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Don't Do an Autopsy on a Still-Living Series |
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Living in the Philadelphia area, I have seen and heard this scene play out too many times: The local team trails -- not yet eliminated, but in a hole -- in a playoff series. By turning on sports talk radio or reading the local coverage, you'd never know it. The dirt and shovel brigade is out in full force.
Losing the series is just a formality. The players are soft, gutless, and clearly don't care enough. The coach is an idiot and should be fired on the spot. The GM is an even bigger idiot for the roster he constructed. Everything need to be torn down.
I've also seen the other side of it, although not as many times (remember, I'm from Philly): The overconfident bravado that a still-going series is a foregone conclusion. "We" (it's we when the team wins, they when it's a loss) are going to win for sure. Plan the parade, etc.
I remember all the doom-and-gloom when the Flyers trailed Boston, three games to zero, in the second round of the 2010 playoffs. On the flip side, last October, I remember the extreme overconfidence of Philadelphia Phillies fans when they took 2-0 and 3-2 leads in the NLCS against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Well, there's a reason why the games are actually played. In 2010, the Flyers came back to beat the Bruins in the series. Last year, the Diamondbacks won Games 6 and 7 -- both in Philadelphia -- to win the series.
Don't do a series postmortem until after it is over. This applies to every sport and every year. But right now, it refers to the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs in general and the Bruins vs. Maple Leafs series in particular.
Moments of frustration happen on the ice and on the bench all the time. It doesn't mean the team has quit. Players try to play through injuries that would absolutely sideline them in the regular season, but the injury just might be affecting their effectiveness.
For most of us, this isn't our first rodeo. As long as there's at least one more game to be played, the series outcome isn't sealed yet. Don't despair. Don't get cocky. Just see how the next game turns out, because the personality of a series can -- and sometimes does -- change in a hurry.
Specific to the Toronto vs. Boston series, I'm not counting the Maple Leafs out despite the three games to one deficit. I'm not ripping Auston Matthews or Mitch Marner or William Nylander, not do I know the full extent of their various physical issues. The Bruins have every reason to feel confident going into Game 5, but no cause to prematurely celebrate.
Today, there are four games on tap: The Avs will try to wrap up their series in Game 5 against Winnipeg, the Canucks will look to take a 3-1 series lead in Nashville, the Rangers will try to complete a sweep of the Capitals, and the Oilers will try to take a 3-1 lead in Los Angeles.
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