The Humanity Factor was in full swing for Saturday's Game 5. The Wings 5-0 victory was well-earned and deserved. The return of Pavel Datsyuk was not only surprising, but extremely enjoyable to watch. Hank Zetterberg was his usual fantastic self after taking a Game 4 hiatus. He has been one of my top 5 players for the last couple seasons now, and he is taking his game to a whole new level, even displaying a nasty side when standing up for teammates. Like I've said, expect him to be the next bearer of the "C" after Lidstrom's retirement. Speaking of Lidstrom, he continued to be magical, as did most of the Red Wings.
Maybe it's better to say that the Red Wings didn't particularly play "better", they just got back to playing how they always play, which is, needless to say, pretty close to perfection when they're firing on all cylinders. They are extremely disciplined, extremely efficient, and extremely talented at playing as a team. Should I be saying this on a site that carries as its flagship photo an image of Super Joe? Probably not. But I have to tell it how it is.
One thing I've loved about the Penguins is their ability to think and act at maturity levels beyond their age. This is particularly true of Sidney Crosby, whose on- and off-ice poise is that of a 10-year veteran. Unfortunately, none of this was true of the Pittsburgh Penguins of Game 5. A player is only as good as he lets himself be, and the Penguins were letting themselves be pretty darn bad in Game 5. They looked great at the beginning, but a soft goal by Dan Cleary started an avalanche of bad penalties and unfinished chances that led to the mess that was the team in white during Game 5. The Pens, usually so poised and wise beyond their years, displayed attitudes of children far younger, and they have no one to blame but themselves.
A hockey player - or any person for that matter - can become something larger than themselves if they dig deep enough. The youngsters on the Penguins epitomized that attitude the whole last half of the season and up to Game 5 of the Finals. However, on that fateful night, the Penguins started to dig, hit a rough patch, and proceeded to throw down the shovel, kick it, kick a few rocks, stub their toes on the rocks, kick some more, and finally sit down in a fit of tears and curses. It was horrific, sad, and disappointing to see players like Malkin and Kunitz let their team down with despicable penalties. Even the consistently poised Crosby was caught in his attempt to dismember Zetterberg's foot with his stick. Absolutely pitiful. And it made the team all the more upset when the calm, cooler-than-school Red Wings shrugged off their every attack.
The glimmer of hope that I see at the end of the tunnel is the fact that the Pens aren't normally like this. It can be chalked up to a complete mental breakdown that, while disappointing, is something that can be overcome. Expect a drastically different Pens team entering Mellon Arena on Tuesday night.
While objective in my analysis, I still want the Pens to win, if nothing else than to see the underdogs get one and to see the start of what I'm sure will be a hockey dynasty in the near future. Will they pull it off? I'm hesitant to say. Momentum has been like a huge pendelum in these playoffs, and all it takes is one timely goal or penalty or mixup to shift the favor from one team to the next. If my previous prediction comes true, however, The Red Wings will lift Lord Stanley's Cup for the second time in as many years to a quiet, disappointed crowd at Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh tomorrow night.
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2 comments:
DITTO! I think that Babcock found the winning formula! Henrik on Sidney, and Franzen on Malkin. The frustration definitely shined through!
I'd like to hope that the Pens win game 6 so the Wings can lift the cup on friendly Ice. Instead of lifting it to a half emtpy arena......again.
As I only got to watch the last 15 minutes of the game, I'm going to refrain from too much Hockey Talk. But I saw some highlights that even surprised me. I know we disagree on some things, but 4 misconduct penalties, and cross-checking in the last 5 minutes of a finals game is hardly what I expected to see. Even I didn't want to watch at that point.
All I can say is I'm practically going to pee my pants waiting for Game 6. Emotional are high, and I know they'll be plenty of screaming at the T.V. at the Smith's residence come Tuesday.
P.S. Sorry I couldn't come over, I really wanted to. My in-laws decided to come over and mow my lawn, and do yard work without telling me. Kind of a service project. When I found out, I knew I needed to stay and do the work to. So I was jack hammering out my walkway, and all that fun. I really, really wanted to watch the game with you. Is there anyway you can come up on Tuesday and have a party with me, and maybe Willie, and my 42" T.V. and surround sound?
I was pretty bummed about Saturday!
Like I said, I don't think we'll see that behavior from the Pens again. It was an inexcusable mental breakdown that has happened to everyone at some point. Or, every minute of every day if you're Sean Avery. The Pens are better and they know it, and I think they'll come out with something to prove in Game 6. Expect a high intensity game and a lot of fun. But I still am a little skeptical that the Pens will be able to halt the onslaught the Wings will certainly bring. Not what I want to say, because there are a couple guys on the Pens who I'd really like to see wing the Cup.
At this point in the year I go for the teams with the most players who don't have a Cup. in '06 it was the Canes, '07 the Ducks and so on. This year, I would love to see some saavy, classy vets like Guerin and Gonchar lift the Cup. Will it happen? Probably not this year. But there's always hope. No one gave the 1980 US Team a chance, and look what they did...
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