The Sports Report: We go to a Game 7 in Stanley Cup Final

Hello, I bet you wish my name was Houston Mitchell, but instead it’s John Cherwa, and I’ll be guiding this rocket ship for the next couple weeks as Houston watches the Tony Awards on an endless loop.

Stanley Cup final

OK, what’s better than playoff hockey? How about a Game 7 in the final round of playoff hockey. Well, that’s what we got. Boston’s 5-1 whipping of St. Louis pushed this series to a Game 7. Except, we have to wait until Wednesday. well, both teams should be rested.

And, thinking about it, in what world is the NHL champion going to be from the United States and the NBA champion likely going to be from Canada? But that’s where we are.

Our own Curtis Zupke is at the Stanley Cup final, so let’s get a flavor for what he observed.

“A deep, thunderous cheer greeted the St. Louis Blues just before they took the ice for the third period.

“It didn’t matter that they trailed by a goal. Surely they could erase that and march on to history with their first Stanley Cup.

“But 2:31 into the period, Boston Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo sent a soft shot from roughly 60 feet away that skipped past Blues goalie Jordan Binnington, and the arena fell silent.

“Boston didn’t just turn down the volume on the Blues in Game 6 of the Final on Sunday. Behind goalie Tuukka Rask and a motivational push from Patrice Bergeron, it turned town the volume on an entire city with a clutch 5-1 win at Enterprise Center to force Game 7 on Wednesday.”

Stanley Cup Final results/schedule

All times Pacific

at Boston 4, St. Louis 2

St. Louis 3, at Boston 2 (OT)

Boston 7, at St. Louis 2

at St. Louis 4, Boston 2

St. Louis 2, at Boston 1

Boston 5, St. Louis 1

Wednesday, 5 p.m., St. Louis at Boston, NBC

NBA Finals

If you recall at the top, it was mentioned that Houston would be watching an endless loop of the Tony Awards. It reminds of a story. I spent most of my time as an editor, one of those guys that assigns people stories and helps them make it as good as it can be while the reporter rolls their eyes..

It was 2009 and the Lakers were playing the Orlando Magic in the NBA Finals. I was coordinating the NBA Finals coverage for the Orlando Sentinel, a one-time sister paper to ours.

It was a Sunday night game (remember them?) and I thought it would be funny to send a reporter to some big Orlando sports bars and see if hey could get them to change the channel from the Lakers-Magic to the Tony Awards.

Good idea, eh? As I remember the idea was better than how it worked because bar owners were saying, “Sure, we can switch one TV.”

Let’s bring it back to today. The Toronto Raptors can clinch title with a win as they have a 3-1 series advantage. But, Kevin Durant was at practice and listed as questionable for today’s game. It’s about as questionable as if my dog will eat steak if you put it in his bowl.

Our Dan Woike is wracking up international roaming charges there, so read his advance of the game.

NBA Finals schedule/results

All times Pacific

at Toronto 118, Golden State 109

Golden State 109, at Toronto 104

Toronto 123, at Golden State 109

Toronto 105, Golden State 92

Tonight, Golden State at Toronto, 6 p.m., ABC

*Thursday, Toronto at Golden State, 6 p.m., ABC

*Sunday, June 16, Golden State at Toronto, 5 p.m., ABC

*-if necessary

Women’s World Cup

World Cup soccer is about as good as playoff hockey. But, not so much I don’t plan to watch until the U.S. plays on Tuesday.

But before then, we can look forward to the Canada-Cameroon game this morning. The rich history of this series is sure to bring out the best in both. (Just kidding, folks.)

In the meantime, Kevin Baxter talks to Christine Sinclair of Canada as she prepares to pass Abby Wambach’s record for goals. Here’s how Kevin starts to tell the story.

“It’s been nearly four years since Abby Wambach scored her final goal for the U.S. women’s national team and it went almost unnoticed, happening in the middle of a 7-2 rout of Costa Rica during an exhibition game played at a small-college football stadium.

“But it became history because it was the 184th international goal of her career. No other player, male or female, was even close.

“Now that record is about to fall. Canada’s Christine Sinclair is three goals behind as her team enters play in the Women’s World Cup on Monday against Cameroon.

“And she couldn’t care less.’

Want to read more, just click here.

Sunday’s results

Group C: Italy 2, Australia 1

Group C: Brazil 3, Jamaica 0

Group D: England 2, Scotland 1

Today’s schedule (All times Pacific)

Group D: Argentina vs. Japan, 9 a.m., FS1

Group E: Canada vs. Cameroon, Noon, FS1

Group A W-D-L, GD, Pts

France 1-0-0, +4, 3

Norway 1-0-0, +3, 3

Nigeria 0-0-1 -3, 0

South Korea 0-0-1, -4, 0

Group A schedule (All Times Pacific)

France 4, South Korea 0

Norway 3, Nigeria 0

Wednesday, Nigeria vs. South Korea, 6 a.m., FS1

Wednesday, France vs. Norway, Noon, Fox

Monday, June 17, Nigeria vs. France, Noon, Fox

Monday, June 17, South Korea vs. Norway, Noon, FS1

Group B W-D-L, GD, Pts

Spain 1-0-0, +2, 3

Germany 1-0-0, +1, 3

China 0-0-1, -1, 0

South Africa 0-0-1, -2, 0

Group B TV schedule (All Times Pacific)

Germany 1, China 0

Spain 3, South Africa 1

Wednesday, Germany vs. Spain, 9 a.m., Fox

Thursday, South Africa vs. China, Noon, Fox

Monday, June 17, South Africa vs. Germany, 9 a.m., Fox

Monday, June 17, China vs. Spain, 9 a.m., FS1

Group C W-D-L, GD, Pts

Brazil 1-0-0, +3, 3

Italy 1-0-0, +1, 3

Australia 0-0-1, -1, 0

Jamaica 0-0-1, -3, 0

Group C TV schedule (All Times Pacific)

Italy 2, Australia 1

Brazil 3, Jamaica 0

Thursday, Australia vs. Brazil, 9 a.m., Fox

Friday, June 14, Jamaica vs. Italy, 9 a.m., Fox

Tuesday, June 18, Jamaica vs. Australia, Noon, FS2

Tuesday, June 18, Italy vs. Brazil, FS1

Group D W-D-L, GD, Pts

England 1-0-0, +1, 3

Argentina 0-0-0, 0, 0

Japan 0-0-0, 0, 0

Scotland 0-0-1, -1, 0

Group D TV schedule (All Times Pacific)

England 2, Scotland 1

Today, Argentina vs. Japan, 9 a.m., FS1

Friday, June 14, Japan vs. Scotland, 6 a.m., FS1

Friday, June 14, England vs. Argentina, Noon, Fox

Wednesday, June 19, Japan vs. England, Noon, FS1

Wednesday, June 19, Scotland vs. Argentina, Noon, FS2

Group E W-D-L, GD, Pts

Cameroon 0-0-0, 0, 0

Canada 0-0-0, 0, 0

Netherlands 0-0-0, 0, 0

New Zealand 0-0-0, 0, 0

Group E TV schedule (All Times Pacific)

Today, Canada vs. Cameroon, Noon, FS1

Tuesday, Netherlands vs. New Zealand, 6 a.m., FS1

Saturday, June 15, Netherlands vs, Cameroon, 6 a.m., GS1

Saturday, June 15, Canada vs. New Zealand, Noon, FS2

Thursday, June 20, Netherlands vs. Canada, 9 a.m., Fox

Thursday, June 20, Cameroon vs. New Zealand, 9 a.m., FS1

Group F W-D-L, GD, Pts

United States 0-0-0, 0, 0

Chile 0-0-0, 0, 0

Sweden 0-0-0, 0, 0

Thailand 0-0-0, 0, 0

Group F TV schedule (All Times Pacific)

Tuesday, Chile vs. Sweden, 9 a.m., FS1

Tuesday, United States vs. Thailand, Noon, Fox

Sunday, June 16, Sweden vs. Thailand, 6 a.m., FS1

Sunday, June 16, United States vs. Chile, 9 a.m., Fox

Thursday, June 20, United States vs. Sweden, Noon, Fox

Thursday, June 20, Thailand vs. Chile, Noon, FS1

Rest of the schedule

Round of 16 matches take place from June 22-25.

Quarterfinal matches are from June 27-29

One semifinal match is on July 2 at Noon on Fox

The other semifinal is on July 3 at Noon on FS1

Third-place game is July 6 at 8 a.m. on Fox

Championship match is Sunday, July 7 at 8 a.m. on Fox.

French open

Rafael Nadal, won the French Open tennis title for about the 8,000th time, or something like that. You can read about it here. He beat Dominic Thiem.

While doing a lot of airport traveling lately, I noticed how many of them would have the French Open on TV. And the answer is a lot. The explanation is easy. Nothing you see is so compelling to make you hang there. Just sayin’.

Other newsletters

We also have five other newsletters you can subscribe to for free. They are emailed to you and we don’t sell your name to other companies, so no spam from us. They are:

Our Dodgers newsletter, written by Houston Mitchell. Subscribe here.

Lakers newsletter, written by Tania Ganguli. Subscribe here.

Horse racing newsletter, written by John Cherwa. Subscribe here.

Boxing/MMA newsletter. Subscribe here.

Soccer newsletter, written by Kevin Baxter. Subscribe here.

Odds and ends

Santa Anita suffered two more horse deaths and the California Horse Racing Board asked them to shut down. Santa Anita said no. … Max Muncy is the Dodgers hero in a 1-0 victory over the Giants. Read it here. … Angels suffer 9-3 loss. … Former Red Sox favorite David Ortiz shot in the Dominican Republic. … Michigan eliminates UCLA from the super regional of the College World Series.

Today’s local sports schedule

Dodgers at Angels, 7 p.m., Sportsnet LA, FSW, AM 570, KLAA 830

Born on this date

1947: Baseball player Ken Singleton

1951: NFL player Dan Fouts

1962: NHL player Brent Sutter

1962: NHL player Duane Sutter

1982: Figure skater Tara Lipinksi

1987: Golfer Anna Nordqvist

Died on this date

1946: Boxer Jack Johnson, 68

2001: USC football coach John McKay, 77

2016: NHL player Gordie Howe, 88

And finally

That concludes the newsletter for today. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, please email us here. If you want to subscribe, click here.