Not Mark Messier
18 years after Mark Messier’s Guarantee, the Rangers and Devils find themselves in familiar positions. Given that it’s probably going to be the topic of the day (you think?) until the puck drops tonight, I thought I’d share a bit of a corny video tribute to the moment that I found on youtube.
Martin Brodeur, presumably while listening to "Triple-H's" theme song
Between violent hits, big upsets, the Kings’ dominance and other story lines, there has been plenty to talk about so far in this year’s NHL playoffs.
One of the topics (players) that I don’t think people have talked about or are talking about enough, though, is Martin Brodeur.
The Kings cruising through the Western Conference playoffs in just 14 games gives us ample time (another week) to reflect on how dominant they’ve been ahead of the Stanley Cup Final, but I’ve already done enough of that recently.
What I randomly started thinking about as the Kings celebrated last night was the level of parity in the NHL.
If like me, you’re a fan of all sports, you probably have, at one time or another, found yourself drawing a comparison between two teams or players across different leagues.
For me, and I know I’m not alone on this, one of those pairings has always been the New Jersey Devils and the San Antonio Spurs.
I’ve spent enough words on the Kings’ absolute domination of the 2012 Playoffs so far. Last week, I wrote about how this team should never be referred to as an underdog story or an overachiever. On Wednesday, I wrote about the Kings’ 10-1 start to the post-season and how it was one of the best in the last 30 years.
With their 2-1 Game 3 win over the Coyotes on Thursday night, L.A. has now matched the 1983 Oilers and the 1995 Red Wings as the only teams since 1980 to start the playoffs 11-1.
The catch is that neither of those two teams won the Stanley Cup that season. The ’83 Oilers were swept in the Stanley Cup Final by the Islanders, while the ’95 Red Wings were swept by the Devils in the Final.
The deeper and deeper we get into the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the greater the tension gets for the players, the coaches, the management teams and even the fans.
Sometimes it’s good for all involved to get even just a few seconds of tension-breaking humour to lighten the mood. Well the Devils and Rangers got it on Wednesday night in the form of a faulty penalty box door at Madison Square Garden.
If you read my rant on the Kings last week, you’ll know that I hate the notion that they’re anything close to an “underdog” story just because they finished eighth in their conference. I also hate the fact that people are now pointing to the Kings and saying, “see, all you have to do is get in (to the playoffs), and then anything can happen.”
I hate this because, again, if you read my prior rant, you’ll know that I think it’s ridiculous to treat this Kings team like your standard eight-seed.
But forget dismissing them as an underdog for now. What I’m hear to marvel over this morning is the Kings’ utter domination through 11 games and two-and-a-half rounds of the 2012 Playoffs. In short, they’ve dominated the post-season like few teams in my lifetime ever have.
Jo Innes, Ryan Lambert, Daniel Wagner, Cam Charron, Ellen Etchingham, Jake Goldsbie, Darren Kritzer
