E-Mail
Print
The season that sometimes feels as though it will never end finally did last night with the Kings winning their first Stanley Cup. I'll take this opportunity to kind of clean out my own locker with some final thoughts on the series and what is on the horizon for the Sabres.
It's easy to say and plenty of people take the opportunity to make the point of how great it would be to experience what the fans in Los Angeles were treated to last night. Generally I favor a more dramatic conclusion but a two hour coast to a championship has to feel pretty great. The building roaring for the final 5-minutes or more while a lifetime of angst floats up to the rafters and beyond is a feeling I spent considerable time pondering last night. Envy only scrapes the surface of how watching that scene made me feel.
The things you get to ponder while the game has been decided. If I were a Kings fan I would have been lost in the pecking order of the Cup as it is passed from player to player. Speaking of the passing off of the trophy, I'm glad Simon Gagne and Jordan Nolan managed to stay upright after both came about as close to falling as I can recall.
The game last night will likely be remembered for the 5-minute penalty taken by Steve Bernier that resulted in 3 power play goals for LA. That play was preceded by a hit on Steven Gionta by the Kings Jarret Stoll that could have been called. The Bernier call had to be made, no doubt about it. The Stoll hit, maybe you could call a minor on it. Maybe. So I'm not going to lose my mind over the sequence. Scuderi, the player hit by Bernier, does turn at the last second and draws the penalty. The call just has to be made, period. I don't know what to do about players turning into hits like that. If you've got a solution you're much smarter than me.
The Devils were still allowed to kill the penalty right? Three goals? Mix in a clear and a save here and there and maybe we still have a game.
Something else I'm hearing an awful lot about is Richards and Carter winning after being cast out by Philadelphia last off season. I have been a big fan of the bold moves the Flyers made and still am. It wasn't working in Philly and they did something about it. I wouldn't want to underestimate the impact being dumped could have had, particularly on Richards, who wore the "C" for the Flyers. Seems to me to be the sort of slap in the face that could result in a new approach. Winning in LA doesn't definately mean Philly blew it when they moved Richards and Carter. Maybe they did. I think the change may have done a world of good for Richards. Carter perhaps as well. It just took him sulking through most of the season in Columbus first. If I'm Philly, I still make those trades. Without the change of scenery it's certainly possible that whatever problems the Flyers felt they had with the players are still there. A different result in a different city doesn't doesn't change that for me. As I said, maybe the Flyers should have been more patient. Maybe the situation would have just worked itself out.
You know, the way the Sabres problems just resolve themselves.
If nothing else, the success of the cast off Flyers could tempt you to take a chance on a good to great player with a problematic reputation. A different situation can get you a different result.
It's also possible, by the way, that Richards and Carter haven't done anything differently and were just in an environment where they weren't the kingpins on their team and therefore didn't matter as much as the leaders that were there when they arrived.
So now, let's get to it Sabres. Trades, free agents, the draft. All are coming and despite missing on Ville Leino last July I'm ready to see the Sabres go big again.
I still am open to trading just about anyone on the team with the exception of Tyler Myers. There are other guys, notably Brayden McNabb and Marcus Foligno, that I'd prefer to keep. But Myers remains my one true untouchable. Those other two are lose, maybe barely touchable.
How's that? I've got a list of barely touchables. I think I'm ready for the off season wheeling and dealing to begin.
Go get 'em Darcy.
It's easy to say and plenty of people take the opportunity to make the point of how great it would be to experience what the fans in Los Angeles were treated to last night. Generally I favor a more dramatic conclusion but a two hour coast to a championship has to feel pretty great. The building roaring for the final 5-minutes or more while a lifetime of angst floats up to the rafters and beyond is a feeling I spent considerable time pondering last night. Envy only scrapes the surface of how watching that scene made me feel.
The things you get to ponder while the game has been decided. If I were a Kings fan I would have been lost in the pecking order of the Cup as it is passed from player to player. Speaking of the passing off of the trophy, I'm glad Simon Gagne and Jordan Nolan managed to stay upright after both came about as close to falling as I can recall.
The game last night will likely be remembered for the 5-minute penalty taken by Steve Bernier that resulted in 3 power play goals for LA. That play was preceded by a hit on Steven Gionta by the Kings Jarret Stoll that could have been called. The Bernier call had to be made, no doubt about it. The Stoll hit, maybe you could call a minor on it. Maybe. So I'm not going to lose my mind over the sequence. Scuderi, the player hit by Bernier, does turn at the last second and draws the penalty. The call just has to be made, period. I don't know what to do about players turning into hits like that. If you've got a solution you're much smarter than me.
The Devils were still allowed to kill the penalty right? Three goals? Mix in a clear and a save here and there and maybe we still have a game.
Something else I'm hearing an awful lot about is Richards and Carter winning after being cast out by Philadelphia last off season. I have been a big fan of the bold moves the Flyers made and still am. It wasn't working in Philly and they did something about it. I wouldn't want to underestimate the impact being dumped could have had, particularly on Richards, who wore the "C" for the Flyers. Seems to me to be the sort of slap in the face that could result in a new approach. Winning in LA doesn't definately mean Philly blew it when they moved Richards and Carter. Maybe they did. I think the change may have done a world of good for Richards. Carter perhaps as well. It just took him sulking through most of the season in Columbus first. If I'm Philly, I still make those trades. Without the change of scenery it's certainly possible that whatever problems the Flyers felt they had with the players are still there. A different result in a different city doesn't doesn't change that for me. As I said, maybe the Flyers should have been more patient. Maybe the situation would have just worked itself out.
You know, the way the Sabres problems just resolve themselves.
If nothing else, the success of the cast off Flyers could tempt you to take a chance on a good to great player with a problematic reputation. A different situation can get you a different result.
It's also possible, by the way, that Richards and Carter haven't done anything differently and were just in an environment where they weren't the kingpins on their team and therefore didn't matter as much as the leaders that were there when they arrived.
So now, let's get to it Sabres. Trades, free agents, the draft. All are coming and despite missing on Ville Leino last July I'm ready to see the Sabres go big again.
I still am open to trading just about anyone on the team with the exception of Tyler Myers. There are other guys, notably Brayden McNabb and Marcus Foligno, that I'd prefer to keep. But Myers remains my one true untouchable. Those other two are lose, maybe barely touchable.
How's that? I've got a list of barely touchables. I think I'm ready for the off season wheeling and dealing to begin.
Go get 'em Darcy.