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askye at 08:37am on 03/06/2004
askye at 08:37am on 03/06/2004At the start of the Finals I didn't really care about Sutter one way or the other, but now---what a prick.
What put me over the edge was the article about the press conference. The one where Sutter implies that there is a conspiracy against Calgary---the poor, poor hated underdogs.
So now I have a team to hate and I really did need a team to root against all the time.
What put me over the edge was the article about the press conference. The one where Sutter implies that there is a conspiracy against Calgary---the poor, poor hated underdogs.
So now I have a team to hate and I really did need a team to root against all the time.
(no subject)
The other thing you can't argue with is his success. He took his Sharks team to the conference final, and now he has a Calgary team of muckers (with Iginla and a hot goalie) that has been out of the playoffs for ages and has them 2 wins away from the Stanley Cup. The guy is a superb motivator.
I like TBay. I think they play a classy, attrative style of hockey and have accumulated a bunch of bright young talent and one of the best goalies in the world. The Lecavalier hit was totally a dangerous cheap shot and Nieminen deserved suspending, in my view.
But Calgary has earned where they are, through some excellent coaching and team discipline, as well as some stellar individual performances. Canada loves the underdog team playing with grit and desire (and not much else), which is why I can walk down the streets here in Toronto and see red Flames jerseys all over the place.
Just 2 cents (Canadian) from yr. friend, JSw.
(no subject)
I spent a chunk of my early life in Alberta, but I'm rooting for Tampa Bay all the way, because I loathe Darryl Sutter, in the same way I loathe Jon Gruden in football. I despise the mentality of "all my men are really little schoolyard bullies, so let's motivate them by picking a player at random and fucking his career" coaching. It makes me want to vomit. Sutter, when he was here - and JS, we had plenty of time in San Jose to check out Sutter - did it to Alexander Korlyuk; it should be pretty obvious, after this season and the playoffs, that Korky is a brilliant player. He lost two years of his career to Sutter's "every flea needs a littler flea to piss on so I guess you're it and I'll use you to scare the other players" crap. It makes me want to spew.
And we had personal experience of that crap from Jon Gruden, since the player he chose to terrorise was our daughter's boyfriend, Jerry Porter. I really fucking hate coaches who pull that. Why not treat your players as if they were adults, you know?
Gah. Sorry. Yes, it's a major major bugbear for me. I'm not arguing that the Flames deserve to be where they are - they played brilliantly. But if the team isn't acting like fuckheaded thugs - and make no mistake, they don't play that way unless the coaching staff encourages that - then the coach doesn't need to act as a lightning rod.
(no subject)
The series was very exciting and I'm glad it went to Game 7 ... just so I could see what it was like. Although I've read on a few websites (nhl.com, si.com...maybe some place else) opinions that the games weren't exciting. That the series, was in fact, not very exciting hockey and there was no artistry.
I guess I didn't realize that hockey was supposed to have artistry. Frankly I thought it was fast paced and exciting and even the low score didn't bother me. In fact both my parents now consider themselves hockey fans.