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After a coronavirus pandemic pause, the NHL restarted their 2019-2020 season in August. This past Monday night, on Sep. 28, the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Dallas Stars to win the Stanley Cup. Check out how the Lightning took the Cup, who won the top NHL awards, and the most important moment of what will go down as one of the most unique NHL Season’s in history. Let’s get right to it so you can start planning your bets against their NHL odds for the next season.

2019-2020 NHL Season Recap: Lightning win the Stanley Cup

Stanley Cup Playoffs: Tampa Bay Lightning Beat Dallas Stars in Game 6 to win the Cup

No major sports league has as much parity as the NHL. The professional hockey league boasts at least eight teams every season that can win the Stanley Cup. This season, the Tampa Bay Lightning took the title.

But it wasn’t easy. Tampa required six games versus the Dallas Stars to hoist the Cup. Dallas won Game 1 and Game 5 while the Lightning took games 2 through 4 and Game 6. TB won Game 6 in style, rushing out to a 2-0 first period lead and blanking the Stars for the win.

For Tampa Bay, the Stanley Cup victory is redemption for last season. Tampa entered the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs a +250 chalk. They had dominated during the regular season. But Tampa failed to make an impact in the playoffs, bowing out in the first round.

This season, Tampa finally won the Cup. Can the Lightning become a dynasty? They’re certainly good enough, but the NHL remains the most parity-filled major sports league in the world. So, take some time before backing Tampa at the +700 odds.

Top Moment: NHL Resumes Play on August 1

On March 12, the National Hockey League paused their season. The NHL made the decision, like the NBA and MLB, to only resume play once the United States and Canada had gotten the coronavirus pandemic under control.

Although the jury is still out on whether either nation has done that, the league came up with a successful plan to restart the season. The National Hockey League decided to play all games in two hub cities, Edmonton and Toronto. This cut down on travel and kept players from contracting the virus.

Play resumed on August 1. The top four teams in each conference played a round-robin to determine playoff seeding. Other teams battled each other to grab a spot in the NHL Playoffs. The fact that the Lightning won the Stanley Cup over the Stars on Monday night means the NHL’s return to play plan worked.

NHL Season Awards

Check out who took home the top awards for the 2019-2020 NHL Season!

Jack Adam’s Award – NHL’s Best Head Coach

Boston Bruins’ coach Bruce Cassidy grabbed 37 first place votes. At the time the league paused play, the Bruins had a 44-14-12 record.

Calder Memorial Trophy – NHL’s Best Rookie

Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar took this award. Makar received 116 first place votes. He became just the twelfth defenseman to ever win the Calder Memorial Trophy.

James Norris Memorial Trophy – NHL’s Top Defenseman

Nashville Predators player Roman Josi beat out Washington Capitals player John Carlson and Victor Hedman with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Josi landed in the top three on every cast ballot.

Vezina Trophy – NHL’s Top Goaltender

Winnipeg Jet goalie Connor Hellybuyck earned this trophy. He lead the league in games played, 56, shots faced, 1,796, and saves, 3,268. Hellybuyck also led the NHL in shutouts with 6.

Hart Memorial Trophy – NHL MVP

Officially, the Hart Memorial Trophy is for the “player deemed most valuable to his team”. This year, Leon Draisaitl with the Edmonton Oilers beat out Nathan McKinnon with the Colorado Avalanche and Artemi Panarin with the New York Rangers to win the Hart.

Draisaitl garnered 110 points in 71 games. That was 13 more points than the next player. He scored multiple points in 33 games and scored at least one point in 56-of-71 games.

Avalanche, Lightning, Golden Knights favored to win 2021 Stanley Cup

The Tampa Bay Lightning are a +700 second choice to repeat their 2020 Cup victory. The favorites on MyBookie are the Colorado Avalanche at +650. The Golden Knights are co-second choice at +700.

The new season starts on Tuesday, December 1. So, put down your hockey sticks for a couple of months and then get ready for the NHL’s 2020-2021 season!

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