The Perfect Stanley Cup Final

I'll have some commentary on the actual matchup and a prediction later, but I feel like just the incredible beauty of this matchup deserves the focus

If you could dream up a Stanley Cup Final in a lab, it probably looks a lot like this one. The two-time defending Champs going for a threepeat, something that hasn't happened in hockey in nearly 40 years, last done by one of the all-time great teams (the 1980's Islanders - they won 4 in a row). Their opponent: the consensus best team in the league that has been knocking down the door for a while, finally breaking through their old ceiling to a 2nd round loss, and doing so by blazing to the Final with a 12-2 playoff record.

The best team vs. the dynasty. The first run for one group of stars that were carefully, perfectly and smartly built, against a potential last run for another group built very much the same way. It is hard to better position the final. If anything, the only one in recent memory that comes close was at the very start of this Tampa run, when in 2015 a far younger version of the same Tampa group went up against the Blackhawks dynasty. This is that - with the added bonus of a potential threepeat.

It is so easy to draw the comparisons in a sense - the offensive stars of MacKinnon, Landeskog, Rantanen, against those of Kucherov, Stamkos, Point (assumign he returns, which seems likely). The brilliance of Cale Makar, against the steady, more rugged, brilliance of Victor Hedman. The one area that there is no real comparison is that of Darcy Keumper vs. Andrey Vasilevskiy - but no worries we can look around that for a second. But instead of the matchup, let's just focus on teh two teams in isolation for a minute. As what makes this an incredible potential matchup is the fact that it is these two teams - competing against each other.

The Avalanche had one of the worst seasons in the cap-era in 2016-17. That was a random outlier - they were merely below average the couple years prior, and had some well regarded youngsters (including MacKinnon and Landeskog already there at that point). But nevertheless, they were dreadful - but turned it around almost instantly. They shocked their way to the playoffs in 2017-18, picking up Cale Makar in the draft the year prior. In those playoffs, they lost to President's Trophy winners Nashville in six games.

It has been all up since then - another playoff berth in '18-'19, and a 1st round upset of Calgary before losing in San Jose in 7 games, was then followed by the first year of the real Colorado 'breakout'. In each of the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, the Avalanche were the best team in the Western Conference. They were the best that first year, before losing in seven games to Dallas in the bubble. They were more clearly the best the following year, before losing to the Knights in six games - again in the second round. 

The Avalanche were undoubtedly great, but were undoubtedly underperforming in the playoffs. It was weird things - like getting overrun randomly by the Knights after taking a 2-0 lead, or giving up a hat trick to the likes of Denis Gurianov in Game 7 against Dallas. It was inexplicable, if only because it was so clearly obvious how good they were. A story that so easily could have been written about the team they are about to face - or the Capitals before them (or the Blues as well). 

This year they were again the best team in the West. They too their prior playoff misery and tossed it aside as easily as they have their opponents to date. Yes, they got a bit lucky with Nashville losing their starting goalie in game 82 of the regular season, and then St. Louis losing their starting goalie during the season, and of course the fact that Edmonton didn't lose their starting goalie, but more the fact he was Mike Smith. But really it was more of just luck balancing out.

On the other side we have Tampa. If anything, their reputation as playoff chokers prior to their two straight Cups is well overstated. As I wrote about a few weeks ago when they swept Florida, and then last year when they won their 2nd Cup, the Lihgtning's list of accomplishments the five years prior to their cups is the stuff of legend: a trip to the Cup Finals (2015), two other times losing in Game 7 of the Conference Finals (2016, 2018), the best regular season in teh post-lockout era (2019), a President's Trophy (2019), another time leading the East in points (2018), and plyers that won a Hart Trophy (Kucherov), Norris (Hedman) and Vezina (Vasilevskiy). They were great. Then they got their crown.

But while I think it's unfair to just pinpoint the Lightning of two years to not look at the larger picture, let's do that for a secod. Because I think wether they win or lose, they are such a worthy team to go after what the 1980s Islanders did last. They have this perfect mix of great singular talents, mixed with just an incredible poise, commitment to winning in all kinds of ways, and a trusted ability to just play smart at the right times. 

The Lightning that have won have increasingly resembled this sort of team, rather than the high flying bunch they were (like Colorado now is) in the years prior. Granted, they still led the NHL in scoring in the first Cup year, and were 5th this past season. They can win playing up tempo too, but they know now that they don't have to, and if they want to get a 3rd cup they can't really - and need to focus on this "winning" approach they've come close to perfecting.

Be it down 3-2 to the Leafs in the first round, and down in Game 6. Be it against the President's Trophy winners without their top winger. Be it down 2-0 to the Rangers and further down 2-0 in Game 3. In all cases the Lightning just carried through with this auro of inevitability. And now it gets its final test.

While I drew comparison to the 2015 series (and I think it si fully valid there), the better comp may be to go back to those 1980 Islanders. Famously the Islanders final cup in 1983 was against the Oilers. The Oilers entered the series as the younger, faster, more dynamic team (you know, Gretzky, Messier, Kurri and the like.....). The Islanders entered as the grizzled vets, but one with more firepower than people remember, much of it lost to "winner" mythmaking and the like. 

Well, in that series the older Islanders beat the Oilers - with Gretzky famously walking by the Islanders drsesing room after the Cup win to see a team with ice packs on knees and largely content (rather than raucously celebrating like we would expect). We've later learned this is almost certainly a bullshit story - the Islanders famously had some partiers on the team, and the Oilers were even more famous for their wild ways, so they certainly didn't learn any lessons. But still, the story, the imagery, and the importance struck. And 39 years later, the Lightning get to match the Islanders in three-peat glory by trying to win the same way, and I can't wait to watch it unfold.

Rafa: 22 Memories for 22 Slams

I admittedly posted this right after Nadal beat Medvedev in the Australian Open. I like the fact that five months later it was already outdated. Let this not be the last entry....

1.) 2005 French Open - def (UR) Mariano Puerta  6-7  6-3  6-1  7-5

I was in Chicago visiting my great Aunt when this match took place. I remember watching it on their small tv in a corner of the guest room I was staying at. Even then something was special about Nadal - mostly his speed and ability to track down ridiculous shots that no one else would even come close to. Overtime many players became as audacious in their defense as Nadal was but then it was new - as were the capris and the muscles and the grunts. The real star match was the semifinal win over Federer in four sets, but here too he was challenged but got his reward: for some reason Zinedine Zidane - a full year before he would rule the world at the World Cup - being the guest of honor handing out the trophy. A great respect and friendship started that day, between those two, and between me and Rafa.

2.) 2006 French Open - def (1) Roger Federer  1-6  6-1  6-4  7-6

By this point Nadal was probably already being hailed as well on track to being the best clay court player ever, but still seeing him lose the first set 1-6 is staggering. He quickly, as in immediately, reversed course rolling Federer 6-1 in the next set. Overtime I came to appreciate this weird foible of all the rivalries of the big-3, that every now and then, even within the same match, one would just randomly put on 'God' mode for a set or two. The last two sets were somewhat forgettable but overall looking back I just love the symmetry of those two 6-1 sets.

3.) 2007 French Open - def (1) Roger Federer  6-3  4-6  6-3  6-4

This was the match that made me, and probably many, think that yeah, at some point he's going to beat him on other surfaces. About a month before this match Federer hammered Nadal at th Hamburg masters. I believe Federer was the betting favorite entering this match for some reason. Instead, Nadal won a calm, if well played, four setter. My memory of the match is somewhat hazy aside from the growing sense that Rafa is just inevitable on this surface and on this court, and finally the French crowd was starting to realize that their favorite boy Roger wouldn't be able to beat him.

4.) 2008 French Open - def (1) Roger Federer  6-1  6-3  6-0

The scoreline 6-1, 6-3, 6-0, will always be my paragon of Nadal's clay dominance. And it was every bit as dominant - with the first and third sets taking abuot 30 minutes each - hyper-fast in Nadal's world. I remember Federer just being passed so easily time and time again, he started going up to the net already with slumped shoulders knowing it was pointless. Rafa ended up winning this tournament without dropping a set -- a feat he would match three more times -- but never at the level of play that he did here. His scorelines against great players is just insane - none much more than when he just eviscerated Federer to a level heretofore unimaginable.

5.) 2008 Wimbledon - def (1) Roger Federer  6-4  6-4  6-7  6-7  9-7

I wrote a Nostalgia Diaries piece about this game, namely how we watched the epic match across the four and a half hours of gameplay, and multiple rain delays, with my Aunt who would die a few months later. She was a Nadal fan. We entered this one confident, given it came a month after the massacre at Roland Garros, and moreso after Nadal calmly won two sets. But of course Federer rose to the occasion and gave us what will always be known by anyone who isn't a Novak fan as the Greatest Match of All Time. Maybe more than any of these pre-2010 major wins, this one is seared in my mind.

6.) 2009 Aussie Open - def (2) Roger Federer  7-5  3-6  7-6  3-6  6-2

I wrote about this one as well, and the lasting moment will be either the best single point the two ever played, where each hit about two winners before Rafa's outstreched actual winner, or of course Federer's breakdown at the end. Seeing Federer burst into tears was a mix of harrowing and hilarious at the time, but you can understand it. Nadal broke him. In seven months he blasted him embarrisingly on clay, stole his glory at Wimbledon and now beat him on hard court. That said, what has now become a truly close friendship probably started that day too, with Nadal consoling Federer, arm around his shoulders, before publicly reassuring the world that he felt Federer would pass the '14 of Sampras.' How little did we know how prescient those words would be.

7.) 2010 French Open - def (5) Robin Soderling  6-4  6-2  6-4

This was the first of many 'Nadal comes back and wins his first slam after a prolonged injury' wins for Nadal, but to me the most memorable. His injury that forced him out of Wimbledon and made him play at about 80% thereafter was novel, it was scary and seemed to confirm many of the fears or projections many had about Rafa's style of play. But then he came back and won the French Open again without losing a set, and this time doing it by exacting revenge on teh guy that beat him the year before. It wasn't his most dominant run - in truth he had more dominant runs where he lost a set or two - but it was maybe the most fulfilling.

8.) 2010 Wimbledon - def (12) Tomas Berdych  6-3  7-5  6-4

For whatever reason, I have this match taped on VCR then converted to DVD. I have no idea why. It wasn't a particularly close match (obviously) and Rafa seemed so preordained to win it seemed a bit ordinary. His real test was the Semifinal against Andy Murray which he also won in five sets. At this point, Nadal did seem like the best grass court player in the world too - winning it for the second straight time he played the event. Little did we know how much of a horror show he would soon become on grass, for what are still inexplicable reasons given how he turned it around in 2018-19.

9.) 2010 US Open - def (3) Novak Djokovic  6-4  5-7  6-4  6-2

I would posit Nadal's peak as a player was this tournament run. He won the US Open dropping just that one solitary set in the final. He maxed out the one 'weakness' of his game, suddenly smashing 130+ mph serves routinely, including three straight service winners to close out the third set. He never really served that fast again (Nadal claims it impacted his shoulder), but in that moment he had no weakness. How good was he? He dropped serve one time period prior to the final. Every now and then I do wish Nadal brings back the huge serve again. It really made him for a two-week stretch the perfect player.

10.) 2011 French Open - def (3) Roger Federer  7-5  7-6  5-7  6-1

This was the tournament where this Nadal fan finally started to come around on Roger - I even think I wrote something about it at the time. Why? Because Roger beat Djokovic in the semifinals - Novak's first loss of the year. Nadal was 0-4 that year against Djokovic losing in the finals of Indian Wells, Miami, Rome and Madrid. I guarantee Djokovic would've won again, but instead Federer took him out - and Nadal beat Federer as he does. This was a treat though I don't think I ever would've imagined it would be the last fnal between the two for six years.

11.) 2012 French Open - def (1) Novak Djokovic  6-4  6-3  2-6  7-5

Honestly, I don't know if Rafa was ever as content and pleased after a win than this one. He had lost the prior three finals all to Djokovic. As good as Djokovic was in 2011-12, Nadal was like 95% as good, but lost the key matches. Here he won the key match getting a bit of help with rain that came right after he lost the third set. He steadied in the 4th, which I followed on my phone on the NJ Transit heading up to my internship. This was before network was nearly as good to watch it on the phone, so I was maddeningly refreshing the French Open's score app. Not a fun way to watch a final.

12.) 2013 French Open - def (5) David Ferrer  6-3  6-2  6-3

This match took place two days after I returned to the US from my 'Around the World' trip. It was a letdown given the real final was Rafa's semifinal marathon win over Djokovic in a weird mirror version of their 2012 Oz Final epic. That match took place the day I returned, and I had my parents DVR-it. For whatever reason teh DVR failed and when I got home, Nadal was serving for the match. That was quite a welcome-home gift after four months away. People talk about that match being this close epic, and it certainly was, but I'll never forget that Nadal had more winners than Novak, less errors, and won way more points.

13.) 2013 US Open - def (1) Novak Djokovic  6-2  3-6  6-4  6-1

The final took place on a Monday which coincidentally was my 2nd day of work as an adult having started the Friday before. We were at a pasta making class & dinner while it was going on. I wasn't the only one very interested, and I do remember we reached back to the hotel the company put us all up in that week in time to watch the ending getting drunk at the bar in the hotel. It was an amazing first week, and while this wasn't the highlight, it wasn't too far behind. I definitely bonded with a few colleagues over our shared love of Rafa, who pulled off a miracle in the 3rd set before just rolling and finishing off his most dominant year yet.

14.) 2014 French Open - def (2) Novak Djokovic  3-6  7-5  6-2  6-4

Five years after Nadal reduced Fed to tears, he reduced Djokovic to tears here - not as pronounced but every bit as real, as for years of getting closer to beating Nadal at the French, he won a set but then was overwhelmed. Of course, just like how Federer would go on to win three of the next four slams post-bawling, so too would Novak. Separately, it was after this win that I bet my friend the $200 that Nadal would beat Fed. Who could blame me, Nadal was three behind having won three of the last five slams, and Federer hadn't won one in two years. It took seven years, and ten combined slams, but finally I was right.

15.) 2017 French Open - def (3) Stan Wawrinka  6-2  6-3  6-1

The fact that there is this two-and-a-half year gap in Nadal's run will never not amaze me. Same with Djokovic's similar gap from 2016 Wimby through 2018 French. But rise like a Phoenix he did. If any tournament has a claim to match his dominance in 2008 it was this one where he won by similarly lopsided scores, admittedly against lesser players. The final over Stan was also cathartic given his loss to Stan in the 2014 Australian Open final. The real memory for me was it was Rafa's 10th French Open, a fact Roland Garros basically assumed would happen given the vast amounts of '10' signage they immediately unfurled when it was over.

16.) 2017 US Open - def (24) Kevin Anderson  6-3  6-3  6-4

The final was fairly routine here - once again the Semifinal was the real test, this time against Juan Martin del Potro. Nadal look flustered early against Delpo, before rolling off 10 straight games while winning the 2nd and 3rd sets 6-0, 6-3. My real memory of this tournament was actually Delpo's win over Federer, which I watched on my computer in a bar in Wallingford, chatting with my friends. I was about 30 seconds behind which they used to hilariously evil impact. For a pretty mediocre project, memories like that night at that bar will always be with me.

17.) 2018 French Open - def  (7) Dominic Thiem  6-4  6-3  6-2

I think this is maybe the only final on this list that I know I didn't watch any of. I was in Vancouver, and given the time difference it was largely over by the time I woke up at 9am or whatever. It wasn't too surprising. Thiem was a great clay court player, but Rafa was on a roll and beat him rather easily. At this point, him winning the French was basically a guarantee, so honestly I was perfectly fine sleeping in my Vancouver AirBNB while this was going on.

18.) 2019 French Open - def (4) Dominic Thiem  6-3  5-7  6-1  6-1

Things seemed a bit more tricky this time around. Thiem survived a five-set war with Djokovic in the semifinal and really played Rafa to a draw in the first two sets. Then Rafa unleashed a level of clay court playing who would rarely match with its brutality. Double breadsticks to end it absolutely encapture just how great Rafa was on the day. I left thinking Thiem would be the next non-Rafa player to win the French. While that sadly isn't true, I do for sure hope he wins one.

19.) 2019 US Open - def (4) Daniil Medvedev  7-5  6-3  5-7  4-6  6-4

I watched this match in its entirety, sitting in the same old chair we brought over one year from India, barely getting up or moving for the run of its nearly five hours. It was a thrilling match because of how new it was. This was the first time (not including 2017 against Anderson which was a fait accompli) that Rafa was facing a serious contender in a non-French Open final that wasn't Djokovic or Federer. Daniil was excellent. He played excellently. He was the fresher guy in the 5th. But Nadal pulled it out. Around this time, an old college friend nad I started chatting mosly around our shared love of Nadal - or at least that is how it started. I remember furiously pinging DMs back and forth throughout this incredible match, easily the best of his non-historic wins (e.g. teh 21st, his first Wimbledon and Australian/hard court, etc).

20.) 2020 French Open - def (1) Novak Djokovic  6-0  6-2  7-5

This was the sequel to his 2008 massacre twelve years later and maybe more brutal in its efficiency. To see Nadal go 6-0, 6-2, against Djokovic was stunning. He was insanely good in this one, that just ike Federer reacted after 2008, I still remember Novak's post-game speech saying 'well, I guess this is why your are the king of clay'. There's no agument, even after the events of the French Open the following year. You can play the French Open in winter, in a closed roof, all things that were supposedly to Djokovic's advantage, and it didn't matter. The king stay the king.

21.) 2022 Aussie Open - def (2) Daniil Medvedev 2-6  6-7  6-4  6-4  7-5

What more to say - I just wrote a few thousand words on this yesterday. The only thing I'll mention is truly how much I expected Medvedev to win. And not even in any weird reverse jinx way. I felt it going in and seeing Medvedev race to a 6-2 first set just compounded that feeling. Which is then to say how gleeful, much like Rafa himself at the end, I was that he pulled it off. The 21st, the 2nd career slam, all incredible memories that can help block out bad ones, and it all crested in the craziest way possible. Insane, as Rafa is, was and will always will be.

22.) 2022 French Open - def (8) Casper Ruud  6-3  6-3  6-0

I'm not going to talk about the injury stuff, or my thoughts on the ludicrous 14. Forget all that. I'm going to talk about Nadal and Ruud, and namely how uniquely excited Casper Ruud was to get hammered. There was a slice of the internet that was upset that Ruud wasn't committed enough and didn't want it enough and all that garbage. You know what? Ruud was right. He's not a nobody, being a top-10 player coming into this tournament. But still, while he will make a good life for himself playing on tour another 7-10 years, he may or may not win a slam. You know what he will have: being the guy who played a French Open Final against Nadal. There is no shame in losing one of those - literally everyone has. He just had the smartness to realize that in losing, you still win because you were there to witness greatness at its highest extent.

14 for Rafa

I've written a lot about Rafa over the years, and more pointedly about his brilliance at particularly the French Open. And of course, why wouldn't I - he is more prolific at Roland Garros than any athlete is basically anywhere. 

I first wrote about it in 2010 when he won there for the fifth time (https://loungingpass.blogspot.com/2010/06/there-is-man-in-switzerland-today-man.html).

I then wrote about him again when he won for a 9th time in 2014 (after which he went through a 2.5 year malaise): https://loungingpass.blogspot.com/2014/06/rafa-nadal-reaching-highest-of.html

I then went on a spree when he won again in 2017, writing about him in:

2017: https://loungingpass.blogspot.com/2017/06/la-decima.html

2018: https://loungingpass.blogspot.com/2018/06/la-undecima-de-nadal.html

2019: https://loungingpass.blogspot.com/2019/06/rafas-dozen.html

and 2020: https://loungingpass.blogspot.com/2020/10/rafa.html

I guess I can again here - for a sixth time overall. It has become a bit of an annual tradition at this point, and what a brilliant one it is. But this one somehow is different from him reconquering his perch (2010), or doing it again (2017) and then so many other times. This is number 14. 

When Rafael Nadal first broke through in 2005, winning his first French Open on his first try (a weird coincidence that he didn't play it in 2003 or 2004...), 14 was the target all players were shooting for. Federer had four, and it seemed everyone was going after 14, a record that Pete Sampras set in 2000 (with his 13th) and finalized in 2002. It should have lasted a long time. Of course that record has now been passed by three people, and Nadal is ahead of 14 by an astounding eight slams (the entire career of Agassi, or Connors!). But more than anything, he matched Pete's 14.... at one event.

This is the most laughably amazing outcome of Nadal's career on clay. There is nothing more ludicrous than him matching the slam count of the record holder when he started at one tournament. It is insane. Yes, it seemed like he would never lose if you go back to that day in 2008 when he blitzed Federer 6-1  6-3  6-0. He did lose three times, including the next season, but we were right. As crazy as it sounded, we were right. Some said "maybe he could win 10!", which sounded hilarious enough. But 14 was an incredible target.

Nadal did it in weird circumstances, both simultaneously a terribly tough road, needing five sets to beat Felix Auger-Aliassime in the 4th Round, four sets to beat Djokovic, getting an admittedly lucky break against Zverev in a match he could have easily lost. But by the end, when conditions got sunny and hot and outdoors, he was the same guy who has boatraced great player after great player. The scoreline seemed rough for Ruud (6-3  6-3  6-0), but then you realize the only other two players he has bageled in a French Open Final: Federer, in 2008, and Djokovic in 2020.

Throughout the entire tournament, there was the weird undercurrent on Nadal's potential retirement at worst, and stepping away for a bit at best. The weird signs spread like wildfire, some real like Nadal saying he would "address the foot situation after the tournament", and some fake like a weird story that circulated on Saturday that Nadal had booked a second press conference win or lose. 

In the end, it is serious - Nadal facing a foot nerve issue that he is going to try to fix but could lead to either a surgery and lengthy rehab, or him retiring. But you know what: he is 36. No one ever expected him to last. Go back again to 2005, or certainly the next few years, and many probably thought he might burn out by 26. But he lasted, he persevered. He changed his game and stayed dominant on clay while picking up the slack everywhere else. He has reached the mountaintop. If he has to end his career now, while it will seem too soon given he won the two majors played this year, it will also feel 100% like a career absolutely fulfilled. 

He may very well retire, but he may also keep going. That said I had to juggle some thoughts over the weekend that maybe this was it, maybe this was the last time I would see Rafa. And weirdly, I was at peace with it. Even if he returns, his career isn't endless. There are too many other great players. Again this is weird to say when he's halfway to a calendar slam - and while he wouldn't be nearly a favorite in Wimbledon if he did play, he did win the US Open the last time he played it.

But there is an end in sight, whether its this year or next, or the year after. No matter what, he got to 14. He got to 22, sure. He gets his time atop the leaderboard, even if Djokovic passes it in 2023, or Alcaraz in 2037, or whatever. But more than the 22, he got to 14 at the French. He got to a point that has literally become hard to comprehend. Few would've thought he could play long enough to even enter the tournament 14 times, let alone win that many. 

He won in the first year of Bush's second term. He won when Youtube was in its infancy. He won back when Brady was a "winner" who didn't put up big stats. He won at a time when Andy Roddick and Marat Safin were teh 2nd and 3rd seeds in the French Open - and he's done it now with Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev are. Nadal at the French Open is truly the best match of player and court/arena/stadium in sports history. Few have ever put their greatness so incomprehensibly far away from the pack as Rafa here. And if this is it, or even if it is not, he got to 14.

Vini

There's a few things I could write about Real Madrid's latest triumph in the Champions League, their fifth in nine years, a ridiculous run that includes being the only team to repeat as Champions League winners - and then repeating again. 

This is Real Madrid's competition. It was when they won the first five times it was held. It was when they won three in five years in 1998, 2000 and 2002, and it was during the threepeat, and ultimately this ridiculous run that covered them beating the Champions for Paris (PSG), the Champions from England (Man City), the defending Champions in the competition (Chelsea) and a team everyone considers at worst the second best in the world (Liverpool). This was a gauntlet like few others, and they raced through it with dramatic aplomb. 

We can talk about the incredible performance of Thibaut Courtouis, who was incredible in the final, and was stellar a half dozen times earlier as well. We can talk about Karim Benzema, who basically locked up the Ballon d'Or. We can talk about the everpesent Casemiro, Kroos and Modric, winning their fourth Champions League as a midfield trio. We can talk about Carlo Ancelotti becoming the first manager to win the tournament four times, beating a tie with two men, one of whom was the guy who lead them to triumphs number 9 (as a player) and 11-13 (as manager). We can talk about all of it -  but I want to talk about Vinicius, Jr.

Vinicius, Jr., was a prodigy in Brazil, playing for 1st division Flamenco at 16 and 17, getting scooped up by Real Madrid for the 2nd highest transfer fee for someone coming out of Brazil (only after Neymar), agreeing to shift over to Madrid for the 2018-19 season. There was a ton of fanfare, a ton of expectations, that he would be a central component of the future of Real Madrid, joining the team the year that Zidane left the first time and Ronaldo left. And he squarely was not.

Over the next three seasons, he showed flashes. He showed his speed, he showed his dribbling competence, he showed some flair. He also couldn't finish to save his life. He played 69 games in his first two seasons across all competitions, and scored just 9 goals. It didn't get much better in his third season (last season), scoring six goals in 49 games. 

It was rough. He was often criticized, whistled and decried by the crowds. It seemed to turn around where in the game right before the covid lockdown in 2020 he scored the winning goal in the Clasico, a nice goal that showed him finally finish calmly, stoically, and show a glimpse of the player he would become. That could ahve been a turning point late in his second season, but then Covid happened, and while crowd-less games ensured that he wouldn't be booed, it also ensured he wouldn't be praised. If anything, it allowed on-field microphones to capture Benzema telling a teammate not to pass to Vinicius, because of how ineffective he was.

Well, Benzema will pass to him now. Vinicius's 2021-22 season was one giant coming out party, taking the gains towards the end of the prior season and pulling his game forward. There was a lot of pressure - pressure to score goals when at times it seemed like only Benzema was. Pressure knowing that many in the Madrid ecosystem just assumed Mbappe would come and take his spot on the field. Pressure to live up to the expectations of a teenage phenom. And he turned that pressure into a season of 22 goals in 52 games - the 22nd being the one that gives Real Madrid another Champions League.

The goal itself in the final was fairly simple. Whether it was a pass or misguided shot, Fede Valverde put it right on Vinicius's feet with a gaping net. That said, the ball crossed at that speed, and knowing he didn't have time to setlle it, it was set-up to be the type of chance Vinicius flubbed time and time again in his first three seasons. This time he made no mistake.

This game was a coronation of the old guard, the long list of players who won their 5th Champions League. A coronation of the return of Ancelotti. But it was also one looking forward to the age of Vinicius - who turns just 22 in July - but behind that it was another remind of how great a coach Zidane was, the man sitting in a box trying to blend in. 

Zidane never wavered in playing Vinicius - consistently starting him or at least bringing him on late for speed. He saw the potential, the speed on the flank, the nightmare he would cause for RBs, the game changing chess piece he can be. He saw that and leaned into it and kept trying and trying. We saw some development there over the course of the 2020-21 season, be it two goals against Liverpool in the Champions League in QF, to more consistent bright spots. He kept Vinicius focused and forward looking. Ancelotti took that and unlocked something special.

This is still a time of change in Real Madrid. Casemiro, Kroos and Modric appear ageless, but also they got run over far more often than before. It is not an accident that the amazing comeback against Man City happened with all three already subbed off. The future of Madrid is starting to come in, be it Vinicius's Brazilian running-mate Rodrygo, to Camavinga, to the soon to be annoucned Tchoumeni, to many other potential options. But Vinicius is agent zero of that effort, of that "project", to use the footballing parlance. He's a finished product, and one that earned his way there to becoming a Champions League legend.

10 Things to Watch in the NHL's Final Four

The Stanley Cup Conference Finals starts today, one game a night, for up to two weeks. We have four teams of interest, with great competing storylines. A team ahead of schedule (Rangers) against a team going for generational glory in a three-peat (the Lightning). The team with the best player (Oilers) against a team with the best team because it has many of the best players (Colorado). All of it should be great. This has been a great playoffs from start to finish so far, but this should be the crowning moment.

10.) The rise of Igor

Igor Shestirken is almost assuredly winning the Vezina trophy. After a rough start to the Pittsburgh series, he reverted back to his other-worldly Vezina winning ways in the last three games as the Rangers clawed back from 1-3 down. He was brilliant in each of the Rangers four wins against Carolina and for the whole series put up just insane numbers, and is playing very much like the guy who is going to run away with the Vezina. The Rangers had exactly like two years of questionable goaltending between all-time Henrik Lundqvist and now Igor. Teams have ridden hot goalies for decades, and while we can argue he is not even the hottest goalie in this series, Igor gives this team more than a fighting chance.

9.) Mike Smith being weird

Darcy Kuemper is a perfectly acceptable goalie. Not great by any stretch but easily good enough. This is true to enough certainty that it doesn't look weird that he is the goalie of a Final four team. Well, Mike Smith, in the year of our lord 2022, does certainly fit that description. He did many years ago. He was excellent in his first two trips to the playoffs in 2011 and 2012. This is a good decade later, he's now 40. He's done bizarre things like give up a 150-foot goal that ranks among the worst ever conceded in the playoffs. But he also somehow has a .927 save percentage, and survived various shot barrages. Smith has become the reverse of many a great goalie in that he only seems to give up bad and soft goals, but has made key saves. His stickhandling is still decent htough even there he can get into adventures. The idea that 40-year old Mike Smith could conceivably be starting Stanley Cup Finals games is just bonkers but here we are!

8.) Can Tampa push forward

Tampa received a whole series of plaudits for adjusting their game without Brayden Point against Florida, understanding they innately were the less skilled team and played like it. We aren't sure if Point will be back, but they are the more skilled team, or at the very least its pretty close in this one. The Lightning need to switch up again here to how they played against Toronto. They'll have time and space and a good chunk of possession. Against a goalie like Shesterkin it will be interesting to see if the Lightning get frustrated or just play the course in a very different style series to the one they just dominated in.

7.) The Avalanche never-ending onslaught

The weirdest game of the entire postseason might be Game 2 of the Avalanche v. Blues series. In that game the Blues, in Colorado, controlled play for a majority of the game, outshooting the Avs and winning 4-1. And I'm sure at that moment there was a sense of "here we go again" to the series. But no, the Avalanche quickly regained control of the series and carried play throughout. The Avalanche's never ending waves of possession, control and shots. It is magical to watch. We expect it from the main line, but the 2nd Kadri line or even the depth lines. It helps when they have a never ending line of speedy, skilled guys, with defensemen that can absolutely carry play (more to come there). The Avs at their best are one of the most dominant teams I've seen, and while the Oilers can match their top skill players the depth edge the Avs have can absolutely tilt the series.

6.) The Lightning's commitment

Two points ago I talked about the Lightning being able to open up things. I clearly believe that to be true. But let's not look past the fact that the Lightning will likely still not have Brayden Point for a while, and their 1-3-1 zone defense has now stymied two top offenses. The Lightning's commitment to quickly reaching any dump-in, blocking shots, trying to make any zone entry by their opponent to have just one shot (often a blocked one) is so commendable. Not so much that they're doing anything novel, but doing it in such an exacting, continuous and peerless way. 

5.) The Rangers Kid Line

The Rangers have a lot of top tier players, from their soon-to-be Vezina winning goalie, to their Norris winning defenseman, to all-star caliber players like Artemi Panarin and Mike Zibanejad. The fact that they've leveled up here isn't so shocking. What is shocking is that they've done it without getting huge contributions from their 2019 #2 overall pick Kaapo Kakko and their very ballyhooed 2020 #1 pick Alexis Lafreniere. Kakko had just 18 points in 43 games, Lafreniere had 31 in 79. They're young. They still have more than enough time to develop. But Lafreniere has 7 points in the 14 playoffs games. Kakko doesn't but he's had his moments. Their line has been decent. The fact the Rangers are getting anything from these guys are just gravy, and maybe this is where they too could level up.

4.) Cale Makar

What is there to say. Makar may not win the Norris if the fact that Roman Josi nearly got 100 points sways a few people, but there is no doubt who is the best defenseman. Ok, maybe there is some doubt, but there is no doubt on who will be the best over the next five years. It is Cale Makar, easily. He had a relatively quiet 2nd round on the stat sheet, he was dominant in most possession and zone entry metrics. He plays at a speed that is so rare from a defenseman. He is a joy to watch, the defensive version of McDavid (yeah.... admittedly that might be a stretch). They'll depend on him (and a quick shout-out to Devon Toews) to slow down the McDavid-Draisaitl-Kane line mostly by just having the puck, and few can provide more success there than Makar.

3.) The Avs Growing Up

The Avs are a great team. They've also been one for a few years. They were arguably the best team in the 2019-20 season (Boston is probably the other choice), and then blew a lead to Dallas in the bubble losing in seven in the second round. Admittedly it is hard to compare last year given the division-only schedules, the Avs were easily the best team in the 2020-21 regular season. They took a 2-0 lead in the second round, and Vegas popped them for four straight including a bit of an embarrassing loss in the clincher. The Avs had some baggage - but much like the Caps, Lightning, Blues, Sharks, etc., finally talent won out. That said, while they finally broke the seal on making the Conference Finals, a loss here to Edmonton will be a failure. The Avs pressure hasn't gone away.

2.) Connor McDavid, All of it

Quietly, Leon Draisaitl has caught Connor McDavid in points for the playoffs, matching him with 26 points in 12 games. Of course 'caught' is more to say Draisaitl went crazy in games 4-5 against Calgary. It isn't like Connor has slowed down. He hasn't slowed down a second in these playoffs. He has been insane. It isn't the goals, some where he seems to stop time and other where he's operating at a level quicker than ever. It isn't the passes. It's the puck control and body control. It is him pirouetting and shashaying his way around the ice in a way I haven't seen ever before - somewhat similar to prime Sidney Crosby but at a speed that Crosby couldn't match. McDavid's already done absolutely astonishing things, like leading a worse Edmonton team to Game 7 of the 2nd round in his second season, or getting 100 points in the 56-game season last year. If anything him ending with just 123 points this year is something of a disappointment. Well, nothing he's done these playoffs is a dissapointment, it has been incredible from the jump.

1.) The Lightning's Run to Glory

I've written enough about the Lightning. If they lose to the Rangers, this is already probably the best post-salary cap 8-year run, featuring three trips to the Finals, two Cups, (will be)three Conference Finals losses, etc., But if they win? And if they can finish this off? The last threepeat in baseball was the 1998-2000 Yankees. The last threepeat in basketball was the 2000-2002 Lakers. The last in hockey was the Islanders winning four straight from 1980-83. It's been a while, a long while. The Lightning are already further along the path than any team since (other than if you count the 1984 Islanders as going for a separate threepeat...). The two Oilers teams that won back-to-back reached the 2nd round and 1st roud. The '93 Penguins, '99 Red Wings and '18 Penguins all lost in teh 2nd round. The Lightning are in uncharted territory already, but man if they can do it? This is an all-time run within another longer all-time run. Cherish it, even if Prince Igor takes it away from them.

the Takeaways from the Lightning Sweep of the Panthers

This was the highest scoring NHL season since the mid-90's before the trap took hockey into their dead-puck era. It was the highest scoring 1st Round of the playoffs since the early-90's - and while that led to a reasonable amount of blowouts, it also led to some great games. It was a goals explosion, it was an ecstasy of a first round that resulted in five game 7s. 

And then the Lightning swept the Panthers, the highest scoring team since Mario Liemiuex's Penguins, to three goals in four games, choking the life out of them - and we have to ask, and more pointedly worry, if NHL teams will overlook everything right about this season (and of course what is still generally occurring in the Western Conference) and hyper-focus on the fact that the best scoring team got bottled up.

Obviously you can tell by the start that I'm very much on the side that we shouldn't over-react - that defense doesn't automatically own the playoffs (again, look at the damn Avalanche, or the Oilers!), but let's zone out a bit.

First of all, the idea that the Panthers were overrun by some defensive, "lock it down" team, is not true. The Lightning scored the 6th most goals in the NHL this year, and were generally higher ranked in previous years. Left to their devices, the Lightning players would absolutely run and gun - much like they did in their 6-game win over Florida last year. But they also have the ability to switch modes, especially with Brayden Point out for the series, to playing an incredibly detailed, perfect, version of defensive hockey.

The Lightning are just on another level right now at playoff hockey, specifically when they take a lead. Granted, in many ways they were overrun by Florida in Game 4, outshot 49-25, but very few of those were high danger chances. More so in the first three games of the series, they took leads (Game 2 aside) and then proceeded to play perfect defensive playoff hockey. They got to dump-ins first, limited the Panthers to one shot attempt, broke up the Panthers' cycling attempts. They squeezed the life out of the best offensive team we've seen in years.

On the Panthers side, yes Barkov and Huberdeau went silent, and their fringe players fell off similarly. Even if the first round they struggled at times against Washington. This was a disaster from them, but not on approach - as mentioned earlier we have to rewind just one year to see Florida lose to the exact same team despite playing open hockey and playing well offensively for the first five games of the series (the sixth game being the inevitably Vasilevsky shutout of course). They just have to play better, not just play differently.

They didn't take leads to begin with, to even see if they could play decent "playoff" hockey when ahead. Their power-play went through an all-time funk, and put that up to coaching if you want (at the end of the day Andrew Brunette is still a first-year coach) but it is still statistically improbable to ever repeat if they get that many power play chances again. They just seemed outclassed from the start. But for inspiration they can look across the ice at a team that much like them used to be the best offensive team year after year and took a while to win a cup.

But again, they should look at how the Lightning won those cups. The Lightning didn't transform themselves into the 2000s NJ Devils. They were 4th in scoring last year, and scored at a good clip against more "open" teams in the Panthers and Hurricanes in the first two rounds of the playoffs. They were also the highest scoring team in the 2019-20 season, and scored well throughout the playoffs until being somewhat slowed in the Final by the Stars. 

The Lightning are experts at playing defensive when they need to be, particularly because their top offensive players are good defensively when needed to. Even guys like Nikita Kucherov have taken it to another level in their back-checking, and of course the amount of shot blocking the Lightning did in that series was unparalleled. But really this is about commitment to what is needed - not necessarily commitment to being defensive.

At the end of the day, the Lightning are a machine. This is now 6 trips to the Eastern Conference Finals in 8 years - of which the last two they converted into Stanley Cup wins. Its 10 straight series. In this period they've beaten the President's Trophy winner twice ('15 Rangers, '22 Panthers), and a team that was on pace for the President's Trophy ('18 Bruins). They've beaten teams that earned (some adjusted for last year's 56-game season) 117 pts ('21 Hurricanes), 115 pts ('21 Panthers), 112 pts ('18 Bruins), 110 pts ('15 Canadiens) in this eight year stretch. There's no shame in losing to this team that has a realistic shot at finishing off a three-peat.

The Lightning started this run of now 10 series wins by being swept the year before, with the team that had set records for cap-era success and offense (much like Florida did this year). That swept was, if anything more embarrassing, though less about particularly offensive shortcomings but just a general sense that they lost their minds for four games against Columbus. The Panthers should take that example to say that staying the course with such a talented core is the learning they should take not remaking or reshaping the team. The 2019-20 Lightning on its face weren't too different than the 2018-19 team, other than the third line that they've already wholly remade. The 2022-23 Panthers hopefully will resemble much of the 2021-22 team - and hopefully for them the outcome will be better.

The Most Shocking Games in Memory

I was driving from my parent's place near Princeton to mine in Hoboken on Sunday afternoon, timed up to reach my house for effectively the 2nd half of the Game 7 between the Mavericks and Suns. I was content making just hte second half because worst case the Suns have a large lead like they've had in all the other three home games, and best case its a close game. I didn't even think of a scenario where the Mavericks led 57-27 at halftime, holding the Suns, one of the most exacting and efficient offenses all year long, to a devastatingly low 27 points!

The scores got more audacious in the second half. It got me thinking if this was the single most stunning game outcome I've ever seen. Certainly it is up there when you put the following things together:

= The Suns were the best team all season long, winning nine more games than anyone else going basically wire to wire with the best record; they were good offensively and defensively, were deep and balanced and seemingly had no real weakness

= They were at home in a Game 7, and while they looked bad at worst and disinterested at best in the games in Dallas in the series, as recently as Game 5 in Phoenix they looked dominant at home in all three games

= If any team seemed impervious to just disappearing in a game, Phoenix would be a good choice. There's many teams that would come to mind if you said "a team is down 57-27 at halftime of game 7" and Phoenix was nowhere on that list

Anyway, the longer it lasted, to a 45 points lead at one point, the less real it seemed truly. I tried even thinking of what were more shocking singular games, and it's not a long list given the particulars needed: a favorite at home (or neutral) just completely getting destroyed in a surprising, unbelievable way.

Hon. Mention 1: 2008 Final Four - Kansas over North Carolina

This fits a template that has happened a lot, whereby a team puts themself in the situation the Suns found themselves in, but is able to claw their way back to respectability. Here the Tar Heels were the #1 overall seed, had lost just two games all year (granted, Kansas had only lost three and by many metrics were the better team), and were seen as a truly great team. And they were down 40-12 about thirteen minutes in. The high watermark of embarrassment came with Kansas banging in a three to make it 38-10 and Billy Packer calling the game "over". It wasn't - as the Tar Heels closed to within four before losing steam. Annoyingly another game that fits this criteria is of course Super Bowl LI, which if the Falcons didn't blow like thirty different plays, would've fit this outline to a tee.

Hon. Mention 2: 2015 NFC Championship - Panthers 49  Cardinals 15

The huge issue with this as an option was the Panthers were at home, and were rightly favorites. But the Panthers were slight favorites, and this game was 17-0 after one quarter, 24-7 at halftime, at which point the Cardinals had turned it over four times, given up a 90-yard TD, had shown zero ability to stop Arizona and crumpled into a heap after being statistically hte best team in the NFL that aseason. Still, this was in Carolina, so it won't make the list, but seeing this game be a huge blowout was both surprising, and really sad as on paper this should have been a really great NFC Title Game.

5.) 2021 WS Game 6: Braves 7  @  Astros 0

So there's a few things that may bring this game down - firstly it was a Game 6 and not a Game 7, and the Braves were up in the series, but the Astros had outscored Atlanta to this point, had won the last game, was going home where they were great, and put up an absolute dud. Their ballyhooed lineup got embarrassingly shutout by Max Fried and others. They didn't even come close to putting up rallies. The Braves scored three runs in the third inning and it was more over than any 3-0 run had ever been in history. Again the biggest difference is this was not a clincher, but for the Astros to come home in front of a ridiculous crowd at Minute Maid to just do nothing was harrowing.

4.) 2004 ALCS Game 7: Red Sox 10 @ Yankees 3

There is one issue with this in that the Red Sox had infamously crawled back from an 0-3 series deficit, so they had hte momentum and whatnot. But still, it was a Game 7 in New York, where just a year earlier the Yankees ripped the hearts out of Boston. It was Yankees vs. Red Sox, a still accursed team at the time. And it was 6-0 after two innings after a Big Papi 2-run shot and then a Grand Slam by Johnny Damon. The whole game was played out in a surreal manner in a completely silent, funeral atmosphere in New York. If anything rivaled this in terms of soulless-ness, this was the closest game. Looking back, the Red Sox cleanly won the World Series and have added three more since, so it doesn't seem weird, but the Red Sox winning hte game easily and scoring the winning runs in the second inning just didn't seem like it was an option as an outcome heading into the game.

3.) 2008 NFC Divisional - Panthers 33 @ Cardinals 14

I'm sure there is a different, better, football example. Certainly there were more embarrassing losses, but other than my game at #1 of this list, nothing was this 'shocking.' The Cardinals were the first poor record, poor point differential team to make a real run, so the idea that this 9-7 team that outscored their opponents by one point would go on the road in a divisional round game and blow the pants off a team that went 8-0 at home. The Panthers weren't a great team, but they were significantly better than the Cardinals to that point, were heavy favorites and melted down. Delhomme infamously threw five interceptions. Their incredible running game had no chance. Their defense couldn't stop the one receiver the Cardinals had (Boldin missed the game with an injury, and still Fitzgerald dominated). The Cardinals came damn close to a Super Bowl, and this version of the Panthers team was going 2-14 just two years later, so in retrospect this didn't seem so weird, but at the time it was mesmerizingly shocking.

2.) 2009 NHL 2nd Round Game 7: Penguins 6 @ Capitals 2

I forgot about this one until a Twitter friend pointed it out as an example, and I think it is a great one as a counter example. Here's the lowdown - this series was wildly entertaining through 6 games. The Capitals led 2-0 in the series after winning their first two at home. The first six games were all 1-goal games, including three straight in OT, so that is quite different than what happened in the Suns series, but Game 7 set-up as a game the Capitals were rightly favored in, and then it all went to hell quickly. It's hockey, so the scoring is just a different magnitude than the NBA, but it was 2-0 Penguins after one period, and 5-0 halfway through the game. Ovechkin scored late in the 2nd but even then it led to nothing. It was over, it was desolate. The Capitals had yet to get a choker label - if anything this might have been the start of it. Here it is more the score and level of outright domination than the fact the Penguins beat the Capitals, but still it fits the bill in terms of "Is this really happening?"

1.) Super Bowl XLVIII: Seahawks 43  Broncos 8

It's annoying that two of these are specifically games that impacted my teams. Granted, it could also just be that I'm forgetting more obvious examples because this, or the Astros game, are just more present in my mind. Anyway, this takes the cake, and aside from it being a neutral site game vs. the Suns being at home, I think this is the best example. The Broncos were the favorite, and while it was a rather slight edge, I don't think anyone in their mind would've expected the Seahawks to keep Denver out of the end zone until the late 3rd quarter, when already up 29-0. The Seahawks got a safety on a botched snap on the first play and it got worse from there. It was stunning to see a record setting offense that had one of its best days in the AFC Championship just go away in flames of punts, fumbles, interceptions, missed catches, etc. It was a haunting game that I wanted to just switch off at halftime but couldn't as I was hosting friends, but I'm sure that is exactly how people in that stadium, or anyone hosting a watch party for the Suns was feeling as that lead ballooned to 30 before halftime. Even that peice was similar - as here despite how bad it started it was still just 8-0 into the second quarter. Then the TD, then the pick-6, and then the kickoff return TD to open the 2nd half it the embarrassment was complete.

Ramblings on the Stanley Cup Playoffs - Ahead of seven Game-6s

Last week I wrote about how ridiculous this Stanley Cup Playoffs was set up to be. Incredible closeness on the East. Some great series out West. And of course there's always some normal goalie-inspired chicanery with underdogs and the like. Well, aside from Colorado doing what they seem to do often - blasting away first round opponents before finding this a bit harder later on (TBD), this playoffs have lived up to every thought. The other seven series are all 3-2 - we could have up to seven Game 7s, which would be insane. Likely we end up with 3-4 or something, but anyway, here we go...

= The greatest story all season has been the Florida Panthers, and while they're up 3-2 it has been just a crazy turn of events. They were a barely missed empty net goal away from being down 3-1 to Washington, but now find themselves up 3-2 after coming back from 3-0 down in Game 5. The Panthers are fast, they're skilled, they're everything any casual fan should love, but something just isn't right about a team needing some miracles to go up against the nominal 8th seed in the East

= Toronto Tampa has been everything we could have imagined, if not super close all the time before the wildly entertaining Game 5. I just hope Game 6, and a potential Game 7, resembles that and not the evenly matched blowouts that were Games 1-4. I don't remember a first round series that had more incredible competing storylines, from Toronto on the verge of true madness if they were to lose, but with enough talent to win it all, to of course the Lightning with a chance for a threepeat - something that hasn't happened since the Islanders four in a row from 1980-83. And Game 5 seemed to have all of that - from the experienced Lightning going up to the Leafs clawing back. Two more of those please.

= The best West series has clearly been Blues v Wild, which is an underrated playoff rivalry having happened 3-4 times so far. Generally the lower ranked team has won (a weird case of nearly all Central Division playoff series), but in this one they're basically so damn even. Kaprizoff is a miracle. Tarasenko surviving wanting to leave the team to just then end up scoring a hat-trick is crazy. Both teams have the ability to push the Avalanche in what should be a stellar 2nd round matchup - I just hope they don't tire each other out ahead of it even starting.

= Kings v. Oilers is a weird version of Lightning v. Leafs, in that the Oilers have so much pressure only to find themselves down 2-3 going to LA. The Kings may not be back to back champs, but they still have Kopitar and Quick, who have their two rings and have seemingly aged back to 2014 in the series. The Leafs faced their Fight or Flight moment down 0-2 early in Game 5, staring a Game 6 in Tampa in the face. This is even more dire, staring a game in LA in the face, and personally I hope they bring it back to Edmonton to what will be an entirely too nervous building (as will Toronto if that goes to seven of course)

= I truly hope Crosby is not seriously hurt, and he's back in time for Game 6 (or 7). The Penguins dominance behind Crosby having a ridiculous series, through four games was so cool to see. Maybe it was around the time that the Devils stopped making the playoffs that I started to appreciate Crosby (and Malkin to some extent) more, and seeing them both play so well this year has been fun to watch. Seeing them dominate even more in this series has been even better. I just hope it doesn't end with a tinge of sadness.

= I personally haven't seen too much of Boston v Carolina, mainly because it has gone head to head a bit too often with Toronto v Tampa, a more compelling matchup. The Bruins are a great team but have been largely undressed a better one. The Hurricanes ability to play solid defense in front of any number of replacement goaltenders is commendable - their dominance in the forecheck against one of the best top lines is even more so. The Hurricanes by all accounts should have already won this series, but I would sign up for a raucous home crowd in Raleigh. One of the few regrets from my project in Raleigh was not making it out for a game. That 2019 season through the Covid break brought us the storm surge and so much else, and they've only built further off of that.

= I really don't know what to say about Stars v. Flames other than there's a meaning behind why I'm writing about them last. Well, two meanings. First is they were the last two to play a Game 5, and second, becuase i just haven't been able to really get into this series. While the rest of them have generally kept up the high scoring from the regular season, this one has decidedly not. No surprise really since stylistically this fits what Stars vs. Flames would be, but it is still a bit sad. I love the energy in the Saddledome, the Red Mile, all of it in Calgary, but the play hasn't really warranted the lunacy that comes with that place (similar, in a sense, in Edmonton)

= On the whole, this first round has been amazing - I hope we get at least three Game-7s out of this, especially fun would be ones in Toronto (will be a really angsty building), Edmonton (ditto), Calgary (even more ditto) and New York (the only one that might have a 'nothing to lose' mindset as they would be the one Game-7 that comes after a team had a 3-1 lead). In the end the Stanley Cup Playoffs are almost always insane, but the best are years like this where it all seems possible, heading into what could be just an epic four nights of Game-6s/7s

Re-Post: Nostalgia Diaries, Pt. 15 - The 2008 Playoffs Out West

 I'm a late night owl. I can probably count the times I've slept before the clock turns over to a new day on one hand each year. On weekends, my normal sleeping time is between 2-3 AM. On weekdays, between 12-1. I don't get up too late (if I get up past 10AM on weekends, I'm generally upset at myself). I don't know where this started, but I think some part of it has to do with being a sports fan, always jealous of my friends on the West Coast, who were watching games long before my childhood self had his head hit the pillow.

As a child of the 90's, I grew up with the newspaper being my daily sports bible, and I always hated the fact that the West Coast games ended too late to get the scores printed in the next days paper. Given that I have lived most of my life in the internet age, and today can cue up any baseball or hockey game with HD quality on my computer, this seems almost ancient. But it was true.

Prior to 2008, the Western Conference Playoffs were always some mythical experience that started at bedtime, and ended way afterwards, I may have snuck a few games in here or there, but never enough to really enjoy San Jose, or Anaheim, or LA, or Vancouver, or Calgary, or so many others. In 2008 that all changed, to disastrous effects which I'll get too.

I've written about 2008 a few times, whether it being my learning to love soccer wholeheartedly in Euro 2008, or my unabashed joy of the 2008 NFL Season. But the other aspect of that magical year was me watching those night games, the Calgary's, the Anaheim's, the San Jose's, and all the rest. By May or so, 2008, I had finished my AP Exams, which essentially meant I finsihed those classes in school. I had a license. My parents decided to first travel to the Balkans, and then to India. I was alone at home (something I mentioned in the Euro 2008 post). Some would say that this was iraresponsible of them, but truly, I was the only irresponsible one, watching NHL playoff games past midnight on what were ostensibly school nights.

I can picture it now, me sprawled out on my family room couched, all the lights off, with the playoffs in Calgary or Vancouver on the TV, on what was at the time the 'Vs' Network. I knew little of these Western Teams, aside from my pull for the Sharks. But what I quickly learned was the game was a little bit different out West - faster, more skilled, more loud, more exciting.

The Goal Horns are deeper, punching the air with bellowing pitch. The crowds are just as good, if not better. Nowadays, every team does the 'have all fans wear the same color' gag, but it was started by teams out West during this era, the Flames and Oilers and so many more.

I have no idea if the hockey was better, but just the time itself made it more exciting. At the time, I had to technically get up around 6:45 to get to school by 7:40. But that didn't stop me from enjoying every second. If I wasn't alone at home sprawled on the couch, I was on my bed watching a stream of a game at a time when watching a stream meant shaking hands with the computer virus devil, and closing every ad and pop-up and rapid-fire pace. Streams are so much better now, but I do miss the old-days of vagabond sites that forced you to learn which of the three 'x' buttons was real.

Let's get to the disastrous effect. In 2008, my school band, of which I was the tuba player for (a story for another day), had a concert tour to Virginia in the May period. My parents were vacationing in the Balkans. I was supposed to go to my neighbors house the next morning around 7:00 for them to drop me off to school to catch the bus to Virginia. I decided to watch the playoffs the night before, once again sprawled out on the couch - never leaving that position until late AM.

I awoke to my neighbor in my house, yelling (more our of concern) for me to get up, woken to a stupor - one of the last 'woken up in a stupor' moments that had no alcohol involved in my life. Apparently I overslept various alarms, various phone calls. Somehow, my neighbor reached my parents in Croatia, who gave her the garage door code. I was late, probably reached around 8:00 instead of 7:30 - though I will say was definitely not the last person to arrive to teh school that day - maybe someone else was watching late night hockey too.

I can say surprisingly little about the 2008 playoffs out West. I do know the Sharks beat the Flames in seven games, a time when they were still seen as choking chokers (something they would skid into the next round losing in six to Dallas). The Avalanche beat the Wild, something that was fairly common back in teh day. The Stars beat the defending champion Ducks. I remember little about the actual games. I have no idea which late game it was that I was watching the night I should have been resting before our band trip.

One forgotten aspect that increased the joy of watching these games was that at the time since NBC was reticent to put any money into the NHL coverage, most of the late games were simulcasts of Canadian broadcasts, be it CBC or TSN. They had Canadian announcers, Canadian music, Canadian joy of hockey, most importantly. It was a great indoctrination into hockey for real.

By 2010, I was in college, a time when my earliest class went from 8:00 my first semester, to 2:00pm by 2nd semester Junion Year, I was routinely watching late night hockey. In fact, I coveted it. If anything, I wanted those late nigth games to go to triple OT, ending around 3am EST. I didn't want the intensity, the joy of the game, to end. I would cherish that first day of playoff hockey, when the last game would start at 10:30 or 11:00, and I could be up until 2:00am watching hockey, instead of mindlessly browsing the internet (let's be real, 'being asleep' wasn't a real alternative by then).

If anything, the worst part of getting to the Conference Finals round was that there were no more 10:00pm or later start-times. Things would be normal, would be sane. But I wanted the insane, the late nights, and it all started because I was able to experience it the year I finished my school effectively in April. So much of my life, be it my love of driving, the friend group I still have, my love of football, is due to my highschool life, from an academic pressure standpoint, more or less ending in early May, 2008. The first gift that period of my life bestowed upon me was the ability to stay up to watch the games I never could, and love hockey more than ever before.

The Zion Chronicles, Pt. 2

Zion is known for hikes - not a real surprise, not a real statement here. It is a canyon, it has mountains, it has incredible mountain-hugging, winding, roads. It has all of this, and we didn't try to do anything fancy, with just took advantage of these aspects of Zion.

We didn't do Angel's Landing, the most notable hike that reaches its apex at a dangerously thin mountain edge - a hike so popular that you have to apply for a permit lottery to be allowed to hike it, and so dangerous that they had to install a wire-rail on the thinnest stretch. We both didn't have the stomach, the desire, nor the willingness to play with the lottery gods, to consider Angel's Landing as a serious option. 

Instead we did two hikes, one standard in that it was a winding traipse up and down to a natural lookout that stood high above the whole park, and the other as abnormal as it was great, a galoshing walk through the Virgin River on The Narrows hike. Both great, and adding to my overall love of Zion.

The first hike was to Observation Point, of which the trailhead we started at was actually tucked away at one corner of the resort to the East of Zion that our AirBNB was nominally in. It has a truly small parking lot so we took the shuttle that the resort offered (for a fee, nothing was free at the Zion Ponderosa Resort) to the trailhead.

The trail to Observation Point is 7 miles out and back, with an elevation gain of about 700 feet, so not super difficult. The only real difficult stretch is the last mile or so on the way out, which is very downhill and therefore the first mile on the way back is a full uphill sprint for a mile. It was brutal, made worse by the elevation. But that one mile stretch shouldn't ruin the rest of hte hike which was relatively fine, and of course the great view from the end point. Observation point is more a crest of a hill or cliff, with many great views of the canyon park in all directions. It is not as surreal a view of say the Grand Canyon, but isn't too far off.

Anyway, enough about Observation Point, let's get to the real highlight, the incredible walk through The Narrows. What do you get if you conbine the Siq of Petra, with the beauty of the American west? Well, you get the Narrows, which is in the deepest part of the Park at ground level. It starts with a mile or so paved walk alongside the river.

After that mile, you have to enter the river, and you will be in and out of the river, only escapting for little stretches of land that are on the banks and various curves, for miles. Technically you can go about 3.5 miles of river until a point where it reaches a waterfall. We didn't go that far, because it is astounding how slow you go wading through a river (even if it isn't really "hard" in any way), but we did go about a mile in the river before turning back and it was amazing.

We rented airtight socks and shoes which kept the feet relatively dry throughout, even as the water often goes above the knees. We rented a stick which helped stay somewhat in structure despite at times some pretty strong currents. It was just a fascinating experience, made better by being in this river with canyon walls on either side. Truly the photos are beautiful but don't come close to capturing the beauty of just how it looked and felt.

There are way more hikes in Zion, way more that are probably all great and amazing and beautiful, but I'm so happy we pushed through to do The Narrows. Wading through a canyon river was better than I expected, and it sounded great. In theory we turned back before the views got even better, but you know what? I'll live with knowing maybe I do more when I inevitably go back.