2016 Stanley Cup Final : The Behind the Scenes Adventure

On Friday May 27th, something that we at CaliSports News had worked very hard to get accomplished, had finally happened.

With the Los Angeles Kings and the Anaheim Ducks both eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, I honestly did not think that we had any shot at covering the 2016 Stanley Cup final.  Even when the other Californian NHL team, the NorCal rival San Jose Sharks finally found a way to get to their first Cup final appearance in franchise history, I wasn’t holding my breath.  Then on that Friday night, I decided to check my e-mails and surprisingly saw that the NHL had approved our media credential application! (We’re going to the Stanley Cup Final baby!) After celebrating with a brief fist pump and posting that e-mail to every social media outlet that exists, (I think I even ended up putting it on my old MySpace page as well.  I WAS THAT EXCITED!), I loaded the truck, kissed my wife and cat good-bye and hit the freeway for the 6 hour road trip to “Steel-town,” U.S.A, to cover only the biggest annual event in the entire sport of hockey!

The drive to Pittsburgh was a breeze.  That is until I arrived there and my GPS (not GSP, George St. Pierre), got me lost, (yeah I’m blaming the GPS), and I ended up taking an unscheduled tour of the city after missing my exit on one of the massive bridges that they have there.  To be honest, I didn’t mind at all as Pittsburgh was one of four different cities that was used to portray as the fictional “Gotham City,” for the 2012 Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises, so the giddy and lifelong Batman and film fan, (*cough* nerd *cough*) in me did not mind that at all, (the other three sites to portray Gotham City for that film was New York City, Newark, NJ and of course… LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA! GRAND AVE AND WILSHIRE HOMIES!) I did finally find that exit and arrived to my hotel, just in time to get enough rest for a very busy but exciting three days.

The following morning after a great breakfast, I drove to the Consol Energy Center, (which was only 5 minutes away from my hotel) and picked up my media credentials. The CEC is a beautiful , energy saving and environmentally friendly multi-purpose arena that was built on a steep hill, which the south end bottom of an even larger hill. Near the main entrance was a statue of legendary Pittsburgh Penguin and Hockey Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux dekeing out two other poor statues, (they had no chance in catching Super Mario and he ain’t even moving!) I wouldn’t say that the CEC is more stunning than our beloved Staples Center, (which combines the look of power, California chill and sports history to it), but I would admit that this was probably one of the most beautiful hockey arenas that I have ever seen in my life, and I have many hockey arenas in my lifetime. It is definitely in my top five. In time I got to know some of the security staff quite well and by game 2 of the finals, they were kind enough to let me into the building without fuss whenever they saw me. 

The Pittsburgh Penguins, led by Captain Sidney Crosby, Russian superstar Evgeni “Geno” Malkin, the dominant “HBK Line,” (not legendary pro wrestler Shawn “HBK” Michaels, but Michaels did give the Penguins’ franchise his blessing to use his nickname and even attended a playoff game), of former Ducks’ Carl Hegelin, Nick Bonino and former Toronto Maple Leaf/Boston Bruin Phil Kessel, another former Duck Ben Lovejoy and the rookie, goaltending sensation that’s sweeping the hockey nation, Matt Murray, held practice first. These practices were only available to the media, so the arena was pretty much empty as only a handful of press paid attention ti what was going on.  I sat there and watched, took pictures and notes, (or doodled in my notebook (not Rachel McAdams or Ryan Gosling), and liked the idea of teams having their actual practice in the arena they play in.  Nothing against the Toyota Sports Center but it does make sense to get as comfortable as possible to your home environment and ice.  Then again, the Kings do practice at the “Stapler” during the playoffs so maybe Pittsburgh has their own TSC tucked away in the city somewhere to use during the regular season? Who knows, but what I did know was one of the assistant coaches for the “Pens,” was former LA King forward Rick Tocchet.

After the “Pens” were done, the Sharks led by Captain Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Logan “Don’t call me Rat-face but we’re all going to anyways so too bad” Couture and former LA Kings’ back-up goalie Martin Jones.  I only observed them for a few minutes, (while holding back the urge to scream obscenities while throwing my nachos at them.”  I do have to admit that seeing Jones wear a Sharks jersey in person did startle me for a moment but I got over it and moved on.  I then went into the Penguins locker room for the media scrum but it was already packed with players, reporters, huge mics on boom sitcks and large television cameras. It was quite difficult to maneuver around everyone.  I tried to get near to hear what Crosby and Malkin was saying but my rookie media timing was too late. I was ready to go fine the media workroom until I found Matt Murray sitting at his stall (not Eric Staal) by himself so I approached him and asked if he had anything to say to the Sharks? This was his answer,

After wishing Murray good luck in the series, I left the congested locker room and went to the media workroom where I found a small work space to plug in my laptop. The media workroom is a conference room in the depths of the Consol Energy Center that is logistically located in between the Penguins’s and the Sharks’ locker rooms.  A curtain was in place in the middle of the room to create two separate spaces, one as the actual media workroom and the other as the official NHL press conference room, where a stage and a podium and table were set-up along with all the television cameras.

A third curtain in the corner of the media workroom’s half  was blocked off and only to be used by the elite of the elite in hockey sports journalism.  I am talking anyone from TSN, NBC sports or Sportsnet’s Hockey Night in Canada.  This is also where the enticing and mouth watering smell of the room’s catered food was located and coming from. Sadly that was also only available to the elite and I was stuck with everyone else to eat bagels and small snacks.  Not that I’m complaining of course as the bagels were still delicious but I’m just calling it like I see it.  As soon as the locker room media scrum was over, all of the rest of the media members came into this workroom and filled it up after picking their work places to prepare for the upcoming press conference with the head coaches. This was when he walked in.

As if he was walking in slow motion like in some cool dream sequence in a film, this stylishly dressed up man with a mullet hair style and mustache, entered the room like he was the “Fonz” from the classic sitcom, “Happy Days.”

Instantly I forgot that I was there to do a job and be a professional because once this man made his arrival into the room, the lifelong LA Kings’ fan in me took control of the situation, gained the confidence to approach the man and introduce myself to him. This person was no other, than the first head coach in franchise history to lead the Kings’ into the Stanley Cup final back in 1993. Currently he is a hockey analyst for ESPN and NHL.com. He was the one and only, Barry Melrose.

For whatever reason, at some point in all that I failed to notice that Melrose was also eating.  A fact I didn’t realize until after I stood right in front of him and had already introduced myself and told him how big of a fan I was of him and the Kings. When I finally realized that I just had rudely interrupted him while he was enjoying his catered food, I panicked internally and sadly visualized my media credentials taking a nose dive into the nearby Allegheny River. To my relief, Barry Melrose smiled and shook my extended hand. Regaining my focus and out of respect, I kindly asked him if I could take a selfie picture with him sometime after he was done eating or later in the day but he immediately put his plate down onto a nearby table, wrapped his big arm around me and gladly said, “We can take that selfie right now!” and then started posing.  My internal panic kicked back into gear again when I realized that I didn’t even have my camera ready.

Disappointed by my poor judgment of timing, unreadiness and lack of professionalism, I apologized and quickly tried to set the camera up but I found myself too starstruck and embarrassed to function the buttons on my camera properly.  Cool and calmly, Mr. Melrose put his hand on my shoulder and reassured me with a look that everything was going to be okay and I honestly calmed right down. He then took the camera from me and called out to an unknown man at the other side of the room, who rushed up to us, took my camera from Mr. Melrose’s hand and prepared to take our picture, (it was as if Melrose was Batman and this guy was his Robin!)  Mr. Melrose got back to posing for the camera and the photo was taken.

As the assistant gave the camera back to me, Mr. Melrose had already picked his plate of food back up and began eating again. Blown away by what had just occurred and how quickly efficient Mr. Melrose was, I thanked the former coach for the picture but before I left, his razor sharp eyes noticed that I was wearing an LA Kings’ watch.  He looked at the watch, nodded his head in approval and then gave me a wink that I interpreted as, “Right on brother, right on.”

We then talked a few minutes, before I walked back to my work station and I remembered what former LA Kings’ goalie Kelly Hrudey once told me about Melrose when they were with the Kings.  Hrudey was suffering from the worst slump of his career and that led to some serious confidence issues for him.  His coach, Mr. Melrose was a major factor in helping Hrudey break out of that slump and regain his full confidence and form back, so much so, that they went all the way to the Stanley Cup final, (with some help from some dudes named Gretzky, Robitaille, Kurri and Blake of course). You see, Barry Melrose wasn’t your typical strategic type of head coach, full of X’s and O’s type plays and drills. Instead he was more of a motivational type, (think Tony Robbins) and through his calming and reassuring nature, it made the players want to play for him, (well at least in 1993).  I now fully understood what Hrudey had been talking about.  In the whole 5 minutes that I had spent with Barry Melrose, I went from a starstruck fan boy, to an embarrassed fool who couldn’t work a camera before Mr. Melrose worked his motivational magic to a make me not only feel better again but to regain my focus, and even be confident enough to talk the breeze with him on an equal level for a few minutes.  I think Barry Melrose just inspired me to want to be a better human being! I now also completely understood and felt like Keenu Reeves in “The Matrix” when he said,

Other famous hockey personalities I met in the media workroom was former LA Kings’ goalie and now an analyst for Hockey Night in Canada, Glenn Healy, (who has a reputation for being a … um … how can I put this … well like a douchebag but in all fairness and honesty, I found him very friendly and witty and enjoyed our brief chat), former LA King and Penguin head coach Eddie Olczyk, Sportsnet and HNIC’s Elliotte Friedman, (who along with Eddie “O,” I took a selfie with),

Scott Oake of Hockey Night in Canada, Helene Elliott of the LA Times, former Toronto Maple Leaf and Carolina Hurricane Jeff O’Neil and TSN’s James Duthie, who once did a great parody skit with the Kings after they won their first Stanley Cup.

The press conference was finally under way and San Jose Shark’s head coach Peter DaBoer took to the podium table first.  When asked about his goaltender Martin Jones, DaBoer called him, “outstanding,” and said that the Sharks don’t look at him, “like he’s a rookie, or a 22 year old.” They look at him like he is,”a seasoned veteran because that is the way he carries himself.”  Good to know. Penguins’ head coach Mike Sullivan then took his turn and mentioned that he wanted his team to be very aggressive.  He didn’t say how aggressive of course but we were all going to find out soon enough. Penguins defenseman Kris Letang also made an appearance and mentioned that he was indeed going to play game one that night after dealing with an injury.

After the press conference was over, I had a few hours to kill and went on a “Dark Knight Rises” shooting locations tour, which included a visit to Heinz Field, home of the 6 time Superbowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers, (and of course it is also the football stadium that Bane (Tom Hardy) blew up in the Batman film. Oh Bane, you silly masked bastard).

I also ended up at the world famous Primanti Bros. sandwich shop, which was recommended to me by my cousin Kayla. Located in the old Pittsburgh strip district, this staple of the city of Pittsburgh dates back all the way to 1933. If you don’t know already, their sandwiches are extremely delicious and innovative that have the added bonus touch of having the side order of fries INSIDE the sandwich! Do yourself a favor and check this original location of the franchise out at least once in your life.  It is well worth it, (thanks Kay!)

Around 5 pm est, I returned to the CEC and was pumped and ready to historically cover game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final for CaliSports News!  I made my way to the bowels of the arena, which has these long and cold corridors with blind spots around certain corners, which makes it very difficult to see who is walking towards you around the corner before you are close enough to having a collision with them. Take note that the people who are walking by you are a revolving door of star players, coaches and media.  Every second someone important is walking by or accidentally into you. While walking through one of these corridors as I was trying to make my way back to the media room, I noticed Joe Thornton of the Sharks, wearing a suit that contrasted the Duck Dynasty like playoff beard that he now sports, walking towards me.  While internally debating if I should risk losing my media “creds” by Bill Goldberg spearing him in the name of the Kings or not,

“Jumbo” Joe looks at me and gives me a nod.  Confused by this sudden turn of events, I give him the cold shoulder.  Feeling quite proud of my decision, I was momentarily distracted from paying attention to the upcoming corner that I was approaching and this led to an almost epic collision with the NHL COMMISSIONER GARY BETTMAN! (Whoops). After awkwardly avoiding a collision with each other, I ended up saying, “Hello Commish,” (yes, I said, “Commish,”) which he responded with, “Good day, sir” before going on his way.  I then realized that I almost took out the COMMISSIONER OF THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE, WHICH POTENTIALLY COULD HAVE MADE ME A HERO THROUGHOUT THE HOCKEY WORLD FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE! (DAMN YOU JOE THORNTON AND YOUR MIND GAMES!) I then came to the conclusion that by not surprisingly body checking Mr. Bettman was probably all for the best and I made my way back to the media workroom.

What came next was the “Commissioner’s Address,” that Bettman conducted along with the NHL’s Deputy Commissioner and chief legal officer Bill Daly.  The Commissioner made his address and then took questions from everyone.  Most of the questions centered around the possible expansion of the NHL and the current status and situation of the upcoming 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea. Regarding expansion, Bettman said that the executive committee will make a recommendation to the full board of governors before the expansion meeting in Las Vegas, (hmm, did you just say Las Vegas, wink, wink, hint, hint) on June 22nd. Bettman also didn’t want to “handicap” the situation by saying that the league would want to expand to one or two teams or even none at all. For the Olympics, Bettman said that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Ice-Hockey Federation (IIHF) had footed the bill for the travel and insurance of the NHL players that participated in the last five events (1998, 2002, 2006, 2010 & 2014), and they are not interested in doing that anymore.  Bettman didn’t think that the NHL owners would be too interested in paying for that either. Like any great politician, I found Mr. Bettman to be a master of answering a question by dancing around a question and not really answering it at all. The vibe I took from his answers was that Las Vegas IS going to be the next expansion team of the NHL and that the NHL is going to no longer participate in the Winter Olympics, (which would easily explain why the World Cup of Hockey Tournament has suddenly made an instant comeback). The question that was most interesting to me though was when someone asked if Slava Voynov was going to participate at the upcoming World Cup after Team Russia had selected him?  Bettman answered that the former LA King was still suspended by the league and that the Russian Hockey Federation was already notified that Voynov would be “ineligible” to play in the tournament. Word.

*For those wondering, the World Cup of Hockey is organized by both the NHL and the NHL player’s association, so therefore any player under suspension by the league would also be suspended for any of their events.  The NHL doe not have control or a say (or a get a cut from) the Olympic winter games or who can or can’t play as the IOC and the IIHF have full control over that, which is why you saw the “voluntarily” deported and suspended 2 time Stanley Cup champion Voynov be allowed to play for Russia at the recent 2016 IIHF World Championships. He won’t be so lucky for the World Cup and bravo to the NHL for standing firm against the RHF.

Once the “Commissioner’s address” had completed, it was time to make my way to the press box.  The Press boxes are located above the nose bleed seats, which was where I was at last year’s Hall of Fame alumni game at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.  I was surprised to find out that I was not going to be seated in that regular nose bleed press box but was instead placed in the sealed off media press area in the bowl section of the arena! That meant I had better seats than the Los Angeles Times did! Instead of the regular seats, this section had long tables and chairs with hook-ups and power outlets for our computers and a monitor for each person. After sitting down at my scheduled work space, I took a look around me and soaked in the atmosphere and wonderful view.  The Penguin fans, (sprinkled with some Shark fans) started filtering into the arena and the atmosphere was becoming electric.  I looked down at the table and stared at the little name tag that marked my spot. It said “CaliSports News” on it and that was the moment that I had realized that we had finally made it, (WE DID IT!) and I closed up eyes to soak in the atmosphere.

The Sharks then came out for the pre-game warm up and I almost booed along with the Penguin faithful!

The Penguins entered the rink and got to business.

Around this time, I discovered that Dennis Bernstein of the Fourth Period was also in this media section and I went over the introduce myself.  He was in the middle of writing an article so I patiently waited until he was done but he noticed me anyway, looked at me and said, “Jeff?” (Whhhhaaaaattttt??? He knew my name!) We talked for a little bit, including about the Mayor John Hoven’s great taste in music and he also gladly took a selfie with me. Class act that Bernstein.

I then went back to my seat and finally got ready to actually do some work.  It was now time for the main event and the reason why I was here.  It was time to start Game 1 of the 2016 Stanley Cup final!

The puck dropped and we were underway.  Immediately the Penguin fans roared out “Go Pens Go!” and “We want the Cup!” Someone in my area, near me, at my table, was shouting out, “Lose Sharks Lose!” and “Squish the fish!” I have noooo idea who that was? Nope, not a clue?  You see there is no cheering allowed in the press box so I know it wasn’t me???, (and somewhere in LA, I can see Gann Matsuda shaking his head at me in disapproval).

As if they were shot out of a canon (not Columbus), the Penguins were all over the Sharks, using their lightning fast speed to their advantage and making the Sharks scramble while on their heels and trying to catch up.  Now the Sharks are a fast team but they looked like a bunch of turtles out there in comparison with the Penguins. The “Pens” were just utilizing that speed to break through the Shark defense almost at will. At 12:26 of the first period, rookie Bryan Rust scored first for the Penguins and then another rookie Conor Sheary scored another goal 62 seconds later after a brilliant behind the back pass from Crosby (like something Gretzky would do), to take a 2-0 lead against the reeling Sharks.  I am not kidding when I say that the Penguins were all over them!  The Penguins were dominating with speed, puck possession and in the face-off circle.  The score could have been worse too is wasn’t for Jones, who was forced to make some spectacular saves to keep his team in it.  Luckily for the Sharks it was only 2-0 after one.

In the second period, the Sharks caught the break they needed when Penguin defenseman Ian Cole took a hooking penalty at 1:14.  On the power-play, (which the Sharks were ranked 4th overall in the league this past season), the Sharks took full advantage of this opportunity when Tomas Hertl scored at 3:02 to get the Sharks back in the game.  This helped the Sharks build up some momentum and take control of the game away from Pittsburgh for the rest of the period. With less that 2 minutes left, former Shark’s Captain Patrick Marleau scored with a wraparound (think Doug Gilmour) at 18:12 to tie the game.

The third period seemed to be more even at first until the Penguins started taking over again. “Joner” held firm in net for the Sharks as Matt Murray did the same for the Penguins.  Then controversy struck when Marleau crushed Rust with a hit and the refs called a penalty on Marleau for hitting Rust in the head.  From my vantage point it looked like a legal check, except for the part where Rust was turning towards Marleau, therefore being blindsided.  When watching the replay on my monitor, it looked like Rust was already off balance and had his head low before Marleau hit him. Marleau also hit him with his upper shoulder and not his elbow as some people had guessed.  Still it was a penalty, (as any hit to the head, high or low, intentional or not is going to be called) but I wondered if the league was going to take a look at it? (They did and determined that no suspension or punishment was needed).  The Penguins didn’t score on the power-play and sadly Rust only returned to play one more shift before being taken out of the game after not feeling well.

With a bit over two minutes to go in the third period and the threat of overtime looming, Nick Bonino of the “HBK Line” went to work and scored the game winning goal at 17:27 for the Penguins! The Sharks tried to force some offense to see if they could tie it up but the Penguins’ speed and puck possession wouldn’t allow them to do anything.  The game ended and the Pittsburgh fans celebrated as I grabbed my stuff and tried to get down to the locker rooms for the post game scrum.  Sadly by the time I got down there, I couldn’t even walk INTO a locker room.  It was a zoo in there so I changed my route and headed back to the workroom to get a good seat for the post game conference.  Shark coach Peter DaBoer was up first and said that Sharks did struggle with Pittsburgh’s speed in the first period but he liked what he saw with his team in the second period and for most of the third period.  In other words, he was still optimistic despite the loss. He said they were going to get better and execute better.  Nick Bonino and Carl Hagelin were up next and talked about the game winning goal, (while I wondered how the Duck fans felt about these two players, (plus Lovejoy) being dealt out of Anaheim because they were pieces that didn’t fit, only to find success in Pittsburgh and reach the Stanley Cup final?). Penguin coach Mike Sullivan finished the press conference and just talked about how badly Crosby wanted to win the Cup again and how his teammates were all feeding off of that energy and are playing for each other, (think the 2012 and 2014 LA Kings).

The next day was a more mellow one for me as I toured the city of Pittsburgh a little more and made a guest appearance on the Vegas Hockey Podcast and then the LA Kings Road Talk Radio Podcast to talk about the final and my experience so far there.

Day 3, I arrived to the arena for the game day practices and press conferences and noticed that Crosby was not on the ice.  Apparently he practiced for 45 minutes the day before during the optional skate by doing nothing by working on his face-off drills and shooting the puck into the net.  I also found out that Malkin (who was at practice) had just become a father and that Bryan Rust (who also was practicing) was a game day decision.

After the practices I went out into the hallway to stretch my legs while tweeting out what had been said by the coaches, when Sidney Crosby himself walked right by me.  I nodded my head at him and respectfully said, “Mr. Crosby,” while he responded with a “Hey, how you doing?” before he walked away like he was on a mission. He looked totally in the zone and ready to play NOW and the game was still hours away. I also didn’t have my camera ready for that photo op, (curses! and not that I would have asked Crosby for a photo anyway. I know better than to bother a player on game day, especially if that game day was a Stanley Cup final game but a picture of him walking in the hallway would have been cool), as I was thinking that my mortal nemesis Joe Thornton with Brent Burns walked right by me but I didn’t get a nod from “Jumble” Joe this time, (which I didn’t want one anyways but unlike Crosby, Thronton didn’t look to be on a mission.  He looked, I don’t know, like he was nervous).

After some down time, I returned to the CEC for game two and since there was no “Commissioner Address” to cover like there was before game one, I went for a little tour around the arena.  That’s when I walked into Sidney Crosby again, who had just arrived in the arena, dressed in his suit and had just did an interview for a French-Canadian broadcast.  This time I had my camera ready and as he walked right by me, he looked into my camera and gave me a look that I interpreted as …

… “Don’t worry Kings’ fans.  I totally got this ’cause I’m hungry for some Shark!” (Of course he could have been telling me with his eyes to get the hell out of his way but I’m leaning on the former instead of the latter). I then made my way back to my spot at the sealed off media section and got ready to work and before you knew it, game two of the Stanley Cup final was on!

The start of this game was vastly different from game one as it was a tighter and slower affair.  Still Pittsburgh held the advantages of puck possession and shots at net (plus in the face-off circle) while San Jose was still struggling (with their nerves?) at getting shots at Murray. Half way through the period it was revealed to us that former Penguin and LA King Paul Coffey was in the house, along with … MICHAEL KEATON!!! (YES, BATMAN HIMSELF!!! I found out that Keaton is a Pittsburgh native, which just proves that Pittsburgh, PA really is Gotham City after all!!!)

The first goal of the game didn’t happen until 8:20 of the second period when (the banished from Toronto) Phil Kessel tapped in the loose puck past Jones to take the lead for Pittsburgh.  It was his 10th goal of these playoffs. Near the end of the second period, the Penguins Ian Cole took a penalty with 2 minutes left to go.  Trying to use their strength as the masters of the power-play, San Jose tried desperately to tie the game up but the “Pens” held on.

In the third, the Sharks got desperate and finally started to get to the Pittsburgh net. It took some time but it finally paid off when Justin Braun (who had just recently had a death in his family), scored the tying goal at 15:55 to make things more interesting. Then the Sharks completely took charge (not Charles in Charge) and bombarded the Pittsburgh net with everything they had.  Now with the “Pens” reeling, it was up to Murray to work his magic that he has displayed these whole playoffs so far, (which could result in the team saying “bye-bye” to long time Penguin goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, just saying).  With the Sharks all over him, Murray made save after save to keep his team from losing the game until the buzzard went off and we were off to SUDDEN DEATH OVERTIME!!!

In overtime, I saw one of the most incredible things ever.  Something that legendary players and leaders like Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Mario Lemieux, Jean Beliveau and Steve Yzerman would do on a regular basis, but this was the first time that I had witnessed Sidney Crosby do it.  While in the offensive zone, and just before a face-off, like a General at war, Crosby went to each of his players and gave them specific instructions.

He then took to the face-off circle against Joel Ward and won it, while Logan “don’t you dare cheat on the face-offs Sid because I’m on to you” Couture watched on helplessly as this happened …

Sidney Crosby called the play, and then helped make it happen.  Say what you will about him, (whines, dives, gets injured alot etc,), that was super impressive and jaw dropping. He won the face-off, got the puck to Letang, who Crosby had just told to be ready, and Letang got the puck to the wide-open Sheary, (who was supposed to be covered by Couture but I guess Couture was too busy crying about Sid winning the face-off), and he made no mistake with it and beat Martin Jones with a laser quick wrist shot to win the game and put the Penguins up over the Sharks 2-0 in the Stanley Cup final! The Sharks were heartbroken and skated sadly off the ice.

Then I remembered this moment. 

Yeah Sid, you were right.  You did totally have this. Crosby, along with the “HBK” line, the rookies and of course Murray are playing with a determination and hunger that shows they really want to win the Cup while the Sharks … well don’t.  With the exception of Martin Jones who honestly has been brilliant, the second period of game 1 and a few moments here and there, the Sharks are playing awful and are struggling to keep up. Despite the one goal games, Jones is really the only reason the Sharks are still in this series so far. Shark veterans and “leaders” Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski and Patrick Marleau only had one shot each throughout the entire game! When asked about that at the post game press conference, and wondering if the reason for that was because Thornton and company didn’t have the Stanley Cup/Stanley Cup final experience that Crosby, Malkin and company had, DaBoer got salty, “Those guys don’t have experience? Next question.”  When asked about the play of “Joner,” he answered, “He’s been outstanding,” and then followed a bit later with, “I think we’ll hold off on the funeral.  We have a lot of hockey left to play.”

Overtime hero Conor Sheary and “HBK” member Phil Kessel were next and brief. Coach Mike Sullivan then took his turn and he praised his team and broke down why he thought they were up 2-0 in the series, “Well, I think our team has the ability to wear teams down with our puck-pursuit game and forcing defensemen to turn and go back for pucks. It’s tiring. It wears on people.” When asked if he had a sense that Sidney Crosby was imposing his will on the team, he answered, “Yeah, I think Sid, he’s just been a horse out there. For right now, I think he’s inspiring for our team.  You could see it in his body language.  He’s doing everything in his power to help this team win right now.” On Phil Kessel, he said, “I think Phil’s a guy, not too many players in the league can score like him. He really has a knack for finding the back of the net, whether it’s in tight, his release of the shot, the velocity of the shot. He’s a threat in a lot of ways.” On Malkin becoming a father, he said, “Geno” has had a really exciting couple of days.  We’re all thrilled for him. He’s a great kid. He’s had a few emotional days here.”

Speaking of happy campers, I was one too as this experience in covering the first two games of the Stanley Cup final was a thrill and an opportunity of a lifetime!  As cool as it was though, a part of me was still saddened that it wasn’t the Kings taking on the Penguins in the final but c’est la vie.  In another sense, I was also saddened that my trip was now coming to an end and I wouldn’t be able to fly to San Jose (even though I was approved to do so) to cover games 3 and 4.  We did get my friend and my talented CaliSports News colleague, the great Emily Redenbach her first ever NHL media “creds” as well and she will be covering games 4 (and if it’s needed) game 6 in San Jose. So make sure to follow her on twitter everyone @Aussiemily for her extensive coverage of these Stanley Cup Finals. I won’t be able to come back to Pittsburgh for game 5 (if it happens) due to my day job commitments but if this series somehow goes all the way to game 7, then be assured and I will be back to cover that, (of course the Kings’ fan in me would like to see the Sharks lose this series in a 4 game sweep, but at the same time, seeing them lose a game 7 would be just as sweet).

So like Jon Snow of Game of Thrones, my watch has ended. The next day before I drove the long road back home, I went out for breakfast and a waitress by the name of Nancy gave me a strange look as I walked in.

Nancy, “Is that a San Jose jersey?”

I was wearing my LA Kings’ armor of course.

Me, “Um no, It’s LA. I hate San Jose.”

She inspected my 2008 Drew Doughty Kings’ jersey and nodded in approval and spoke these deep words of wisdom to me,

Nancy, “The enemy of our enemy is our friend. Welcome!”

Never change Nancy, never change.

Or you too Gotham City … err… I mean Pittsburgh! I had a blast and would come back in a heartbeat.  Thanks for your hospitality.

I would like to devote this article to the legendary Muhammad Ali, who I found out passed away while I was knee deep in the mud trying to finish this article.  Ali was an idol and an inspiration to me, who taught me at a very young age with his epic fight against George Foreman, that you should never give up on anything, even if it seemed impossible to accomplish.  You were so right, Champ. You were so right.  Rest in power and in paradise Mr. Ali for you were the greatest of them all.

I would also like to thank Nicole Buckley of the NHL, Mario Hicks, CaliSports News, Ryan Cowley, Barry Melrose, Dennis Bernstein, Glenn Healy, Elliotte Friedman, Eddie Olczyk, Sidney Crosby, Helene Elliott, Scott Oake, James Duthie, Jeff O’Neil, Kayla Monteiro-Figueiredo, Chris Clow, Sean Gerber, the City of Pittsburgh, Tony from The Gateway Clipper Fleet, the wonderful and helpful staff and security at the Consol Energy Center, Nancy the waitress, my pal Whiskey (not the drink) and of course the love of my life, Theresa Walsh-Duarte for all their help with this article and in making this the experience of a lifetime.

Stay with us at Calisportsnews.com as we will keep you up-to-date on all things SoCal hockey and the rest of the 2016 Stanley Cup final! All Cali, All the time!

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2 Comments

1. 

   HockeyJockey24

   June 4, 2016 at 8:49 pm

   Wow..Great Great Job…I could totally visualize what you are saying. .Very Enjoyable!!!
2. 

   Jeff Duarte

   June 6, 2016 at 8:43 am

   Thank you so much! I’m glad you enjoyed it!