Hockey

[aarond 0]

It's amuzing how an inch here or an inch there in these games can determine the general theme of the posts we see after each game. For example, if those two post-kissers that Schneider had in game three are an inch in the other direction, the Wings win game 3 and everybody would have come on here lauding their play, saying things like "they played great," "they played with heart," "they played like they wanted it," "they outplayed 'em," etc. But since those two pucks didn't go our way, we saw lots of "they got embarassed," "they got totally dominated," "they got completely outplayed," "they didn't show up." The same thing happened tonight. The Wings fell behind 2 goals, one of them very flukey, and with another dinged post, and there were a bunch of people dogging their effort again (check out pages 3 through 7 of the game thread to see what I mean). Then they come back with a couple of breaks in their favor (the Lang goal was soft, and Holmer got kinda lucky to make the play he made), and the evaluation of the game changes entirely. All because of a few inches. Bottom line is this (and I've been saying this over and over again for the last two weeks but some just can't get it through their heads): just because the Wings are losing, just because they make a mistake and the puck winds up in the net, doesn't automatically mean that they aren't trying 110%, aren't playing hard, aren't playing with "heart," or any other sophmoric nonsense. It doesn't even mean they are playing poorly. Hockey is such a fine game and it's pretty flukey at times. Don't sell the Wings down the river just because a few things don't bounce their way from time to time.

btw-to the knee-jerk negativists, doesn't the other team factor into your analysis? Do the Sharks deserve any credit for the bad things that have happened to Detroit in this series, or is it all because Detroit didn't "play with heart" or didn't "want it"? Are the Sharks not a hell of a hockey team? Do they not have one of the most oppresive forechecks in the league? Is that top line not the most dynamic and frightening line in the NHL?

Edited May 3, 2007 by aarond

[Drake_Marcus 890]

While this was cuter the first time you did it, it's still as relevant.

*sigh*

[Grypho 195]

If you check out the Sharks board, you'll see that it all balances out. Lose a goal, it's the entire game, and therefore the series -- see you all next season, it's been great, yada yada.

But then there are the actual players, who continue to play, whose entire bodies, and not just their "hearts", are actually in the game, and they know only too well that those tiny inches make the difference in some people's minds between a complete legend worthy of adoration and praise and a despicable goat that needs a good scaping.

That's just the way the average fan's cookie crumbles (and boy does it crumble easily).

Good post.