Candle in the Wind
Game 4. Second intermission. His club down two goals heading into the third against the Chicago Blackhawks and the season hanging in the balance, Jerome Iginla stands up in the Calgary Flames room. Players, not used to having a full complement in the line-up thanks to gross mis-management by GM Darryl Sutter and coach Mike Keenan through the second half, stop talking. Others stop taping their sticks. Coaches, off in the corner, cease their game-planning and look towards No. 12.
The room is silent.
And so is Iginla. He hasn’t scored all series. He starts to cry. It wasn’t supposed to end like this. The Hawks will eventually win in four games, just like they dominated the Flames in the in the regular season (they were 4-0 against Calgary).
Over in the shower area is Olli Jokinen, whispering on his cellphone to reporters, is throwing every single teammate under the bus. Turns out Matt Barnaby was right, Iginla thinks as he sighs, looks back down at his skates, and wonders if this is what it feels like to be Ryan Smyth.
[...] The Canucks will have some rust, and considering how the Hawks just came out of a war with Calgary relatively unscathed, they will have a real test the first couple games. Chicago looks dangerous. Still, the Canucks [...]
Looking Out Over the Water « the 4th star
April 29, 2009 at 9:05 am