Much has been made of the level of snarl that the Stanley Cup playoffs have achieved in Round 1.
Nick Kypreos, a former player and now a commentator for Sportsnet had the following observation:
From my experience, no matter who you are, no matter how much skill you have, if you don’t bring your passion to the rink and your willingness to hate your opponent enough to come walk a fine line, then you’re not as useful to your team as you need to be.
And the Sharks' Ryane Clowe offered this view on Sunday to ESPN.com's Pierre Lebrun:
"Until you are out there, you don't really realize the frustration level and the intensity. You don't want to feel like you're getting pushed around, you want to push back. It's a fine line. And skill guys, too, are getting feisty."
I expect the pot to boil over more than a few times during the playoffs. I admire that even with all the pressure to stay within the lines, the players are trying to gain an edge, trying to push the other side into a mistake. It is the job of the referees and league executives in charge of discipline to to do the editing of players and behavior. James Neal out of control? Call him on it now. Don't wait for a better opportunity to get him on something more serious. Because, as Neal was quick to prove, you keep trying to get away with something until someone calls you on it. And then maybe you try it one more time.
It's quite simple, actually. If you get this collection of characters in a room with a puck, you can pretty much expect that a meeting of the National Honor Society WILL NOT break out. Their job is go hard, go fast and go beyond whatever level of energy and emotion they displayed in the regular season.
Get the referees to match that level of intensity with the courage to make the calls and take the heat. And for Brendan Shanahan to make the calls and take the heat.
It's called pressure. The more the better. That's what it takes to determine the Stanley Cup champion.
No comments:
Post a Comment