If you needed another reminder why hockey fans are awesome, here’s a story from Lac La Biche, Alberta, which is where Rene Bourque‘s parents reside.
Facing elimination, the Montreal Canadiens defeated the New York Rangers 7-4 on Tuesday night thanks to three goals from Bourque, who now has eight goals in 16 playoff games. Bourque has been on a roller coaster this season and many Canadiens fans thought he should be dealt at this years trade line. But Bourque has been at his best when it’s mattered most. After only 16 points in 63 regular season games, Bourque has been a spark plug for the Habs and is a main reason why their Stanley Cup hopes are still alive.
Lac La Biche is 2,350 miles from the Bell Center, and while Bourque’s parents would have loved to partake in Tuesday night’s madness, they got a little taste of the fun on Wednesday when about a dozen hats were dumped on their lawn to celebrate their son’s hat trick.
Here’s the picture of the yard, courtesy of @opinionated_mom:
Usually when you hear someone’s yard has been littered, it signifies something negative. For you Friday Night Lights fans out there, the ol’ “For Sale” sign in the coach’s yard is something I’ve seen multiple times. I’ve also heard of brooms being placed by the garage of a coach whose team got swept, but this shows that sometimes littering can be a good thing.
Paul “Biz-Nasty” Bissonette of the Phoenix Coyotes called the Canadiens fans at the Bell Center out for being stingy with their lids, but some residents of Lac La Biche tried to make up for it.
Habs fans being stingy with the hats. Give em up.
— Paul Bissonnette (@BizNasty2point0) May 28, 2014
Shane Darrow is currently a graduate student at Ohio University studying journalism, you can follow him on Twitter @ShaneDarrow.
Milan Lucic showing P.K. Subban the same respect he showed most of the Montreal Canadiens… None.
Let me start off by saying that I am not condoning what Milan Lucic said, but as a player it’s clear to me that Montreal Canadiens forward Dale Weise crossed the line. What happens on the ice, stays on the ice; it has always been that way.
In case you missed it, after the Canadiens upset the Boston Bruins in game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, Lucic had some choice words for Weise as they went through the handshake line.
“I’m going to f***ing kill you next year,” Lucic said to Weise.
At first glance, this is a pretty serious offense. The ceremonial handshake at the end of the series is usually one of the more beautiful moments in the sport, but every so often, something like this happens.
It was later discovered that Canadiens defenseman Andrei Markov told Lucic to look his players in the eye when shaking hands, which most likely rattled Lucic as he approached Weise.
Source:Andrei Markov told Lucic to look the #Habs players in the eye when shaking hands. May have gotten Lucic a little excited #Bruins
Now, anyone that has watched Lucic play couldn’t have been too surprised at his comments, and anyone who has ever gone through a handshake line in hockey knows that it’s not always so friendly.
The ol’ “good game, good game, good game, f*** you, good game, good game…” is still alive and well. I’ve done it, you’ve done it, it’s just a part of hockey.
What bothered me the most is the media making such a big deal out of this “death threat.” Come on, I can guarantee that there were much worse things said on the ice during the series. Honestly, what Lucic told Weise was rated PG for most of the chirping that takes place during a game.
People need to understand what Lucic was trying to do, and that’s get inside Weise’s head, which I guarantee he did because Weise went crying to the media about it after the game.
The Bruins and Canadiens are one of the most historic rivalries in the NHL, which means that these two teams will meet often over the next few years. Every time Weise steps on the ice against the Bruins, he’s going to be looking for Lucic. It’s not like Lucic is a 5-foot-10, 200 pound finesse player, either.
Lucic is 6-foot-4, 235 pounds and one of the toughest and most fearless guys in today’s game. Other players are scared of him and I have proof.
In 2011, Lucic ran over Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller as he came out to play the puck, which is a pretty serious infraction that usually leads to a fight or two. Watch how the Sabres players react:
The look on the Sabres’ players as they go after Lucic is priceless. Thomas Vanek, who you could tell wasn’t psyched about having to be the first one in, gets rag dolled by Lucic from a light shove. Then, it’s up to Andrej Sekera to go after Lucic, but his altercation doesn’t pan out too well either.
Point is, Lucic is a big, bad man and Weise will be looking for him in the future.
I’ll say it again, I’m not condoning what Lucic said in the handshake line, but I do know why he did it; however, the biggest problem I have with the situation is how Weise handled it.
After the game, Weise went crying to the media about how he was “threatened” by Lucic. Really? Many believe that hockey players are the toughest athletes in the world and you’re going to tell the media that you were threatened in the handshake line?
Busch league.
This wouldn’t even be a story had Weise kept what was said on the ice between him and Lucic.
I have no problem with players calling out other players for dirty hits or cheap shots that occur during a game. For example, it was interesting to hear how players felt about Todd Bertuzzi’s career-ending cheap shot on Steve Moore. In 1996, Dino Ciccarelli gave us one of the best sound bites in NHL history after telling the media how he felt about Claude Lemieux.
These were situations that deserved to be talked about because they involved plays that injured teammates. The saying isn’t “sticks and stones may break my bones, but when I hear bad words I tell the press.”
Be a man, Dale. Laugh it off and pour yourself a glass of champagne for upsetting the President Trophy winners, don’t cry to the cameras about how classless Lucic is.
Lucic was confronted about Weise’s comments and called him a “baby” for saying what he did. Well Milan, I agree.
There aren’t four words that sting harder after you watch the final seconds tick away from their final game. The bar you’re in gets dimmer, the drink your sipping gets chugged, the potential excitement dies and it seems like there’s nothing more to look forward to.
Everything starts to bother you. The person in the screen printed T-shirt going ballistic when his team beats yours makes you want to whip a full glass toward them. How big of a fan can you be when you only have a damn T-shirt to watch game 7?
Everyone turns into an expert, yourself included. It was the coach, it was goaltending, it was the power play, it was the refs, it was a lack of execution, they weren’t focused, they didn’t play with emotion, the superstars didn’t show up, they took too many penalties, the rink wasn’t cold enough, their plane arrived late… It had to be something.
Every year feels like it’s supposed to be the year.
29 fan bases will feel the same way, but that never makes it any easier. You followed the team since the preseason and you know the ins and outs of the roster. Nothing can go wrong.
Every conversation over the next few days is about who should be fired, who should be resigned, who should be released, etc. But the thought that there are fans who are looking forward to the next series makes your teeth grind. Why can’t that be us? We deserved it, not them.
It took me a few days to calm down so I could write this. Had I written this on the night the Penguins were eliminated I don’t think there would have been too many words spelled correctly. You put yourself in an emotional coma and when you wake up you hope it was all just a nightmare. But it never is, it actually happened.
You’re out.
In the end, it’s the beauty of the game and it separates the real fans from the fake ones. Real fans struggle to go on with their every day lives when they know they have to keep their jersey stashed until the Fall. They’ve imagined the night when their captain hoists the Stanley Cup, but that night will have to wait at least one more year.
Reality will eventually sink in and people will tell you it’s just a game. It’s only hockey. There’s no reason to get upset over the things you can’t control. They were going to lose in the next series. You’re not personally affected.
But for most of us, hockey is all we are and all we will ever be. We eat, sleep, breathe and dream the game. It’s one of the worst days of the year for most of us, but it’s also what makes the game so great.
Better luck next year.
Shane Darrow is a graduate student at Ohio University studying journalism. You can follow him on Twitter @ShaneDarrow. Also, please check out Just Dangle Hockey for the best apparel in the business.
Once again, we’re reminded there are things in life that are bigger than hockey.
As a Penguins fan, it hurt watching the Penguins get spanked by the Rangers Friday night in game 5. It was difficult to watch a team come out so flat at home with a chance to close out a series. It was frustrating to hear the boos from thousands of people who spent a significant amount of their income to attend the game. All they got was a front row seat to their favorite team getting embarrassed in their own building.
However, as a Penguins fan it was also a blessing to see what the boys did for Martin St. Louis.
In case you haven’t heard, St. Louis’ mother, France, unexpectedly passed away on Thursday. She was 63 years old. No one would have questioned St. Louis if he had decided to stay at home in Montreal and be with his family. Players have missed games for far less, but St. Louis decided he wanted to be with his team and take the ice just 24 hours removed from one of the worst days of his life.
People love to rag on Sidney Crosby, but what he did for his Olympic teammate before Friday’s game exasperated nothing but shear class. Crosby seeked out St. Louis and found him warming up on an exercise bike. He shook his hand and had a brief conversation with him, which was caught on camera – you can view the footage here.
What amazes me is that St. Louis has only been with the Rangers for a few months. Remember, he was traded for Ryan Callahan at the trade deadline. This isn’t the Lightning team that St. Louis played the majority of his career with, it’s dozens of new faces and a completely different atmosphere than that of Tampa Bay, Florida. I’m sure he’s found camaraderie, but anyone who has played juniors can tell you that getting a player midseason is always a transition.
However, hockey players are a strange breed.
St. Louis decided to take the ice and his brothers in red, white and blue followed him out onto the ice at Consol Energy Center. The Rangers came out flying and dominated the Penguins in the opening period. They gained a two-goal lead and the Penguins never recovered. It’s impossible to be certain what it was that made the Rangers the most energized they’ve been all season, but I’m sure it had something to do with St. Louis. When one of the boys is struggling off the ice, it’s amazing how it translates on the ice.
The beauty of the game is that it allows us to take our minds off of the rest of the world and be free for a couple of hours. When one of my best friends passed away during the summer heading into my junior year of high school, I decided that I was no longer just playing for myself. At the end of every national anthem, I would get on one knee, touch the ice, hit my heart and then point up to the sky and say the same thing.
“I know you’re watching down on us, I miss you and I love you.”
During my senior season, I scored in overtime against our rivals in the playoffs and I broke away from my teammates so I could point to him. At the time, it was the biggest goal of my career – I wanted him to share the moment with me.
Martin St. Louis’ story isn’t sad because his mother passed away, it’s sad because it was so unexpected. In this world, we will all eventually flatline, but being able to say goodbye is the only thing we can ever ask for. Some of us will be lucky to do so, but some of us sadly won’t.
I have always respected St. Louis. He was a player that was told he would never make it. He’s only 5-foot-8 and went undrafted, yet he’s been in the league since 1997 and at 38 years old is one of the elite players in the game. The fact that he decided to play on Friday night makes me respect him even more.
We all have our own ways for handling tragedies, and for most hockey players, it’s taking the ice when no one else thinks you should. St. Louis flew back to Montreal to be with his family, then flew back to Pittsburgh to play with his brothers.
My Life is Hockey 