Oh what fun if you stayed up late last night. The Oilers went down like a derrick on fire, losing 5-2.

Oilers coach Knoblauch said something that stuck out in my mind, "I really thought the regular season was just a formality," and "on everyone's mind was the playoffs." Sound kind of familiar? All that was missing was the game #7 loss. McDavid and Draisaitl couldn't come up with much more than "I guess they were better than we were."

Anyway, the Oilers are gone, and so are the Stars. So that leaves us with three series left and the first round will be over no later than Sunday.

The Marlies are playing game#2 of the division semi-final tonight in Laval. The lost game #1 to the Rocket on Wednesday. This is a best of five series so evening it up tonight would take off some pressure.

In other news, an NHL assistant coach is available.

Seattle Kraken assistant coach Jessica Campbell to explore new NHL coaching opportunities | Seattle Kraken
SEATTLE (April 30, 2026) — The Seattle Kraken today announced that assistant coach Jessica Campbell will be exploring other coaching roles in the National Hockey League. “As Jessica’s current contract expires, she has expressed her desire to explore other coaching roles across the League and we support her in this
Founding Partner - AlaskaKraken PR /

The PWHL playoffs are here.

News is thin today as likely all the teams are waiting for the first round to end to make some of the big announcements. We shall see. Have a great Friday.

From The Branches