Tuesday, June 08, 2004
SHORT OBLIGATORY HOCKEY POST
Just stream-of-consciousness here. I cut this part out of the Mariner post because it did end up being too long to be a small tidbit.
Congratulations to John Tortorella, Dave Andreychuk, and the rest of the Tampa Bay Lightning on their first Stanley Cup. Congrats to the Calgary Flames for getting this far when they probably had no business being there (especially after the Vancouver series, bastards!). The bottom line in Game 7 was that the Flames seemed like they could never get themselves or the puck into open ice. They were never hitting their spots. Not until they got the fortunate penalty did they score and finally get a burst of energy. If they had two extra minutes, they probably would have tied the game. Years from now, the Calgary fans will always wonder about the Martin Gelinas inconclusive non-goal in Game 6. I guess the sad thing is that the fans that were so obviously more rabid had their team's glory upstaged by the team with bandwagon newbie fans. Not that there weren't some Flame fans that weren't newbies, but hey, at least their team has some history. If there's one good thing out of this, it's that the Flame fans won't have the Cup to brag about next year (or whenever it may be). They'll be absolutely unbearable to begin with, and they do have that first-round series to brag about, but at least they didn't get that Cup.
I'll say it, and I'm being impartial here: the Calgary/Vancouver series was the best of the playoffs. Sure Calgary had an off game in Game 1, and Vancouver had a stinker in Game 4, but how can you argue with Game 6 going to triple overtime and Game 7 going to overtime? I'm bitter, and I think Vancouver should have had that series in six games, but even with Vancouver never being able to play their game in that series, it was still a great series.
Congratulations to John Tortorella, Dave Andreychuk, and the rest of the Tampa Bay Lightning on their first Stanley Cup. Congrats to the Calgary Flames for getting this far when they probably had no business being there (especially after the Vancouver series, bastards!). The bottom line in Game 7 was that the Flames seemed like they could never get themselves or the puck into open ice. They were never hitting their spots. Not until they got the fortunate penalty did they score and finally get a burst of energy. If they had two extra minutes, they probably would have tied the game. Years from now, the Calgary fans will always wonder about the Martin Gelinas inconclusive non-goal in Game 6. I guess the sad thing is that the fans that were so obviously more rabid had their team's glory upstaged by the team with bandwagon newbie fans. Not that there weren't some Flame fans that weren't newbies, but hey, at least their team has some history. If there's one good thing out of this, it's that the Flame fans won't have the Cup to brag about next year (or whenever it may be). They'll be absolutely unbearable to begin with, and they do have that first-round series to brag about, but at least they didn't get that Cup.
I'll say it, and I'm being impartial here: the Calgary/Vancouver series was the best of the playoffs. Sure Calgary had an off game in Game 1, and Vancouver had a stinker in Game 4, but how can you argue with Game 6 going to triple overtime and Game 7 going to overtime? I'm bitter, and I think Vancouver should have had that series in six games, but even with Vancouver never being able to play their game in that series, it was still a great series.
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