Hockey Stress

The last time the Bruins made it this far into the playoffs I was 21 years old and much less of a hockey fan than I am today. I followed the game enough to know that they were in round three, but not enough to actually watch anything.

I have never actively rooted for a team that has made it out of the second round of the playoffs. Back in '99 (wasn't it?) I went to a couple of second round games against Buffalo. It was an electric atmosphere in which I got so wrapped up in every play that I thought I was going to die of a heart attack on countless occasions. I twice followed the Lowell Lock Monsters into the second round of the AHL playoffs. The first time was in the team's second season. When the playoffs started my brother and I made a deal that if they made it to round 2 we'd both buy replica jerseys. I still have that shirt (note: look at my profile picture and see the replica game jersey in question). The second time was during the NHL lock out when Lowell had Eric Staal, Cam Ward, and a bunch of other current regular NHL players.

Seeing round two games is stressful. Watching them on TV is just as stressful, you just have fewer people yelling at the game with you. But it is still just the second round.

This year, the second round is history. We're in the third round. The Eastern Conference Finals. The stress level is so high I am positive I am going to have a heart attack or a stroke or something at any moment. I had to preemptively apologize to my family yesterday for the yelling at the TV I was bound to be doing that would surely wake them all up (stupid 8:10 Versus starting time). My heart was pounding, my stomach was clenching... and we were playing with the lead!

Now here we are. Three games in the books and the Bruins have beaten Tampa Bay with a huge offensive burst in game two, and a fantastic defensive clamp down in game three. Boston leads the series two games to one. Game four is tomorrow afternoon, again in Tampa Bay. At least the 1:30 start time will allow me to yell like an idiot without waking anyone up.

The Bruins are two wins away from the Stanley Cup finals. I refuse to be anything more than cautiously optimistic. At times I find myself dwelling on the negative like a good Boston sports fan should.

To clarify...

Yes, the Red Sox have won two World Series over the last decade. The Patriots have won three Super Bowl titles in that time frame. The Celtics have also won a championship recently. That allows the tortured, suffering Boston sports fan some amount of relaxation, but the truth is, anyone who reached adulthood prior to the 2004 is/was/and ever shall be a victim of the 86 year World Series drought. I will not refer to it as a curse, I will refer to it as pain and suffering. We kept coming so close to the prize and then we'd have it snatched away. Patriots fans had 40 years worth of terrible teams to suffer through. The Celtics are the most decorated team in the history of the NBA, but once the Bird/McHale/Parrish years ended they were just plain awful. The Bruins were the toast of the town in the 70's with their two cups and a few other finals appearances, but the Jacobs years stole the thunder away. They had good teams during Bourque and Neely's prime, but too often they were built to make the playoffs and then fail. The result is the current state of 19 years without a third round appearance and 21 years without a Stanley Cup finals appearance and 39 years without a Stanley Cup Championship.

Yes, we have had it good over the last 10 years, but the underlying pain and suffering has not gone away. Look at the way the fans have reacted to the Red Sox over the last year and a half. Look at the way they had been reacting to the Bruins prior to 2008. The aging Celtics may be on the cusp of putting their fans through a similar period. All of that pales to the horror that was the 86 years of futility for the Red Sox. Those 86 years define us as sports fans. We focus on the negative because for most of our lives the negative was all we had.

So when I find myself getting furious with the Bruins power play, or certain defensemen backing up past the face off circles when Steven Freakin' Stamkos is bearing down on them (looking at you Boychuck) or when a moronic turn over results in a Tampa Bay goal (looking at you Kaberle) I do in fact find it comforting. I feel safe and secure in my negativity because if I get overly positive and they lose it will hurt that much more. If you start getting pumped because they are one strike away from beating the Mets and clinching the World Series and your best relief pitcher is on the mound then it hurts that much more when the ball dribbles through Buckner's legs.

Do you see what I mean?

Cautious optimism is the best I was willing to give the 2004 Red Sox against the Cardinals. It will be the best I can give the Bruins against Tampa Bay. I'm not even going to acknowledge the fact that Boston is currently six wins away from the Cup. Okay, so I did just acknowledge it, but that's all you're going to get. No thoughts of who is going to advance out of the Western Conference. No thoughts of parades and duck boats and any of that. No thoughts of Conn Smythe trophies. Only thoughts of get-that-damn-power-play working and thoughts of holy-shit-Lecavalier/St. Louis/Stamkos/Gagne-are-awesome-how-can-we-ever-stop-them and is-Lucic-ever-going-to-score-again and Bergeron-came-back-but-if-he-takes-another-head-hit-it-could-all-be-over.

I don't want to be negative. It just comes natural to us Boston sports fans. Cautious Optimism (from now on I will give that phrase proper noun status) is all I am willing to give.

Wow... that post rambled.

What I wanted to say really is:

The Bruins won game three.
The Bruins lead 2-1.
GO BRUINS!