Victor hedmanThe superstitious nature of is one of the highlights of the second episode of the sixth season of “Quest for the Stanley Cup”, a seven-part unrestricted series.

The episode airs Friday at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN + in the US and YouTube.com/LNH in Canada.

In this episode, it looks like the Lightning defender is always on the hunt for something positive, including the crew for the documentary, which he calls “our lucky charm.”

Hedman had a teammate Kevin shattenkirk buy him a coffee every game day during the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, which took place in secure quarantine bubbles in Toronto and Edmonton.

The Lightning ended up defeating the Dallas Stars to win the Cup for the first time since 2004.

The coffee ritual played a role in Hedman’s mind, it seems. The rare times Shattenkirk forgot to keep its end of the bargain, the Lightning lost.

The 2021 playoffs take place in the cities of the teams involved, but Hedman remains a man of routine, taking the same route to and from the ice, dress the same and sit in the same seat in the same restaurant they ate before every road game against the Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup second round.

“‘Stuttering’ (forward Steven stamkos) was sitting in my seat, ”Hedman said. “I had to move it to the right, so I could have my seat back. “

The Lightning defeated the Hurricanes 2-0 on Tuesday, winning the Top 7 series in five games. They will face the New York Islanders, who defeated the Boston Bruins 6-2 on Wednesday to win that second-round series in six.

“If you want me to throw a whole bunch of shots, I can,” said Lightning coach Jon Cooper. “Take them all, put them all into one and that’s the effort these guys put in. You need it if you want to move forward because I’m going to tell you, these are two of the hardest rounds. we’ve never faced. It was a hell of a job getting out of that division. “

Video: Lightning beats Hurricanes to advance to semi-finals

Tampa Bay beat the Florida Panthers in six top-seven first-round games.

The documentary joins the eight teams that qualified for the second round: the Lightning and Hurricanes in the Discover Central division; the Colorado Avalanche and the Vegas Golden Knights in the Honda West Division; the Bruins and Islanders of the MassMutual East Division; and the Montreal Canadiens and Winnipeg Jets in the Scotia North Division.

In another vignette from Episode 2, there is a glimpse into the life of Chris Nilan, the retired NHL forward who played for the Canadiens from 1979-88 and 1991-92. He won the Stanley Cup with Montreal in 1986, moved to Montreal and is present in the media, notably through two radio shows, “Habs Lunch” and “Off the Cuff”.

“Do I think the Habs can sweep? Nilan said on a broadcast ahead of Game 4 of the Canadiens’ second round series against Winnipeg. “The Jets have the opportunity to bounce back right away because these are back-to-back games. It’s very, very difficult to win four games in a row against any team.

That’s exactly what the Canadiens did when they beat the Jets 3-2 in overtime in Game 4 on Monday. They will face the Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup semifinals.