Sports

CDS grad lifts the Stanley Cup for second consecutive season

July 15, 2021   ·   0 Comments

By Robert Belardi 

It’s one heck of a time to be proud to be a local sports fan. 

For the second consecutive season, one area graduate has lifted the Stanley Cup and a member of the winning team of arguably the most prestigious trophy in sport is none other than Tampa Bay Lightning forward Barclay Goodrow. 

The Lightning earned their first ever back-to-back victory in franchise history taking out the Montreal Canadiens in five games. 

Goodrow put up an exceptional four points in five games throughout the series including a goal in Game Four. 

The Canadiens, who have done an excellent job in shutting down the opposition’s top players, struggled to deal with Goodrow’s third line along with Blake Coleman and Quebec native Yanni Gourde. 

Following the victory amidst celebrations, Goodrow also didn’t hesitate to fire back at Toronto Star writer Damien Cox. 

Cox openly criticized the Lightning’s victory in the playoff bubble in September last year. He tweeted, “Not as difficult to win a cup when there’s no road games, no travel. Still a difficult thing to win it all. Tampa gave lots of sweat and blood to make this happen. But let’s not compare bubble hockey with the real thing.” 

At the time, Goodrow immediately responded to Cox, stating how hard it was to be away from his family for so long living in a hotel. 

Most recently after this win, he replied to the same tweet from a year ago saying, “Sooo how about now?” 

Subsequently, many quotes and replies to this tweet heavily mentioned Tampa Bay being $18-million over the salary cap limit in these playoffs. 

What that means for Goodrow is an uncertain future. Sure, the Lightning would love to keep the 6-foot-2 centreman, however, considering the franchise must alleviate this overage there is no telling what this offseason will look like in Florida. 

What is happening now is a lot of partying and enjoying as the offseason begins. 

As for the Canadiens, this was their first time returning to the Stanley Cup finals since 1993.

They were also the last Canadian franchise to lift the trophy. Since then, other teams such as the Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Ottawa Senators and the Vancouver Canucks (twice) have all had their chances to bring the cup north of the border again.

The Habs now become a part of that list to fall short. 

Shortly after the victory, the area school where Goordrow studied shared their congratulations.

“The Country Day School is incredibly proud of alumnus Barclay Goodrow ‘11 for capturing a second Stanley Cup in just his second season with Tampa Bay Lightning,” said CDS. “A highpoint for all was Ron MacLean’s shout out on Sportsnet following the big win when he mentioned the long-time support of Barclay’s parents, Janice and John Goodrow of Aurora, and credited his former CDS hockey coaches and teachers for helping him along the way.”

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