It didn’t take very long to shake off the disappointment after
the San Jose Sharks’ exit from the Western Conference Finals. Years
of developing a coping method (it’s like tensing up when a punch to
the gut is on its way
— flexing, clenched jaw and waiting for the impact) to deal with
what has become a trend of playoff imperfections worked
wonderfully.
It didn’t take very long to shake off the disappointment after the San Jose Sharks’ exit from the Western Conference Finals.
Years of developing a coping method (it’s like tensing up when a punch to the gut is on its way — flexing, clenched jaw and waiting for the impact) to deal with what has become a trend of playoff imperfections worked wonderfully.
I expected the worst, so in case the best actually happened, I’d be off-the-wall ecstatic. It really makes no sense, but it’s a calming method. It works. The worst happened — goodbye Sharks — but I survived. We all did. It’s just something we have to live with.
We cope.
(Sharks fans definitely handle defeat much better than Vancouver fans. More on that later)
In seasons past, I usually shrugged off the remaining NHL postseason. The Sharks are done, well, I guess I’m done too.
That would’ve been a terrible mistake this year.
The Stanley Cup Finals between the Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins was absolutely spectacular. No matter the cap you keep in your closet, this was a hockey fans’ series.
I steered my allegiance to Boston – the Bruins being the only Boston-area team for which upon I have hoped success … ever. A Vancouver championship would’ve been an extra elbow to the midsection.
The grit and grind each team skated with immediately captivated me – sucked me right in, dinner-in-front-of-the-TV-all-seven-games type of thing. The chippiness and chirpiness, the shout-out-loud-in-front-of-your-TV checks into the boards, fascinating goals, Tim Thomas’ acrobatic saves in net for the Bruins and the most penalty minutes ever assessed in a finals series. There was no turning away from this. Both sides looked incredibly comfortable in what they did out on the ice. There was a combination of fluidity and gruffness, which seemed to fit just right.
I liked the way NBC covered the series, too, with intelligent broadcasters, insiders and videography.
From the moment Canucks’ defenseman Aaron Rome decked Nathan Horton in Game 3 – a hit which resulted in Rome’s suspension from the remainder of the series and a concussion for Horton, who also missed games four through seven – the series took on a life of its own.
Though even before that, Game 1 went scoreless through the first 59 minutes, 41 seconds until Raffi Torres deposited the winner with 18.5 seconds remaining for a Vancouver 1-0 triumph. In fact, each game brought on a new sense of thrill.
Down 2-0 in the series at the time of the vicious hit, Boston roared back winning two straight awe-inspiring victories on its home ice in decisive fashion, including an 8-1 trouncing in Game 3. The two teams traded home wins in games five and six, leading to Wednesday’s winner-take-all Game 7 in Vancouver.
Entering the game, Boston was 11-1 in the playoffs when scoring first, and 2-0 in Game 7s. Patrice Bergeron put the Bruins up 1-0 in the first period and, by night’s end, Boston was 12-1 when scoring first, 3-0 in Game 7s and Stanley Cup champions for the first time in 39 years.
Thomas, who only surrendered eight goals in the seven-game series, continued his masterful goaltending Wednesday, turning aside 37 shots in the 4-0 blanking to become the first goalie in NHL history to win Game 7 with a shutout on the road. Thomas now holds the record for most saves in the postseason (798) and in the Finals with 238, according to NHL.com.
Hockey’s physical nature and straight-up brutality sometimes overshadows the precision these guys have on their skates and the vision to place puck passes from tape-to-tape and the talent to stop on a dime.
I realized that hockey is one of the more fan-friendly sporting events – rarely any dull moments, suspense with every rush up the ice.
There is a reason why HP Pavilion is sold out and rocking from the lower bowl to the rafters every home game. And sooner than later those boisterous hockey enthusiasts will be cheering a championship.
It wasn’t a friendly series by any stretch of the imagination. But Vancouver players showed class in defeat as they went through the traditional end-of-series handshakes.
However, foolishness erupted in the streets after the Canucks lost in the Finals for the third time in franchise history. Riots broke out, cars overturned and burned to charcoal and windows smashed as “fans” with nothing better to do created havoc in their own neighborhood. Baffling behavior and a boneheaded way to close out a hockey season.
Nevertheless, what happened on the ice should be what drives the memories of the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals.
