OMG... freaking out
I've really stayed pretty calm the last couple of days waiting for this game but now, a half hour from puck drop, I'm freaking out. Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. I've never watched a hockey game that has meant more to me. I'm going to be elated or I'm going to be devastated. No middle ground.
I have a lot of confidence in this team to win the big game and this is the biggest. But in a one game scenario anything can happen. Hockey can be a game of inches, a game of bounces. I actually had a dream while I took a nap earlier today that the Wings were trailing by a goal, scored to tie it and then scored to take the lead and somehow both goals (??? It was a dream, okay?) were called back on a goaltender interference call on Holmstrom and I was absolutely livid! So am I nervous? Oh you bet.
I know all the odds. Home teams in the NHL win 80% of Game 7s. In the Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Finals all-time home teams are 12-2. The Wings are 11-1 at home in this playoffs. The home team is 6-0 in this series. No road team has won a Game 7 for the championship in the NHL, NBA, or MLB in 30 years. It hasn't happened in the NHL in even longer -- 38 years. But none of that changes the fact that tonight two very, very good hockey teams are going to take the ice with the chance to win the Stanley Cup, the hardest trophy to win in professional sports, by winning one. single. game.
Which team is going to want it more? Will the Red Wings' desire to deliver for their fans, their city, this state that so desperately needs something, anything to feel good about be stronger than the Penguins' desire to win their first championship as this group, their first championship in 17 years, and rub it in the faces of the Wings and their fans by winning it on Detroit's home ice the way Detroit did to them just last year?
I want to believe the Wings will not let us down. That they will celebrate their 5th championship in 12 years tonight and that the people of Detroit will party long into the night. That a million people will pack downtown Detroit for a victory parade and be allowed to forget about auto companies and bankruptcies and foreclosures and a 13% unemployment rate at least for a few hours and get to bask in the enjoyment of one thing this state does have going for it -- we have a kick ass hockey team.
In a few hours we'll find out.
I have a lot of confidence in this team to win the big game and this is the biggest. But in a one game scenario anything can happen. Hockey can be a game of inches, a game of bounces. I actually had a dream while I took a nap earlier today that the Wings were trailing by a goal, scored to tie it and then scored to take the lead and somehow both goals (??? It was a dream, okay?) were called back on a goaltender interference call on Holmstrom and I was absolutely livid! So am I nervous? Oh you bet.
I know all the odds. Home teams in the NHL win 80% of Game 7s. In the Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Finals all-time home teams are 12-2. The Wings are 11-1 at home in this playoffs. The home team is 6-0 in this series. No road team has won a Game 7 for the championship in the NHL, NBA, or MLB in 30 years. It hasn't happened in the NHL in even longer -- 38 years. But none of that changes the fact that tonight two very, very good hockey teams are going to take the ice with the chance to win the Stanley Cup, the hardest trophy to win in professional sports, by winning one. single. game.
Which team is going to want it more? Will the Red Wings' desire to deliver for their fans, their city, this state that so desperately needs something, anything to feel good about be stronger than the Penguins' desire to win their first championship as this group, their first championship in 17 years, and rub it in the faces of the Wings and their fans by winning it on Detroit's home ice the way Detroit did to them just last year?
I want to believe the Wings will not let us down. That they will celebrate their 5th championship in 12 years tonight and that the people of Detroit will party long into the night. That a million people will pack downtown Detroit for a victory parade and be allowed to forget about auto companies and bankruptcies and foreclosures and a 13% unemployment rate at least for a few hours and get to bask in the enjoyment of one thing this state does have going for it -- we have a kick ass hockey team.
In a few hours we'll find out.