On the Brink of the Stanley Cup Finals It’s Stanley Cup Eve and All Through the House…
the Only Creature Stirring is my Little Ol’ Laptop Mouse

By Valerie Wood

May 21, 2004

In today’s world, with so much going on in the news outside of our control and often outside of our comprehension, many of us look for brief reprieve or retreat in sport. ‘Our’ sports take on an important and needed meaning as a way to escape, to relax, to focus, and to celebrate ‘our game.’ Sports provide a way to remember just for awhile – perhaps for no more than a few hours (say, the length of a hockey or baseball game) – the joy of our passion for the competition, the game itself and its competitors. They are an outlet for our hopes, our emotions, our secret dreams and imaginings. For the avid hockey fan, this time of year is Christmas, Chanukah, New Year’s Eve, 4 th of July, and every happy holiday event rolled into one. The long and grueling season is over, the playoffs take center stage, and even if your team did not make the playoffs, or was eliminated during them, it is still a time to enjoy the best of hockey. The only thing that can make it even better is if ‘your’ team has made it into the Stanley Cup Finals. Even if that hasn’t happened, if you love hockey, you are watching.

WP Kinsella wrote a lyrical collection of short stories with a background of baseball, called The Thrill of the Grass, I have thought, sometimes, that the parallel for hockey (forgive me, WP) might well be The Chill of the Ice.

At last we sit at the brink of the finals – at last – for Lord Stanley’s Cup. A trophy considered among the most priceless in existence. Each playoff series has brought many worthy hockey-playing athletes to the fore. The NHL level is truly the “best of the best,” despite expansion, and every single player on every team could tell you tales about what it took to get there, the grueling work, the sheer dedication, the long season before the playoff season, the overcoming of injuries…. All for the Chill of the Ice.

What stories there are…if one is but to take the time to look?

In the Western Conference final series between the San Jose Sharks and the Calgary Flames, there were many subtle (and not so subtle) moments that could well have defined these teams and their season. Victorious Calgary’s team captain, Jarome Iginla has come to the fore this year, to become a ‘name’ for fans who had not caught his brilliant play during the past several seasons, Iginla scored 10 goals in the playoffs, and led the team to its first Stanley Cup final playoff since 1989. Coach Darryl Sutter did something unprecedented in my memory after the Flames won their 4 th game against the Sharks.

It’s a marvelous hockey tradition ─ and the ultimate in sportsmanship after a series is completed ─ for the players to line up and shake hands with their opponents. Sutter added a new dimension to sheer class when he went over to the visiting team’s exit and shook hands with the opposing Sharks players, often offering an obvious word of praise or consolation, as they departed the rink.

The Sharks were one tough, gritty, customer this past season. Sharks defenseman Jason Marshall has at last achieved the recognition he has so richly deserved as a talented defenseman, with his steady play and quietly dominating presence. Vincent Damphousse, a perennial favorite with a career accomplishments list that reads like a hall of fame ballot. Defenseman Mike Rathje has spent his entire sturdy professional hockey career with the Sharks. Goalie Evgeni Nabokov, who is just now hitting his stride professionally, has been just plain fantastic in net for the Sharks. Then there is the exciting young right winger Jonathan Cheechoo, as fun to watch play as it is to pronounce his name...

As of this writing, the Eastern Conference finals are still going on. Philadelphia’s Keith Primeau and Simon Gagne put it in overdrive and steamrolled their team into a 3-3 tie with the Tampa Bay Lightning, winning in overtime in Philadelphia. They’ve forced a 7 th and deciding game. Tampa Bay had the Flyers down with 1:49 to play – a minute and 49 seconds from the Stanley Cup Finals! – but could not put the Flyers away. Game Seven will be Saturday night (May 23) back at Tampa Bay. If you’re looking for what promises to be a remarkable game, you just might want to check it out.

Back-to-back Southeast Division champions for the past two seasons, Tampa Bay is not likely to fall back on their heels on Saturday night in front of their home crowd. Led by Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis, this team has a phenomenal goaltender in two-time All Star Nikolai Khabibulin, Opposed by the stalwart Robert Esche in goal for the Flyers, this game has every indication of being an intense, emotional battle. The Flyers are a tremendous team, assembled by General Manager Bobby Clarke to be exactly on the tier at which they find themselves. Keith Primeau, now in his 5 th year with the Flyers, has come into his own as the team’s Captain and leader. Surrounded by sheer talent of the caliber of Jeremy Roenick, Tony Amonte, Michal Handzus, Mark Recci – the list goes on and on – it is an interesting testimonial to the process and effect of building a team with good chemistry, versus putting together a team of great players with no chemistry (and missing the playoffs entirely) as has apparently happened with the New York Rangers. The Lightning and the Flyers both teams deserve the trip to the Finals. Whichever team wins on Saturday night will host Game One on Tuesday, May 25.

For the past several years, I have concluded that in football, the Superbowl is not necessarily the “best” playoff game of the season. The divisional finals for the AFC and NFC are usually the intense, ‘can’t miss’ games for me. The Superbowl has become more synonymous with Party Day and chili, snacks and new commercials. In NHL hockey, while the Conference finals have always been amongst the best of the games played, there is still a lot of anticipation about the expected top-notch quality of play in the Stanley Cup Finals. It is doubtful there will be disappointment in that, whichever team you might be rooting for. If one of the final two isn’t your team – well, for goodness’ sake choose one for the finals and go along for the Zamboni ride! It’ll be well worth the trip.

Valerie Woods is the author of the Enforcer. 

For information on Valerie Wood's novel, Enforcer, visit http://www.enforcer.fcpages.com/ (Official Website for Enforcer) or http://www.1stbooks.com/bookview/14441 (Publisher's Website/read an excerpt).

[Top] [Print this Page]