Sometimes in sports, there are situations that make you want to scream out....That's Not Fair! What happened tonight in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals was one of those moments.
Because of an injury suffered in a collision in front of the net with under six minutes to play in the game, Dwayne Roloson of the Edmonton Oilers, who has been nothing short of sensational in the 2006 playoffs, is done for the postseason. It's not fair for the Oilers, who have kept hockey fans everywhere on edge throughout the entire postseason. If they bounce back from this and somehow win the series, it will be a miracle.
As if losing Roloson wasn't bad enough for the Oilers, they had a 3-0 lead late in the second period and let it slip away. Brindamour's goal with 31 seconds to play was a heartbreaker.
The injury to Roloson brought flashes back of tragic injuries from the past in sports that just shocked everyone......Bo Jackson's shoe-string tackle vs. Cinci where he broke his hip........Theismann's broken leg.........The careers of those two were never the same after that.....Will Roloson be different????
He's 36, and likely won't play much longer in the NHL. It's been a magical ride for the Oilers ever since the team acquired Roloson at the trading deadline, and then snuck into the playoffs in the next-to-last game.
As they said on O.L.N. (Outdoor Life Network), it would be a little easier to deal with losing Roloson if the Oilers had held on to win the game, but to not only lose the game, but lose the way they did, isn't fair.
Imagine if, in the NBA Finals, D-Wade gets hurt late in Game 1 and is done for the series.......or Shaq........or if Dirk Nowitzki or Steve Nash got hurt........if any of those players got hurt, their teams would be drastically different.
Such is the case with the Edmonton Oilers.
On the flip side, it only takes one injury to a star player to send a bench player into the spotlight. Remember the immortal Wally Pipp? He gets hurt one day, and in for him comes Lou Gehrig, and "The Streak" began. Don Majkowski of the Packers gets hurt in 1992, Brett Favre comes in, wins the game, and his time to shine begins. Trent Green tears his ACL in the preseason after getting hit by Rodney Harrison, and Kurt Warner comes in off the bench to throw 40 TD passes in the regular season and win the Super Bowl.
And who could forget Tom Brady, thrust into the lineup after Drew Bledsoe gets knocked out by Mo Lewis of the Jets in 2001? Five years later, Brady and the Patriots have three Super Bowl rings, and Bledsoe is now on his third different team.
Ty Conklin, the time is now for you. Will you be thought of in the same breath as Lou Gehrig, Brett Favre, or Tom Brady? It's highly unlikely, but then again, stranger things have happened.
If Conklin is ready to etch his name into sports infamy, his time begins in Game 2. If the Oilers play horribly, the series is done and Carolina will win the Cup. If the team responds to the challenge and plays great, the Oilers have games 3 and 4 at home and the series is up for grabs.
Remember the infamous words of Yogi Berra: it ain't over till it's over. Don't bet on the Hurricanes just yet. Never underestimate the heart of an underdog.
One of the most exciting parts about professional and collegiate sports is when underdogs prevail over heavily-favored teams. The Jets in Super Bowl III topping the Colts. The US Olympic Hockey Team in 1980 taking the gold medal. The NC State Wolfpack in 1983 winning an NCAA hoops title as a sixth-seed. Villanova's basketball team in the '80s that shocked the world to win a title as an 8-seed. The Patriots winning Super Bowl XXXVI as two-touchdown underdogs, beating "The Greatest Show on Turf", better known as the St.Louis Rams. All of these stories are inspiring. The 2006 Edmonton Oilers, as the lowest seeded team in this year's NHL playoffs, are trying to make their case as being yet another glorious underdog that prevailed.
What the Oilers have done this season has brought hockey back into the picture as an exciting sport again. There are few things in sports that can compare to overtime playoff hockey.....fans watching ever shot with anticipation.......it's crazy........
Playoffs aren't fun to watch when all the teams that are expected to win end up chalking up the victories. It's most fun when teams come out of nowhere to surprise, and that is just what the Oilers are doing.
As an eighth-seed in the Western Conference, the Oilers faced off in a matchup against the #1 seeded Detroit Red Wings. The Red Wings, a team looked at by many as having a great chance to win it all, was dispensed in six games by the Oilers. The Oilers' fans have been a huge reason why this team has done so well. The enthusiasm that fans in Canada show for hockey compares to how devoted a lot of Americans are for professional football.
The Oilers' goaltender, Dwayne Roloson, has been spectacular, helping lead his team to seven victories in their 11 playoff games. The team has had two playoff games go to double overtime and one go to triple overtime. They've been victorious in two of those three games.
With a win either tonight in Edmonton or Friday night in San Jose, the Oilers will be going on to the Final Four of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The teams that have moved on are the Buffalo Sabres (a four-seed), the Carolina Hurricanes (a two-seed), and the Anaheim Mighty Ducks (a sixth-seed).
The Edmonton Oilers are living a dream, and soon, they just may be making history.
