Do I Smell Rivalry?
April 25th, 2009
New York, NY
Tonight is game five of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal between Your New York Rangers and the Washington Capitals and there’s an interesting subplot brewing. With the incredibly talented Capitals on the edge of elimination, many hockey writers inside and outside of The Beltway are already penning the articles about them underachieving, only waiting for a final score tonight to declare the Caps a postseason bust. That’s the main plotline, and you’ll be able to follow it on Vs, ESPN, NHL TV, The Washington Post and New York Times. The New York Post will run a trite headline like, “Ovie and Out!” but the story will be just like all the others.
The subplot that interests me is that a rivalry that may have started to simmer over the last couple weeks between the teams. It hasn’t manifested yet, but the ingredients are all there: A much more talented team being upset by a less talented one. A fiery personality that’s capable of terrible things in Sean Avery, and a potential Hall of Famer on both teams in Ovechkin and Lundqvist that fans will either deify or vilify, depending on your ZIP code.
Also, we have a perfect stage in the Verizon Center. Intense, anger-filled and fully absent of any NY Ranger fans. The angry mob will see their potential champion about to be eliminated, and the perfect foil in Sean Avery will be the focus of their hatred. The loud and angry crowd will help focus the Rangers and give them a bunker mentality. Perfect for throwing blows.
The NHL Playoffs: We’ll sell you the whole seat, but you’ll only need the edge.
Here’s what we see tonight: A high-scoring first period with the Rangers leading, followed by a tight, hard-hitting second. Sometime during the second Ovechkin and Avery go hard to the boards and blood is spilled. This will touch off a huge brawl (the real kind, not the fake playoff kind without punches) and a new hockey rivalry will be born.
This will no doubt be a dirty play by Avery, and he will probably get some sort of suspension. Hell also be skewered in the press (with the exception of the Daily News, they love miscreants). To me, this isn’t a bad thing since he is completely off the reservation at this point. His play this series has bordered on embarrassing for the Rangers, but because he’s essentially our fourth-best player we can’t bench him. I’ll worry about the implications of suspension in the next series.
The point is that Avery is capable and willing to do something that will fire up this budding rivalry, and tonight he will.
The great news is that both teams are young, and none of their stars are going anywhere for a while. So we’ll have years of trash talk and every time they meet, hopefully in the playoffs for many years to come. The Broncos/Raiders, Avalanche/Red Wings and Rangers/Flyers all had similar storylines.
Time for a new one. Let’s go, Sean. Put some lumber in their teeth and let ‘em know you’re there.
New York, NY
Tonight is game five of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal between Your New York Rangers and the Washington Capitals and there’s an interesting subplot brewing. With the incredibly talented Capitals on the edge of elimination, many hockey writers inside and outside of The Beltway are already penning the articles about them underachieving, only waiting for a final score tonight to declare the Caps a postseason bust. That’s the main plotline, and you’ll be able to follow it on Vs, ESPN, NHL TV, The Washington Post and New York Times. The New York Post will run a trite headline like, “Ovie and Out!” but the story will be just like all the others.
The subplot that interests me is that a rivalry that may have started to simmer over the last couple weeks between the teams. It hasn’t manifested yet, but the ingredients are all there: A much more talented team being upset by a less talented one. A fiery personality that’s capable of terrible things in Sean Avery, and a potential Hall of Famer on both teams in Ovechkin and Lundqvist that fans will either deify or vilify, depending on your ZIP code.Also, we have a perfect stage in the Verizon Center. Intense, anger-filled and fully absent of any NY Ranger fans. The angry mob will see their potential champion about to be eliminated, and the perfect foil in Sean Avery will be the focus of their hatred. The loud and angry crowd will help focus the Rangers and give them a bunker mentality. Perfect for throwing blows.
The NHL Playoffs: We’ll sell you the whole seat, but you’ll only need the edge.
Here’s what we see tonight: A high-scoring first period with the Rangers leading, followed by a tight, hard-hitting second. Sometime during the second Ovechkin and Avery go hard to the boards and blood is spilled. This will touch off a huge brawl (the real kind, not the fake playoff kind without punches) and a new hockey rivalry will be born.
This will no doubt be a dirty play by Avery, and he will probably get some sort of suspension. Hell also be skewered in the press (with the exception of the Daily News, they love miscreants). To me, this isn’t a bad thing since he is completely off the reservation at this point. His play this series has bordered on embarrassing for the Rangers, but because he’s essentially our fourth-best player we can’t bench him. I’ll worry about the implications of suspension in the next series.
The point is that Avery is capable and willing to do something that will fire up this budding rivalry, and tonight he will.
The great news is that both teams are young, and none of their stars are going anywhere for a while. So we’ll have years of trash talk and every time they meet, hopefully in the playoffs for many years to come. The Broncos/Raiders, Avalanche/Red Wings and Rangers/Flyers all had similar storylines.
Time for a new one. Let’s go, Sean. Put some lumber in their teeth and let ‘em know you’re there.
Excellent post as usual Mr. B. I wonder though, if the Caps, even when on the verge of elimination, will bite into Avery's antics. Their game thus far has been relatively controlled as well as controlling. And I expect that if the game is remotely close deep into the third, they will continue with their disciplined play.
ReplyDeleteIf its a blowout- in either direction- well then, all bets are off.
If feel like they're too frustrated not to bite. After being the better team in three of four games, they're still on the brink of elimination. I see this one getting ugly.
ReplyDelete