In a previous comment section I contended that the Stanley Cup is the best trophy in sports today. There's nothing like having your name etched into time itself, as the winner can see his name on the same piece with the likes of Gretzky, Howe, and Yzerman. Even if you feel otherwise about the trophy you still have to get a bit of a chill when the commish says "______ Come Get The Cup"
I'm not saying that the Red Wings didn't royally piss on this game, but Bill McCreary and his team of hacks made sure their names will be remembered in Joe Louis as much as Stevie Y and Nicklas Lidstrom. Clearly I don't follow hockey nearly as much as the fans in attendance tonight, so I'll say that after taking out the homer in them, they would be right on half the calls that were missed. Watching Crosby climb up a Red Wings back only to injure his vagina was the most blatant. So the argument will continue, should officials hold their whistles more in Game 7s? As you can probably tell I feel like its a crock of shit, I got jobbed, this wasn't a proffesional hockey game it was street hockey in the back of the church with Tom Watson and Trey Wismond*.
This game ultimately falls on the Red Wings, it appeared that they were ready to go from the start but overall seemed like they were going through the motions. The timing to their finesse style seemed a bit off. And when Gordon Bombay, I mean Niklas Kronwall, clanked the tying slapshot off the crossbar with 2 minutes to go, the city of Detroit became just that much more deflated.
Ultimately the guy to blame for this entire situation is Gary Bettman. This guy just looks like a weasel, he has no idea what he's doing and he's making a killing even after destroying a competitive product. When Bettman altered the phrase to "Sidney Crosby, you will be the youngest captain to hoist the cup...." he slipped again. This is what Bettman wants, he wants Crosby jersey's to sell out, Zetterberg and Datsyuk just don't fly off the shelves anywhere but Hockeytown. Crosby is the prize bull, and this makes him all the more noticeable. I hate the conspiracy theorists that live on the NBA playoffs, but I've gotta play devils advocate here in the NHL where they'd kill for the problems the NBA has. Why were the whistles so quiet tonight? While I know "Sid The Kid" is the Lebron James of hockey, this writer thinks that like Lebron the kid should have had to wait another year of puppet commercials out.
*Only a select group of readers will get this reference but they'll remember the days of rollerblades, taping the goals up, and chasing pucks.
Let the Gate resume Swinging
Posts
I didn't think the Pens had it in em'. After Game 5, I thought that the Wings would march into Pittsburgh and hoist the Cup on the Pens home ice for the second consecutive year.
ReplyDeleteThey proved me wrong. So it was Crosby and Malkin that got to raise the Cup, while Marian Hossa was stuck in the losing locker room for a second consecutive year.
I do applaud Hossa, though. For once, a professional athlete in the prime of his career opted to go for the title instead of taking the big contract. Yes, he still got paid very well, but he could've had long-term security by signing with a lesser team. Although it didn't work out, it's nice to see one athlete still has it in their mind that the title is the most important thing in sports - not the pay check.