Final thoughts on the
season
Posted: Fri June 19,
1998
At long last the season is done—only eight days 'til
the draft!—which means a brief, puckless respite.
Thanks to all of you for your letters. I've often learned
from
them.
It was a rough year for the NHL, what with dull,
obstruction-filled games for the first half of the season;
Paul Kariya's frightening injury; the Olympic disaster; so
many childish coaching changes; and a playoff schedule that
went on and on while
almost one tuned in on TV. But let's not come down too hard. The
league pressed on, giving us Dominik Hasek and Teemu
Selanne; Wayne Gretzky and Rob Blake; the Detroit Red Wings
and the Dallas Stars; and the St. Louis Blues on the power
play. Commissioner
Gary Bettman, whatever else one might say, continued to work
extremely hard for his sport. And the season ended with the
Red Wings' moving, unprecedented tribute to Vladimir
Konstantinov (whose name, by the way, unfortunately will
not be engraved on the
Cup, because he was never on the active
roster).
So rest up, hang your skates on the closet's last hook, and
we'll talk about this great game down the line. This will
be the last Mailbag until Aug. 1, when we'll start
answering questions every few weeks until the puck drops in
the fall. Then, once
again, we'll have plenty to talk
about.
Given Detroit's dominance and second straight sweep in the
Stanley Cup finals, how do you think the Wings compare with
the great Islanders dynasty of the early
'80s?
—Marc Musman, New York
City
They compare fine, but they're still two Cups shy of
equality. The Isles had a great, tone-setting goalie in
Billy Smith. The teams aren't all that dissimilar—both
built via the draft. The Islanders relied a bit more on
their stars—Mike Bossy, Bryan
Trottier and Denis Potvin—though their role players (Butch
Goring, et al.) were effective. The Wings are probably a
bit deeper overall. By the way, I seem to remember a young
Marc Musman who used to cheer wildly for those Island boys.
He hung out with a guy
named
Andre.
Without trying to sound like an angry Caps fan, I cannot
understand how you can say that Detroit is so much better
than Washington. If that were true the Wings would have won
every game by two or three goals. Instead, the Caps had a
chance to win or tie the first three games. I think
Washington, overall, has been outplayed but was in every
game except the last one. Regardless of who writes your
paychecks, you still only give opinions—and not fact.
I hate to hear "I told you so" in regard to this
series. Because no matter the game total it was a lot
closer than anyone says. Besides, didn't you pick
Buffalo?
—Brian Dale, Alexandria,
Va.
Yes, I picked Buffalo to beat Washington in the Eastern
Conference finals, and I was wrong. That won't be the last
time. I hope to be right more often than wrong (in the
playoffs I predicted 12 of the 14 series correctly) but
that may not always be the
case. My projections and analysis are simply opinion. They
are based on a good deal of reporting, upon much thought
and upon consideration of all sides of an issue. That is
how I construct any opinion on any matter—paycheck or
not.
I hear the frustration and anger in your tone and feel
sympathy for you and your fellow fans. But there is this
simple fact: The Washington Capitals were completely
outplayed in every game of the final series. They never had
a chance. I know the scores
were close, but that is extremely deceiving. The Caps got
great goaltending from Olaf Kolzig (as expected), and that
was all that kept them from being blown out. It sounds a
bit like you didn't watch the games, and only read the box
scores. If you had
been watching you would have seen the Capitals struggling
gamely, but being completely unable to keep up with or
control a far superior
team.
This isn't a question, it's a comment on your
Game 3 Reflections article. I was offended by your comment that Detroit
should win on the road to avoid a "joyful riot"
back home. Obviously you didn't take the care to notice
that nothing happened last year. We had a few arrests for
drunkenness but there was no rioting, people were just out
enjoying themselves. This is not the old Detroit where we
try and burn down the city when we win. If you want that,
try Chicago in the last few years. It's clear to me that
you don't know much about my city. We are doing everything
we can to change our image and your comments aren't helping
any.
—Kevin Brady,
Detroit
My apologies. I in no way meant to denigrate Detroit. My
comment about the "joyous riot" was meant to be
read for its general sense—i.e., that the potential
for fallout is always greater when a team wins at home,
wherever that is. I've had the
opportunity to spend quite a bit of time in Detroit over the past few
months and have found it a fair and friendly place. Glad to
hear from someone so civic-minded. Keep it
up.
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