American alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin made history with her Giant Slalom win at the ongoing FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2023. The win gave Shiffrin her 13th world championships medal, making her the most decorated individual in the modern history of the competition.

Shiffrin finished the race with a time of 2:07.13 in two runs, edging out Italian Federica Brignone, who was 0.12 seconds slower. Norwegian Ragnhild Mowinckel finished third.

“I don’t know if I can really put a value on any medal, but today felt very special,” Shiffrin said after the race. “It’s a moment I’m going to remember forever.”

The only other skier in the history of the sport with more individual world championship medals than Shiffrin is German Christl Cranz. However, it is important to note that Cranz won her medals in the 1930s when the competition was held annually and featured fewer skiers.

During her run at FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2023, Shiffrin already won the silver medal in Super-G and received disqualification in Combined competition. She is yet to participate in slalom, a competition she was dominant in throughout her career. She finished in the top three in all of her previous five slalom appearances at world championships, getting four wins and one third-place finish. 

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Freestyle skiers Alex Hall and Nick Goepper have re-established Team USA’s dominance in men’s freeski slopestyle by finishing first and second in the event at the 2022 Beijing Olympics on Wednesday. Hall took the gold thanks to a 90.01 score in the first final run, while Goepper scored 86.48 in his second run to walk away with a silver medal. Sweden’s Jesper Tjäder took home the bronze.

Team USA previously won all three medals in freeski slopestyle’s debut at the Sochi Olympics in 2014. But this was followed by an underwhelming performance four years later, with Team USA only having a silver medal to show for in Pyeongchang.

With the medal from Beijing, Goepper became the first and only Olympian to have three freeski slopestyle medals. He previously won bronze in Sochi and was responsible for the previously mentioned lone silver in 2018. On the other hand, Hall gets his first medal in his second Olympics appearance.

“I just kept it true to myself, and I think that’s the most important part about our sport is just doing it for the love and doing it how you want to do it and not changing that,” said Hall after the event.

With Hall and Goepper’s gold and silver, team USA’s medal count now stands at 19. The United States is currently ranked third among all participating countries with eight golds, seven silvers, and four bronzes.

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Team USA finally claimed its first gold at the Beijing Winter Olympics. Snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis came through for the U.S., winning the women’s snowboard cross event on Wednesday morning.

The win also marked the first gold medal for Jacobellis in her fifth Olympics appearance. The 36-year-old won the silver medal in a heartbreaking fashion at her Olympics debut in Turin in 2006 and then fell short off the podium on the following three tries.

But this time around, Jacobellis wasn’t about to be denied. Instead, she delivered a masterful performance, jumping to an early lead over France’s Chloe Trespeuch and never looking back.

Jacobellis made history on Wednesday by becoming the oldest snowboarder to win an Olympic medal. She is now also the oldest female Team USA competitor to get the gold at any Winter Games event.

“This feels incredible because this level that all the women are riding at is a lot higher than it was 16 years ago,” said Jacobellis after the race. “So I felt like a winner just that I made it into finals because that’s been a challenge every time. All these ladies had the potential to win, and today it just worked out for me that my starts were good, my gliding was great, and everything worked for me today.”

The Olympic gold was a long time coming for Lindsey Jacobellis, considering she dominated snowboard cross for the better part of the past two decades. She has 10 wins at X Games while also claiming six world championships. Her most recent success came at a mixed snowboard team cross at the 2019 World Championship in Utah.

Thanks to Jacobellis’ gold, Team USA now has seven medals at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Jaelin Kauf and Colby Stevenson won silvers in freestyle skiing, while Julia Marino and Ryan Cochran-Siegle added silver medals in snowboarding and alpine skiing, respectively. The Team USA also came in second in figure skating while Jessie Diggins won bronze in cross-country skiing.

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Claude Julien’s stint as head coach for the Montreal Canadiens has officially come to an end. General manager Marc Bergevin confirmed the news on Wednesday, stating the following:

“I would like to sincerely thank Claude and Kirk for their contributions to our team over the past five years during which we worked together. I have great respect for these two men whom I hold in high regard,” said Bergevin announcing the decision.

In a social media farewell statement on Twitter, Bergevin also called Julien a “true pro”. Clearly this wasn’t a bad breakup, with other factors weighing in on the Montreal front office’s decision.

The Canadiens started off this season strongly with a 7-3 record, but then teetered over the next phase. Out of the following eight games, they only managed to win two of them. This is likely the reason for Julien’s firing.

In Julien’s place, assistant coach Dominique Ducharme will now serve as interim head coach. It’s unclear whether or not this interim spot will turn into something permanent, but perhaps that’ll depend on the team’s performance.

Although Julien was fired, he’s still a respectable coach in the league, and we wouldn’t be surprised if he’s hired by another team in the coming years.

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed forward Anthony Cirelli to a new deal, keeping together another important part of the roster that won the Stanley Cup last season.

The team confirmed the news on Thursday, announcing that Cirelli returns to Tampa Bay on a three-year contract. The agreement is worth $14.4 million, with the 23-year-old center set to earn $4.8 million per year on average.

By signing Cirelli, who played out his entry-contract in 2019-20, the Lightning managed to hold onto all of their restricted free-agents ahead of the new NHL season.

“Essentially we have everyone signed that we wanted to have signed prior to the start of the season,” said BriseBois.

The reason why the Lightning took a bit longer to tie Cirelli to a long-term deal was the team’s cap issues. Tampa Bay was projected to be $6 million over the league’s salary cap and couldn’t lock him without making some major moves. In the end, there wasn’t a need for that since the Lightning got major cap-relief due to the injury of star winger Nikita Kucherov.

Anthony Cirelli played a big role for the Lightning in 2019-20, contributing with 16 goals and 28 assists for a career-high 44 points. Cirelli added three goals and nine assists in the postseason.

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During the 12 years of his pro career, Austrian ski racer Marcel Hirscher managed to establish himself as arguably the best ski racer that ever lived and one of the most dominant athletes of his generation.  And, as it turns out; he wants to be remembered only as such. 

During an appearance on Austrian national television on Wednesday, Hirscher announced that he is retiring from the sport at the age of 30. He said that he wanted to leave ski racing as a winner and that he didn’t want to wait until his performance declines.

“I always wanted to end my career as long as I am winning races. I didn’t want to oversee the moment where things get worse” – said Hirscher. “My decision is two weeks old. I think it is good the way it is. This feels right.”

Although surprising, Hirscher’s decision wasn’t completely unexpected.  In the two previous years, he openly expressed uncertainty about his future while questioning his motivations to chase more titles.

Marcel Hirscher made his debut in the World Cup in 2007 and recorded his first win in 2009. This kick-started decade-long domination that is rarely seen in the world of sports. Hirscher won eight overall World Cup titles during his career, while no other male skier has won more than five. His record becomes even more impressive knowing that he never raced Downhill races and rarely competed in Super G.

During the 12 years of his career, Hirscher also won 14 medals in major competitions with nine of them being gold. This includes two Olympic gold medals and one silver.

He will retire having won 67 World Cup races in his career, which puts him third on the all-time list. Lindsey Vonn is second with 82, while legendary Ingemar Stenmark has 86.

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China’s Olympic silver medalists Sui Wenjing and Han Cong won the pairs gold medal at the 2019 ISU Figure Skating World Championships in Saitama, Japan with a truly stunning routine.

The pair skated to “Rain in Your Black Eyes” by Ezio Bosso, delivering a near-flawless performance that included a triple toe-double combination, triple twist, triple Salchow, throw triple flip and throw triple Salchow, as well as level-four lifts. They received 155.60 points for the free skate and got to a total of 234.84, winning the world title for the second time, as they had also claimed it in 2017.

This win comes after a really tough season for Wenjing and Cong. After winning a silver at Pyeongchang Games, Wenjing injured her foot and was sidelined most of the season, causing them to miss the 2018 World Championships as well as the Grand Prix Series. The Four Continents Figure Skating Championships was their debut this season in international competition. “It’s a magic day for us,” said Cong, adding that they’re very happy to have shown their best performance.

The silver went to Russian skaters Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov, who received 228.47 points, while another Russian pair, Natalia Zabiiako and Alexander Enbert, took the bronze with 217.98 points. China’s Peng Cheng and Jin Yang came fourth with 215.84 points.

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Lindsey Vonn, one of the most accomplished alpine ski racers of all time, had decided to put an end on her successful career after 2018-19 World Cup season. Vonn delivered the news on Thursday.

“Physically, I’ve gotten to the point where it doesn’t make sense,” – said Vonn. “I really would like to be active when I’m older, so I have to look to the future and not just be so focused on what’s in front of me.”

The 34-year-old also said that she will go through with her decision even if she doesn’t break the all-time World Cup wins record. The current record holder Ingemar Stenmark has 86 wins, while Vonn has a total of 82 wins.

“If I get it (the record), that would be a dream come true,” – she added. “If I don’t, I think I’ve had an incredibly successful career no matter what. I’m still the all-time winningest female skier.“

During her career, Lindsey Vonn managed to win four World Cup championships, becoming only the second female skiers to achieve this feat. She also won one gold and two bronze Olympic medals alongside two World Championship golds and three silvers, which makes her the most successful American ski racer in history.

Vonn would have probably had an even more successful career if it wasn’t for injuries which caused her to miss significant time during several seasons, most notably in 2013 and 2014.

The post Lindsey Vonn Will Retire After the 2018-19 World Cup Season appeared first on SportzBonanza.

When Vegas Gold Knights won Game 1 of 2018 Stanley Cup Finals over Washington Capitals on May 28, it looked like we are in for a nail-biting series that could go either way. Well, Capitals didn’t let that happen. They won the next four games and lifted the Stanley Cup trophy on Thursday night for the first time in the franchise’s history. It was also the first major sports championship for the city of Washington since Washington Redskins won the Super Bowl in 1992.

It's mayhem in DC! #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/d3yfs4qJXL

— NHL (@NHL) June 8, 2018

“Right now I’m so happy for this group because I know how much misery they’ve gone through, our fan base,” – said Capitals coach Barry Trotz after the game. “I’ve been trying to change the narrative for a couple of years, and I’ve just so glad this group just got off the floor from last year, and they just said, you know what, it’s not going to happen anymore. Great job by everybody, they just got better and better, and just the resiliency that they’ve had to endure over the last how many years, and now they get it.”

This was also the first Stanley Cup for Alexander Ovechkin, who had to wait 13 years for this. Although regarded as one of the greatest ice-hockey players in the modern NHL, Ovechkin never managed to get over the hump; until now. Ovechkin had a tremendous postseason, being the leading scorer of the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs with 15 goals. He also added 12 assists and deservingly named the Finals MVP.

“We did it,” – said Ovechkin. “That’s all that matters. Look at the smiles on my teammates. This is something you’ll never forget. This moment, I’ll remember for the rest of my life. I’m so happy. It’s unbelievable.“

Although they ended up on the losing end of the 2018 Stanley Cup Finals, Vegas Gold Knights know that they have shattered everyone’s wildest predictions for them in this season. Despite playing their inaugural season in NHL, Gold Knights advanced all the way to the end and should be excited about the franchise’s future.

“They deserve it,” – said Gold Knights general manager George McPhee. “They were much better than we were, and they were the better team. It’s just a hell of a team. Really a talented team, experienced team, gritty team, and they were really well coached.”

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After 20 years, U.S. women managed to capture Olympic gold in hockey. At the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. U.S. women’s hockey team faced Canada in a dramatic final game of the tournament and ended up with a win.

When team USA entered the second half of the third period trailing by a goal, it all looked too familiar. They have faced Canada in the finals on two previous Olympics in Vancouver and Sochi and both times failed to overcome it, finishing with a silver medal. Then, Monique Lamoureux came through when it mattered the most and managed to score a goal to tie the game and force the overtime. Even when Canada had a 4-3 advantage due to penalty with 1:35 to play, U.S. women remained composed and the game was eventually settled by a shootout which team USA won 3-2.

“It is everything for our country,” – said team’s coach Robb Stauber after the game. “I can’t tell you how happy I am for our players. We love them, it is unreal. I am just so thankful for the outcome. It was a thrilling final, it was unreal.“

“I can’t put it into words” – added defenseman Kacey Bellamy. “This whole year is for everyone that came before us. This is for [former USA team captain] Julie Chu and for all our families at home, the schools that we went to, everyone supporting us. It is a feeling I have never experienced.“

U.S. Women’s hockey team won their last Olympic gold medal in 1998 with a 3-1 win over Canada at the Winter Games held in Nagano, Japan. Then in 2002, they have faced Canada again in Salt Lake City and lost. At 2006 Turin Olympic Games, U.S. women managed to win a bronze medal, after being defeated by Sweden. After silver medals in Vancouver and Sochi, they have definitely deserved gold this time.

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American alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin made history with her Giant Slalom win at the ongoing FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2023. The win gave Shiffrin her 13th world championships medal, making her the most decorated individual in the modern history of the competition.

Shiffrin finished the race with a time of 2:07.13 in two runs, edging out Italian Federica Brignone, who was 0.12 seconds slower. Norwegian Ragnhild Mowinckel finished third.

“I don’t know if I can really put a value on any medal, but today felt very special,” Shiffrin said after the race. “It’s a moment I’m going to remember forever.”

The only other skier in the history of the sport with more individual world championship medals than Shiffrin is German Christl Cranz. However, it is important to note that Cranz won her medals in the 1930s when the competition was held annually and featured fewer skiers.

During her run at FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2023, Shiffrin already won the silver medal in Super-G and received disqualification in Combined competition. She is yet to participate in slalom, a competition she was dominant in throughout her career. She finished in the top three in all of her previous five slalom appearances at world championships, getting four wins and one third-place finish. 

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Freestyle skiers Alex Hall and Nick Goepper have re-established Team USA’s dominance in men’s freeski slopestyle by finishing first and second in the event at the 2022 Beijing Olympics on Wednesday. Hall took the gold thanks to a 90.01 score in the first final run, while Goepper scored 86.48 in his second run to walk away with a silver medal. Sweden’s Jesper Tjäder took home the bronze.

Team USA previously won all three medals in freeski slopestyle’s debut at the Sochi Olympics in 2014. But this was followed by an underwhelming performance four years later, with Team USA only having a silver medal to show for in Pyeongchang.

With the medal from Beijing, Goepper became the first and only Olympian to have three freeski slopestyle medals. He previously won bronze in Sochi and was responsible for the previously mentioned lone silver in 2018. On the other hand, Hall gets his first medal in his second Olympics appearance.

“I just kept it true to myself, and I think that’s the most important part about our sport is just doing it for the love and doing it how you want to do it and not changing that,” said Hall after the event.

With Hall and Goepper’s gold and silver, team USA’s medal count now stands at 19. The United States is currently ranked third among all participating countries with eight golds, seven silvers, and four bronzes.

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Team USA finally claimed its first gold at the Beijing Winter Olympics. Snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis came through for the U.S., winning the women’s snowboard cross event on Wednesday morning.

The win also marked the first gold medal for Jacobellis in her fifth Olympics appearance. The 36-year-old won the silver medal in a heartbreaking fashion at her Olympics debut in Turin in 2006 and then fell short off the podium on the following three tries.

But this time around, Jacobellis wasn’t about to be denied. Instead, she delivered a masterful performance, jumping to an early lead over France’s Chloe Trespeuch and never looking back.

Jacobellis made history on Wednesday by becoming the oldest snowboarder to win an Olympic medal. She is now also the oldest female Team USA competitor to get the gold at any Winter Games event.

“This feels incredible because this level that all the women are riding at is a lot higher than it was 16 years ago,” said Jacobellis after the race. “So I felt like a winner just that I made it into finals because that’s been a challenge every time. All these ladies had the potential to win, and today it just worked out for me that my starts were good, my gliding was great, and everything worked for me today.”

The Olympic gold was a long time coming for Lindsey Jacobellis, considering she dominated snowboard cross for the better part of the past two decades. She has 10 wins at X Games while also claiming six world championships. Her most recent success came at a mixed snowboard team cross at the 2019 World Championship in Utah.

Thanks to Jacobellis’ gold, Team USA now has seven medals at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Jaelin Kauf and Colby Stevenson won silvers in freestyle skiing, while Julia Marino and Ryan Cochran-Siegle added silver medals in snowboarding and alpine skiing, respectively. The Team USA also came in second in figure skating while Jessie Diggins won bronze in cross-country skiing.

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Claude Julien’s stint as head coach for the Montreal Canadiens has officially come to an end. General manager Marc Bergevin confirmed the news on Wednesday, stating the following:

“I would like to sincerely thank Claude and Kirk for their contributions to our team over the past five years during which we worked together. I have great respect for these two men whom I hold in high regard,” said Bergevin announcing the decision.

In a social media farewell statement on Twitter, Bergevin also called Julien a “true pro”. Clearly this wasn’t a bad breakup, with other factors weighing in on the Montreal front office’s decision.

The Canadiens started off this season strongly with a 7-3 record, but then teetered over the next phase. Out of the following eight games, they only managed to win two of them. This is likely the reason for Julien’s firing.

In Julien’s place, assistant coach Dominique Ducharme will now serve as interim head coach. It’s unclear whether or not this interim spot will turn into something permanent, but perhaps that’ll depend on the team’s performance.

Although Julien was fired, he’s still a respectable coach in the league, and we wouldn’t be surprised if he’s hired by another team in the coming years.

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed forward Anthony Cirelli to a new deal, keeping together another important part of the roster that won the Stanley Cup last season.

The team confirmed the news on Thursday, announcing that Cirelli returns to Tampa Bay on a three-year contract. The agreement is worth $14.4 million, with the 23-year-old center set to earn $4.8 million per year on average.

By signing Cirelli, who played out his entry-contract in 2019-20, the Lightning managed to hold onto all of their restricted free-agents ahead of the new NHL season.

“Essentially we have everyone signed that we wanted to have signed prior to the start of the season,” said BriseBois.

The reason why the Lightning took a bit longer to tie Cirelli to a long-term deal was the team’s cap issues. Tampa Bay was projected to be $6 million over the league’s salary cap and couldn’t lock him without making some major moves. In the end, there wasn’t a need for that since the Lightning got major cap-relief due to the injury of star winger Nikita Kucherov.

Anthony Cirelli played a big role for the Lightning in 2019-20, contributing with 16 goals and 28 assists for a career-high 44 points. Cirelli added three goals and nine assists in the postseason.

The post Anthony Cirelli Agrees To Stay With Lightning Through 2022-23 NHL Season appeared first on SportzBonanza.

During the 12 years of his pro career, Austrian ski racer Marcel Hirscher managed to establish himself as arguably the best ski racer that ever lived and one of the most dominant athletes of his generation.  And, as it turns out; he wants to be remembered only as such. 

During an appearance on Austrian national television on Wednesday, Hirscher announced that he is retiring from the sport at the age of 30. He said that he wanted to leave ski racing as a winner and that he didn’t want to wait until his performance declines.

“I always wanted to end my career as long as I am winning races. I didn’t want to oversee the moment where things get worse” – said Hirscher. “My decision is two weeks old. I think it is good the way it is. This feels right.”

Although surprising, Hirscher’s decision wasn’t completely unexpected.  In the two previous years, he openly expressed uncertainty about his future while questioning his motivations to chase more titles.

Marcel Hirscher made his debut in the World Cup in 2007 and recorded his first win in 2009. This kick-started decade-long domination that is rarely seen in the world of sports. Hirscher won eight overall World Cup titles during his career, while no other male skier has won more than five. His record becomes even more impressive knowing that he never raced Downhill races and rarely competed in Super G.

During the 12 years of his career, Hirscher also won 14 medals in major competitions with nine of them being gold. This includes two Olympic gold medals and one silver.

He will retire having won 67 World Cup races in his career, which puts him third on the all-time list. Lindsey Vonn is second with 82, while legendary Ingemar Stenmark has 86.

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China’s Olympic silver medalists Sui Wenjing and Han Cong won the pairs gold medal at the 2019 ISU Figure Skating World Championships in Saitama, Japan with a truly stunning routine.

The pair skated to “Rain in Your Black Eyes” by Ezio Bosso, delivering a near-flawless performance that included a triple toe-double combination, triple twist, triple Salchow, throw triple flip and throw triple Salchow, as well as level-four lifts. They received 155.60 points for the free skate and got to a total of 234.84, winning the world title for the second time, as they had also claimed it in 2017.

This win comes after a really tough season for Wenjing and Cong. After winning a silver at Pyeongchang Games, Wenjing injured her foot and was sidelined most of the season, causing them to miss the 2018 World Championships as well as the Grand Prix Series. The Four Continents Figure Skating Championships was their debut this season in international competition. “It’s a magic day for us,” said Cong, adding that they’re very happy to have shown their best performance.

The silver went to Russian skaters Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov, who received 228.47 points, while another Russian pair, Natalia Zabiiako and Alexander Enbert, took the bronze with 217.98 points. China’s Peng Cheng and Jin Yang came fourth with 215.84 points.

The post China’s Figure Skaters Win Gold and Stun Everyone at World Championship appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Lindsey Vonn, one of the most accomplished alpine ski racers of all time, had decided to put an end on her successful career after 2018-19 World Cup season. Vonn delivered the news on Thursday.

“Physically, I’ve gotten to the point where it doesn’t make sense,” – said Vonn. “I really would like to be active when I’m older, so I have to look to the future and not just be so focused on what’s in front of me.”

The 34-year-old also said that she will go through with her decision even if she doesn’t break the all-time World Cup wins record. The current record holder Ingemar Stenmark has 86 wins, while Vonn has a total of 82 wins.

“If I get it (the record), that would be a dream come true,” – she added. “If I don’t, I think I’ve had an incredibly successful career no matter what. I’m still the all-time winningest female skier.“

During her career, Lindsey Vonn managed to win four World Cup championships, becoming only the second female skiers to achieve this feat. She also won one gold and two bronze Olympic medals alongside two World Championship golds and three silvers, which makes her the most successful American ski racer in history.

Vonn would have probably had an even more successful career if it wasn’t for injuries which caused her to miss significant time during several seasons, most notably in 2013 and 2014.

The post Lindsey Vonn Will Retire After the 2018-19 World Cup Season appeared first on SportzBonanza.

When Vegas Gold Knights won Game 1 of 2018 Stanley Cup Finals over Washington Capitals on May 28, it looked like we are in for a nail-biting series that could go either way. Well, Capitals didn’t let that happen. They won the next four games and lifted the Stanley Cup trophy on Thursday night for the first time in the franchise’s history. It was also the first major sports championship for the city of Washington since Washington Redskins won the Super Bowl in 1992.

It's mayhem in DC! #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/d3yfs4qJXL

— NHL (@NHL) June 8, 2018

“Right now I’m so happy for this group because I know how much misery they’ve gone through, our fan base,” – said Capitals coach Barry Trotz after the game. “I’ve been trying to change the narrative for a couple of years, and I’ve just so glad this group just got off the floor from last year, and they just said, you know what, it’s not going to happen anymore. Great job by everybody, they just got better and better, and just the resiliency that they’ve had to endure over the last how many years, and now they get it.”

This was also the first Stanley Cup for Alexander Ovechkin, who had to wait 13 years for this. Although regarded as one of the greatest ice-hockey players in the modern NHL, Ovechkin never managed to get over the hump; until now. Ovechkin had a tremendous postseason, being the leading scorer of the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs with 15 goals. He also added 12 assists and deservingly named the Finals MVP.

“We did it,” – said Ovechkin. “That’s all that matters. Look at the smiles on my teammates. This is something you’ll never forget. This moment, I’ll remember for the rest of my life. I’m so happy. It’s unbelievable.“

Although they ended up on the losing end of the 2018 Stanley Cup Finals, Vegas Gold Knights know that they have shattered everyone’s wildest predictions for them in this season. Despite playing their inaugural season in NHL, Gold Knights advanced all the way to the end and should be excited about the franchise’s future.

“They deserve it,” – said Gold Knights general manager George McPhee. “They were much better than we were, and they were the better team. It’s just a hell of a team. Really a talented team, experienced team, gritty team, and they were really well coached.”

The post Washington Capitals win 2018 Stanley Cup appeared first on SportzBonanza.

After 20 years, U.S. women managed to capture Olympic gold in hockey. At the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. U.S. women’s hockey team faced Canada in a dramatic final game of the tournament and ended up with a win.

When team USA entered the second half of the third period trailing by a goal, it all looked too familiar. They have faced Canada in the finals on two previous Olympics in Vancouver and Sochi and both times failed to overcome it, finishing with a silver medal. Then, Monique Lamoureux came through when it mattered the most and managed to score a goal to tie the game and force the overtime. Even when Canada had a 4-3 advantage due to penalty with 1:35 to play, U.S. women remained composed and the game was eventually settled by a shootout which team USA won 3-2.

“It is everything for our country,” – said team’s coach Robb Stauber after the game. “I can’t tell you how happy I am for our players. We love them, it is unreal. I am just so thankful for the outcome. It was a thrilling final, it was unreal.“

“I can’t put it into words” – added defenseman Kacey Bellamy. “This whole year is for everyone that came before us. This is for [former USA team captain] Julie Chu and for all our families at home, the schools that we went to, everyone supporting us. It is a feeling I have never experienced.“

U.S. Women’s hockey team won their last Olympic gold medal in 1998 with a 3-1 win over Canada at the Winter Games held in Nagano, Japan. Then in 2002, they have faced Canada again in Salt Lake City and lost. At 2006 Turin Olympic Games, U.S. women managed to win a bronze medal, after being defeated by Sweden. After silver medals in Vancouver and Sochi, they have definitely deserved gold this time.

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