How can anyone not be pulling for the Chicago Blackhawks to win the Stanley Cup? What a turnaround with this franchise. You really have to admire this fan base, I would put them up with anyone in the league; this includes Boston, Montreal, Washington, Detroit and Philadelphia - the Hawk fans (and the Hawks for that matter) are the real deal.
The Blackhawks have not won the Stanley Cup since 1961, they will be fixing that drought shortly. I remember going to the old Chicago Stadium in the late 80's to watch a regular season game between the St. Louis Blues and the Hawks. Both teams were having poor seasons and not going to make the playoffs, but that did not matter to the fans, they still went nuts and it was easily the loudest game I have ever attended.
Think about what the Hawks fan has been through. Under owner Bill Wirtz, he would not allow home games to be televised. He once commented the best season for him was when the Blackhawks went to the Stanley Cup finals and lost in seven (7) games - this way he maximized his gate receipts but did not have to pay his players a Stanley Cup bonus! True story. How could a franchise ever develop a winning tradition with an owner like this? It is no coincidence that once Bill Wirtz left the scene, to be replaced by his son Rocky, the demeanor of the Hawks changed immediately. The organization became fan friendly, they re-engaged former players, they drafted good players, eventually put them on long term contracts to keep them around and they allowed home games to be broadcast locally. Well deserved, well managed, Hawks in six (6) games.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
The Ship is On Its Way
I have just managed to pull my head out of the oven after last Friday's Bruins loss. What a mess and I don't know where to start, actually I do. Some of you students of history may recollect in 1630 the ship that carried John Winthrop to the Massachusetts Bay Colony also carried more than 10,000 gallons of wine and three times as much beer as water. Who was planning to drink all this? Not Bruins fans, they weren't around yet.
So what happened? A weak scoring team that loses its leading scorer, Marco Sturm, made it really difficult to overcome the momentum Philadelphia put together. The Bruins have good goal tending, good defense, but no scoring. One of only four teams to lose a best-of-seven series after taking a 3-0 lead. You have to be kidding me. I like the young defensemen Johnny Boychuk but I am scratching my head over his quote after the game “I wouldn’t say we choked. We had a chance to close it out . . . If you want to say we choked, I’m proud of the way we battled. I’m just in shock that we’re not playing anymore.’’ I'm shocked your not playing anymore Johnny and I'm shocked you choked! In fact we will memorialize this event by adding it to the "Crappy Feeling Index", I have placed it at Number 7 behind the 1978 - AL Playoff Red Sox loss to the Yankees. The list now is expanded to eleven events.
In the spirit of John Winthrop, I have commissioned a reenactment ship full of libations for Bruins fans, it's crossing the mid-Atlantic and working its way to Swift's Beach in Braintree, arrival is expected sometime this weekend. Help is on its way Bruins fans!
So what happened? A weak scoring team that loses its leading scorer, Marco Sturm, made it really difficult to overcome the momentum Philadelphia put together. The Bruins have good goal tending, good defense, but no scoring. One of only four teams to lose a best-of-seven series after taking a 3-0 lead. You have to be kidding me. I like the young defensemen Johnny Boychuk but I am scratching my head over his quote after the game “I wouldn’t say we choked. We had a chance to close it out . . . If you want to say we choked, I’m proud of the way we battled. I’m just in shock that we’re not playing anymore.’’ I'm shocked your not playing anymore Johnny and I'm shocked you choked! In fact we will memorialize this event by adding it to the "Crappy Feeling Index", I have placed it at Number 7 behind the 1978 - AL Playoff Red Sox loss to the Yankees. The list now is expanded to eleven events.
In the spirit of John Winthrop, I have commissioned a reenactment ship full of libations for Bruins fans, it's crossing the mid-Atlantic and working its way to Swift's Beach in Braintree, arrival is expected sometime this weekend. Help is on its way Bruins fans!
Saturday, May 1, 2010
The Caps, The Red Sox and The "Crappy Feeling Index"
Okay, here we go. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. Alright, we are now ready to discuss the Washington Capitals first round elimination by the storied Montreal Canadiens - one of the biggest upsets in the history of the National Hockey League.
Prior to diagnosis of the Caps, it is somewhat therapeutic to put this upset in context. By context I mean how this loss compares to other sports upsets I have witnessed over the years. To do this, I gauge how crappy I feel after the loss and how long the crappy feeling lingers with me. Below I have compiled my "Crappy Feeling Index". It's really straightforward, a 10 is really crappy, a 5 is somewhat crappy and a 1 is not crappy at all, perhaps diffident. So here we go:
Now that we are done rationalizing, what happened to the Caps? I hear all this blather that the power play was terrible and they could not penetrate the perimeter, perhaps true, but you should still win games when you have 53 and 41 shots respectively. The Caps problem is not offense. The Canadiens had a hot goalie who stood on his head for two games. Frankly, Team Canada would not have done any better job scoring against the Canadiens than the Caps did. Team Canada would have won, however, because they would have allowed fewer goals; therein lies the issue with the Caps - defensive talent.
They got beat by a mediocre Canadiens team that will not get by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the next round of the playoffs. The Caps need no overhaul though, instead they need a couple of defensemen. Here's the good news, they have John Carlson who will get even better next year and Karl Alzner who will be more than ready for the NHL. To complement them, they need to go out and get one really imposing defensive defenseman, someone like a Zdeno Chara, Chris Pronger (in his prime), Hal Gill or Tyler Myers type. More good news, to get this defensive stalwart they have some good players to offer in a trade: Mike Green, Shaone Morrisonn, John Erskine, Jose Theodore, Milan Jurcina and Brendan Morrison. It will be tricky from a salary cap perspective to bring in this big D-man because Nick Backstrom's contract is up and I expect him to sign for between $7 and $7.5m per year.
Don't mess with this Caps team, get some defensemen, not too much else needs to be done here.
Prior to diagnosis of the Caps, it is somewhat therapeutic to put this upset in context. By context I mean how this loss compares to other sports upsets I have witnessed over the years. To do this, I gauge how crappy I feel after the loss and how long the crappy feeling lingers with me. Below I have compiled my "Crappy Feeling Index". It's really straightforward, a 10 is really crappy, a 5 is somewhat crappy and a 1 is not crappy at all, perhaps diffident. So here we go:
- 1987 - Marvin Hagler split-decision loss to Sugar Ray Leonard (9.5)
- 1971 - Bruins playoff elimination to Canadiens, Ken Dryden in goal (9.0)
- 1974 - Bruins Stanley Cup Final loss to Flyers (8.5)
- 1986 - World Series Red Sox loss to Mets, Game 6 (8.5)
- 1986 - World Series Red Sox loss to Mets, Game 7 (8.5)
- 1978 - AL Playoff Red Sox loss to Yankees, Buck F&&%#ing Dent (8.0)
- 1975 - World Series Red Sox loss to Reds, Game 7 (8.0)
- 2010 - Capitals playoff elimination to Canadiens (7.5)
- 2008 - Super Bowl XLIV Patriots loss to Giants (7.0)
- 1976 - Mass State HS Hockey Championship Braintree loss to Winthrop (6.5)
Now that we are done rationalizing, what happened to the Caps? I hear all this blather that the power play was terrible and they could not penetrate the perimeter, perhaps true, but you should still win games when you have 53 and 41 shots respectively. The Caps problem is not offense. The Canadiens had a hot goalie who stood on his head for two games. Frankly, Team Canada would not have done any better job scoring against the Canadiens than the Caps did. Team Canada would have won, however, because they would have allowed fewer goals; therein lies the issue with the Caps - defensive talent.
They got beat by a mediocre Canadiens team that will not get by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the next round of the playoffs. The Caps need no overhaul though, instead they need a couple of defensemen. Here's the good news, they have John Carlson who will get even better next year and Karl Alzner who will be more than ready for the NHL. To complement them, they need to go out and get one really imposing defensive defenseman, someone like a Zdeno Chara, Chris Pronger (in his prime), Hal Gill or Tyler Myers type. More good news, to get this defensive stalwart they have some good players to offer in a trade: Mike Green, Shaone Morrisonn, John Erskine, Jose Theodore, Milan Jurcina and Brendan Morrison. It will be tricky from a salary cap perspective to bring in this big D-man because Nick Backstrom's contract is up and I expect him to sign for between $7 and $7.5m per year.
Don't mess with this Caps team, get some defensemen, not too much else needs to be done here.
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