Live Updates: 2024 Commissioner’s Surprise Hockey Blast Tournament
Welcome to the live update page for our 10th annual Commissioner's Surprise Hockey Blast Tournament--where EVERY team has a chance to win it all! Last year, we played the entire tournament on-location in Winnipeg, MB, with Hockey Blast Express. This year, we’re conducting the preliminary rounds through the PLAAY Games community, we’ll conclude the tournament on-location in Salt Lake City, UT during our “UTAH-ctober” event!
Want to claim a game? We’d love to have you participate! You can play with either the full-play or “express” versions of HOCKEY BLAST Pro Hockey Game, you’ll be using the just-released 2023-24 Pro Season cards (or PDF). Just look over what’s available and let us know what game you’d like to play!
10.02.24, Editor’s NOTE: All first and second round games have been played/claimed, and the third and final rounds will be held live on-location in Salt Lake City! Thanks for the GREAT response to this year’s tournament!
How does the Commissioner's Surprise Tournament work? Well, EVERY pro team from the HOCKEY BLAST 2023-24 Pro Season card set is included in the tournament, all 32 teams! It's single-elimination, and the match-ups were completely random—we literally DRAW them out of a hat! This format always generates some surprises, as there's no seeding, home ice is assigned randomly and hot streaks are over-rewarded! Last year's final four included 2022-23's top-achiever (Boston) and three teams from the same division (Dallas, Minnesota and Winnipeg), with Minnesota winning out. We expect similar drama again THIS year!
Games are listed below. The community member who is playing/played the game is indicated in (parentheses), the winner of the game in green.
First Round
Colorado 6 at Las Vegas 5 (OT) (Chris Day): Avs win an absolute thriller, 6-5 in OT. Cale Makar scores the OT winner after putting the Avs up 5-4 on a Power Play goal in the 19th minute of the 3rd period, only to see Vegas score an Empty Netter to send the game to OT. Scoring was crazy in the start as Vegas jumped out to a 3-0 lead through four minutes before Colorado scored in the next three minutes to tie game at 3-3 after just seven minutes of action. The score remained that way until the seventh minute of the 3rd period when Colorado went up 4-3, five minutes before Vegas tied it at 4.
New Jersey 2, at Florida 4 (Michael Balch): Goals by Bennett and Lundell gave Florida a two-goal cushion heading into the final period, and Tkachuk’s late goal provided insurance after the Devils drew to within a goal on a rebound shot from Bratt.
New York RGR 4, at Nashville 1 (James Cast): Artemi Panarin cranked one past Saros with assists from K’Andre Miller and Alexis LaFreniere at 17:00 of the third putting the Rangers up 2-1. After a couple of LULLs, the Rangers found themselves on a Power Play, and LaFreniere found the back of the net on assist from Panarin and Miller (5:00). Rangers 3-1. Nashville pulled their goalie at 2:00 and it cost them as Panarin scored an easy Empty Netter (1:00). In the final minute, Shesterkin made another Spec Save to seal the win.
New York ISL 2, at Washington 4 (Giorgio Salvadego): The Caps nailed a very easy 4-2 win over a not so focused ISL team. Dylan Strome scored a goal and 3 assists, and was the first star of the match. Brock Nelson was the only positive note for the Isles, scoring both goals. For Ilya Sorokin a night to forget in goal for NY.
San Jose 0, at Columbus 4 (Steve Heller): Bruce Jenner scored twice, both times assisted by Johnny Gaudreau (R.I.P.), and Elvis Merzlikins stopped everything for the shutout. Columbus scored two in the first ten minutes of the game and two in the last ten minutes. Interestingly, all four goals were spectacular save chances. Blue Jackets dominated most of the game, score really could have been 7-0.
Minnesota 5, at Arizona 3 (Chris Hoffman): Arizona got an early power play goal from Lawson Crouse, for a 1-0 lead. Nick Bjugstad extended Arizona's lead to 2-0, with a first minute tally. Four minutes later, Matt Boldy got Minnesota on the board to make it 2-1. Mats Zuccarello’s power play goal made it 2-2! No further scoring until 4 minutes to go (and then—wow!). Kirill Kaprizov put the Wild in front, 3-2 on a breakaway play! Arizona wanted to pull the goalie for the extra attacker, but could not win the faceoff. It would cost them, as Minnesota peppered Connor Ingram with shots until Ryan Hartman put one home to make it 4-2 Minnesota. Arizona did pull the goalie, won the subsequent faceoff, and Josh Doan scored quickly to give the Coyotes a chance at 4-3. Alas, Arizona turned the puck over, and Marcus Foligno tallied an empty-netter to make the final 5-3.
Chicago 1, at Detroit 2 (Tim Lucas): Goals by DeBrincat and Gostisbehere in the first period were enough to get past the Blackhawks and advance in the tournament. Chicago's Taylor Raddysh scored an unassisted goal in the second, but his team wasn't much help offensively.
Seattle 1, at Los Angeles 4 (Rickey Berner): Los Angeles got three in the second period. Kempe scored a hat trick, his third goal in the last minute of play against an empty net.
Edmonton 3, at Ottawa 0(Ed Meek): Oilers score three in the middle frame to defeat the Senators 3-0. Zach Hyman scored two and Adam Henrique one for Edmonton.
Buffalo 4, at Philadelphia 3 (OT) (Michael Balch): Frost’s late goal for Philly sent the game to OT, but Greenway’s game winner sends the Sabres to the second round.
Vancouver 3, at Toronto 2 (OT) (Rob Gallamore): Quite the game. Toronto scored an “odd goal” to tie it in the third, but Tyler Myers scores in Overtime to win it for Vancouver.
Anaheim 1, at Carolina 4 (Andy Lewis): A quiet first period with Canes have only two chances gave false hope to Ducks fans. The bubble was burst midway through the second as Canes score a quick pair. However the Ducks respond immediately to get one back and Kochetkov came up with big save to kill the momentum. Canes 2-1 after 2. The Canes turn up the heat in a dominant third for two more.
Calgary 2, at Montreal 3 (Andy Lewis): A pretty even first period but both goalies were on their game. Scoreless after 1. The second period was much more wide open as both teams netted 2 goals. Montreal would have taken a lead to the locker except for an outstanding glove save by Markstrom in the dying moments. 2-2 after 2. Markstrom kept the game tied early in the third on an outstanding kick save but he wasn't able to save the Montreal breakaway. Calgary mounted little offense in the third as Montreal wins 3-2.
Dallas 3, at Pittsburgh 2 (Keith Avallone): Played live on the PLAAY Space 09.26.24 as the tourney-opener with a packed chat room, and it did not disappoint! Dallas took a 2-0 lead on goals from Benn and Hintz, but the Pens got back in with a power play goal (Bunting) in the second and Crosby’s third-period shot knotted it up at 2-2. Seguin’s late third-period goal was the game-winner, and the Penguins—surprisingly!—become the first team to exit the tournament.
St. Louis 8, at Tampa Bay 6 (Brian Bartow): Whoa, the highest-scoring game in tournament history! Tampa took a 5-3 lead in the second period, but St. Louis netted four un-answered goals to sieze the lead 7-5. Tyler Mott got the Lightning back to within a goal with under four minutes to play, but Oskar Sundqvist beat Vasilevskiy on the glove side to secure the win and advance St. Louis to the 2nd Round.
Winnipeg 0, at Boston 3 (Michael Owens): Pasternak with two goals and Charlie Coyle the third goal. It was a tense goalie battle, Ullmark got the shutout. It was 1-0 midway through the third period.
Second Round
Montreal 1, at Washington 4 (Rickey Berner): Washington jumps out in the first period to a 2-0 lead. The first goal was scored by Alex Ovechkin and the second was on a power play by John Carlson. Second period, Montreal cut the lead in half with a goal by Mike Matheson. Third period, Charlie Lindgren came up big, making two saves against the Canadiens. Nick Jenson and then Dylan Strome killed the hopes of all of Canada with goals of their own.
Detroit 4 at Boston 7 (Alex Pawlik, YouTube stream can be viewed here): Boston opened the scoring with Kevin Shattenkirk. Seconds later, Detroit countered with Lucas Raymond to tie the game at 1, Detroit would take their first lead of the game, courtesy of Shayne Gostisbehere after the first 5 minutes of play. Jeff Petry would add on to the Wings lead, making it 3 to 1. Boston would counterpunch with 3 straight goals to take the lead, courtesy of Charlie McAvoy to bring the game within a goal, Brad Marchand to tie, and Pat Maroon to take the lead. Unfortunately, despite Boston Taking the lead, Jake DeBrusk would suffer an injury to end the 1st 20 minutes of the game. Boston would add to their lead with an insurance breakaway goal by Trent Fredric, giving the Bruins a 5 to 3 lead in the 15th minute of the 2nd Period. Moritz Seider stops the Boston Goal to give the Wings a little bit of momentum heading into the 3rd Period. David Pastrnak scores in the 15th minute of the 3rd, and probably sealed up this one, extending the lead by 3 goals, of 6 to 3. Alex DeBrincat would score his 2nd goal of the tournament to make the score 6 to 4 but unfortunately, Brandon Carlo scored second later to seal the deal for the Bruins by a final score of 7 to 4 to allow Boston to punch their ticket to Utah-ctober, and send the Detroit Red Wings Home.
Colorado 5, at Buffalo 3 (Chris Hoffman): Early in the 3rd, a chaotic sequence where Buffalo had a shot on goal stopped, followed by 2 rebound attempts that were stopped. On the 2nd rebound attempt, Colorado had a breakaway play, stopped by Luukkonen, and Buffalo got a breakaway play, and a goal by Victor Olofsson to tie it 3-3!! Midway through the third, Josh Manson was the hero for Colorado, scoring on a set up by MacKinnon, and Rantanen for a 4-3 lead for the Avs! Later, Buffalo pulled the goalie for an extra attacker, and had a shot attempt thwarted, resulting in another breakaway play, and an empty-net goal by Casey Mittelstedt to put it away for the Avalanche!
Los Angeles 6, at Florida 4 (Reiner Boger): Florida took an early 2-1 lead on goals from Verhaeghe and Tkachuk, but the Kings put in two goals (Fiala with his second goal, and Danault)for a 3-2 Lead. The nightmare continued for Sergei Bobrovsky in the third period, goals from Moore (twice) and Jordan Spence put the Kings up 6-2. Florida tried everything to mount a comeback with Forsling’s goal making it 6-3 and a second goal from Verhaeghe putting them within 6-4. But Cam Talbot in net for the Kings made big Saves to shut down all hopes for the Panthers.
New York RGR 2, at Edmonton 5 (Corey Jemmott): Edmonton comes out strong with 3 goals in the first, scored by Hyman, Halloway, and Kane. Krieder tried to pull the Rangers even, scoring 2 goals in the first for the visiting Rangers. The score at the end of the first was 3-2 Oilers. Edmonton puts up 1 goal in each of the remaining periods to complete the 5-2 victory over the Rangers. First star of the game goes to Leon Draisaitl who had 2 goals and 2 assists.
St. Louis 2, at Minnesota 1 (Andy Lewis): Blues start out hot creating a couple of chances including a goal at the mid point of the first. Second period sees the Blues just blocking up the blue line. Minnesota get a few point shots but nothing to challenge Binnington. The Wild finally break through midway
through the third to tie it, but that just seems to ignite the Blues who have been playing defensive-minded. Finally they beak the tie at 19:03 of the third. The Wild pull Gustavsson but they can't generate an opportunity.
Vancouver 7, at Columbus 2 (Steve Heller): The Canucks got four in the first to send Marzlikins to the bench (too easy but, "Elvis has left the building"). Columbus scored in the first minute of the second to make it interesting (to me, at least). But Vancouver scored late to make it 5-1. The teams traded goals in the third stantza and then Vancouver added insult to injury with a short-handed goal with just over a minute to go. Canucks had six different goal scorers: Lafferty (2), Lindholm, Garland, Boeser, Mikheysev, Pettersson.
Carolina 3, at Dallas 2 (Tim Lucas): A pretty balanced first period overall, with both teams scoring goals late. Hintz for Dallas and Jarvis for the Hurricanes. Carolina came out like gangbusters after the break with goals from Aho and Necas. They almost scored again in the closing minutes, but Otter stood on his head to close the door. Dallas attempted to tie it up with time running out when Matt Duchene found the back of the net; but they couldn’t get another shot on goal before the horn sounded. The Hurricanes are headed to Salt Lake City!
Third Round
These games will be played on-location at our “UTAH-ctober” event, 10.12.24…
Boston 3, at Los Angeles 2 (OT) (Grant Fines, Erik Holdaway): An epic, hard-hitting, back-and-forth, nail-biter of a game! Boston grabbed a 2-0 lead on goals from Frederick and Zacha, but the Kings hung in there. Moore snuck one past Ullmark mid-way through the second period to make it 2-1, and then, with time ticking away, Kopitar launched a howitzer in the nineteenth minute to tie the game. The LA comeback ended in overtime, though, with Marchand’s goal in the seventeenth minute sending the Bruins to the semi-finals.
Colorado 3, at Carolina 6 (Keith Avallone, David Santistevan): Carolina’s second-period rampage (four goals in a nine-minute span) proved too much for Colorado to overcome. Two of the four goals were on the power-play, with Colton’s major penalty providing the opportunity. A pair of third-period goals (Middlestadt, MacKinnon) drew the Avs to within two goals, 5-3, but Guentzel’s empty-netter slammed the door on the Colorado comeback.
St. Louis 2, at Washington 3 (David Santistevan, Erik Holdaway): The Blues got on the board first with a goal from Krug, the Caps evened it on a second-period penalty shot from Doud. After a trade of third-period goals, Buchnevich’s cannon shot in the final minute gave Washington the win.
Vancouver 0, at Edmonton 4 (Elan Oliff, Jason Aldrich):The Oilers essentially won the game in the first minute of play, Brouchard’s goal giving Edmonton the lead and Skinner’s stellar goaltending keeping the Canucks out of the net the entire game. Edmonton scored in every way imaginable, with a short-handed goal from Carrick, and even-strength goal from Hyman and and empty-netter from Henrqiue.
Fourth Round
Boston 5, at Washington 4 (OT) (Grant Fines, Erik Holdaway): Early fisticuffs between Lindholm and Wilson fired up the Bruins and they scored back-to-back goals (Heinen, McAvoy) to grab a 2-0 lead. Unfazed, the Caps pressed hard and eventually knotted it up at 4-4, scoring twice (Ovechkin, Dowd) in the early minutes of the third period. That score stood as regulation ended, second straight overtime game for Boston. In overtime, after both teams had early chances thrwarted, Marchand got the game-winner for the B’s in the 18th minute of OT.
Edmonton 5, at Carolina 2 (Elan Oliff, Keith Avallone): Once again the Oilers opened the game with an instant goal and a 1-0 lead, but the rest of the period was pretty quiet. Edmonton’s McDavid made it 2-0 in the second. Aho scored for the Canes in the 18th minute to make it 2-1 and give Carolina some momentum, but Henrique quickly doused that with a goal in the next minute and the Oilers went into the intermission with a 3-1 lead. The first half of the third period was scoreless, as Carolina tried to get back into it, but Ekholm essentially decided it with a goal in the eleventh minute to make it 4-1 and the Oilers eased into the championship game with a relatively drama-free win.
Championship Game
Boston 3, at Edmonton 1 ( David Santistevan, Jason Aldrich): The Bruins knew they had to control the tempo vs. an explosive Edmonton squad, and that’s exactly what they did, 26 of the first 40 minutes were LULL minutes! A scoreless first period, and then Lorre got Boston on the board in the twelfth minute of the second period, followed by a second Boston goal (Shattenkirk) five minutes later. The Oilers scrapped back into it, scoring in the final minute of the period to go into the intermission down by only a goal, but Boston opened the third period with a goal from Lindholm. That proved to be the final margin, as the powerful Oilers top line just couldn’t get anything past Ullmark and the Bruins hoisted the Commissioner’s Cup for the third time (the ONLY team with multiple Surprise Cup titles!).