"Crosby just ate a peanut butter sandwich WITH the crusts"
"Sid will return on September 19th... to Chuck E. Cheese"
"There is no change to Crosby's condition but he did just buy a new hat"
"There were games held today but who cares? Sidney just looked at his skates"
"Crosby's return is essential to the NHL. The entire league is in jeopardy of folding without his return... okay... we made that last part up... But still!"
Since January 5th of 2010, I have heard nothing but progress reports and lots of 'there is no progress' reports regarding Sidney Crosby's concussion and playing status. After months and months of hearing about his return, tomorrow Crosby will return to the ice. Now I'm not going to say that I don't care about his return. I do... to a minimal extent. I never want to see someone that young have their career ended and I am capable of recognizing his talent. Maybe with his return, I can stop hearing about every move he makes. The National Media has really made the situation stale for me. Initially, I cared because I watched how a concussion injury plagued Andreas Lilja when he was on the Red Wings and I understood how frustrating the symptoms are. After months of hearing that he had no change and that there was no time table every day, I began quite frustrated with the coverage. On September 7th, almost every ounce of care towards the situation left me.
In case you live under a rock, September 7th was the day that the plane carrying the Lokomotiv hockey team crashed. The crash claimed 44 lives. Sidney Crosby had scheduled a press conference to update his status on that day. The status update was essentially a "there is no timetable or update but let us explain how concussions work" type of event. Press conferences take time to set up. They take time to get everything together. However, they also can be postponed quite easily. It was that moment that respect for Sidney, all those working on his behave, and the national media diminished significantly. Many media outlets covered the Crosby press conference first and covered the plane crash secondly as a hockey after thought.
44 people losing their lives were not as important as one player's concussion?
26 other professional hockey players were not as important as Sidney Crosby's injury?
Sidney Crosby is an important player, but he's not the only player that matters.
If you are not the superstitious type, you should probably stop reading right about.... now.
I think it's time to lean towards our superstitious sides. It's time to really get neurotic and play up to that side of ourselves. Now if you don't personally have that side, right on. Good for you. Carry on and do whatever you do on game day that doesn't involve this stuff. I, however, am a VERY superstitious person. Just ask my mother. She was banned from watching Wings games for years when she was identified as a jinx. For the record, the jinx eventually went away but I still get nervous when she watches clutch games.
Desperate times call for desperate measures.
Tonight would be the night to bust out the juice, the mojo, or the lucky charms. Tonight would be the night to do the lucky rituals or things you do. If you didn't watch the first five games and have watched every game since, perhaps you should not watch tonight to see if you are the jinx. But naturally, DVR it and watch it later.
Now I wouldn't suggest that others do something if I wasn't willing to do it myself. I have some items that I exclusively save to wear during the playoffs or important games. I will be wearing those items tonight to see if they help. Call me or any of my neurotic friends fools all you want but the Hockey Gods are serious business. If they have it out for your team, you have to try to change the tide somehow. So this is my own personal effort to try and appease the Hockey God.
Good Luck to the Red Wings tonight. And if all else fails, may they make their own luck
I'm not a hockey coach but I do know a few things.
To win you have to be aggressive. You have to fight and claw for every point. Everything must be earned. No one is going to hand the Wings a win. No one is looking out for the Wings. No team is going to say "Well, The Wings have dropped five in a row, they're frustrated, and they could really use a win. So, let's just NOT play to the best of our ability." That's not going go happen. It's frustrating but tonight will be a battle. Just as every game has been so far.
A few key-points that I believe the Wings are going to have to do to win tonight:
-Stay in control- Generally speaking, the other team can't score if the Wings keep the play in their zone.
-Don't take bad penalties- If they know that grabbing the guy they're chasing with their free hand is going to send them to the box for holding, then they shouldn't do it. Sounds like a very stupid statement but taking stupid penalties needs to quit happening. It's the split decisions type of penalties that need to be avoided. Our penalty kill may be good, but they saw the ice more than they should have last game.
-Put. Pucks. In. The. Net.- Quite obviously the Wings need to be more offensive. They need to not worry about making the highlight reel by any means. Go for the ugly goals. Go for the scrappy goals. They need take any chances they can take. ANY OF THEM. If they've got the goalie beat on a break away, they need take the shot.
-Jimmah keep on Jimmah-ing- Last game Jimmy Howard was great. Tonight, he needs to put up the same effort. Especially if the offense continues to struggle.
-If you don't have confidence, you'll always find a way not to win- The Wings will need to have confidence that they can do the 'right' things. They'll also need to remember that they are a talented group and can achieve anything.
Everyone needs a little motivation now and again:
“Losers live in the past. Winners learn from the past and enjoy working in the present toward the future.”
