An Abrupt Yet Satisfying Ending

Last night was Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final between Chicago and Philadelphia, and it was a great one. Thousands filled the stands with an orange wave at the Wachovia Center, and though the home team gave them plenty to cheer about- a brief 2-1 lead, then a tying goal by Scott Hartnell with about three minutes left to play- it was Patrick Kane who slipped the puck through Michael Leighton's pads at 4:06 of overtime, crushing their hopes and clinching the Stanley Cup for his team.

At first, no one but Kane was even sure the puck had gone in- no light had come on over the goal and the ref hadn't even responded, but Kane took off to the other end of the ice, raising his arms high and jumping onto goalie Antti Niemi. Once it was certain, though, the Blackhawks celebrated in triumph, and for good reason- there were many milestones to commemorate.

Jonathan Toews, for example, now stands among the youngest captains to ever hoist the Stanley Cup, is the second youngest Conn Smythe winner (for playoff MVP), and the youngest Triple Gold inductee (Olympic gold medal, World Championship gold medal, and Stanley Cup) at 22 years of age. Marian Hossa also was able to celebrate his third time being in the Stanley Cup Final, this time with a win, and here's a fun fact for ya: he's the first Ottawa Senators draft pick to win a Cup. And of course, Antti Niemi, the goalie everyone's been talking about (other than Jaro Halak), becomes the first Finnish goalie to win the Cup. Teamwise as well, this is the Blackhawks' first Stanley Cup win since 1961.

Even so, and it pains me to say this... all due respect to the Philadelphia Flyers for a great series, and a great run to the Cup. You beat a lot of odds to get to where you were at, and you played your hearts out. Mike Richards, Chris Pronger, Michael Leighton and Co. have much to be proud of, and though I loved to hate you this series, I have to admit you did Philly proud.

That said, congrats to the 'Hawks for a well-deserved win, and to the city of Chicago as well. As for now... well, that's all she wrote on the ice. The NHL Awards are coming up, as well as the Draft, so we'll be working on previews for those soon. :)

Oh Caption My Caption!

Hossa Mantra : Stanley Cup Final Game 5

In an NHL article après losing to the Flyers in Game 4 (5-3) Marian Hossa talked about moving beyond frustration and playing smarter...actually he mentioned that word quite a few times...HOSSA MANTRA...WORK SMARTER NOT HARDER. A tip of the Tony Robbins hat to you sir.

Full Story

The only question I would ask the Blackhawks and want to correct is: WHY DO YOU ALL LOOK SO NUMB OUT ON THE ICE? Is that about playing smarter or about something else? Something else that the Flyers seem to have.

What can Chicago salvage from game 4? Scoring goals 2 & 3...knowing they are capable of scoring like that under that kind of pressure...these two goals may have made all the difference heading home as opposed to walking out of the Wachovia Center with a 4-1 or including empty net 5-1 wound.

This is a most unwelcome team role-reversal but I keep 'seeing' my nephew TJ (who lives outside of Chicago) at the parade in Chitown, hopefully foreshadowing to this result - that the unexpected underdog wins in the end.

GO HAWKS! PLAY ALIVE! BLACKHAWKS FANS HELP THEM OUT!

ps. You better believe my nephew is an Islander fan. Hawks are his second team...distant second if he wants to be invited to the big people table at Thanksgiving.

Stanley Cup Final Game 4: Book vs. Street

It's 8:03 and I should be in front of a TV but am not, busy day. So before jumping into my car to get in front of a TV here's a thought for game 4...so it's like this...Blackhawks are like people with book smarts and the Flyers are like people with street smarts. Usually it's good to have as even a balance of both but that's not going to happen with these two teams. Who wins the Stanley Cup is going to depend on what type of 'event' they are at - street fight or intellectual debate. In game 3 Philly did what they are so good at doing - pulling the other team into a street fight, thus they won - although not enough of an impressive sequence or goal to make it seem like Philly can pull this whole thing off from 2 games to 1...and that is why my cell phone is still chirping crickets. Chicago looked tired in OT- yeah it sucks when the muscles start to feel sour. But like I said in prior blog post it's all about endurance so unless Chicago wakes up and turns the atmosphere into a debate of intellect (aka skill), the Flyers are going to win. And by now if you follow this blog, you know how hard it was for me to type that last sentence. For some reason I don't think Chicago is done - maybe something such as a loss was needed to jilt Chicago out of their trance. Whether it be a gut feeling or a wish I think/hope Chicago is going to come down heavy in this game and remind everyone why they (team) are playing for the Stanley Cup in the first place, while at the same time reminding Philly of how lucky they were to have even gotten this far. Hope all that makes some kind of sense, it's hard to type a blog post with one foot out the door, it's 8:15 now and I've got to find myself in front of a TV pronto.

GO HAWKS!

Stanley Cup Final Game 3: Philly Fan Factor

So the Blackhawks are up 2 games to zero as Game 3 is about to start in a few minutes. If the Flyers want to stay in the race, they will need to draw upon the energy of their fans around them. Anyone who has been at a do-or-die game at the Wachovia Center knows what I mean. Not sure what happened to Peter Laviolette but it has resulted in a scattered energy on the team, unable to focus under his leadership and like Chris Pronger, some are acting out.

Got a kick out of the shots of Antti Niemi in the third period Monday night...the crazed look in his eyes was like the look of a crazed ex who just doesn't get it that it's over.

Blackhawks still not impressive, like studying for a C and surprisingly getting an A. All the Flyers have to do is use the boards and shoot.

Best part of the series so far? The sound coming from Flyers fans on my phone -



GO HAWKS! Let's keep it this way.

GAME ON!!

Remember

Flanders Fields


In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

-Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae

There's Always a Scapegoat

Tonight is Game 2 of the Stanely Cup Finals. Much to do went around about Peter Laviolette sending in Brian Boucher to replace Micheal Leighton in Game 1. I was more focused on the poor performace of both teams, who looked like pee-wee teams doing the ping-ping scoring that often goes on at that wee age, which at that age is cute. The Blackhawks got off easy - there was no victory for them this game but it appeared they realized that by how they skated off the ice. As for the Flyers, the last thing they needed was internal drama which was what their coach wound up creating - it's one thing to replace your starting goalie when the score is 4-0 but this was not the case. Coach Laviolette made Leighton look like a chump early on in this final race, there were other Flyers that should have exited instead of Leighton.

Morale is important Coach Laviolette if you want your boys to win for you because when it comes down to it in my world, it's all about making 'Dad' proud and as that goes, by removing your goalie when both teams were playing loosely, you publically put your team in a submissive position which can change the entire mindset of a team who really believed they could win the Stanley Cup under your leadership. But like in any family dynamic there is always someone in the role of scapegoat. In ice hockey that role is all too often filled by the goalie. In my opinion Leighton should have finished the game. What a coach can do in a scenario like game 1 is essentially play confidence chicken with the other coach - puff up his feathers and show 'fake it to you make it' confidence in your collective team because at the end of the day it's not about one game, one win or one loss...it's about who is still standing at the end of what is one long ass season. It's about endurance.

All Leighton needed was one confidence boost moment like Antti Niemi had late in the game when he impressed even himself with a glove save off of Daniel Briere's line drive from the slot.

Probably The Only Case of Penis Envy

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More than the wish that the Islanders will one day again hoist the Stanley Cup in victory is the wish that future reality will include young girls being able to dream of partaking in their own Stanley Cup playoffs...to work so hard for every minute of ice time throughout the years, shooting pucks into their own dryer with bigger goals in mind that are actually obtainable - to be a part of something so intense as the race for the Stanley Cup while wearing pink skate laces if she chooses to.

Isles Season Wrap Up --> Stanley Cup Finals

A little late but here's my Islanders season wrap-up. It's pretty clear to most who don't live in a cave that the Islanders have a lot of work ahead of them. I don't believe much will come of the team until a change of team ownership occurs. With that in mind, in the spirit of Angie's grading system, every Islander has earned an 'A' for the simple fact of being an Islander. I do believe something came out of this season; that being a manifestation of the mantra posted at the top of this blog: "Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable". I chose this mantra because it seemed important that some type of bond form on the team, a core energy to draw from to calm the instability that is the makeup and management of the team. Didn't see much of an Alpha male on the ice taking up a leadership role but time and time again these fellas (or at least most of them) made lemonade out of lemons. What I liked most about the season, again related to the mantra is that there seemed to be an increase in contributions made throughout the entire team, none too small, and that the workload was shared among many players rather than a handful who were expected to excel at the game. Sure I'd like to see the Isles kick it to the play-offs but until that happens I can handle it if they don't win as long as there are points of growth, subtle as they may be, to bank for a later date.

in other news...

Was called a hockey geek by those who know geekiness...MAC geeks. This is how the story went - Islanders playing the Rangers - needed to get an adaptor from the Apple store - torn between watching the game and going to the Apple store - problem solved - watched 1st period - drove to Apple store during intermission - watched 2nd period at Apple store - drove back during intermission - you know the rest. Proof of hockey geek title worthiness below:



So far only two NHL fan sightings in NYC during the playoffs.



For $400 it probably should look like DP



Even in the cold, Jones Beach is the place to be. Pictured below are the new Islanders starting forwards. Would be great if one of them pooped on Darcy Tucker.



To the guy on the Meadowbrook Parkway who used his jacket to carry a dead goose to the grass median and then nuzzled the goose's beak into its wing - you are awesome and should be cloned. A Fu Man Chu to you sir, well deserved.



and last but not least:

Dear Blackhawks,

I am writing regarding the Stanley Cup Finals that begin tonight. The Flyers have gained a momentum during the playoffs so if you don't stun them in the 1st period, by the middle of the 2nd period it will look like they were only stretching/warming up until then. More importantly, they believe they can win which is more of a threat coming from a lower seeded team. Sit back on your heels at any time and I will be forced to endure more texts like this one.



Please do what you can to make these texts stop because there is nothing better than a silent Flyers fan.

Sincerely,
Christine

More 'Evidence' Blind Side Hits Have No Place in the NHL

Related to the recent blog post about blind side hits in the NHL, the LA Times article below takes a look at yet more potential outcomes of Traumatic Brain Injury.

"In concussion's wake, sadness and anxiety thrive"