http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/capitals/longterm/1998/stanleycup/articles/tkpens96.htm
As you can see by the headline, that article was written back in 1996. Those squads were gritty, tough and maybe a smidge undermanned; they have morphed into a highly skilled team….but the problem is they still choke.
To paraphrase Andy Pollin, you can hold my hockey knowledge in a thimble, but you can tell something is wrong with this team. When you score 2 goals in a two game span with all the firepower they have you’ve got a big problem. An even bigger problem now might be the fact they are rattled, as evidenced by Boudreau’s rambling post game 6 press conference. When the coach is shaken, everyone else is.
And the saddest part of it all is this is the redemption setup; you can knock out the Flyers who beat you in 2008 and then you get a chance to knock off your all time tormentor Pittsburgh to go to the Stanley Cup Finals. Unfortunately it looks like the dream scenario may go by the wayside.
There’s still a good chance they’ll catch a little bit of luck tomorrow and find a way to win. And if they do, they may just run the table because the matchups are better. But as someone who sat through the Pittsburgh collapses in the 90’s, and heard about the Islanders losses, and sat through the Easter Massacre 3 OT loss to Tampa (I could go on) I have a feeling something bad is coming. The only question is will it be deflating or the swift and sudden gut punch?
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