We all think of Mark Messier of course...When you think of famous moments when someone in the NHL "Guaranteed" a victory it all begins and ends with Mess. In sports however, this goes all the way back to Joe Namath who guaranteed the Jets would beat the Colts...And of course the result, like Messier's, is the stuff of legend.
Can you name another famous NHL guarantee that has happened since? Messier's guarantee was indeed 24 years ago! And, while I know some have come to fruition, I can't think of any prominent at all...Can you?
And yet I know that there have been many more with increasing frequency over the past few years...too many this year to even count...Last night in the Jackets/Caps game you had battling "guarantees" from Ovechkin and Tortorella..
And some out there are probably saying, "what's wrong with a player or a coach guaranteeing a victory?" "Isn't that just being a positive leader in the room?" And the answer to that question would be a big fat NO.
There is a reason that teams used to NEVER throw the G word around...It would leave their mouth and end up directly on the chalkboard in the opposing dressing room...And the results can be completely motivating...so much so we just saw this in action in round one.
Early in the year the Kings lost a few to Vegas and Drew Doughty came out and said "There is no way they are going to be better than us by the end of the season." Ok he didn't throw the "G" word out there, but he all but said the same thing...and that quote was all over the Vegas room during this 4 game sweep....and Doughty knew it, and grew increasingly frustrated.
So NHLers need to just stop this! Stop the Guarantees and just play the game!
What do you think?
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— Michael Augello (@MikeInBuffalo) August 2, 2017