7th Annual "Commissioner's Surprise" HOCKEY BLAST Tournament!
Time again for our annual "Commissioner's Surprise HOCKEY BLAST tournament," our seventh consecutive year to crown our OWN pro hockey champion in a chaotic, anything-can-happen, "hockey madness" tournament structure! As always, we'll be inviting the PLAAY Games community to join in the fun by playing preliminary round games on your own game table, with our "final four" happening live, in-person on November 13th at the Game Train USA in Highlands Ranch, CO.
EVERY pro team from the current HOCKEY BLAST Pro Season card set is included in our annual tournament, using the 2020-21 Pro Hockey Season cards (to be released September 27th in print and PDF editions). It's single-elimination, and the match-ups are completely random—we will literally drew them out of a hat in a LIVE PLAAY Games Facebook webcast on Monday afternoon the 27th!
The previous year's real-life championship series teams always get a first round bye for this tournament, that's Montreal and Tampa Bay this year. The pro league's expansion to Las Vegas a couple years ago gives us an un-even number of teams (31), so we'll kick off the tournament with a "PLAAY-in" game between the bottom two pro teams from the 2020-21 season, Buffalo and Anaheim, streamed live on the PLAAY Games YouTube Channel Monday night, September 27th. The winner of that game will join the other 27 first-round teams.
The run-down of the tournament is featured below. Everything from the first round through the "Commissioner's Surprise Elite Eight" will be played by the PLAAY Games community. The “final four” will head to the Game Train USA in suburban Denver (2690 E County Line Rd E, Highlands Ranch, CO 80126) to be played live on-location as part of our November 13th PLAAY Day. More on that, coming soon. Local gamers (as well as any out-of-towners who'd like to travel to Denver to be part of he fun!) are welcome to join us in-person to coach one of the finalists to the Commissioner's Surprise Cup!
As was the case in previous years, lead-up games in this tournament will be played entirely community! If you'd like to reserve your favorite team's first-round game for your tabletop, just let us know—first come, first served! (Some teams have already been claimed, see below!)
Here are links to the recaps of our previous six "Commissioner's Surprise" tournaments. Prior to last year's tournament (which was held entirely online due to the pandemic), each tournament was completed at an in-person gamer get-together...
• 2020, Online (pandemic)
• 2015, Denver, CO (held January, 2016)
Here's the 2021 Tournament Schedule...
• PLAAY-In Game, Game ZERO: Buffalo 1, at Anaheim 3. Streamed live on the PLAAY Games YouTube channel. Buffalo struck first on Middlestadt’s breakaway goal in the second period, but Anaheim responded with back-to-back goals a few minutes later from Henrique and Getzlaf. An empty-netter in the final minute (Henrique, again!) provided the final margin.
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FIRST ROUND
Game ONE: New York RGR 4, at St. Louis 0 (James Cast). Shesterkin made two spectacular saves, and the Rangers added insurance goals late. Game was actually 2-0 going into the final three minutes when St. Louis pulled the goalie.
Game TWO: Pittsburgh 3, at Minnesota 4 (OT) (Chris Hoffman). Minnesota gained momentum with the hit quality and Kirill Kaprizov capitalized, scoring five minutes into overtime on a set-up by Kevin Fiala and Matthew Dumba to propel the Wild to a 4-3 tournament victory over the Pens. An extremely tight game, tied at 1-1, 2-2 and 3-3 before Kaprizov's game-winner.
Game THREE: Ottawa 2, at New York ISL 4 (Giorgio Salvadego). Brock Nelson scored twice along with rookie Wahlstrom and Eberle. Another highlight was at 1:49 of the third when Tkachuk and Matt Martin dropped gloves in a one way fight that saw the young Tkachuk losing after being knocked down by the veteran Martin.
Game FOUR: Dallas 5, at Boston 3 (Steve Tower, streamed live on AFR). An extremely entertaining game, as the Stars raced to a 3-0 lead, only to see the Bruins knot it at 3-3 in the second period. A very late third period major penalty on Clifton undid Boston’s comeback, though, as Dallas scored twice on the power play in the final five minutes for the win, Oleksiak with what proved to be the game-winner for the Stars.
Game FIVE: Detroit 1, at Winnipeg 7 (Jamie Watkins). Detroit scores in the first minute--but does nothing but give up goals after that. Winnipeg scores a goal in the first period, three goals in the second, and three more in the third for a 7-1 Jets rout of the Red Wings. Stastny and Wheeler with two goals each, Hellebuyck with 24 of 25 saves for the win while Greiss gave up seven goals on 32 shots.
Game SIX: New Jersey 4, at Columbus 3 (OT) (Steve Heller). Jack Hughes scored in the second minute of overtime to give New Jersey the victory in what was a very entertaining game between two of the NHL's worst teams. The score was 2-2 with just over two minutes to go when Boone Jenner scored for the Blue Jackets. New Jersey pulled the goalie and then scored with a half a minute remaining. They did then win the draw and got an immediate play—but did not score!
Game SEVEN: Vancouver 3, at Philadelphia 4 (Jeff Tomlinson). Tied 2-2 after two, the Flyers came out on fire in the third period, scoring twice in the first two minutes and nearly scoring in the third minute. A very late penalty on Scott Laughton gave Vancouver a brief glimmer of hope for their power play. Vancouver scored, but it was too little, too late. Giroux (PHA) and Boeser (VAN) each with two goals.
Game EIGHT: Chicago 5, at Calgary 4 (Giorgio Salvadego). Alex DeBrincat scored a hat trick (which included a shorthanded goal!), while Rob Gaudreau scored twice for the home team. Chicago scored off the opening face-off (Patrick Kane) and in the opening minute of the third on an "odd goal" result (#56, Kane again!).
Game NINE: Toronto 4, at Arizona 5 (OT) (Tim Lucas). Never underestimate a motivated team! In what looked like a runaway for the Leafs who scored three goals in a row, Arizona answered with three in a row of their own to potentially upset Toronto when Nick Foligno tipped in a pass from Alexander Kerfoot with seconds to play in the game. Two minutes into overtime, Christian Dvorak (ARI) netted the game-winner for the Coyotes. Marner managed to snare two of Toronto's goals to lead all scorers.
Game TEN: Los Angeles 2, at Edmonton 3 (Derek Jones, streamed live on the Imagisport Tabletop Network). A goal fiesta at the outset, with three goals in the first four minutes, but it settled down after that, 2-2 at the end of one. No scoring in the second period. Early in the third, Edmonton went on the power play and Draisaitl drilled what proved to be the game winner. Mike Smith turned back a last-ditch Kings breakaway shot as the clock ticked down to zero, and the Oilers move on!
Game ELEVEN: Carolina 3, at Florida 11 (Chris Hoffman). Florida rallied from a 2-0 first period deficit, with three straight first period goals, and piled on with six more in the third period, en route to an 11-3 win over the Hurricanes. Aleksander Barkov had two goals, and two assists. Patric Hornqvist, and Jon Huberdeau added a goal, and three assists, each. Anthony Duclair added a goal, and two assists, and Sam Bennett recorded four assists. The defensemen joined the party, as Keith Yandle added two goals, and Aaron Ekblad, MacKenzie Weegar, and Brandon Montour each found the net. Florida defenseman Radko Gudas was injured in a fight, early in the third period. Vincent Trochek, Jordan Staal, and Sebastian Aho were the goal scorers for Carolina. (NOTE: the eleven goals scored by Florida is a new tournament record; the old record of 8 goals was shared by three teams, 2019 Philadelphia, 2016 Ottawa and 2015 Boston. The fourteen combined goals was also a record, besting the old record of 12 set in Philadelhia’s 8-4 win over Nashville in 2019.)
Game TWELVE: Las Vegas 2, at Colorado 3 (SO) (Chris Day). The Avalanche got two saves from Jonas Johansson in the shootout to prevail at home over the hated Vegas Golden Knights in the opening round match-up. The Avs came from 2-0 down to win as defenseman Cale Makar scored two second period goals to tie the game. Both teams had short-handed goals in that period. Andre Burakovsky had assists on both of Makar's goals, the second of which came on a rebound at 19:00 of the period. Vegas had gone up 2-0 on Marchessault's short-handed goal in the 7th minute of the period after taking a 1-0 lead through Stone in the first period. Johansson and Fleury made 26 saves each.
Game THIRTEEN: San Jose 3, at Washington 2 (Tim Lucas). Tomas Hertl scored two goals (one on a power play) in an upset of the hometown Caps. Despite having plenty of momentum throughout the game, Washington struggled to capitalize on most of their opportunities. Ovechkin and Oshie put in goals and made a valiant effort to take the lead late in the third before the Sharks Brent Burns stole the puck and flipped it out to Evander Kane. Hertl drove home his second goal of the game on a one-timer from Kane. Noah Gregor scored the goal in the first period for the Sharks.
Game FOURTEEN: Anaheim 2, at Nashville 1 (Travis Jansen). The Ducks' John Gibson made a spectacular first-period save to stop Nashville's Sissons from scoring, and the Anaheim offense answered with a goal by Troy Terry. An extended (9 blows) and picturesque fight in the second period featured Boroeiecki (NSH) and Grant (ANA), but no scoring. Nashville made it interesting with an early third period goal by Josi to tie it up. But Getzlaf scored the go-ahead goal shortly after, which held up.
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SECOND ROUND, "Sweet Sixteen"
Game FIFTEEN: Philadelphia 2, at Tampa Bay 3 (2OT) (Jamie Watkins). Brayden Point scores in the second OT period to move the Lightning on in the tournament. Anthony Cirelli with the two other Lightning goals in regulation while Philly goalie Hart stopped 48 of 51 shots in the game.
Game SIXTEEN: Arizona 4, at Montreal 2 (Chris Hoffman). The Coyotes stunned the Canadiens’ star goalie Carey Price, scoring twice in the first two minutes (Chychrun, and Bunting) to seize control of the game, held on throughout. A wild sequence midway through the second period saw Arizona deliver a cheap shot on Montreal’s Jeff Petry, winger Michael Bunting picking up his second goal of the game (making it 4-1, at that point), a delay of game penalty assessed to the Arizona bench, subsequently followed by a bench-clearing brawl! After the ensuing face-off following the brawl, Arizona forward Phil Kessel decided he hadn’t had enough, and picked up a two minute roughing penalty!
Game SEVENTEEN: Colorado 0, at Winnipeg 3 (David Kauffman) The first period was very chippy, and a fight broke out between Stanley of Winnipeg and Graves of Colorado (Graves won!). Colorado’s Girard and Compher also served minors during the period. The Avalanche were able to kill all penalty minutes and the period ended 0-0. The second period started off with another Colorado penalty (again killed), and Graves was injured and lost for the rest of the game. In the 15th minute Scheifele found the back of the net for Winnipeg. Scheifele scored again in the early minutes of the third period, assisted by Connor and Wheeler. Lewis scored on a late rebound shot to seal the win.
Game EIGHTEEN: New York RGR 4, at Florida 3 (James Cast). This one came down to the goaltenders. The Rangers scored all four goals on failed SPEC SAVE chances by Sergei Bobrovsky. Meanwhile, Shesterkin made two SPEC SAVES in the final eleven minutes of the game to seal the win for the Rangers. The game ended on a Power Play for Florida, with Smith of the Rangers picking up a Major for roughing. But—they couldn’t convert!
Game NINETEEN: New Jersey 1, at New York ISL 3 (Giorgio Salvadego). New York moves on in the tournament, but it wasn't decided until the third period--a scoreless game through the first 40 minutes. New Jersey lowered its guard in the third and the Isles scored three times on Mackenzie Blackwood. Anders Lee got the game-winning-goal, and one of the three stars of the game, along with Blackwood and Brock Nelson.
Game TWENTY: San Jose 3, at Chicago 4 (OT) (Tim Lucas). Dominik Kubalak led the Blackhawks with a goal and two assists. Chicago peppered Martin Jones with 37 shots on goal over three plus periods. The Hawks starting goalie Kevin Lankinen twisted his knee at the beginning of the third when his own teammate landed awkwardly on him in a scramble in the crease. Malcolm Subban filled in. Sharks' goals were scored by Meier, Kane and Hertl. Hagel, DeBrincat and Suter scored the remaining three goals for Chicago.
Game TWENTY-ONE: Edmonton 2, at Anaheim 1 (OT) (Rob Gallamore). John Gibson nearly stole this one as he made three spectacular saves, and the Ducks tied it with just three minutes to play. A minute later, Mike Smith made a spectacular save to prevent Anaheim taking the lead! But Connor McDavid (who else?) scored just 35 seconds into overtime to give the Oilers the win and end the Ducks hopes as this year’s Cinderella story.
Game TWENTY-TWO: Dallas 2, at Minnesota 5 (Ray Price). A roughing penalty on Dallas' Heiskanen gave a Power Play opportunity to the Wild, which they took advantage, Kaprizov scoring unassisted. Dallas tied it in the 12th minute when Hintz found the back of the net assisted by Robertson and Gurianov. Two minutes later the Stars grabbed the lead on a goal by Klingberg, with help from Benn. Minnesota tied it 2-2 in the 2nd minute on Kaprizov's second goal of the game (Zuccerellp and Dumba). Minnesota struck again on a Power Play goal by Eriksson Ek to take the lead, 3-2. It was nip and tuck through the first half of the third period, but Zuccarello was able to light the lamp with an unassisted goal in the 13th minute, giving the Wild a 4-2 lead. Kaprizov completed his hat trick with an empty-netter in the final minute and the Wild advances to the "Elite Eight!"
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THIRD ROUND, "Elite Eight"
Game TWENTY-THREE: Minnesota 1, at Winnipeg 4 (Derek Jones). Lowry opened the scoring for Winnipeg and the rough stuff started late in the opening frame. Eriksson Ek got called for high-sticking and Pionk got the sin bin for unsportsmanlike conduct as the period came to a close with the Jets up 1-0. The second period started with Scheifele being whistled for a high-stick. Things calmed down for a while after that. Then, Sturm committed a roughing minor and Ehlers cashed in on the power play to give the Jets a two-goal lead. The next two minutes featured two fights (Foligno v. Morrisey, Greenway v. Stanley). Three minutes into the third period, Eriksson Ek cross-checked Scheifele from behind, putting him out of the game and earning a match penalty in the process. Foligno scored a short-handed goal to give Minnesota some hope, narrowing the score to 2-1, but then Foligno committed a high-sticking minor two minutes later to put the Wild down two men. Kyle Connor and Andrew Copp scored power play goals in back-to-back minutes to put the nails in the coffin.
Game TWENTY-FOUR: Edmonton 3, at Tampa Bay 5 (David Drais). Yanni Gourde netted a hat trick for the Lightning, his third goal on an empty netter in the last minute of the 3rd period as Tampa Bay defeated Edmonton. Edmonton opened the scoring four minutes into the game when Conner McDavid hit a one timer past TB goalie Andrei Vasilevsky. The Lightning woke up its offense in the second and third periods scoring three goals in the second stanza and two more in the third. Edmonton tied the game in the 6th minute of the final period, but Gourde took over scoring twice in the game's final five minutes.
Game TWENTY-FIVE: New York ISL 3, at Chicago 0 (Giorgio Salvadego). A tight game for two periods, New York with a 1-0 lead, then the Isles sailed away with two scores in the final period. Sergei Varlamov recorded his first shutout of the tournament and Jordan Eberle had a magic night scoring two of three NYI goals.The "Identity Line" scored the third goal with Long Island fan-favorite Matt Martin.
Game TWENTY-SIX: New York Rangers 4, at Arizona 1 (streamed live on our “All Hallow’s Eve Spook-tacular” with AFR’s Steve Tower, Thursday October 28th, 6pm MDT/8pm EDT). A tight game until the final minutes, the Coyotes were never able to solve the Rangers’ defense and goalie Igor (appropriate for All Hallow’s Eve!) Shesterkin. Third period, New York on top 2-1, a major penalty on Buchnevich put the Coyotes on the power play, Garland converting to make it 2-1. Nine LULL minutes later, Arizona had a great chance to knot the score, but Bunting’s shot was stopped by Shesterkin. On the ensuing trip down the ice, Buchnevich redeemed himself with what turned out to be the game-clincher. Panarin’s empty-netter as the horn sounded closed out the scoring.
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Fourth Round, "Final Four" (played on-location, November 13th, Denver, CO)
Game TWENTY-SEVEN: New York ISL 3, at Winnipeg 4 (Dave Kauffman and Glen Oberhauser). Best game of the finals, Perrault's game-winning goal with just seven seconds left to play sent the Jets to the championship game! After a scoreless first period, things got both chippy and prolific. After the Jets opened the scoring on an Appleton goal in the fourth minute, back-to-penalties set up an Islander pro play goal (Nelson). Bellows made it 2-1 Islanders in the eleventh minute, but Pionk netted the equalizer for the Jets two minutes later, 2-2. Winnipeg took the lead on a Forbert rebound in the eighteenth minute, and the period ended 3-2 Jets. Both teams had opportunities as the third period opened, but great goaltending kept the score 3-2 until New York's Pageau powered a shot past Hellebuyck in the twelfth minute. Tied 3-3, the Islanders had a golden opportunity two minutes later when the Jets' Forbert was called for high-sticking, but New York couldn't convert the power play. That proved fatal with Perrault's game-winner as the final seconds drained away.
Game TWENTY-EIGHT: New York RGR 1, at Tampa Bay 4 (Keith Avallone). The Bolts' Stamkos scored in the games opening minutes and a goal from Cernak minutes later would prove to be all the offense Tampa Bay needed in disposing of the Rangers. After Rooney got the Rangers on the board in the thirteenth minute, TB goalie Vasilevskiy stymied New York at every turn. Stamkos was the game's top star (two goals, one assist), feeding McDonagh for a goal in the second period's tenth minute to make it 3-1 and then opening the third period with a scoring blast for the final 4-1 margin.
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Championship Game (played on-location, November 13th, Denver, CO)
Tampa Bay 1, at Winnipeg 4: Tampa Bay opened the game with a penalty (Coleman), which the Jets immediately converted for a quick 1-0 lead. Things slowed down considerably after that, with lull minutes for most of the rest of the period, but Winnipeg opened the second period with back-to-back goals (Copp, Ehlers) and Tampa never really recovered. A goal from Point in the ninth minute gave the Bolts a glimmer of hope, but Hellebuyck shut down everything else after that. Schiefele's empty-netter in the final minute was the exclamation point as the Jets hoisted the 2021 Commissioner's Cup as Surprise Champions!