There just seems to be a passion there that you don't see with other sports championships.
Is it the difficulty of making it that far?
Is it the mystique of a trophy as old as the cup?

I am a sports fan in general, and watch them all (except soccer. Never really could get into that one), and the way Hockey players give themselves up in the Cup finals is far and away (IMO) over what you see in other sports.
From Adam Foote getting his upper lip sewn back together ON THE BENCH (and if you didn't see it, it was split open from his mouth to his nose) and coming right back out on the ice a few years ago to John Madden getting his face sliced open, taking 16 stitches, and coming right back into the game. That is incredible to me.
Then... to top it all off Paul Kariya gets completely OBLITERATED by Scott Stevens in tonight's game. He was out dead cold in the middle of the ice, and as the replay showed, at least for a few seconds he was not breathing. Youre thinking "Well, he's gone at least for the rest of this game, maybe for a while."
Nope. The guy goes to the locker room, gets checked out, and comes right back into the game. Then within a few minutes actually scores a damned goal.
WTF??? Thats just unreal.

I don't think its the old adage that Hockey players are tough (they are for sure, but some of this stuff goes beyond "tough"). There's something else there.

So my point is (relating back to this board)... What is it that drives us to the level where we press on regardless?
Why is it that the ARRC always sees more wrecks along with faster lap times?
What is it about the Rose Cups that make the western guys step it up a notch?
The Runoffs?
Topeka?

I think I know the answer. What do you guys think?

 

One word "GLORY"

 

devils will win it at home.

 

The edge. As I remember Paul Page talking about qualifying for the '92 Indy 500... "the fastest laps are found inches from the wall, flirting with disaster"

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by illusion &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">devils will win it at home. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I hope they don't. I know you're from Jersey, BUT...

The type of hockey they play may win games but it's ruining the Game of Hockey..

 

I am hugh Hockey fan and have been for years, used to be a red wings fan, now Hurricanes Fan, I think most hockey players are still playing because they love to play, they are the lowest paid in all of the team sports (of course it is still more money than I will make in a year) And in hockey it seems that most of them know that anything can happen, and the sudden death overtime is just a incrediable thing in hockey, and as anahiem and Minessota proved this year is a great equilzer, as you dont have to the best players just the most desire.

Paul Kariya coming back to score a goal after getting hit like that is incrediable, Last year when my canes where making a thier run to the finals, in game 6 of the motreal series Jeff O' Neal took a puck off the eye, his eye was almost swelled shut when he was playing, but he scored the winning goal in over time to send the 'Canes to the East Conference Finals.

The Stanely cup playoffs are really uncomparable to just about anything in sports, and where unmatched in the number of games need to win the cup, until the NBA went to a best of 7 in the first round... but who watchs the NBA anyway ..

As far as a Defensive style of hockey ruinung the game, I think that is more that , as Bret Hull said in a recent interview, that Coachs would rather lose 2-1 than 6-3 because they are scared that too many 6-3 loss's will put thier job in jeporday, where 2-1 losses are easy to explain with comments like we didn't get the lucky bounce and so on.

GO DUCKS!

 

There have been quite a few heroic stories over the years. Goalie Jacques Plante, getting his face obliterated by a puck back in the days when goalies did not wear masks. After getting his face stitched up he came back on the ice with the first mask ever worn by a goaltender. Then, which is probably one of hockey's greatest stories, Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Bob Baun suffered a broken leg in Game 6 of the 1964 Stanley Cup finals against Detroit. Baun came back to score the winner in overtime and played Game 7 as the Leafs won the Cup...

I remember Montreal's Bob Gainey playing through the '86 playoffs with a disclocated shoulder. The injury wasnt revealed to the public until after the Canadians won the cup that year... Patrick Roy having an inflamed appendicitus during the playoffs in late 80's (i think), spending a few days in the hospital, refusing to undergo surgery and returned to play the next game... I'm sure there are plenty more examples like that...

I dont think it has so much to do with the game itself but more on one individual's determination. There just seems to be more of these people involved in Hockey. But there have also been plenty of players choking under pressure and exaggerating an injury just to leave the game...

 

People stop worrying about things other than the task at hand. They concentrate more. They sometimes get tunnel vision as a result and hit stuff.

Of course, who am I to speculate on the inner workings of a driver's mind. My "mental game" - or lack thereof - might be grounds to have men in white lab coats whisk me away to a clinic somewhere.

 

It's all about the history of the game. The Stanley Cup is just another trophy without it. Maybe it's the abundance of second chances teams get in the playoffs. The series to win the cup is 7 games. I personally believe it's about team work. As much as I hate him, Darren Pang mentioned that "it doesn't always take talent to win, sometimes it takes a certain drive inside that WILLS you the win" He happened to be talking about Kariya. After getting laid out just about unconscious on the blue line, less than 30 minutes later comes back to score. Nowhere else in sports right now, do people play the game just for fun. I think (to thier discredit) the NHL has so many teams going bankrupt because of this. The NHL's mentality of "if we play the game hard, the fans will come" is gone. They need to run it like a business, which might just ruin the "history" of the game. The fans want to come out and see hitting, fighting and goal scoring. To make hitting better, suit the guys up better and let them wail away, fighting has always been officially "frowned upon" but has ALWAYS been there to let the teams (competing ) police themselves. The scoring I think is better than it has been, but increasing the size of the nets is not the way to increase scoring. In this fan's opinion, do away with the 2 line pass over the red line, I think we will have much more scoring and way more odd man rushes.

The heart of the players is what gives this sport some much of it's character. It's way more physical than baseball, way more technical than basketball, more passion than football...and just plain more exciting than golf. Not to discredit these other sports, there are WAY more money savvy, lazy, sometime pathetic whiners that play their games, hockey is truly played for the love of the history of the game. That's what does it for me...If you've ever watched a AA baseball game you know what I'm talking about. Play the game because you LOVE it, not because you need to get PAID.

Long live hockey and the Stanley Cup, God knows it keeps me occupied in the"real" offseason.. and just for the record, I'm a lifelong fan of the Rangers and anyone else who plays the Devils.

Back on topic, relating to my point. We all here race (in whatever venue we enjoy most) strickly for the fun of it. Focus is what exudes the true passion you have for the sport. If you focus, you will succeed, you may not win, but you will have earned the respect of YOURSELF knowing full well you gave it 100%. The toughness of athletes is in their hearts. The more you LOVE your sport, the tougher you are, and the more you are willing to "risk" for the sport and ultimately yourself. The rewards are much greater after sacrifice. Kariya goal wouldn;t have been half as sweet IF he hadn't almost been on a stretcher, IF he hadn't been the captain who came back to fight for his team,IF he hadn't been doing this in front of the home crowd, IF he hadn't been the 1ST guy picked by the team 10 years ago, IF he hadn't wanted to end his scoring drought, and ultimately IF he hadn't there would be NO GAME 7. That's heart. I truly beleive there are alot of people on this board who posses just as much if not more. I see it every time I get out to an event. You can almost see who wants the win the most in their eyes. It's absolutely eerie(sp) sometimes. Long live motorsports and hockey, my year would not be the same without eaither of them.

I leave you with the immortal words of Charlie Sheen "Quack, Quack, Quack....."
GO DUCKS....get that 16th win at 16W..

Jeff
[added a point]


Modified by jasyatz at 9:01 PM 6/8/2003