The Kings will be the first ones to tell you they’re only halfway to their ultimate goal. They need 16 wins and with their impressive win to kickoff the Western Conference Final, they’ve only racked up 9 wins. Even though they’ve been extraordinary against the two best regular season teams the Western Conference has to offer, they still need to find a way to win seven more wins or their postseason run will have a sour aftertaste.

There’s a reason that sports fans say the Stanley Cup is the hardest trophy to win in professional sports.

Even though the Kings are nowhere near their ultimate goal, their run in the playoffs thus far is starting to break some historical ground. They’re currently sitting with a 9-1 record as they prepare for Game 2 in Phoenix on Tuesday night. That’s a .900 winning percentage through 10 games for aspiring statisticians who are playing along at home.

That’s not only impressive for an 8th seed—that’s impressive for any team in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Only 11 teams have managed to win at least 9 of their first 10 games in the playoffs since the league expanded in 1967. Of the 11 teams that were able to start the postseason with a 90% winning percentage, all but one ended up tasting champagne from the Cup in the near future. Seven of the 11 won the Stanley Cup that season, two teams won the Cup the following season, and another would win consecutive Cups only two years later.

Here’s the breakdown:

Boston Bruins (1972): Won the Cup

Edmonton Oilers (1983, 1985, and 1988): Lost in Cup Final in 1983 to the New York Islanders before winning the Cup in 1984. They proceeded to dominate the rest of the 1980s with Cups in ’84, ’85, ’87, ’88, and ’90.

Montreal Canadiens (1968, 1976, and 1978): Won the Cup all three seasons.

Detroit Red Wings (1995): Lost in Cup Final to New Jersey; they would get back to Western Conference Final in 1996 before winning back-to-back Cups in 1997 and 1998.

Buffalo Sabres (1998): Lost in Conference Finals to Washington; made Cup Final in 1999.

Tampa Bay Lightning (2004): Won the Cup.

Pittsburgh Penguins (2008): Lost in Stanley Cup Final; won Cup the following season.

But before fans in Los Angeles start planning the parade route down Figueroa, the historical account isn’t unspoiled for the Kings. As a cautionary tale, the team that shares the most in common with the Kings from this list is the 1998 Buffalo Sabres. The Sabers stormed through the first two rounds of the playoffs before running into the Washington Capitals in the Eastern Conference Final. They were able to take the next step and reach the Stanley Cup Final in 1999—only to see their Cup aspirations dashed with Brett Hull’s left skate.

The Sabres haven’t been back since.

We've seen this a lot lately...

In 1998, Buffalo came out of nowhere to earn the right to play in the Eastern Conference Final. People will remember Dominik Hasek and his Hart and Vezina Trophy winning season—but the Sabres were an average team through the regular season. They finished 3rd in the Northeast Division and 6th in the Eastern Conference.

So we’re talking about a team that’s been carried by their goaltender all season, that finished third in their division and was an underdog starting in the first round. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

Compare the Sabres regular season to that of the other 10 teams that had such a historic start to their playoff runs. Nine of the 10 won their division. That’s right—all but one of them won their division and were expected to go deep in the playoffs. The only one that didn’t win their division was the 1987-88 Edmonton Oilers—yet even though they finished second in the Smythe Division to the Calgary Flames. Then again, that may be a little misleading: they also finished in second place in the entire Campbell Conference. The Oilers were never considered “underdogs” in the 1980s; and their 16-2 run throughout the playoffs proved that 1988 was no different.

It’s still the best record for any team that had to win 16 games to win the Cup.

The Kings still have plenty of work to do before they’ll be happy with their playoffs. They don’t hand out trophies for nine wins in the playoffs. Still, the Kings’ run already puts them in some damn fine, historic company. Mix in that they were able to do it against the #1 and #2 seeds from the Western Conference, and we may have never seen a more dominant (or surprising) first two rounds in Stanley Cup playoff history. Ever.

None of that will matter if the Kings end up like the Sabres did in the late 1990s. History doesn’t remember the teams that start strong and fade down the stretch. They remember those who finish what they started.

9-1 is a great way for the Kings to start. Their start has already carved a place in history, but they still have seven games to go if they want anyone to remember.

“This is just a marathon.”

“Everyone knows that you have to be careful about the ‘long change’ in the 3rd overtime.”

We all know the feeling. You’ve been watching a game for five hours, you’ve just wrapped up yet another intermission, and you start wondering if you should go to bed. But you just know that the second you turn the TV off, someone is going to score and you will have completely wasted your night.

After five hours, you’re emotionally invested. You don’t even care who wins anymore—you just want it to end and you want to be able to say that you saw the whole thing.

Hockey fans understand that overtime games in the playoffs are a badge of honor. “Do you remember that four OT game in 2008 when the Stars eliminated the Sharks? I watched the entire game.” As the years pass, the fact that you can say you watched the entire game is more important than any minor detail of the game. You know, minor details like: who won the game. After a few years, who cares? All that matters is that you lasted until the very end. Who won? You won!

But here’s a question that people might want to start asking: What happened after that crazy, marathon of a game? You know the team that won the epic tilt? Did they win the series? You know that team that had their heart ripped out when they lost a five hour game? How in the hell did they come back and play the next game?

Thinking back to those games (and series), most of us probably assume the same thing. There’s no way that a team can come back from that kind of gut-shot–the loser of the game probably lost the series. Forget the entire series, there’s no way they’d be able to come back, shake off the massive disappointment, and even win the next game. Sure, a few teams would be able to shake off the defeat and win the next game, but those teams are in the minority, right? Likewise, there are a few teams that can shake off the bitter disappointment of a multiple OT loss to storm back to win the series, right?

At least when Marc Staal scored in Game 5, it was quick and relatively painless...

WARNING: STATS AHEAD!

There have been 43 playoff games since 2002 that went to at least a second overtime session. Did you know that only about 60% (26 out of 43) of teams that win the multiple OT game win the series? Sure, it’s better to win the marathon game than lose it—but that goes for every other game in the playoffs as well. It means that just because a team loses the game, they still have a 40% chance of winning the series.

The doomsdayers should take note. Just because a team loses a classic heartbreaker, plenty of teams have proven that it’s not the death sentence they’d have you believe.

The statistic isn’t a huge surprise though. The team that wins the OT game has a better chance of winning the series. They don’t have a huge advantage, but they still have an advantage. Even more surprising is the results of the game immediately following a massive overtime game. You know the game—the game when experts constantly shout, “it’s going to be tough for Team A to recover from last night’s heartbreaker.”

The fact of the matter is teams that lose multiple overtime games usually win the next game. You read that right—the team that was just punched in the stomach usually regroups and finds a way to win the next game.

Remember that 60% figure? Well, 60% of the time (22 out of 37), the team that loses the marathon game actually wins the very next game. Sounds like fans have a harder time bouncing back than their favorite teams!

Now when the games go a little deeper, the accepted storyline rings a truer. Those games that go even deeper—we’re talking about three overtimes or more—the team that win has a better chance of winning the series. In the last decade, there have been 14 games that have gone to (at least) the third overtime. Ten times the winner of the marathon game went on to win the series. That’s 71% for the math majors playing along at home.

Oh, but it’s not that simple. Even though the team goes onto win the series—they still can’t win the next game. Check this out: more than half of the time, the team that loses a three OT game will go onto win the next game.

How can that be? Is that because the team that loses has more motivation to win the next game? Is it because the team that won subconsciously lets down for the next game? That’s for the so-called experts to explain. Let’s just hope they have their facts straight before they start giving us the reasons for why things happen.

“You have to earn the right to win hockey games.”

Those words are courtesy of Phoenix Coyotes’ head coach Dave Tippett from earlier this season. Can we agree that everyone in the Coyotes organization has “earned the right to win hockey games?”

Going into the Western Conference Final, there are people who are rooting for the Coyotes because they are an example of the quintessential perseverance story that sports have thrived on for years. In the face of adversity, they’ve managed to pull together and achieve more than anyone expected. When the world doubted, their resolve only got stronger. Pick your cliché.

Disney makes movies about these kinds of stories.

The Coyotes fit the formula quite nicely. Between ownership questions that have hovered over the team for three years, losing their (perceived) best player in the offseason, and constantly being overlooked as one of the better teams in the NHL, the Coyotes organization has lived its “hockey the hard way” slogan like a badge of courage.

"“Yeah. I remember two years ago we were projected 30th, so we can’t get much lower than that!"

It’s not just the “them vs. the world” story that makes the Coyotes so interesting. At least it shouldn’t be. On a much smaller, more intimate level, these are the guys that sports fans should root for. At all levels within the organization, the team has some of the best leadership in the NHL. From GM Don Maloney, to head coach Dave Tippett, to long-time captain Shane Doan, the Coyotes have the goods. There’s no questioning who is in charge; and with their recent success, there’s no doubt that the secret sauce in Glendale was working.

But more important than the formula, each of these vital leaders is a likeable human being. Professional sports are filled will all types: from pompous to annoying; from arrogant to disconnected. Yet in Phoenix, each man showing the way at each level is the kind of individual we would all root for in real life. We’re talking about the kind of men that you’d meet, shake their hand, and walk away saying, “I hope that guy does well.”

Well, they are doing well. They’re doing very well—and it’s about damn time.

Here are a few brief insights into the three guys in Phoenix who deserve all of the success that’s coming their way.

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Even though the Phoenix Coyotes had made the playoffs in each of the last two seasons, there wasn’t a ton of confidence going into the season. When we think back, the consensus was that the Coyotes had been built around the strong goaltending of Ilya Bryzgalov and that’s what helped lead them to consecutive playoff berths. So before the season started when we had the opportunity to talk to Coyotes’ GM Don Maloney for a few minutes, there were questions whether the organization would be able to maintain the high standard they had set.

Between hockey pundits and media experts, the vast majority of opinion makers were expecting a sizable drop off for the Coyotes. What did Maloney think of the people who were expecting his team to finish in last place in the Pacific Division? How would he react to that statement?

He laughed. Then he answered with a smile:

“Yeah. I remember two years ago we were projected 30th, so we can’t get much lower than that! But you know what, that’s OK and I don’t blame them. I know everybody looks at Bryzgalov leaving and saying ‘he was the sole reason that you had the success that you did.’ But I’m not buying that. I look at Bryzgalov before he came to us and there was a lot of uncertainty to his game at that time. We were bringing him around. No disrespect to him—I think he was fantastic. But I think we’ll be better, certainly at that position [goaltender], than people might be think. And if we are, we’re going to be good.

The way I look at the season, there are three or four teams that you can legitimately say, ‘OK, they’re ahead of the pack.’ Then there’s the pack and it’s everybody else. We’ll be in the pack—and our goal is to be at the top end of the pack.”

Look at these comments and think about how the season unfolded for Mike Smith and the Coyotes. There’s a reason that Maloney is a successful GM while the rest of us (who thought the Coyotes would struggle) are just writing about the sport.

The way he responded was the perfect representation of the organization he’s helped build into a serious contender. He accepted the doubt, and calmly explained that while outsiders may not understand, he had belief that this team was built to be just as good as previous editions. He understood the strengths of his organization were still in place and that his major offseason acquisition(s) would fit right in with the plan that was already in place.

He saw something that we didn’t—and knew he had a secret that most hockey people wouldn’t understand until the regular season matured into the home stretch.

It didn’t matter if people doubted him before the season started. People would find out soon enough.

__________________________________________

Dave Tippett has been successful wherever he’s coached. When he was an assistant for Andy Murray with the Los Angeles Kings a decade ago, he molded the Kings into one of the best power play units in the league. (You read that right, he was coaching the offensive side of the puck). He parlayed his success as an assistant into the head coaching gig with the Stars. He did well in Dallas until Joe Nieuwendyk wanted to put his stamp on the team and fired him in favor of Marc Crawford. Tippett was unemployed for about 11 seconds before the Coyotes snatched him up and turned around their franchise.

Don't question the man about his #1 line...

But none of that is really news. If you didn’t know his past, a quick look on Wikipedia or his bio over on the Coyotes official page should help fill in any blanks. Resumes are easy to find.

It’s the kind of person and the kind of leader that Dave Tippett is that makes him so valuable to the Coyotes.

We had the opportunity to talk to Tippett earlier in the season. At the time, Ray Whitney and Shane Doan had played on the same line for a few games; despite knowing the team swears by its scoring depth, I thought it was rather clear that they had a top line (at that particular point in the season).

“You guys have your top line,” I said, “and Vrbata been more second line type, secondary scoring playing for your team…”

“Which one would be that top line?” Tippett interrupted.

“Um, where ever Doan is…” I replied.

Hall of Fame writer Eric Duhatschek chimed in: “Wherever Iginla is…”

“Oh, Ok!” Tippett said with a half smile, half smirk. “There ya go… Now I know… Just checking…”

The scene was a perfect reminder of the way Dave Tippett views his team and what he expects from all 20 guys to succeed. He politely (and professionally) continued as he explained that Radim Vrbata was an important player to the Coyotes (and deserved an all-star mention) because of the goals—and the timely goals—he’s scored over the first-half of the season. But the point had been made: “No one is more important than anyone else. We have no top line, we have no fourth line.”

Later, Tippett discussed a recent Coyotes’ victory. He could have said the same words after any of the Coyotes 42 wins this season:

“When our team plays well, the one thing you could say is that we had contributions throughout our lineup. Our goaltending was good, we defended pretty well, we got ample scoring throughout the lineup. Probably any team could say that, but our team, it’s a ‘must’ for us to be successful. Everyone has to contribute.”

Like Tippett hints at in his statement, every coach in the league would say the same thing. The difference is that when Tippett says it, I believe him.

__________________________________________

What kind of player is the ideal hockey player?

Undisputed leaders.

Most of us who religiously follow hockey have a few characteristics that we’d want the perfect player to embody. We’d want someone who plays hard every night. We’d want a player who can spark his team when someone on the bench needs it. We’d want a guy who leads his teammates—a guy who can inspire both on and off the ice. A guy who can hit; a guy who can score. A guy who would throw his body in front of a slapshot; a guy who would play through injuries.

We’d want a guy who puts other people’s accomplishments before his own. We’d want a guy who puts team accomplishments before his own. We’d want a guy who would do anything to help the team win.

Enter Coyotes’ captain Shane Doan.

This year, we had the opportunity to talk to someone close to the team about the Coyotes captain. While waiting in the locker room for another player to come off the ice for a another story, he pointed at Doan and said (paraphrasing):

“You see that guy over there? It all starts with him. Everything about this team, the team mentality, and all of the recent success—it all starts with him.”

He’s the kind of leader that we’d all love to follow in our everyday lives. He’s the kind of guy who is quick to take any blame; but even quicker to give any credit to those around him.

It’s hard to adequately explain how Doan lights up when he gets to talks about others. We’ve had the opportunity to talk to him about everything from Vrbata and his all-star caliber start to his first year in Winnipeg with Teemu Selanne. That latter showed that even though he’s been the undeniable face of the Phoenix Coyotes for 15 years, he still has the humility we’d all like to believe our heroes possess:

What did he say when asked about his rookie year in Winnipeg with Teem Selanne?

“Honestly, you can’t explain how nice a man he is,” Doan said. “As a rookie, as a young guy, he went out of his way to feel so comfortable. I thought, ‘he’s Teemu Selanne!’ He scored 76 goals and he was so unarming and easy to talk to. I enjoyed him a lot.”

Doan always complimentary of the other team—and always means it. Not the cliché answers. No matter what the subject, he’s always more comfortable talking about others than talking about things like his first career hat trick (and his near miss for his second in the very next home game).

Now, if you remember, Doan did not receive the greatest reception from the fans in Winnipeg. Even though he started his career in Manitoba, he also made comments about wanting to keep the Coyotes in Phoenix for the fans. The comment simultaneously endeared him to Coyotes fans and ostracized him from some Winnipeggers. It’s a situation that he easily could have soured him towards an entire fanbase.

So we asked him about the mixed reaction that he received in his first game back to Winnipeg:

“Yeah, when you’re playing, I think you’re against their team and they’re very passionate about their team,” Doan explained. “But at the same time, they’re all great fans. It was pretty cool what they did. I appreciated it. Then I really appreciated it booing too. That’s a lot of fun too.”

By the end of his answer, he had the biggest grin you can imagine. Yeah, he’s just fine with how things went down in Winnipeg.

He’s not just the player that fans can buy the jersey for next week’s game. Sure, any fan would fit right into Jobing.com Arena with a brand new Doan jersey. But even more than that, he’s the guy that a fan can buy his jersey and in 20 years, someone comes up to them and says, “That guy was awesome. I wish we had someone like him now.”

Like they said: “it all starts with him.”

__________________________________________

Only time will tell if these three men can take the next step in their quest for the Stanley Cup. But when we’re looking around the sports landscape for guys who are worth rooting for, the Coyotes have three guys who fit the bill.

Don Maloney, Dave Tippett, and Shane Doan all are good men who are not only good at what they do, but they’re enjoyable guys to be around. That should matter, shouldn’t it?

The types of guys who make the hockey world a better place—those are the ones who are supposed to succeed, aren’t they? They’re the ones who deserve the recognition; even though they’d never seek the acknowledgment.

Finally, the spotlight is shining on their accomplishments. It’s about damn time. All three have “earned the right to win,” and it’s about time people started taking notice. It couldn’t happen to three more deserving men.

“No one is above the team.”

How many times have we heard that from various owners, GMs, coaches, and management representatives over the years? It’s a nice concept, isn’t it? The idea that, no matter how valuable any player is to the team, the team is most important. It would just be nice if we saw the concept in practice a little more often.

Team goals are supposed to be more important than individual ones. We learn that from the youngest levels of youth sports—do your best for the team and help the team win. That’s supposed to be the goal. Team statistics are supposed to be more important than the individual’s numbers. Team awards are supposed to be more important than individual recognition. Because at the end of the day, it’s the contributions of 20 individuals that are supposed to add up to the team’s success.

At least that’s the way it’s supposed to be.

Instead, in all sports, we see management and coaches look the other way when a star players act selfishly because, well, they are star players that produce. But it’s always a hard sell when the same actions from a role player would be met with stiffer consequences.

It sends a simple message: “This guy is more important to our team than you are. Yes, we want you to contribute to the team’s success, but we need his contributions much more than we need yours. Thank you for your daily sacrifice, but we can survive without you—we can’t survive without him.”

Of course, they’d never say anything like that to a prideful player’s face. But as parents tell their kids, actions speak louder than words.

It should be an easy decision. Players do something wrong and they suffer the appropriate (and expected) consequences. But real life is never that easy. When the players are important and the games are even more important, it’s commonplace for the judge, jury, and executioner to all look the other way.

________________________________________

That brings is to Nashville—the HockeyTonk capital of the world and the second round of the 2012 NHL Playoffs.

Everyone from every corner of the blogosphere has turned their attention to Nashville over the last few days. As most people know, the official word from the Predators organization is Alexander Radulov and Andrei Kostitsyn broke a team rule and were suspended for Game 3 of the Western Conference Semifinals against the Phoenix Coyotes. That’s the official statement.

"Just promise you'll be in your room on time during the playoffs, deal?"

Reports outside the organization say that Radulov and Kostitsyn broke their curfew the night before Game 2 in Arizona. There were eyewitness reports that placed the two in Scottsdale at 11:30pm the night before their playoff game. For those who are wondering, Scottsdale and Glendale (where Jobing.com Arena is located) are on opposite sides of the greater Phoenix area and are 30-45 minutes apart.

Even though Radulov says that he wasn’t “that late,” others around the organization say that not only did the two forwards break curfew, “they napalmed it.”

That’s the background for one of the biggest decisions of the David Poile era in Nashville. But the reason this is an important report has nothing to do with Alex Radulov, either Kostitsyn, or any other Russian player in the NHL. This isn’t a “Russian” thing—and we’re not about to go there. (That’s been done.) No, this story is about the Nashville Predators, the way they handled this situation, the way they always conduct business, and the secret of their success for everyone to see.

The secret to Nashville’s success over the last handful of years is identical to the secret the Phoenix Coyotes possess across the hallway in this series. Team first. Everyone scarifies for the team. Everyone plays a team game and helps their teammates in every position on the ice. Defense is everyone’s job. Scoring is done by committee. And in recent years, winning is also done by committee.

So when two individuals’ actions threaten to put themselves ahead of the team, it’s even more important for a general manager like Poile—who represents a team like the Predators—to take action. And just as expected, Poile delivered. Just like he expects from him players, he put the team above any individual.

Here’s how Poile addressed the media:

“I’ve been a general manager for 30 years and I’ve always tried to treat each, individual player with care, but never put the individual player above the team… It’s very disappointing, obviously any time something like this would happen it would be disappointing, but in the playoffs it’s even more so taking out two of arguably better hockey players. But, again, pretty easy decision. Again, our creed has always been to try to do the right thing. I try to do that in my personal life, so I should certainly do this in my business life. We’ve just done the right thing. We put the team ahead of a couple of individual players and we’ll see where we go from here.”

What’s on the line for Poile? For the first time, the Predators and their ownership are “all in.” (his words, not mine). They acquired the best pieces available at the deadline that fit into their team concept when they gave up significant assets for Paul Gaustad and Hal Gill. Ownership has made the financial commitment to spend to the cap in hopes of success—and retaining core players like Ryan Suter and Shea Weber in the near future. If teams have short windows for success, the Predators may never see the window as wide-open as it is today.

Could Poile have done this if he was in a hockey crazed market where every small move is analyzed and overanalyzed? Would Leafs or Canucks fans be willing to trust Poile when the market is so desperate for success—at any cost necessary?

Regardless, Poile put the team above players who are instrumental to said team’s success. Because if he doesn’t, how can he expect the other 18-20 guys to put the team first? Not only did he make the bold decision to sit two of his most talented players—he did it without hesitation.

“It’s never difficult when you just go down to ‘let’s do the right thing.’” GM Poile said about his decision. “If you have standards and have rules, you have to maintain the rules. If you let these things slide, it’s never going to work. Again, in the big picture, this is way more important that where we are. If we’re up 2-0 vs. down 2-0, the same decision would have been made. It’s just about doing the right thing for the team and not the individuals. You CAN NOT put an individual, no matter how important they are, ahead of the team. Again, what they did, their behavior, was not committed, not focused, not conducive to allowing the team to be successful…”

It might be surprising to hear an organization take this kind of stand for the most important game of their season—but not for the Predators. When we hear Poile say something like: “what they did was unacceptable and the coaches and myself and to come to the plate and do the right thing for the team,” it’s just par for the course. This is the organization’s way. It has been since Day 1 when David Poile was announced as General Manager and Barry Trotz was announced as the team’s first head coach. It’s always been like this and it’ll be like this until they’re replaced.

This is the Predators family that the two men have created.

“…This team is not a perfect team. Family is not a perfect family. You have to support your family at different times and you sometimes at different times you have to have your child sit in the corner for a timeout—because it’s the right thing to do. It doesn’t mean we don’t love our children any less—or these players any less. We’re disappointed in their behavior and we hope by what we’re doing it’s the right thing for our organization and all of our other team members. And we hope that going forward, something like this would never happen again—especially in such an important time.” –Preds GM David Poile

But it’s not just the coaches and management. The players embody the same approach. Alternate captain Ryan Suter explains:

“As a leadership group, we talked with Trotz. We said [to him] whatever you decide, we will stand by you. We’re in the playoffs, and we don’t need distractions…”

That’s coming straight from an impending unrestricted free agent that knows this is the best shot he’s ever had at the Stanley Cup.

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The stage was set for Game 3. The organization had taken an admirable stance in the face of a desperate situation. The players on the team openly supported the decision. So this was one of those times when the Hockey Gods would prove that doing ‘the right thing’ would be rewarded, right?

The Hockey Gods delivered as they were supposed to.

If there were ever a game where “truth” was shown for 60 minutes, it was Game 3 in Music City. Nashville used a true team effort—the same kind of team effort that has made them successful over the last few years—to climb back into the series.

Is it any surprise that the Predators would use a team effort to climb back into the series?

The Hockey Gods are infallible.

Martin Erat showed that they still had world-class talent on the ice when Alex Radulov and Andrei Kostitsyn were in the press box.

Mike Fisher showed a dominant two-way effort that made him last year’s key acquisition and a perfect representative of “Predators’ Hockey.”

Sergei Kostitsyn showed that he can perform just as well as his much more appreciated brother—and has a better grasp of curfews.

Jordin Tootoo showed in the third period that he knows what it takes to help his team win in the playoffs. For anyone who has followed his battle with his substance abuse demons, it was gratifying to see Tootoo succeed when given a chance in the second round (and ironic that he’d get his shot because two guys were out drinking too late).

And to tie a bow on the evening, Pekka Rinne showed that when the team-effort in front of him started to bend near the end of the game, he was still capable of bailing his teammates out when needed. Should we really be surprised that Rinne earned his first career shutout victory on a night when the team was asked to perform as one?

It’ll be interesting to see what Barry Trotz decides to do with Radulov and Kostitsyn for Game 4. Judging by the Predators’ performance, there’s no guarantee the pair will be back in the lineup when the Preds try to knot the series at 2-2. After the game, Trotz strongly hinted that Radulov and Kostitsyn may be headed back to the press box for Game 4:

“It’s a privilege to play in the Stanley Cup playoffs, to play for the Cup, and those guys took advantage of the privilege of playing,” said Trotz. “That’s a sacred part of the playoffs. It will be very hard to change a lot from that group.”

And to think, some people thought the team knew about the players’ actions before Game 2. Again, the team comes before any individual.

Why is this story such a big deal? Sure, it’s a big deal that a team with Cup aspirations would bench two important players for a vitally important game. That much is obvious. But there’s something deeper to the story that has captured people’s attention. It’s because the Predators are acting with the integrity that everyone hopes their team possesses. When given the choice between doing “the right thing” and compromising their values for a playoff win, we all hope that our team would do the right thing—and would be rewarded for it after the fact.

Today, Predators fans know their team did the right thing and they were rewarded for it. As a fan, that’s more important than any victory on any scoreboard.

There’s an undeniable phenomenon that happens at the end of every team’s season. It happens for teams that are eliminated in the regular season—and it’s even more prevalent for teams that are eliminated in the playoffs. It’s called “The Blame Game.” On an especially early exit in the first round, the fun “Blame Game” always seems to be cranked up another notch from the fans than the media, as their (sometimes) outlandish expectations weren’t met by their favorite team.

The big question is really who gets the most blame and why. Of course, on a hockey club, there are a lot of moveable parts on and off the ice that can contribute to success and failure. Is there one spot that deserves more blame than another? Can there be a quick fix if you get rid of the problem or will that just snowball into more problems? Is there even a problem at all or just a team that hit a string of bad luck? There are usually more questions than answers. But hockey fans always have the answers…

It’s a good thing we, as humans, have the ability to engage in hindsight. Not only do fans have 20/20 hindsight, we also have the ability to be the armchair owner/GM and know EXACTLY what was needed to be done in order to win the Stanley Cup (and sweep every series along the way). Thankfully for everyone, I have been able to channel the thoughts of everyone in order to get a grasp on who is to blame the most for their favorite team faltering for Lord Stanley of Preston’s Championship Cup.

One of these guys would have won the Cup. The other is the reason for everything that is wrong...

Goaltender sucks

First and foremost, the goalie is the guy who gets the brunt of the punishment. Honestly, how hard is it to actually stop a small piece of vulcanized rubber going at 90 to 100 miles-per-hour with all that padding on? They should have no fear and know where every bounce is going to happen off the opposing player’s stick or his own player’s sticks. They don’t have their head in the game and honestly, despite all the success he brought to our team, they really need to ship him out because he doesn’t win when he counts. Plus, how much longer can he keep holding the back-up goalie from showing the greatness we’ve seen in the 10-12 minutes a game he’s in relief every tenth game. Did you see the game he played against the last place team? He inched out a victory and only let up three goals with no support. He’s going to be a gem as a starter.

Top line sucks

Speaking of the lack of support—why hasn’t our top line been able to actually score on every shift they are out there? It’s insane the chances they haven’t been able to connect on, you almost think they need to shake up the bench in order to wake them up and show them how good they have it. That way, when they’re reunited—boom, instant success. You can’t put a price tag on something like that—the fact that if you split them up, you know how good they’ll have it. Or, they’ll be able to spark those lower lines so we can roll four lines who can hit, score, and just dominate on the ice. You know—split up that first line to make all the other lines better.

Character guys suck

But come on, those grind guys and character players aren’t showing any of that. Sure, they’ve had a full 82-game season to deal with getting beat and broken because they’re setting the tone physically, but it’s the playoffs for Pete’s sake! They need to find that other gear. How do we expect to be successful if our character guys aren’t doing the task they need to do to help us to win. Playoff hockey is all about getting the underdog players to step it up and actually show their true worth for this team. They’re a dime-a-dozen and if they don’t contribute, we need to get rid of him.

Defensemen suck

Don’t get me started on our defense—they just were pylons out there. With the match-up we had, they should have been able to be a great fortress of solitude back there. Our goalie shouldn’t have to deal with so many shots, but that defense is just trying to do too much offensively that their defensive responsibility is totally not there. Their heads are not in the game and we need to maybe think about getting someone in there who knows how to mentor these guys to play a complete game. They need to know when to pinch, when to stay back, and when to step-up to block shots. It’s sad we can’t have this like other teams do.

Coaches suck

You know, that’s our real problem—the coaching. They wouldn’t know a defensive or offensive presence if it bit them in the ass. Look at how our guys are being treated: shuffled around with guys who have no chemistry and the guys who need to be moved are staying in the same spot. I mean, look at our special teams—it’s just passing around on the power play and running around in our own zone when we’re a man down. It’s ludicrous that these guys are trusted with the responsibility to bring this city a championship when they are just lolly-gagging with the lines and completely screwing up what this team had before they showed up here.

General Manger sucks

Though, if he had one or two more guys in our line-up, we could still be in it. That general manager of ours is a joke. Sure, he has a limited amount of money to deal with, but at the same time—why couldn’t he sweeten the pot by saying to the free agents that we’d be contenders? He wasn’t trying hard enough, because at the deadline; we could have made a big splash and shown the rest of the league that we mean business and be able to win on intimidation alone. He needs to go, but you know he’ll fire the coach or trade the players to shave his own butt on this matter. Honestly, get rid of some draft picks for that star character player—it worked on NHL12 for me.

Well, all-in-all, we had a great run. We tried to do what we needed, but now we get to look ahead to next year. I’ve got a good feeling about it, too. With these guys on the ice, the people behind the bench, and the management we’ve got looking out for the fans—we’re due next year.