It’s the final game of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Edmonton vs. Carolina. We have a deadline. Things are broken in the game. They need to be fixed right away.
There is no work being done. Here on the NHL 07 team everyone is huddled around tvs watching the amazing story play out before their eyes. The underdog Oilers. The 8th seed in the West. Battled there way through injuries to stars and the stellar play of opponents to get a chance at the greatest trophy in sports.
What hockey fan can focus on work when such a great story is about to come to an end?
Then it ends. A sad ending. The wrong ending. The hopes and dreams of millions of Canadians come crashing down. The underdog has lost.
Sad faces all around. “It was a good run,” people whisper. Too bad it wasn’t a great run. The cup has gone to a city that will never truly appreciate it. In a month they will be saying “What’s hockey?” In a year they will forget they won a cup.
A city like Edmonton would truly have appreciated the cup. It would have gone down in history. It would have been the stuff of legend. Bragged about left and right, near and far for years to come. Do you remember in ’06 when we won the cup? The fans could have told you who was on the ice for the winning goal. How many minutes Pronger played. The bravado of Markannen as he stepped out of Roloson’s shadow to play some very solid hockey.
It has gone to Carolina though. This cup will dwindle away as nothing more than the answer to some sports trivia, and people will probably often get it wrong.
I salute you Edmonton Oilers. You did the unthinkable. You achieved so many playoff firsts. You were great. You earned your way to the final without taking out the opposition’s stars in each and every round. You played good, solid, honest, Canadian Hockey!
The Edmonton Oilers. The deserving winners of the 2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
