Pictures that make you sad in hockey

[PurpleMouse]

I get that it was possibly his final home game, but it also felt like there was a sense of certainty that philly was not losing the next game at home. The fans appeared to have it with the way they poured out their emotions, mario had it with the way he did his victory lap, and how he left the ice.

I dont think pittsburgh themselves even believed they could win the next game in philly.

That was the NHL for a while. I made a post about this a while back, I can't find it, but people always make a big deal of coming back from down 3-0 to win a series, but for a long time, coming back to win more than one game, let alone the series, was impossible. I believe it was in the first round in 89 the Whalers were down 3-0 to the Habs and forced game 6 in Hartford... and then it was over 10 years- 2002 or 2003- that Carolina pushed New Jersey to 6. In between every team that went down 3-0 lost in four or five. And 99% of the time it went five, the game four win was at home.

This was the sweet spot for me growing up watching hockey, and for others my age I'm sure, going down 3-0 meant not only were you losing the series, you were losing it in 5 or less. That's changed in recent years, not just with the Flyers in 2010 or Kings in 2014 but many other series that have gone 6+ under such situations.

Sorry for the tangent but thought it was interesting!

 

[The Panther]

That was the NHL for a while. I made a post about this a while back, I can't find it, but people always make a big deal of coming back from down 3-0 to win a series, but for a long time, coming back to win more than one game, let alone the series, was impossible. I believe it was in the first round in 89 the Whalers were down 3-0 to the Habs and forced game 6 in Hartford... and then it was over 10 years- 2002 or 2003- that Carolina pushed New Jersey to 6. In between every team that went down 3-0 lost in four or five. And 99% of the time it went five, the game four win was at home.

This was the sweet spot for me growing up watching hockey, and for others my age I'm sure, going down 3-0 meant not only were you losing the series, you were losing it in 5 or less. That's changed in recent years, not just with the Flyers in 2010 or Kings in 2014 but many other series that have gone 6+ under such situations.

Sorry for the tangent but thought it was interesting!

No, I know exactly what you mean. I've noticed it, too. When I was a little kid, a team going down three games to one was considered done and dusted (never mind three to zero). Suddenly, from around 1989 onward it seemed to become a thing that being down three to one wasn't impossible to recover from, and it happened often. And more recently, three to nothing....

I think it's just a result of systems deciding games more now. If the coach and players implement the right system, it can suddenly result in four straight wins. Whereas, up to the late 80s, it was more the quality of players that decided games.

 

[PurpleMouse]

And go back to the original topic, yes, the Lemieux picture is after game 4 of that series. And if I recall correctly on the broadcast (on TSN I think?) Mario received some flack for basically making it a farewell moment because he should have been telling the fans that he'd see them for game 6. But as a fan, I didn't think it odd because I knew the series was done, because that's just how it was between 1988 and 2001. (And I think it was only starting with Dallas/San Jose in 2008 that series started to become more competitive post 3-0.)