Maturity
When you think of the Penguins who comes to mind? Obviously Sidney Crosby, Ivgeni Malkin, Sergei Gonchar, Marc Andre-Fluery. When you think of the Red Wings you think of Nicholas Lidstrom, Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk and Chris Osgood to say the least. There is a major difference in experience, the Red Wings have an average age of 33.4 while the Penguins have an average age of 29. Some people may say that it isn't a big deal, but I definitely notice a difference.
To help describe my observation I will use an example from both teams. Sidney Crosby; the leadership of the Pittsburgh Penguin since 2005. Justin Abdelkader; a little known Red Wing aquisition from the Wings AHL affiliate the Grand Rapids Griffins called up for the Stanely Cup Finals. The reason why I chose these two is because they were both born in 1987. One thing I love about the Finals is the level of play! The physicallity of the game seems to be brought up 10 fold. Hit's on the ice are more frequent, and more violent! Which lets be honest, is the reason why most people watch the sport. During the violence that has been these finals I have seen something very interesting. The moments after a hit are very telling about a teams maturity! While I am generally new to Hockey, I know retaliation. From the early years of being a kid, when you brother hits you, you hit him back.
When I watch clean hits put upon the Penguins it's like watching a group of toddlers hitting eachother. It starts at the top. It seems a majority of the time Sidney Crosby gets hit, if the player is close enough, the hit usually is followed by a retaliatory punch. Whether it's a clean hit or not. His teammates see this and this story is played out repeatedly throughout the game. Rather than worrying about what is happening in the game, they are more worried about repairing their ego.
On the wings side last night I saw a viscious hit on Justin Abdelkader by Maxime Talbot, open ice, and hard! Justin abdelkader had his head down, and suffered for it. He got straight up off the ice and skated away, there was no "love tap" or swat with the stick. He got up and knew the game had to played. The position of the puck is more important that the position of the guy who just tried to take his head off. Something else that is note worthy and is my challenge to you for game 4. Watch how many Red Helmets you see on the ice! I was surprised how many helmets were hit off. You know the hit is hard, when helmets come off. But still the retaliation count is probably going to become the next statistic the NHL starts tracking.
Now I know that the Wings aren't an innocent party when it comes to retaliation. Sometimes it's deserved, sometimes it's not. But it seems that the best maturity level the teams has to offer differs on a very large scale. I challenge you to sit and watch game 4. Take note to the level and intensity of the hits, and see how many fists fly after the hits. Take note of the Black Jerseys, and take note of the white jerseys. When all is said and done, I believe frustration gets the best of the Penguins every game with the Wings. The frustration will catch up to them, leading to stupid penalties, and stupid mistakes made by a younger, inexperienced, and immature team.
4 comments:
Hmmm interesting. I love to argue with you just for the sake of arguing... I still love you the same :) Sidney Crosby just had a huge night, showing just how mature he is. The previous games he's done everything right except score: Blocking shots, being defensively responsible, and taking the pressure off Malkin. With the Wings putting Lidstrom, Rafalski, and Hank out every time Crosby's on the ice, it's freed up a lot of space for Malkin to take over, which he has.
The Wings are a well-oiled machine, they are experts at doing EVERYTHING right. But I believe they are running out of steam fast. It's obvious from tonight's game. Detroit's Powerplay and Penalty Kill were just horrendous. This is where their age becomes a detriment. The ferocious hitting style the Pens are employing is also factoring in to the fatigue. While you would call it childish, others would call it passion. Be careful with your sweeping generalizations of how the two teams retaliate. I could point out a number of instances in which players with the names of Maltby, Helm, Ericsson, and Kronwall have returned the love. Kronwall just took a really dumb penalty on Malkin that lead to a powerplay goal. Not to say either team is more innocent than the other, but this is playoff hockey... These guys have played a LONG season and both REALLY want to win the Cup. I love the flared tempers and feistiness. I hope it continues. It's what makes this game different from the others: These are are REAL human beings out there playing, not machines. Both teams are giving us a great series, and while I want the Pens to win, what I want most of all is to see a great Stanley Cup Finals.
I agree Malkin is freed up, and has been causing major damage. Hopefully Babcock will switch things up for game 5 a little.....well I hope anyway.
I may not have been clear, I love the physicality of the game. I love watching someone get hammered. Where I think it's stupid is the second after a hit, and someone's ego is hurt. If you play the game you know you're gonna get rocked sooner or later. Sure both sides retaliate, I state that in the post. From my observation I saw more Wings players getting up and skating away, we could argue numbers of who was more mature (so we'll just agree to disagree).
As for Sid, I love watching the guy play. For me it's excited to watch such an amazing player. I still don't know how to feel about him after the whistle, or after a hit. He'll throw elbows, fists, his stick, whatever is closest to the player who just hit him. Not always mind you, but he seems to have a "how dare you hit me, I'm effing Sidney Crosby" attitude. Which bugs me. What bugs me more is his leadership position conveys that style of play to everyone around. Maybe that's why so many other players do it, maybe not. Who knows.
All in all, I think what I'm trying to say, is we both love watching the game played. Whether its the fights, the hits or the goals. What I personally hate, is the cheap shots, and the hurt egos on the Ice. If you can't stand the heat, get out of the Kitchen. Sure if the hit isn't clean, rock the guys world! But if it's a clean hit, and you just wanna cry about it, get off the Ice. That's my feelings. Don't let a great game get clouded up by all that garbage.
I agree tempers can get flared and a feisty game can be played! But I grew up playing football. If you got hit hard, you know how you pay the guy back? You ring his bell on the next play! Not after the whistle blows just because you are a little embarrassed to be flat on your back with the grass turning blue, gasping for any air you can get! That's the exciting part.
The best way for the Wings or the Pens to get back for cheap shots, and questionable hits is on the score board. Both teams are guilty, but for crying out loud, we only have 2 or 3 more games of Hockey until OCTOBER :,( Don't let that garbage infect my TV.
P.S. I don't know what I'm going to do when the season is over!
I don't agree at all with what you said about Crosby. Does he play with a lot of passion? Absolutely. More so than ANYONE on the ice. Maybe more than anyone in the league besides Ovechkin. He's definitely more of the Mark Messier/Adam Foote type leader rather than the Sakic/Yzerman type. He's got that fire But he doesn't throw any more cheap shots than any other player on the ice, Penguin or Red Wing. And he's willing to stand up for himself OR his teammates (ESPECIALLY his teammates - 2 out of his 3 fights were standing up for someone on his team), which is more than I can say for most superstars on most teams
I like to see scores settled the fair way too. But let's face it, the Humanity Factor is in full force for these guys. They're tired, beat up, and REALLY want the Cup. They're gonna keep doing this stuff, and it's gonna happen on both teams. We just have to enjoy it for what it is. Find the fun in it. I've found that those chippy moments after whistles are often times the things you look back on and laugh as a player. No biggie. In the end most of these players like each other anyway. I wouldn't be surprised to hear of Geno taking Hank out to lunch or something. I don't know if "scores to settle" exist per se for these teams, so I shouldn't have even used that word... it's just tempers, intensity, and probably a little bit of exhaustion and crankiness. As for a "score", that would exist for example with the Todd Bertuzzi/Steve Moore situation.
I miss you, hopefully we can play tomorrow!
Yeah, I agree the scraps are fun. But when it comes once the whistle blows that's fine. Push shove and everything like that. But not after clean hits while the game is still going, that's more of what I don't like. No matter who it is, Red Wings, or Penguins.
Like I said, Crosby playing I love as much as any fan. Yes it's passion, but immaturity after hits is what bugs me. Unless it's dirty rock the guy.
Yeah, I have a show until about 3:00 then I have to go home and mow the lawn, and then go see if Willie needs any help. But I really want to see Star Trek, so yeah we can do that.
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