I'm going to be honest, I don't follow hockey as much as I should....but during this postseason, there were a lot of interesting storylines heading into the playoffs that got me saying "You know what, I will check this NHL postseason out". I mean, the NHL is very unpredictable to say the least. Boy, was I right!
One of the storylines was the dominance of the Tampa Bay Lightning during the regular season. 62 wins, tied for most in NHL history. Various players on the team nominated for NHL awards. Their coach, Jon Cooper, received a contract extension before the playoffs. They have been given praise by many experts for their outstanding play in all phases of the game. Going into the playoffs, they faced a Columbus Blue Jacket team that barely made it in, but had an ace in the hole after going all in and trading for superstar Matt Duchene at the deadline. In Game 1 of the opening round, Tampa had a 3-0 lead with 10:47 left in the second period and figured to have this game in the bag.
What happened next was unfathomable.
The Blue Jackets would score 4 unanswered goals and shock the hockey world to take game 1. In the next three games, the Blue Jackets would ensue their will on the best team in recent memory. Their deadline addition, Duchene, had a huge series with 3 goals and 4 assists.
This wasn't the storyline that most hockey pundits expected, but the storyline of the aftermath of this stunning result was what had people talking.....still to this day. So what happened? After this, I wanted to dig deeper and here's what I figured....this team wasn't mentally prepared and thought they would just cruise through the playoffs and were tripped up by a hungrier team. Sure enough, I watched a video discussing this series and they said the same thing. I saw another video that debated if Jon Cooper should be fired because of this collapse. Cooper's comments afterwards really sounded like a man who just didn't have a fire inside him. When you state that "the other team wanted more", you probably didn't prepare this team to last for the playoffs and it showed. The irony is that this Lightning team built by former GM Steve Yzerman. Yzerman was on the 95-96 Detroit Red Wings team that shares the regular season record for wins with the Lightning. What more irony? The Blue Jackets' coach, John Tortorella, won the Stanley Cup as Lightning H.C. in the 2003-2004 season.
People will continue to argue that the 2015-2016 Golden State Warriors went 73-9 and advanced all the way to the NBA Finals with a 3-1 lead, only to see the Cavs win three straight. But at least they made the finals. The 2006 New England Patriots went 16-0 during the regular season and proceeded to go to the Super Bowl, until a David Tyree catch and a game-winning touchdown ended a perfect season. But at least they made the Super Bowl. The 2001 Seattle Mariners went 116-46 in the regular season and took that to the ALCS, only to be stopped by the New York Yankees, but hey, at least they made it to the ALCS. Hell, even that 95-96 Red Wings team won 62 games and went to the Western Conference Finals, only to lose to the Colorado Avalanche. But, you guessed it, they at least made the WCF.
This collapse is the most damning in sports history. Period. A team that lacked passion when faced with adversity to only just say that the other team wanted it more is the reason this unfathomable collapse happened. The team's Twitter account tried to console fans, but really, the pain is probably still there. Any way you slice it, this season seemed as a waste. But hey, Virginia lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament last year only to win the whole thing this year.
That could be an omen for the Tampa Bay Lightning.
(Side note: As of this writing, the #1 seed in the Western Conference, the Calgary Flames were eliminated in the first round 4-1 to the Avalanche. The first time in NHL history that both top seeds were eliminated in the first round. Their record: 1-8)
(For more content, check out our Facebook page and our website @www.realsportsaz.com)