Archive for June, 2009

MacLeod on Handshakegate

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Bruce MacLeod’s got some good thoughts on the Crosby/Lidstrom thing. Some of his points echo my own views on the matter.

Basically, I feel like for Crosby it’s too much success, too soon, and that winning the Cup now after just four years really messes up any chances the guy has of ever reaching real maturity in this League. It’s not about him winnning a Cup at all, it’s the timing. I could have stood to see him go through a few more years of adversity and hardening before reaching the pinnacle of the sport.

If nothing else, I think it would have made a more compelling storyline than what happened: 1 year of not making the playoffs, 1 year of early elimination and 1 year of Finals disappointment before finally overcoming all that “adversity.” As Kyle wrote the other day, that”s “like a movie ending in its third scene.” Or a SparkNotes version of the standard “young punk to HHoF material” story.

He’s still very immature, and this handshake controversy is just another piece of evidence in the case aganist him having such a high-profile leadership role. What he should have done is to make a point of leading his team through the line shaking all the Wings’ hands (Fixed.), and when he didn’t, he should have had the decency to apologize to one of the League’s few truly great players still suiting up.

It’s not the end of the world, but it does offer a view of the problem behind putting the guy on such a high pedestal so early in his career. So what if he’s made good on the hype if he can’t honor to a “t” one of the few aspects of hockey that are respected across the sports world.

I don’t want to dislike Crosby, but it’s hard not to when he’s becoming bigger than the game.

An Unexpected Smile

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I’ve been searching the Internet, wondering what I’m gonna read all summer, when I came across something that made me smile.

We will not have to worry about McCreary making dumb calls and no-calls during the finals or even the playoffs next year. Why? Well, that’s the wonderful part. McCreary is retiring after the regular season. The last game of the 2009-2010 season will be the last time we see Bill McCreary.

Thank You

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First off, thanks to the Wings for a heck of a season. A disappointing finish, but given the adversity this team faced, from the Stanley Cup hangover to the post-season injuries, I couldn’t be prouder of these guys. This hurts like crazy, but thinking about Nick Lidstrom having surgery in the third round and coming back to play has me in awe of this group’s will to win. That they fell short should in no way take away from that.

To the Pittsburgh Penguins, congratulations. You did something I didn’t think any team could do: win a Stanley Cup Final Game 7 in the Wings’ building. You took the championship on our home ice, in front of thousands my fellow fans who paid for those tickets out of shrinking paychecks, in the heart of a state needing something positive to happen like you wouldn’t believe and from a team that knew all that and for whom that knowledge was a driving force. I’ll never forgive you for it, but I have to respect that you did it.

I can already the praise songs and see the love letters sung and written to and about Sydney Crosby, and while I don’t want to go to far down the “sour grapes” route, I will say that the knowledge that Sid will now be marketed even more than before (didn’t think it was possible, did you?) has me feeling sick already. I’m already expecting to see him ranked with the all-time great leaders by those with little or no perspective.

One last thing along that line of thought. This warms my heart: “Mr. Ilitch … kept walking when NHL commissioner Gary Bettman approached him under the stands and tried to shake his hand after Friday night’s game.” No more words need to be said, eh Wings fans?

Back to the Wings a moment: of all the guys on the team, I’m especially disappointed for Chris Osgood. The guy did everything possible to earn this team the Cup, and falling short by one goal is killer. I hope that this run has opened a lot of folk’s eyes and that he can get some of that crowd off his back. Not too much, though! I like “chip-on-the-shoulder” Ozzie. If he’s up against the media and fans again next year, I guess it wouldn’t be the end of the world.

Now, I want to thank all of you who took the time to stop by the blog this season and take part in the discussion. Doing this is infinitely more fun when the community is lively, so I can’t overstate how much I appreciate your input. You guys are great, and helped make this season even more memorable than it might have been.

There’s a lot more to say about this team, their run and the players. With the end of the season, however, I’ll probably take a lighter posting load, though I won’t drop away for an official break until after the first few days of free agency.

We saw how the team turned the disappointment of losing to Anaheim in 2007 into a championship a year later. It’s hard to be too positive after a loss like this, but I will say that if any team can do it again, this one can. As IwoCPO said, “98 to 12.”

Peak Battle

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(my final use of that playoffs-as-mountain-climb device)

This is the battle that decides it all: who gets to stay on top of the mountain, and who gets thrown off the peak. One game to seal one team’s destiny, or in the case of the other, one game to start the building of one. If Game 7′s in general are the height of the hockey experience, Stanley Cup Final Game 7′s have to be up there in the upper reaches of the atmosphere.

That’s fitting, because this is going to be a breathless night for the fans. Win or lose, surviving this night without losing a good decade off the end of our lives from the stress is going to be tough.

It’s the awesome finality of Game 7 that has me feeling nauseated already this morning. There’s no opportunity to respond to a loss with a dominating performance. There’s very little room for making up for your mistakes. It can go either way. It has to be one of the few times a stat showing such a definitive home team advantage–SCF Finals Game 7′s are 12-2 historically for the home team–provides so little comfort.

Stats mean nothing. What matters is what the two teams do on the ice, tonight. This game is going to be epic. Both teams know what’s at stake, and both teams will be at their best. It really will be a battle.

It’s going to be awesome to watch. It’s going to be terrible to watch. I can’t wait for the puck drop, and I dread it at the same time. The paradox of a fan faced with a Game 7: complete confidence in his or her team, but in the same space, nervousness and fear.

Despite the nervousness and fear, I know this:

The Red Wings can do it. They will do it.

And we’ll look back at tonight as a great, historic moment, as we forget the stress-induced agony of watching.

Tonight the Cup returns to Detroit, to the ice of Joe Louis Arena. And Nick Lidstrom will hoist it again.

After the Wings throw the Penguins down the mountainside.