I would hate to be a reporter assigned to covering the 2012 Stanley Cup final. I would rather do a story on what Terrell Owens ate for breakfast the morning of Super Bowl XXXIX when his Eagles took on the Patriots. Don Cherry may be one of the most despised individuals on the TV set during the glorious hockey season and I use that term right now incredibly loosely.
Cherry whom, you either have to love him or hate him, is worth watching. It's the most interesting 5-6 minutes of air time that Hockey Night in Canada has to offer. Now that we've reached the Finals, it is especially the most interesting bit of HNIC air time.
There's a catch to that. In order to watch Coaches Corner, you have to take in at least a period of what is by far the most boring Stanley Cup final in the last 20 years.
No Detroit, no Chicago, no Penguins, even the Rangers or the Capitals would have provided some great entertainment given their rosters. The New Jersey Devils are in danger of becoming the latest team to be steamrolled by the Los Angeles Kings. The Devils did not have their greatest hockey game Saturday night, dropping Game 2 in overtime. Losing two games at home to a team that has posted an unbelievable 9-0 record on the road this post season and the guys who lug around hockey's biggest prize may as well start shining 'er up right now.
The worst news for the Devils heading into Game 3 is that the Kings didn't play their best in Game 2and they still won.
The Devils themselves have shown resiliency this offseason, coming back from 3-2, 1-0 and 2-1 series deficits, respectively. In each of those series, the Devils showed they can come from behind and that they can win two, three and even four games in a row. In other words, Game 3 went sour, but that doesn't mean the Devils couldn't jump back in and take Game 4 in Los Angeles.
The Devils had one of the best road records in the league this season, and they've made it this far despite some of their best players not showing up for significant periods of time. Remember that this New Jersey team is the same New Jersey team that annihilated the Flyers and the Rangers with four-straight, and three-straight wins respectively in those series. Both Flyers and Rangers were much better built teams than the Kings. Someone from the Philadelphia Flyers reportedly said that one of the reasons the Flyers couldn't muster up a half decent attack against the Devils in their second-round series is because it's hard to get worked up while playing them. They suffocate everyone and nobody looks forward to watching that. New Jersey went on to win four games one after the other in that series.
But now, here we are, into the second week of the month of June, and all you hockey haters out there, the ones who hate the fact that we can watch these games on our TV sets when we should be out on a beach somewhere, have one more huge reason to hate the Stanley Cup final as I write this. The Los Angeles Kings, based out of the Sunshine State, where hockey is a Tier IV sport behind baseball, basketball, football, almost any women's sport especially beach volleyball, and even sidewalk rollerblading, are one win away from winning the biggest prize in the sports world, the Stanley Cup. Unfortunately, due to the weekly newspaper press time, we won't know the score of Game 4 until after press time. The only thing known as of Game 4 is that the Kings look good. Perhaps the cap to one of the most boring playoff runs in years. Los Angeles against Phoenix? Wow, how exciting can you get? Phoenix made the semi-finals by winning a classic match-up against the Nashville Predators, which set a new standard by going five games without anyone, anywhere, noticing or caring. Enthusiasm in Phoenix is so great that Gary Bettman, the NHL commissioner, was able to pretend the team had been sold, again, to another owner who probably doesn't have enough money, and who will in any case pay a fraction of what Jim Balsillie was willing to give. Los Angeles beat let's see someone. Um, oh yeah, St. Louis, which staged a dramatic revival after hiring Ken Hitchcock. St. Louis looked just fine after they roasted the Sharks in the opening round of the playoffs. But that did not last. The Canucks folded like cheap tent. Again. And worse, they did it on home ice, again and now the Devils appear quite content to follow suit. Only difference is New Jersey hockey fans may not see their team again this year.
Give me another Pittsburgh vs. Detroit and I'll be fine.
If there's anything you'd like to see covered by Game 7, please forward your suggestions to the Yorkton This Week sportsdesk by phone (306) 782-2465.
