To Wimbledon Semis

Denis Shapovalov is through to his first Grand Slam semi-final ever at Wimbledon.

Shapovalov advances to the semis with a five-set win over Karen Khachanov on Wednesday, taking it 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-4.

 

His previous best at a Grand Slam was reaching the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open.

Shapovalov was -350 to beat Khachanov in the quarters.

He will face a much tougher challenge in the final four, as he’s set to face the tournament favourite Novak Djokovic.

As of this morning, Djokovic is -1400 to win that semi-final match and -400 to win the singles title.

Shapovalov is +700 to beat Djokovic and +1600 to win the title.

England, Italy To Meet In Euro 2020 Final

England booked its ticket to the EURO 2020 final with an extra time win over Denmark on Wednesday.

Denmark opened the scoring, but England completed the comeback win on a goal from Harry Kane that followed a controversial penalty call.

Kasper Schmeichel managed to stop Kane’s penalty, but he couldn’t stop the rebound.

England will play Italy in the EURO 2020 Final at Wembley Stadium on Sunday.

Kane and company opened at -125 to clinch the title on home soil – Italy is even money to win it.

Suns, Bucks Set For Game 2 Of NBA Finals

The Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks will meet in a pivotal Game 2 of the NBA Finals tonight on TSN.

Chris Paul and the Suns have an opportunity to take a 2-0 series lead on their home floor.

Teams that take a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals are 31-4 (89%) all-time.

As of this morning, Phoenix is a 5.5-point favourite for Game 2.

The Suns are currently -340 to win the title – the comeback on Milwaukee is +270.

All eyes will be on Paul to see what he has in store for an encore performance after a brilliant Finals debut.

Paul, who scored a game-high 32 points with nine assists in the opener, is currently -220 to win Finals MVP.

If he does win it, he would be the second-oldest Finals MVP ever at 36-years-old.

Devin Booker and Giannis Antetokounmpo are next on that list with both stars currently at +450.

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