Find A Better Word

I started writing this last night after watching the hockey game at a local sports bar, but I deleted it. I started writing it again this morning, but was still unhappy with what I was hearing. So as I sit here now, I want to make something abundantly clear to those of you who read this blog: the Detroit Red Wings did not win Game One of the Stanley Cup Finals due to experience. They simply outplayed the Penguins. No more, and no less. No experience was required.

I listened to a few sportscasters yap about how "the experience" of the Detroit Red Wings allowed them to take over the game midway through the second period. Except they didn't take over the game until Mikael Samuelsson's second goal of the game early in the third period. Once they were up two goals, they simply played Red Wings hockey.

So stop talking about experience. It had nothing to do with it. The Penguins did exactly the same thing to the Senators, Rangers, and Flyers in their previous series. They got up by a goal or two, and played shutdown hockey the rest of the way. Do the Penguins get credit for experience? No, they are said to be "inexperienced". "Too green". All that crap.

Look, the Red Wings outplayed the Penguins last night. You can tell simply by the shot total. The Red Wings gave up only 19 shots to the Penguins last night. That's the lowest total for the Penguins in the playoffs thus far. Several Penguins went invisible, including Evgeni Malkin, Petr Sykora, and Ryan Malone. I'll credit Detroit for playing a very good defensive game, but I will not credit their win to experience. Never.

If it was about experience, then the series between Detroit and Colorado should have been much closer. If it were about experience, the Penguins shouldn't have had a shot at beating the Rangers.

If I hear Nick Kypreos or Al Strachan yap about the experience of the Red Wings contributing to their victory in Game One once more, I'll snap. It's an intangible without a doubt. But it's not the reason that Detroit won.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!