Links, News and Notes: Mark Borowiecki Retires, Jake Sanderson Snubbed and More

It's Thursday, so you know what that means! It's time for some links, news and notes from around the league and, as usual, a playoff update.

• Mark Borowiecki has had an interesting career with the Ottawa Senators. It took him a while to find his place on the team but, when he did, he won over many fans. He and his wife Tara have also left their mark in the Ottawa community with their charitable work. Yesterday, Boro announced his retirement from the game after 12 seasons split between the Ottawa Senators and Nashville Predators. Boro has missed the past 6 months after being injured on a hit against the Philadelphia Flyers. It's unfortunate to see him forced to end his career this way but we would like to wish him good luck in his future endeavors. Hopefully, we can see him come back to the Ottawa Senators organization in some capacity.
• The NHL announced its Calder nominees this week; Matty Beniers, Owen Power, and Stuart Skinners were all deemed to be better rookies than Jake Sanderson. It really isn't shocking that Sanderson didn't get the credit he deserves and, at this point, most of these awards have become meaningless anyways. That being said, Sanderson, without a doubt, will be a Norris candidate very soon!
• Bruce Firestone had a vision for the Ottawa Senators over 30 years ago. He has watched this team go through many ups and downs but is now able to look at the team and finally see it start to reach its potential. With the estimated sales price expected for the Sens along with the huge interest from the likes of Ryan Reynolds and Snoop Dogg, Firestone and the rest of the hockey world can start to see the gem that Ottawa is as a hockey market.
• More on ownership interest, ever since entering the Sens ownership scene, Snoop Dogg has been making waves about his interest in growing the game for minorities and different communities. In an interview with the Athletic's Ian Mendes, Snoop confirmed that he is very serious in his bid to purchase the team and expressed his excitement for the team and the city.
• Canadian fans are not having the best of treatment in the second round. Toronto Maple Leafs fans have been told they'll need to wait before being able to purchase tickets to games in Florida and Oilers fans travelling to Las Vegas to watch their team were left scrambling as the NHL changes the dates on them last minute.
• Speaking of the Leafs, this father-daughter duo who have made it a mission to be Leafs "haters" are getting a lot of much deserved attention and love.
• The Dallas Stars dropped Game 1 at home agains the Seattle Kraken but Joe Pavelski had a great game regardless. At 38 years old, Pavelski became the oldest player to score 4 goals in an NHL game.

Playoffs

• New York Rangers vs New Jersey Devils: Devils Win Series 4-3

The Devils took care of business in Game 7 and finished off round 1 with a dominating 4-0 win to become the last team to advance to the second round

• Florida Panthers (4) vs Toronto Maple Leafs (2)- Panthers Lead Series 1-0

The Leafs find themselves in familiar territory, losing Game 1 at home against a Florida team. The Leafs may have gotten a bit over zealous and assumed the Panthers would be too tired to show up but they were once again humbled by a team that many expected them to beat. That being said, it seems the Leafs are playing their best hockey this post season after a rough outing so I expect them to easily tie the series in Game 2 tonight.

• Seattle Kraken (5) vs Dallas Stars (4) OT - Krakens Lead Series 1-0

The Krakens are surprising many teams and fans in their first post season appearance. The Stars battled hard, especially Joe Pavelski but ultimately the Kraken were able to get an advantage in overtime.

• New Jersey Devils (1) vs Carolina Hurricanes (5) - Hurricanes Lead Series 1-0

The Devils maybe needed a bit more rest before starting round 2. They were definitely not ready for the Carolina Hurricanes who took full advantage of their home ice.

• Edmonton Oilers (4) vs Las Vegas Golden Knights(6) - Knights Lead Series 1-0

This series has the potential to be one of the most entertaining matchups in the playoffs. Leon Draisaitl had a dominating performance scoring 4 goals to being the Oilers oh so close to a comeback. I mean look at this goal:

The Oilers' power play may prove to be a lot of trouble for the Golden Knights but in Game 1; they were able to pull through. The Oilers don't want to go home down 2-0 in this series, so it will be interesting to see how they respond early on for Game 2.