Dear NBC and NHL:I'll begin with a simple question. Do either of you actually like hockey? I think I can answer for NBC (a.k.a. "Nothing But Conan"), because it is clear the network would rather break out in a deadly skin rash than show the Stanley Cup finals on a weeknight.
There was the puck, just sitting there, after all that, after all the blood and guts spilled on the night, after the exhausting 45 previous shots, after the Blackhawks' tying goal that forced overtime, after the banging and swiping and pushing and groaning on every Detroit puck Chicago's Cristobal Huet somehow managed to repel - heck, he stopped the last shot of regulation by flipping up his leg while lying on his stomach! - after all that, are you kidding? The puck just there? Inches from the goal? An open net? All Darren Helm had to do was swing?
I attended a funeral recently. The man who passed away was a renowned religious leader, a wise, respected, accomplished man. During one of the eulogies, I learned a small detail about his life. He had insisted, when his congregation moved to a new, impressive building, on having his office overlook the playground. This way, he could look out the window to see children playing.Now, this man could have picked any spot. He could have looked down on the prettiest landscape, to remind him that he was the boss.
There is only one hockey player when you want to compare Detroit and Chicago - as sports towns, as food towns, as bar towns, and as hockey towns - and you know who he is.Chris Chelios, 47, was born in Chicago and played nine years as a Blackhawk. He now lives in Detroit, where he has played 10 years as a Red Wing. He is the son of a Chicago restaurant owner; and Chelios now owns two restaurants of his own - in Detroit and Dearborn.He has eaten pizza in both towns, drank beer in both towns, done the late-night thing in both towns, and been cheered and booed in both towns.
You can't blame the Red Wings for falling behind in the opening minutes Sunday afternoon. It takes awhile to put your teeth in, slide the orthopedic shoes on and get the walker out of the closet. "With our legs, because we're so old, like everybody says, you gotta loosen up in the morning," deadpanned Chris Osgood. "And we didn't get a chance to do that." He chuckled. Then he put in his hearing aid.
Here's a scenario: We release more photos of our alleged abuse of prisoners. Those photos shoot to the Internet. They are posted in hotbeds of Islamic extremism. Recruits are rallied. Revenge is demanded. A group of U.S. troops in Iraq or Afghanistan is ambushed, and some are taken prisoner. They are filmed with bags over their heads, as terrorists threaten to slit their throats. And then they do.
It's a good thing the Red Wings have a game today. Otherwise, Dan Cleary's skates might never touch the ground.Several days after the toughest series many of the Wings can remember, Cleary still is flying from being the man who scored the final goal. Actually, he shoved, poked and jammed that puck under Anaheim goalie Jonas Hiller with 3 minutes left in Game 7. He didn't even see it cross the line."I got pushed back and was falling," he said. "But I knew it went in from the noise."
When it comes to one funny bounce - and it has.When it comes to one weird deflection - and it has.When it comes to one ricochet, one shove, one screen, one stray skate blade, one well-positioned stick, one churning body, one annoying pest in front of the net - and it has.When it comes to all of this - and with Game 7, it surely has - I'd look to Tomas Holmstrom.If I could find him.
Mitch Albom writes about running an orphanage in impoverished Port-au-Prince, Haiti, his kids, their hardships, laughs and challenges, and the life lessons he’s learned there every day.
