EduClaytion

They Touched The Prince’s Hardware

Quite a historical day, eh?  No, I’m not talking about Obama nominating a Latin lady, I’m referring to the Pittsburgh Penguins defying the odds and returning to the Stanley Cup finals for a second consecutive year.  Let’s hear it Steel City hoopleheads.

By sweeping the Carolina Hurricanes in four straight games, the Pens emerge as Eastern Conference champions.  That and a bunch of bruises gets them the Prince of Wales trophy, a shiny piece of hardware that the team refused to touch last year.  Why would they do that?  Well, last year they figured the goal was a bigger trophy known as the Stanley Cup.  After losing in six games to the Detroit Red Wings in the finals last spring, they ended up failing to get their mitts on any shiny metal.  So this year they decided to get close to the Prince of Wales trophy.  They grabbed it, posed with it, held it, caressed it.  Yes, it was like a soap commercial. 

Versus reporter Christine Simpson asked Penguins captain and all around greatest Canadian going Sidney Crosby why the change of heart.  Sir Sidney simply said, “Last year we didn’t touch it and things didn’t work out the way we wanted.”  Ah, the wonderful world of hockey were pros are more superstitious than Black Death survivors.

The brothers Staal, Jordan and Eric, passed one another in the traditional handshake line–a tradition you will never see in the NBA by the way.  Carolina’s fans were classy in defeat since they follow a classy organization.  That’s a refreshing site after dealing with Washington and Philadelphia, although I’d hate to put any city in the classless vicinity of Filthadelphia whose fans must have blood, be it the oppositions or their own players or Santa Claus’. 

Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward tastes playoff defeat for the first time in his young career.  At 25, that guy is going to be around and scary for a long time.  Of course, so is Marc-Andre Fleury.  He may have a smile like Mister Ed, but they ladies sure do swoon when he talks.

I’m tempted to sing the praises of all those black and gold stars now, in victory, before the final matchup is determined.  Last year’s run ended badly after this point, but the fact that such stories can be written a second straight year flies in the face of history.  Few team have ever made it back to the finals a second year, let alone a team that lost the previous season.  The last time such a turn occurred would have been 1983 when a certain Edmonton Oilers team led by Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier came back from a defeat at the hands of the New York Islanders to claim the Cup the following season.  Hopefully the tandem of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin can duplicate that effort.  Hopefully we’ll be able to write these types of stories for the next decade.

Sadly, that last scenario isn’t likely.  Sometimes teams go all the way, and it seems like they’ll never fall.  Most often, though, the run ends abruptly.  Apparently repeated success is difficult with so many other talented professionals chasing down the dreams of a lifetime all at once.

So here’s to 2009.  The Pens have not accomplished all they set out to do, but four months ago this team was dead in the water, or on the ice.  Now they await the winner of Chicago-Detroit.  Most likely they will see the Red Wings again.  This year will be very different. 

Every Pittsburgh skater from last season remembers the sickness that dwells in their guts as they lost just two wins short of their dream.  They choked that feeling down but refused to give it up.  They had to keep it close enough to recall, the pain piercing somewhere near their hearts.  Now they must use that pain to drive them for just four more wins.  Nothing else matters.  There’s only one piece of hardware they want to raise.  There is only one Stanley Cup.

May 26, 2009 - Posted by educlaytion | Sports