Vince Lombardi, praised football coach and namesake of the Super Bowl Trophy, was a master at mentally crushing opponents. In a time where coaches would focus on the other teams' weaknesses to win, Lombardi would instead attack their strengths, because if they got through their strengths, the other team would crumble, knowing it was all they had. My favourite saying of his is: ''to be the best, you have to beat the best''.
In today's NHL, the best are the Detroit Red Wings. They're so good, their third liners could be any other team's second liners; they're so good they don't even need a 'name' goaltender in nets to ensure victory. They also have the best 6-man defensive unit in the game. So when Chris Osgood started stopping the pucks in the playoffs, the Wings became flawless. The Cup was theirs for sure.
But nothing is ever certain in sports, it's why we watch them.
Nicklas Lidstrom - perhaps the best defenseman of all time - got injured and missed a few games. Pavel Datsyuk, the league's best two-way player and MVP candidate missed seven games. Four rookies who had started the year in the minors had to suit up for the Wings to start the Finals against Pittsburgh, so when games 6 and 7 came, the veterans were out of juice.
They were close games, but the Pens won both of them, en route to a record-breaking championship: the youngest captain ever to win a Cup, the only team to win despite trailing 2 games to none twice.
I was rooting for the Red Wings myself, because they were reigning Champs and the closest thing hockey has to a dynasty these days. Also because their coach, Mike Babcock, went to university here in Montréal, and because they are beautiful to watch. And, as a Montrealer, I'm used to cheering for the team in red.
But mostly I was rooting against the Penguins. Against a coach (Dan Bylsma) who wasn't even coaching his team on Valentine's Day. Against a goalie who has a tendency to choke in big games. Against a team who went bankrupt once already and nearly did it again until they were so terrible that they ended with the first overall pick four years in a row and got to draft players like Fleury, Malkin, Staal and Crosby. Against a team based around one powerplay unit (Crosby-Malkin-Gonchar-Letang) instead of the best 20 players available. Against a GM who didn't give his head coach (Michel Therrien) a chance to have his best players back from injury before firing him and only then making the obvious trades to improve the team.
Despite a calendar that was to their disadvantage, the Wings took a 2-0 series lead in Detroit despite the injuries to key players, but the Pens tied it in Pittsburgh forcing perhaps an early return for some. And when the Wings took a 3-2 series lead with a 5-0 dominating win, most thought the series was over. But that proved to be the last bit of energy they had in store, as they lost the final two games and looked so much slower than usual, despite keeping those games tight. They seemed extenuated.
Perhaps the injuries had taken their toll, players who usually would be asked less from had to play over their heads and had no gas left in the tank. Perhaps it was the constant foul play of the Penguins who would chip, slash and six-inch every chance they had, during and after the play, and the bruises came to be too intense. But a fact remains: a lot of Penguins' foul plays went unpunished, as if the referees had a mandate to let the Pittsburgh crew win.
But win they did. Hail the champs.
Now, if only their captain could learn what being a leader is all about...
No comments:
Post a Comment