It’s a tired cliche in sport that there’s no greater cure-all than winning. I once had an athlete tell me that everything feels better after a win… food tastes better, your car drives better, your girl looks better, etc. But how about another team’s win; could that make something better? The answer is yes. Perhaps a consolation prize to be sure but in this instance the answer is yes. The Canadiens had the worst record among teams in the playoffs and was cast as the 8th seed. They weren’t supposed to be good. And they certainly weren’t supposed to be beat-the-President’s-Trophy-winning, Alex Ovechkin-having, home-advantage-enjoying-Caps good. All the questions prior to the Caps, Habs best-of-7 was how short of a series will you make this, Capitals? And they were taken to 7. With a heartwrenching, Mike Green bashing, season ending Game 7 loss. And now their rivals with that pesky Sidney Crosby and pretty darn good goalkeep Marc-Andre Fleury have suffered the same fate… Tell me that’s not redemptive.
Of course it is! It shows that Montreal wasn’t a complete fraud. They weren’t a one series and done. The same stifling defense that kept Ovie in check and shut Alex Semin down limited Crosby and Evgeni Malkin to one goal apiece in the entire series. The same stand-on-his-head netminding tactics of Jaroslav Halak provided even better defense. Heading into Game 6, Halak had stopped 106 shots from the Pens. The Stanley Cup Defending Champion Pens! In stark goalie contract, Pittsburgh had to yank Fleury and sub in former Cap Brent Johnson.
So yes, yes this lightly heals the wounds of the Caps. (And a disclaimer: this is in no way better than if the Caps were still playing. But that should be obvious, no?) And maybe there’s a fine line between were you rooting for the Habs winning or the Pens losing; either way this feels infinitely and exponentially better than a Pens win. There’s no disputing that.
I was hoping this would be the outcome, even though the Pittsburgh Penguins were the first team I ever liked when I was growing up (blame it on “Super Mario” Lemieux).
Now I’ll have to dust off my red and blue Habs jersey that my mom got me when she went to Montreal 15 years ago and hope that Les Habitant Canadiens can continue their streak and win the Cup. It would be far better than Philly taking it home.
As a Penguins fan – obviously I won’t be taking much solace in this as the article suggests for the Caps fans. Although if I do dislike a team enough I will enjoy that team losing – i.e. the Patriots and Ravens in football.
I will agree though that the Habs ousting both the Pens and Caps means these aren’t exactly fluke defeats, and it speaks to the importance of a good, hot goal tender, and great coaching.
I think both the coaches in Washington and Pittsburgh were outdone by Martin who kept both his counter parts from finding the match-ups they wanted and while still yielding the opposition plenty of shots, many were easily defensed.
I can only hope that both teams can take something from their series and that both the coaches and front offices take notice for next year. I still want to see Caps/Pens in the conference finals.
I’m not a hockey fan. I haven’t been a hockey fan with anything more than even remote interest since Brett Hull retired. Don’t ask why he was the guy I latched on to, because I don’t have a valid reason.
However, two people have drawn me (like most casual observers) back into the NHL. Crosby and Ovechkin. Personally, my distaste for all things Pittsburgh draws me into being more of an Ovechkin fan, but Sid the Kid is talented.
Crosby and Ovechkin becoming natural rivals is arguably even better for the NHL than having Gretzky was. As much fun as The Great One was to watch, he had no peers. These two can play off of each other, much to the delight of NHL bigwigs.
Does seeing a rival lose make your own loss easier to stomach? Absolutely. I’m a Falcons fan, and I could have dealt with missing the playoffs last year much easier had the Saints not won the Superbowl. The Phillies losing the World Series made it easier to take another down year from the Braves.
Does Pittsburgh losing ease the pain of everybody that had pinned their hopes on Alexander the Great? Absolutely.
I one-hundred percent agree with this article. My first NHL hockey team was the CAPS. (Before that I had a team in my hometown that was below the NHL) and I have been going to games my whole life. One thing is for certain. I hate Pittsburgh and I have had to listen to a lot of crap, especially after the loss to the Habs. Now I feel much better and, in-fact, I am rooting for them to go all the way and that will ever-so-slightly ease the pain.
Now, I can only say one thing…next year!
Just commenting from a sports fan perspective. Absolutely. It makes you feel better if the team that the huge underdog that knocks you off, goes on and knocks off their next opponent.
If that opponent is a budding rival / Ovi’s key rival (who also got UBER shut down, actually got shot down way worse than Alex, imo) – yeah that helps heal the wound… and brings a little bitter joy.