Page 5 - Gemel Smith News Today

May 13—When a puck smacked the ice at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida, on Monday night to start the last game of the Tampa Bay Lightning's regular season, it heralded a little bit of hockey history. Willie O'Ree, wherever he happened to be, was surely smiling. The Lightning called up Daniel Walcott for his first game in the NHL, and coach Jon Cooper rostered him on the top line with Gemel ...

History Made When All-Black Line Starts an NHL Game (Image: NHL) There is, surprisingly, history still being made in sports that most wouldn’t have even considered. This is especially true in hockey, where more needs to be accomplished when it comes to feats involving Black players. Earlier this week, according to People, a National Hockey League team placed an all-Black starting line in a game for the first time in the history of the professional sports league. The NHL was founded in 1917. ...

Left to right: Daniel Walcott, Mathieu Joseph, and Gemel Smith Photo Credit: HOCKEYDB.COM, NHL.COM, HOCKEYDB.COM 10 minutes before the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers were set to face off on May 10th, Tampa coach Jon Cooper unveiled his lineup. For the first time in NHL history, three black men were assigned to a line together, and were given the nod to start the game for the team.  In a move that many around the league are praising, the Lightning started the game with Mathieu Jos...

Tampa Bay Lightning sign Simon Ryfors to one-year, two-way contract Share this story Photo by Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images The Tampa Bay Lightning have announced that they have signed Swedish forward Simon Ryfors to a one-year, two-way contract for the 2021-22 season. Ryfors will turn 24 years old in August and is listed at 5’10” and 181 pounds. Ryfors was never drafted in the NHL Entry Draft, but would have first been eligible for selection in the 2015 draft. Ryfors has spent the la...

Wednesday, May 12, 2021 by The Associated Press (AP) Florida Panthers goaltender Chris Driedger, left, defends the goal against Tampa Bay Lightnings Daniel Walcott (85) during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Monday, May 10, 2021, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) Stay tuned in to our local news coverage: Listen to 90.7 WMFE on your FM or HD radio, the WMFE mobile app or your smart speaker — say “Alexa, play NPR” and you’ll be connected. SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — The Tam...

Axe: Crunch fan favorite Daniel Walcott makes history in first NHL game Updated May 12, 2021; Posted May 12, 2021 Syracuse Crunch forward and fan favorite Daniel Walcott made his NHL debut on Monday night with the Tampa Bay Lightning against the Florida Panthers.SYR Facebook Share “Is this the year? Is this it? You gonna do it this year?” After 248 games with the Crunch, Walcott can finally answer his inquisitors with a “yes.” But there’s more to the story than simply playing in a N...

Chicago (24-26-6) saw its season come to a close on Monday night with a 5-4 overtime loss to the Dallas Stars, finishing on the outside looking in at the Stanley Cup Playoffs. This is where we expected them to be at the close of this season, not playing in the postseason and looking forward to next year, as they continue to go forward in their rebuilding process. •   While the expectation from the outside was that Chicago would not be playing in the postseason, the expectations inside the cl...

Long-time Syracuse Crunch fan favorite Daniel Walcott makes NHL debut for Tampa Bay Updated May 10, 10:34 PM; Posted May 10, 7:29 PM Daniel Walcott has played 248 games over six seasons with the Syracuse Crunch. Scott Schild | sschild@syracuse.com SYR SYRSYR Facebook Share Syracuse, N.Y. -- One of the Syracuse Crunch’s all-time models of persistence was rewarded with a career-defining moment on Monday night. Forward Daniel Walcott, one of the most popular players in franchise history, made ...

Panthers beat Lightning, secure home ice for first round Chris Driedger stopped 30 shots to record his third shutout of the season and the Florida Panthers secured home-ice advantage for the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs with a 4-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in the regular season finale for both clubs on Monday night. The Canadian Press VIDEO SIGN OUT Chris Driedger stopped 30 shots to record his third shutout of the season, Juho Lammikko scored a short-handed goal, and the Fl...

Lightning start all-Black forward line Daniel Walcott was already excited to be in his first NHL game. He got even more excited when he got to see how his debut would happen. The Tampa Bay Lightning started three Black forwards in their regular-season finale against the Florida Panthers on Monday night. The Canadian Press VIDEO SIGN OUT SUNRISE, Fla. — Daniel Walcott was already excited to be in his first NHL game. He got even more excited when he got to see how his debut would happen. The Ta...