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To Touch or Not To Touch
After extensive research, well, perhaps five minutes, I have learned that the success rate of teams that follow the superstition is 50 per cent. The superstition is that when you win any trophy other than the Stanley Cup, you smile and say thank you, but you don’t touch the cup!
The Colorado Avalanche players consulted with their General Manager, Joe Sakic, prior to their acceptance of the Clarence Campbell Bowl after defeating the Edmonton Oilers on Monday night. Sakic’s advice? “Do whatever you want. Touch it.”
Initially, the players kept their hands at their sides. Then, after the team surrounded the Bowl in a “photo op”, Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon gently placed their hands on the silver award. “It’s not the one that we really came for, and it doesn’t really matter that much to us. So it’s just a step in the right direction”. Considering the extent of the superstitious nature in hockey players, it was somewhat surprising.
But there they stood, in Edmonton, after a gruelling overtime win. They rallied in the third period, trailing by two goals, and watched Artturi Lehkonen tip the puck behind Mike Smith in overtime. That was confirmed, with a finger pointed at the centre ice dot, and the Avs celebrated their sweep of the Oilers, four games to none.
One unexpected hero in the victory is backup goaltender Pavel Francouz. He frustrated the Oilers on many occasions, and has now won six playoff games without suffering a defeat.
Bobby Orr is generally recognized as the best defenceman ever to play the game. Others have been compared to him, over the years. The comparisons heated up last Monday night when the name Cale Makar was mentioned. Granted, he is just at the beginning of his career. But if he hangs around for a dozen years, and plays at this level, he will be most deserving of the comparison. He had five points in the game.
“You take it, for the night, and then, for me, kind of move on and turn the focus to the next step. That’s what made this team successful so far this year. We don’t look too far ahead. We stay in the moment”. Impressive dialogue, from the young Avalanche blueliner.
The Avs will now enjoy at least one week’s rest, waiting for the Lightning and the Rangers to finish in the East. Coach Jared Bednar relishes the opportunity to take it easy for a few days: “It’s such a hard trophy to win. It’s a battle of attrition. No one gets through it without suffering a bunch of ups and downs, ebbs and flows, to take a series. There will be injuries, and adversity, and it seems that the teams that get through it are the best.” Such was the case, several years ago, when Belleville’s Marc Crawford hoisted the Cup as Colorado’s coach.
The French Open wrapped up last weekend. As expected, Rafael Nadal won the men’s singles title for the 14th time. It was his 22nd major victory, moving him ahead of all other men. Poland’s Iga Swiatek took the women’s crown, extending her undefeated series of matches. She will be the Number One seed at Wimbledon.
Once the rain stopped, or perhaps I mean subsided, on Monday night, the Toronto Blue Jays emerged from the dugout in Kansas City to best the Royals 8-0. They continue on the road for a few games, then head home for Father’s Day. The American League East continues to heat up, with their nemesis in the Bronx moving on in the win column.
Now, if you will excuse me, I need to cut the lawn, once again.
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