EX WHEAT KINGS’ QUEST FOR THE CUP
The 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs will open up tonight with a matchup between the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Chicago Blackhawks and the Minnesota Wild, who clinched a post-season berth by winning their 48th and final regular season game.
While the Hawks go in as the heavy favourites, the Wild feature one of seven former Wheat Kings that begin the quest for Lord Stanley this week.
Netminder Josh Harding, who was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis last summer, was only able to play in five games this season after having trouble adjusting to his medicine. Last week, he returned to the Wild practice for the first time in nearly two months and the words were all upbeat.
“I felt like my old self,” he told reporters afterward.
While Harding may be the “feel good” story to start the playoffs, six other ex-Wheat Kings will take to the ice in this, the NHL’s second season.
Detroit’s Jordin Tootoo and Ryan Reaves of the St. Louis Blues will join Harding in the Western Conference while Boston’s Wade Redden, Travis Hamonic of the New York Islanders and Washington’s Eric Fehr and Jason Chimera will be featured in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.
A four time winner of the Wheat Kings Most Popular Player Award, Tootoo and the Wings will face off against Anaheim while Reaves and the Blues will tackle the defending Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings. In 42 games for the Wings this past season, Tootoo scored three goals and eight points while Reaves had four goals and six points in 43 games for St. Louis.
A former WHL Rookie of the Year and 1st Team All Star, Redden and the Bruins will take on Toronto in one of four Eastern quarterfinal series. Hamonic and the Islanders will face off against Pittsburgh while Fehr and Chimera lead the Capitals into their best of seven opening round series against the New York Rangers.
A veteran of over 1,000 NHL games, Redden, who began the season with St. Louis had three goals and 7 points in 29 regular season games in 2012-13. Hamonic, who played in all 48 Islanders’ games had ten points including three goals while 10-year NHL veteran Chimera had three goals and 14 points in 47 games for Washington.
The WHL’s Player of the Year in 2005, Fehr returned to the Caps this season after spending the 2011-12 campaign with the Winnipeg Jets and managed to score nine goals and 17 points in 41 games.
The curtain on the Stanley Cup playoffs go up Tuesday night with three games on tap. Tootoo and the Wings take on Anaheim, Reaves and the Blues battle Los Angeles and Minnesota faces off against Chicago.
