In hockey, hard work matters more than talent

When the Daily Bruin sent me out to Oklahoma City to cover the
Women’s College World Series two weeks ago, there was one
major problem. Calgary was hosting the Stanley Cup Finals, not the
rodeo, so I couldn’t get the game on TV.

Most of the time I was working, and the only game I could watch
was preempted locally by storm coverage.

Instead of watching slap shots and body checks, I got hour after
hour of doppler radar and crazy reporters chasing tornadoes as
their trucks almost got blown away in the wicked winds.

Tornadoes can be terrifying if you’ve ever been near one
when the sirens go off, but it’s nothing like facing a 100
mph slap shot.

On Monday, the NHL just concluded one of the best, most exciting
Stanley Cup Finals in years, matching two of the league’s
most aggressive teams against each other.

In case you missed it, the Tampa Bay Lightning won a 2-1, Game 7
thriller over Calgary Flames on Monday, showcasing the things that
make hockey worth watching.

Tampa Bay has some of the most creative young stars in the game.
They can skate with anyone and put the pressure on opponents
instead of sitting back and hoping the opponents will fall asleep
and make a mistake.

Defensive hockey puts fans to sleep, but this year was
different, especially with Calgary in the finals.

The Flames played “old school hockey,” which is a
way of saying they hit everything that moves until it stops moving.
(Well, usually ““ sometimes they hit opponents after they
stopped moving.)

Calgary played out a Cinderella story: They beat out 11 teams
who finished with better records in the regular season with the
help of a former MVP, a breakthrough goalie and a bunch of guys
I’d never heard of before.

Of course, I doubt the average UCLA student could name a player
on either team. Students care about basketball, not hockey, and
it’s a shame.

People can’t shoot anymore in the NBA. Because people
think Shaq is the most dominant force in the game, they seem to be
imitating his shooting style.

The only problem is most NBA players aren’t 350-pound lugs
who can push people out of the way to score.

Fans don’t have a lot of scoring to talk about, so they
keep talking about the officials.

I asked two friends what happened in Tuesday’s game
““ a Lakers fan and a Lakers hater ““ and both complained
about the officials. Sounds like the typical NBA game.

In hockey, the calls are usually obvious. When someone is
bleeding, it’s a penalty. Officials are rarely the storyline
in hockey, although coaches do like to criticize the refs from time
to time.

In hockey, what matters is effort. It’s not all about
talent. If talent is all that matters, the Flames lose in the first
round.

But hockey is the only sport where a team can win a seven-game
series by outworking a more talented opponent.

Hockey can produce a Cinderella ending, while basketball is so
predictable you don’t need to watch anything but the Western
Conference Finals.

Meanwhile, the last four games of the Stanley Cup finals were
each decided by a single goal, and the series could have gone
either way.

In the end, Tampa Bay played harder to win Game 6 in double
overtime and then to win Game 7 at home.

Meanwhile it took around 20 to 25 minutes of real time for
either team to break into double digits in Tuesday’s
basketball game.

UCLA students are missing out on hockey. The teams are watchable
and unpredictable. It’s actually worth watching an entire
hockey game, especially in person.

Remember to wake me for the last five minutes of Game 3 today.
It’s all I need to watch, which is good because it’s
all I can stand.

But, then, again, Noah is a Sacramento Kings fan. E-mail him
at [email protected].