Why oh why does being a sports fan have to be so painful?
I get messages from people all the time. "I'm sorry, Michael G. Kimmel, but Sidney Crosby is a whiner." I had to agree and I felt really bad when I admitted that he was the ONLY diver in the entire National Hockey League.
Take a step back. Just look at either the Columbus or the New York series this playoff season. No, let's just look at the series between the Penguins and the Columbus Blue Jackets. The people who 'whine' (OOPS! See what I just did there?) about Crosby being a whiner wouldn't last the first 10 minutes of the game dealing with what he has to deal with before retaliating - and retaliating in probably a seriously severe manner.
But he's a whiner.
A season or so ago during a playoff game between the Philthydelphia Flyers and the Penguins. Play had been whistled dead and the players were skating back to their benches. There was only one of the Schenn brothers in Philly at that time, but whichever cheap little snot it was skates up behind an unsuspecting Crosby and crosschecked him violently to the ice.
Yes, Schenn could have hit him harder, so I guess there IS that going for him. Point is, the play was over and Schenn basically ambushed him. That was bad enough. Then you have that idiot announcer (I don't recall if it was Pierre McGuire or Ed Olczyk) commenting "What a gutsy, gritty play by Schenn!"
Gutsy?
Gritty?
Yeah, skating up behind someone and blindsiding him out of the blue is the epitome of sportsmanship and the level of competition/competitiveness to which every amateur athlete should aspire.
I'd like to have the opportunity to approach either McGuire or 'Edzo' and give them the same treatment. Wonder if they'd comment what a gutsy, gritty player I was and how I was a benefit to my team and the sport?
You're probably expecting me to start now about how the officials cost the Penguins the series against the Rangers and how they should have won.
Nope. Not gonna happen. The penguins sucked this entire playoff season. In fact, the ONLY players who were consistently reliable (with very very few exceptions) were Jussi Jokinen, Brandon Sutter, Joe Vitale, Brian Gibbons, and Mark Andre Fleury.
Yes, Marc Andre Fleury, Yes, he let in a bad goal or two. Every goalie this season (and every other since as well as from here on out) has done the same thing. Fleury was consistently good. His problem was one or two VERY bad decisions and a terribly unreliable defensive corps in front of him.
So ya can't hang this one on The Flower! I was disappointed Craig Adams didn't play better. He's usually a calming, steady influence. He was missing in action. One wonders what difference (if any) Pascal Dupuis would have made had he been able to return to the lineup. I'm guessing it would have been considerable.
Malkin's production was severely limited. He started to pick it up, but the main compliment this season I can give Geno in the playoffs is that he resisted retaliating to the cheap shots they threw his way. Usually Malkin could be counted for one or two costly, dumb, retaliatory penalties each game. Not this time around.
James Neal? Who? Where was he this post season? Not playing hockey for the Penguins, that's for certain. Oh yeah! He was too busy taking stupid offensive-zone penalties - possibly making up for the penalties Malkin WASN'T taking this time around.
Take a step back. Just look at either the Columbus or the New York series this playoff season. No, let's just look at the series between the Penguins and the Columbus Blue Jackets. The people who 'whine' (OOPS! See what I just did there?) about Crosby being a whiner wouldn't last the first 10 minutes of the game dealing with what he has to deal with before retaliating - and retaliating in probably a seriously severe manner.
But he's a whiner.
A season or so ago during a playoff game between the Philthydelphia Flyers and the Penguins. Play had been whistled dead and the players were skating back to their benches. There was only one of the Schenn brothers in Philly at that time, but whichever cheap little snot it was skates up behind an unsuspecting Crosby and crosschecked him violently to the ice.
Yes, Schenn could have hit him harder, so I guess there IS that going for him. Point is, the play was over and Schenn basically ambushed him. That was bad enough. Then you have that idiot announcer (I don't recall if it was Pierre McGuire or Ed Olczyk) commenting "What a gutsy, gritty play by Schenn!"
Gutsy?
Gritty?
Yeah, skating up behind someone and blindsiding him out of the blue is the epitome of sportsmanship and the level of competition/competitiveness to which every amateur athlete should aspire.
I'd like to have the opportunity to approach either McGuire or 'Edzo' and give them the same treatment. Wonder if they'd comment what a gutsy, gritty player I was and how I was a benefit to my team and the sport?
You're probably expecting me to start now about how the officials cost the Penguins the series against the Rangers and how they should have won.
Nope. Not gonna happen. The penguins sucked this entire playoff season. In fact, the ONLY players who were consistently reliable (with very very few exceptions) were Jussi Jokinen, Brandon Sutter, Joe Vitale, Brian Gibbons, and Mark Andre Fleury.
Yes, Marc Andre Fleury, Yes, he let in a bad goal or two. Every goalie this season (and every other since as well as from here on out) has done the same thing. Fleury was consistently good. His problem was one or two VERY bad decisions and a terribly unreliable defensive corps in front of him.
So ya can't hang this one on The Flower! I was disappointed Craig Adams didn't play better. He's usually a calming, steady influence. He was missing in action. One wonders what difference (if any) Pascal Dupuis would have made had he been able to return to the lineup. I'm guessing it would have been considerable.
Malkin's production was severely limited. He started to pick it up, but the main compliment this season I can give Geno in the playoffs is that he resisted retaliating to the cheap shots they threw his way. Usually Malkin could be counted for one or two costly, dumb, retaliatory penalties each game. Not this time around.
James Neal? Who? Where was he this post season? Not playing hockey for the Penguins, that's for certain. Oh yeah! He was too busy taking stupid offensive-zone penalties - possibly making up for the penalties Malkin WASN'T taking this time around.
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