Dominic Moore jumps Into Dan Boyle’s arms after a goal in game 5 of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs – Getty Images
Sometimes we get so caught up in our own adversities that we never stop and think about what the athletes who we call our heroes have gone through.
Dominic Moore, an NHL forward currently playing the New York Rangers, recently shared his story with Jeremy Schaap and it will bring even the strongest of us to tears. Moore, who could be called an NHL journeyman having played for nine NHL franchises, walked away from hockey during the midst of a playoff run in 2012; he then sat out the shortened 2012-13 season.
Some of us never knew why, but his story tells the tragedy of his wife, who he met as a sophomore at Harvard, and her eventually fatal bout with cancer.
The life of an NHL girlfriend or wife is not easy and it is a story that is seldom told. Hockey players might be the toughest athletes in the world, but many of them are only able to be so strong on the ice because of their other half, who consistently give up their own dreams in order to allow their significant other to chase theirs.
Moore’s story is a sad one, but it shows how professional athletes are people just like you and me. It shows that under all of the equipment, there’s still a heart. It shows that hockey players aren’t invincible. It shows what hockey wives will go through and how supportive hockey players can be.
Hockey players, coaches, fans, mothers, fathers, girlfriends, wives… This is a must watch.
First off, writing this as a Pittsburgh Penguins fan isn’t easy. I want to believe that the Penguins will steamroll the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round of the playoffs, but there is one landmark standing in the way.
Sergei Bobrovsky is only 25 years old, but he has already carried a city on his shoulders for the last two years. The Blue Jackets are the only major professional sports team in Columbus, and even though there is the Columbus Crew and Ohio State University, Bobrovsky has finally brought some life into a city that used to be the laughing stock of the NHL.
Rick Nash just couldn’t do it. He was the face of the franchise for years, but he couldn’t get the Blue Jackets that precedented first playoff victory in franchise history. Many people said he wouldn’t really thrive until he was sent to a city with a larger market, but after only 39 points in 65 games with the New York Rangers this season, that argument isn’t looking too strong.
Bobrovsky on the other hand spent his first two years in the NHL in Philadelphia, which has proved to be one of the worst locations for talented goaltenders. The media ran out Ilya Bryzgalov and now it’s Bobrovsky who has been striving ever since he departed Philly.
The expectations in Philadelphia were always too high. It was win the Stanley Cup or get out of town.
Bobrovsky only played a total of 223 minutes in the playoffs with the Flyers, so the amount of pressure placed on the starter has never been felt by him; however, there will be no pressure felt by the Blue Jackets or Bobrovsky when their first round playoff series against the Penguins begins on Wednesday night.
The Penguins are supposed to destroy the Blue Jackets.
The Penguins are 5-0-0 against the Blue Jackets this season and have the four most established offensive players between the two teams in Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, James Neal and Chris Kunitz.
But remember two years ago when the Penguins took on the Philadelphia Flyers and Marc-Andre Fleury basically blew the entire series after allowing 26 goals in only six games? Or how about last year, when the Penguins escaped a first round matchup with the New York Islanders, even though they had no business coming out on the better end of that series.
Marc-Andre Fleury was replaced by Tomas Vokoun last year as well after he struggled once again when it mattered most.
Fact is, if past years have taught us anything it’s that goaltending wins championships, which is ironic considering the NHL has been working for the past decade to find more ways to create offense.
When you think of the Chicago Blackhawks‘ championship run last year, the first few names that come to mind are probably Jonathan Toews or Patrick Kane, but Corey Crawford was just as important to their championship equation; he had a 16-7-1 record, .932 save percentage and allowed under two goals per game.
Are the Blue Jackets the more talented team in this matchup? Of course not – it isn’t even close – but they have the one weapon in between the pipes that can make average teams in the regular season great in the playoffs.
All I’m saying is don’t be surprised if the Blue Jackets turn some heads. There is no reason why the 2014 Blue Jackets can’t become the next 2003 Anaheim Ducks or 2012 Los Angeles Kings.
The pressure is all on Pittsburgh, which can be enough to make a team fail.
My Life is Hockey 