Hartley Miller's Slap-Shots - June 1st Edition

By Hartley Miller

The Oxford Dictionary of Current English defines the word pressure as: “A compelling or constraining influence, such as a moral force, on the mind or will.” In the sports world it is always a good idea for teams to deflect pressure to their opponent.

In the NHL, the Ottawa Senators have finally learned how to deal with pressure. For the first time in the modern era, the Sens are playing in the Stanley Cup final as they battle the Anaheim Ducks for hockey supremacy. The Senators became Eastern Conference champions, even though past Ottawa teams, with such notables as ex-Cougar Zdeno Chara and Dominik Hasek had more talent and more points in the regular season. With this particular club, it came down to how they handle the “pressure”.  

In the first round, granted as slight favorites, the 4^th place Sens dumped the youthful Penguins.  In round two, however, they were clearly the underdog against New Jersey, a team that has had their number in the past. Once they burned the Devils, their run was supposed to end against Buffalo, the regular season champs, yet it was the Sabres sent packing after just five games. 

In the WHL, the pressure was on the PG Cougars, an older team, to excel in the regular season.  However, they failed miserably; yet, when they were supposed to submit handily to the league’s top ranked team, the Everett Silvertips, in the second round of the playoffs, it was the Cats who played their best hockey of the season, and subsequently prevailed. Again, another situation of playing without “pressure”.

In the BCHL, the PG Spruce Kings, in their RBC season, folded under the pressure during the regular season (just a 5^th place finish) and the playoffs (first round exit). But, when they participated in the National Tournament, and were not expected to be a factor, look what happened; a major upset of highly ranked Camrose in the semi final and a strong second place finish.

Other sports offer similar examples. In the NBA playoffs, the Dallas Mavericks, with their so-called MVP Dirk Nowitzki, were supposed to be “the team” this year, especially considering they were a win away from the title last season and the club boasted the best regular season record. But, they succumbed to the pressure in the playoffs and lost to the 8^th seeded Golden State Warriors in round one.

In Major league baseball last year, the St Louis Cardinals didn’t have the pressure or outstanding record of previous seasons, yet there they were standing tall at the end as World Series champions.

The NFL’s Indianapolis Colts and Peyton Manning finally won the Super Bowl, although they weren’t the favorites like in the past.

Let’s stop and think about this concept of pressure.  The Colts and Cardinals are champions and the Senators are playing in June for the first time, even though in all three cases they almost slipped through the radar.  All three of these clubs faced enormous pressure in the past after a terrific regular season, but it wasn’t until the other guys were the favorites did they excel.  And, in the Cougars, and Spruce Kings case, they played their best hockey after being written off.

Sure there are many examples of teams that have handled both the regular season and playoff pressure well, but more often than not, these situations are becoming the exception rather than the rule.

The moral of this story is to avoid being put in the “pressure cooker”. As strange as it might seem, winning this battle may be tougher than beating the opposition.

From the quote rack:

“Next Year."    Greg Cote of The Miami Herald, on what the "NY" stands for on the Yankees ball caps.

“We’ve had four or five new babies since last year, and seven guys’ wives are pregnant. I’ve asked those guys to be more productive, and they are doing a great job of following my lead."   Minnesota Vikings coach Brad Childress

“An NFL assistant coach accidentally forwarded a pornographic e-mail to every league GM, team secretaries and even commissioner Roger Goodell, aolsports.com reported. Fittingly enough, the alleged culprit’s area of expertise is offensive lines."  Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times

“Apparently it was just a misunderstanding; he never meant to share those game tapes from the Raiders offence."      
Janice Hough, in the Seattle Times, on that Pittsburgh Steelers assistant coach busted for sending out pornographic e-mail.

“Former NFL kicker Jeff Chandler is now a caddy. His biography will be called "Caddyshank". Contributor Bill Littlejohn of South Lake Tahoe, California

And in case you missed it:

Females bought 75 % of NFL merchandise sold last year.

And how was your week?

Hartley Miller is the sports director for radio stations 94X and the Wolf@97fm. He also writes for the PG Free Press. Send along a quote, note or anecdote to hmiller@94xfm.com

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