We have seen this script before. Confidence rules all in hockey. Good players can rise above their stations in life and achieve greatness because of it. Goalies can appear like brick walls when they have it. Trailing by two or three goals feels like nothing more than a hiccup when you are feeling it. It is as old as the hills and the best example of it is the Miracle on Ice. Confidence creates a "Cloak of Invincibility" that championships are often won on.
And when you don't have it...you will swear you will never win again.
It has been the story of these playoffs. It is why players like Conor Sheary and Bryan Rust are looking like they should be on Team North America in September at this point. We all know they shouldn't be, right? It is why Phil Kessel can transform in one year from a player who looked like he had completely lost his game to the leading scorer in the playoffs on a team with Crosby and Malkin. We all know he SHOULD be on Team USA, right?
The first two games saw Conor Sheary, who was scratched last series for underperforming, score two huge goals on phenomenal plays by Crosby. I literally talked to a reporter the other day who said, "I feel bad saying it, but why does Sid have to be saddled with that kid." And the reporter wasn't being a jerk. He was just pointing out that Sheary's size, and at times inexperience, does put him into weird situations...often skating into the same areas where Crosby is going. And yet his excitement and the mere fact that he wasn't a part of some of the Penguins recent playoff foibles, makes Sheary invaluable.
Some will call it the John Druce factor. Truth is some of these Penguins are so young it is hard to really tell if this is an aberration or just a foreshadow. Could Rust be a young Patrick Sharp? Scouts and experts will tell you no, but they also told you no about Patrick Sharp when he was traded by the Flyers for a bag of pucks...
The "Cloak of Invisibility" makes this all very murky, but what isn't murky is the Penguins lead in this series. Or maybe it is.
The Penguins have squeaked out two wins in games they have dominated....so yeh I guess I would call this series still as murky as whether or not the sam Justin Shultz who was a give away machine in Edmonton is the guy pretending to be him in a Penguin uniform.
The Sharks are far from finished however. They have shown they can hang in games they shouldn't be in, and last night they came inches away from stealing a game in the last 20 seconds. They are a resilient team and they have yet to play a home game in this series. The Tank has yet to be filled. I am a firm believer in the concept that the series doesn't really have a feel until someone loses at home. That hasn't happened yet.
And really the proof of that is summed up best by saying, "We may not have the two best teams in the NHL playing for the Cup, but we definitely have the two hardest teams to knock out." I believe that statement will be in full display when the puck hits the ice Saturday night. This series wont be over until the 4th game is won either. The Sharks won't go away.
They have lost their cloak a bit right now, but they have shown they have a good one....and all it will take to find it is a quick start and a few bounces.
What do you think?
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