Strat-O-Matic’s hockey fans can look forward to enjoying the unique 1920-21 National Hockey League season packed with parity in both the regular season and the Stanley Cup playoffs.

None of the division winners – Colroado, Toronto, Carolina and Pittsburgh – reached the conference finals, but the Stanley Cup ended up in a familiar place: Tampa Bay as the repeat champion. Their foes in the Finals: Montreal, the lowest seed, returned to the Cup Finals for the first time since 1993.

Both teams nearly missed the chance. In the conference finals, Tampa Bay needed a short-handed goal to win a 1-0 Game 7 against the New York Islanders. Montreal won Game 7 in overtime against Las Vegas.

It was that type of year, when only 11 points separated Presidents Trophy winner Colorado (82 points) and the 71-point New York Islanders, the 12^th best team that nonetheless reached the conference finals after a 56-game regular season realigned into four geographical divisions (with all seven Canadian teams in the North Division) to deal with the pandemic.

Toronto’s Austin Mathews still scored 41 goals. MVP Connor McDavid blew past all competitors with 72 assists and 105 points while finishing second with 33 goals. His Edmonton teammate Leon Draisaitl was second with 53 assists and 84 points. Edmonton’s Tyson Barrie led all defensemen with 48 points and the Rangers’ Adam Fox, who had 47 points and was +19 won the Norris Trophy.

The Calder Trophy winner, Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov, led all rookies with 27 goals and 24 assists, while rookie goalie Jeremy Swayman backed up Tukka Rask in Boston and led the NHL with a 1.50 GAA and .945 save percentage.

In all, four qualifying goalies allowed less than two goals per game (a dozen were at 2.20 GAA or less), while a baker’s dozen had save percentages above .920. Vegas’ Marc-Andre Fleury won the Vezina Trophy with a sparkling 1.98 GAA, a .928 save percentage and 26 wins. Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP.

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