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It isn't easy being an NHL player, apparently. After he gave away Game 1 against the Lightning with a couple of turnovers, Islanders defenseman Eric Cairns chose not to speak to reporters. That same night, after a Game 1 victory over the Devils, Flyers goaltender Robert Esche first refused to speak to reporters, then was persuaded to speak by an attending league official. Esche now has decided he will accommodate reporters only after games the rest of the way.
Yeah, that'll work well if the Flyers go far. This league and its players need all the media attention they can get. The heroes and goats must stand in the spotlight so that marginal fans can get to know and like -- or dislike -- them, and come back to follow them whenever the next season starts. If the NHL and its teams can't get the players to take that responsibility, the NHL Players' Association must. Kick them in the wallet. After all, empty arenas will hurt a guy's bottom line more than a few tough questions will hurt his ego.
The playoffs are great because it's do or die. To play 82 games at your top level is almost impossible, but come playoff time, if you're not giving it everything, you're letting down your teammates, your organization, your coach, your fans -- everybody.
Without a doubt, the seven-game series makes it so the better team is going
to win. That makes it that much harder and that much more of a battle. You've
got seven-game series, even in the first round, right through to the Stanley
Cup finals. In football, you can hate the other team, but it's only one game
and then it's over. There's no redemption. In our sport, you have to win four
games. It really creates a battle between the teams. There is time to redeem
yourself if you lose one, but you know that one slip-up, one bad penalty can
really affect a series.
Keeping your emotions in check is also huge. You're playing the same group of guys every game. If something happens in the first game, it's going to be remembered throughout the series. It's just about remembering you're a professional. That's what we get paid to do. The more disciplined team is going to win. If you start going outside the team's system, you're going to kill your own team.
The other thing that makes the playoffs so great is the trophy at the end. The Stanley Cup is more than 100 years old. It's something kids, especially in Canada and in parts of the States, grow up thinking about winning. Now Europeans are growing up thinking they have a chance to win the Stanley Cup, too, and that's why they want to play in the NHL. In other sports, it seems like the big thing players talk about is making pro and doing well. When I was growing up, every game we played on the outdoor rinks, we weren't just playing an NHL game, we were always playing for the Stanley Cup. For us, it's about the Cup.