After watching the Capitals year after year disappoint in the playoffs, I began to discover a harsh reality: professional hockey may just be the cruelest and most heart-wrenching sport for all its fans. Here's why.
1. Sudden death OT
Sixty minutes of hard-fought hockey can come down to one shot. In the NFL there have been slight changes to the OT rules that allow for the team that loses the toss and kicks first to get one possession should the team with the ball first score only a field goal. The beauty and cruelty of sudden death OT is that the next goal wins, and the sudden ending to such a grueling, hard-fought physical game is breathtaking.
2. Power plays oh so powerful
With many goals in hockey coming at a premium, teams need to take advantage of these extra man-up power play opportunities. Teams who are able to kill off their opponents' power plays can gain momentum, and sometimes these power plays and penalty kills can be enough to decide the fate of the game.
3. Stats don’t always tell the story
This may be true in all sports, but in hockey one team can outshoot the other by fifty. The only goals that count are the ones that completely cross the red line and enter the back of the net. Shots on goal are a good indicator of what team is applying the pressure, but not always a good indicator of what team has the lead on the scoreboard.
4. Playoff Format
The new playoff format of the NHL saw the two teams with the most points from the regular season in both the Eastern and Western conferences facing one another prior to the Conference Finals round. This hurt the team who came up short in these series (this year it was the Stars and my beloved Caps), and seems unjust that these match-ups could happen prior to the Conference Finals. Maybe the NHL will reconsider going back to the old way of seeding 1-8 as opposed to these separate divisions in each conference.
5. Unpredictability/Deflections
Hockey may be the most unpredictable of all the professional sports. Goals are not always scored directly from a stick into the back of the net the way a shot in basketball will go straight from the shooters hands through the nylon net. Deflections off of players from both teams can alter the path of any shot, and be fortuitous to the team that benefits from these lucky deflections. They say in hockey it's all about getting bodies to the front of the net and pucks to the net, and good things will happen. However, the more I watch hockey year after year, especially in the playoffs, it appears there is still an element of unpredictability and dumb luck associated with hockey more than in any other sport. The unpredictably and sudden death nature of OT and knowing one deflection could derail or propel the dream of a Stanley Cup Championship is truly what makes hockey, in my opinion, the most cruel and heart-wrenching sport to watch.
Being a Washington Capitals fan, I know all about witnessing these heart-wrenching moments.
