Finally, the regular season is over and the real tests are ahead in the NHL playoffs. Like always, the last few rounds of regular season have been really intensive and full of desperation for the teams on the playoff bubble. It actually took all 82 and a deciding overtime to separate finally send Flyers in and leave Rangers out. Very movie-like script, but it really doesn't get much better.
Before the playoffs it was again time for the journalists to reach to their bags of cliches. Washington Capitals were a perfect ground to create (read reuse) more columns and stories on. The classic pieces of wisdom included the "good production in regular season does not guarantee success in playoffs" and "defence and goaltending will be crucial" as well as "veteran leadership and experience may tilt the scale for underdogs". Same old, same old.
Well, Capitals' goaltending was average, not bad but not excellent either. They were in the middle of the pack on that, but lead the scoring by increduible 0.6 goals per game more than the second best team, Vancouver Canucks. Defence was solid and super productive in the attack zone, lead by Mike Green's heroics. A man, who must be seriously annoying person to be left out of Olympics and be benched in the end of regular season while being by far the best offensive d-man in the league for the second year in a row. Oh yeah, but the playoffs are a different story, right.
The series against Montreal Canadiens was scheduled to be 4-0 with Washington walking over their opponents easily. Then the Capitals went the distance to prove the analysts' cliche-filled prognosis right. How annoying, the most exiting team out on the first round. Not meeting the Penguins in the conference finals. Alex Ovechkin not raising the cup in the end. Nothing, just an early summer vacation.
Judging from the yearly upsets and surprises and drawing from the "old wisdom", it seams that a hockey team is somewhat human in nature. It has a mental state that is vulnerable under high stress and expectations. It's hard to imagine that one team would consist of only the players who choke in the tough spot, but somehow the losing mentality gets contagious and the whole team just falls apart. With this state some statistically improbable numbers start to appear, like 3 goals in 140 shots, not many goals from guys who scored almost a hundred in regular season. Team spirit indeed.
Well, maybe there's some experience behind the worn out cliches for playoff hockey. It sure will be interesting to see how Montreal now does against another young and blazing team in Pittsburgh and who will eventually take the cup. It's been very evenly matched so far, which is always good for the fans. Hard to pick one team over others at this point.
And let's see a bright side on the collapse of Capitals. We'll be seeing some Ovechkin-Semin magic in the international level on the upcoming World championships. Surprisingly high caliber players on the tournament for an Olympic year.
2010/05/03
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