Some words of wisdom for Crosby and Co., following Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.
"Hey Sid!"
You don't mind me calling you Sid, do you kid?
I mean, I know we're not close or anything, but for all the times I watched you play I feel like I know you and for all the years I've been watching Stanley Cup Finals, I thought maybe you would appreciate a little advice from a guy who has been around the block a few times.
"Smarten up!"
Not to slap you around too much for Pittsburgh's 4-0 loss to the Detroit Red Wings Saturday at the Joe Louis Arena, but you wear the "C" and the boys in the room are going to be looking for answers.
Here's what you have to learn and here's what you have to both tell and show them.
You have to learn a lot, and in a very short time, so let me boil it down for you.
Don't think the refs are on your side: Just because the boys in the stripes took a goal down (a goal we might add might well count in overtime or even in the third period in some future game) doesn't mean they are on your side. Pulling an apparent first goal away from Nik Lidstrom just because Thomas Holmstrom slyly stuck a stick into your goalie wasn't any favour to the Pens; it was a message to Holmstrom and the Red Wings. He's embarrassed the league a few times in these playoffs with his run-the-goalie tricks and he and the Red Wings and the coaches for both teams were warned that would not be tolerated. Your guys acted like you were going to get the breaks the rest of the way after that call and a series of calls that put Detroit players in the box. You caught a break, but this is the Stanley Cup Final and you won't get many more. In the Stanley Cup you have to make your breaks; your boys didn't do that.
Don't think you aren't going to get hit, a lot. You're a target; don't cry about it and most importantly, look out for it. You are the guy they are going to try and knock out of a game and maybe, if they can, out of the series. That little sandwich play along the boards in the second period was no accident. It was a setup and you walked right into it. You've got to be smarter than that, kid. You've got to keep your head up, see what's coming and take advantage of that kind of double-team.
Go look at some Wayne Gretzky tape during his best days with the Edmonton Oilers. He not only saw those kinds of plays coming, he helped set them up. Gretzky knew if he could draw two opponents to him, someone in an Oilers sweater was going to be open and he acted accordingly. Draw them in to the point where you can see the drool on their overly-licked lips and then cross them up with a pretty passing play, the kind that makes them sick to think how foolish they are going to look on the breakdown tapes the next day.
You lead with your head, kid. We know you're tough, you don't have to prove that anymore. What we want to see is how smart you are. If you make smart plays against a team that is known for playing smart, things are going to happen. Your teammates are not only going to see it, but they are going to feed off it. You made that happen numerous times in the playoffs prior to this round. Yeah, it's the finals, but it's still just a hockey game if you act that way. Play cool and the others in gold and black will follow.
Smarten up on those giveaways: Look, I know the score sheet said zero, but you were responsible for at least four turnovers and a couple of them led to goals. You can't do this in this round, kid. Every inch of ice is contested in the finals. The Red Wings know that and acted accordingly. You or Evgeni Malkin -- and he was worse than you in this game -- have to learn that and fast. This is doubly important in this series kid because your defence is good, but not great and if you make turnovers, even the kind that inadvertently bounce off your skate, the Wings are going to make your guys pay.
Your goalie helped you get this far, but come on, he's not the second coming of Patrick Roy or Marty Brodeur; you can't put him in that kind of situation and expect to win the game. This is the Detroit Red Wings you're playing, not the Ottawa Sieve(ators). Focus and bear down on every play. You don't have to think yourselves into a gaggle of frozen Penguins, but you have to play with a kind of mental intensity that defines what hockey people are talking about when they talk about "taking it to the next level."
This is the next level, kid. This is as big and as important as it will ever get. The trick is to know it, but not let it ice you. You have to show the way and giving the puck away, even if the official scorers see it differently, is a confidence killer.
Don't try to win it in the first period and don't act like you lost it there either: Ok, the power play failed -- you were O-for oh-my-goodness on your four attempts in that frame and even when it was going pretty well, Osgood was both good and lucky. Jeez, you guys collapsed after that and for what? OK, you didn't score, but do you think Osgood will play that way for every minute of every game? He's human, but he was also likely jacked on adrenaline. You've got to make him move man. You've got to get the puck in tight, but keep control and get him going from one side to the other. The Wings are great at collapsing in front of him and making it tough for those point and high-slot shots to get through. Try the back door, try working it down from the sideboards and slipping it cross-crease like you did on Marty Biron of the Flyers.
Couple of other things: Poke checks won't get it done, you have to hit to throw these guys off their game. There are scorers other than Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk, watch for them, especially Mikael Samuelsson. Check that time of possession stat. The Red Wings killed you on that by the end of the second period. They are a puck possession team and you can't beat them if you don't have the puck. Win some #$%^&*() face-offs. You were weak going in, you were worse than we thought you would be.
With regards to what to say: First, take the gloves off and let Malkin have it. He was fading against Philadelphia and he looked worse in this game. You tell him you can't win without his best game and he has to bring it, now. Second, you tell the other guys to lighten up. Your coach said you guys played your worst game of the playoffs and he might have been right, but one could argue that what the Wings threw at you is about as good as it gets for them. Listen to the coaching staff, reinforce with the guys that changes can be made and improvements will come from them.
Tell them they haven't played their best game yet because they not only didn't play smart or well, but they didn't play their game. They didn't have the puck long enough to do that and, most importantly, remind them that they only really needed to win one game in the Joe to establish that they are indeed a team to be reckoned with and that the time to win that game is still ahead of them.
Saturday night was a crushing loss Sid, you know that and they are learning it the hard way. It's up to you to get them to put it behind them and look forward to the thing they've done well all season, bounce back from a bad outing.
You've got skill kid, so does your team, but from this point forward it's all about confidence and to be honest with you, you can't afford to wait until you get home to find it.
Not to put the pressure on you, but it's up to you to get the weight off them if you expect to have any hope of winning this thing.
The next game is the most important one your team will play all season. The key is for you to know it AND to get them not to think about it.
That's no small task kid, but the great ones find a way to do it and, well, it's your job to make it happen.
Thought you'd like to know that.