Is anybody watching this Stanley Cup championship series? No doubt League execs are tearfully counting the revenue they might have made on the Detroit-Toronto matchup that wasn't. But if the TV audiences are small -- and I don't know if they are -- you can't fault the Conference champion Calgary Flames and Tampa Bay Lightning. They're serving up some high-quality competition, and their young stars are telegenic to boot. (Seeing Iginla on the ice with elder skatesman Brett Hull in the Calgary-Detroit series, it was hard not to think: "old and busted -- new hotness.")
When my team falls in the playoffs, I usually wish immediate and humiliating defeat on their conquerors in the next round. Not this year, though. This year, I started rooting for the Calgary Flames to keep winning after they beat my Red Wings, and I'm still pulling for them in the Finals. Here's why:
1. THE ALTERNATIVES: First and most important,
no one else was left, especially in the West. I don't know who cheers for San Jose, but they ain't me.
2. GEOGRAPHY: A Canadian team hasn't won the Stanley Cup since 1993 (Montreal Canadiens), and they have it coming. They gave us this great game, and what did we ever give them in return? Acid rain and draft dodgers, that's what. Pro hockey doesn't belong in Florida, and that's not just northern chauvinism talking -- rinks don't stay frozen south of the Mason-Dixon! Growing up in Michigan, I didn't get to grow bananas in my backyard, either. That's just the way it is.
3. JAROME: This Iginla kid just oozes likeability. He's talented, tough, charismatic, and just so gosh-darned earnest! In this
New York Times article from May 30, he breaks down his post-game game: "I still get nervous and still say too many 'ums,'" he says. Aw, shucks. He may be the best player in the League, but he's still just a kid from Edmonton.
3. THE COACH: Flames coach Darryl Sutter is the real deal. As his
official team bio notes in its first sentence, Sutter has made it to the post-season in all but one of his 21 years in hockey (as a player in juniors and the NHL, and as a coach in the IHL and NHL). Plus, he comes from good family. The Sutter name looks classy engraved on the Cup.
4. TURQUOISE: Speaking of what looks good, those Tampa Bay sweaters do not, at all. Who designed
their logo, somebody's middle-school-aged kid with a copy of Print Shop? The sooner we can all stop looking at this lame piece of clip art, the better.
So, hey, which dog is yours in this fight and why?