Ponds and Pucks

Surprising no one, the Ducks won the Stanley Cup last night. The Senators couldn’t have played much worse if they tried. This was, I think, their worst game of the series. But there are a dozen different people who will give you the wrap on the game and their opinions. I want to look at something else. The disappointment this series held.

I love hockey. I can sit down and watch a game, just to watch it. I don’t have to have a rooting interest (although it does make it easier to get into). I will sit there and yell and shout and basically scare the dogs whenever there’s a game on. In fact, if I don’t read while watching the game, I tend to shout at every play, offering coaching advice to the TV. My niece-to-be has counseled me that they really can’t hear me. But I digress. My point is, I love everything the NHL has to offer.

But this series stank.

For the most part, it wasn’t competitive. Show me a game where Ottawa played well enough that you really thought they were going to win, besides Game 3 which they did win. Even that, at times, seemed more lucky than good. Show me any moment when Anaheim had any reason to be concerned that they might not pull the series out. Tell me who was more energetic, who had more hits. Who played like they wanted it? It sure wasn’t the Senators. I watched at least some part of every game of this series (Game 3 was on a Saturday night … that’s a discussion for another time, but it was a bad idea, Gary) and even I found myself drifting away.

I don’t know how you fix it. Maybe you can’t. Maybe the Ducks were just that much better. Maybe the Senators were just that tired from their layoff. Maybe God is from Anaheim.

But this will not be a series talked about for much longer than this off-season.

Ducks, Stanley Cup, Senators, hockey, NHL, Ottawa, Anaheim