The NHL season kicked-off yesterday night, with two nationally televised games on Versus, and "coincidentally", both games featured both teams from last year's Stanley Cup Final. The Boston Bruins took on the Philadelphia Flyers, and the Vancouver Canucks opened their year against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Both games had a pre-game banner raising ceremony in front of their home fans, but the Stanley Cup Champion Bruins' celebration sort of rubbed me the wrong way...
The pre-game ceremony began with a moving highlight reel following the Bruins' playoff journey en route to becoming eventual Cup Champs. The video sent chills all over my body, reliving Boston's highs and lows of the 2010-11 playoff campaign. Falling down 2 games to 0 against heated rival Montréal in the first round, then forcing a Game 7 overtime victory, the sweep of the Philadelphia Flyers, a thrilling Eastern Conference Finals and one-goal Game 7 victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning, falling down 2 game to 0 against the Canucks, only to unload on Roberto Luongo at home, and then eventually win Lord Stanley's Cup in Game 7 of the Finals. Beautiful. After the video ended, a tarp hanging from the jumbotron fell to the ice and magically revealed the Boston's 2010-11 Stanley Cup Champions banner. Then... I'm not too sure about how I feel regarding what happened next.
The Garden's PA announcer introduced the Bruins, and captain Zdeno Chara led the team onto the ice via the zamboni doors, Stanley Cup in hand. You read that right, Stanley- Cup- in- hand. The crowd goes wild, of course, so maybe Chara is just going to skate to center ice and gently place Lord Stanley on a podium with a spolight shining down on its sacred silver. Wrong. The Bruins continued to parade around the ice, passing the Cup off one player to another, in similar fashion to the traditional celebration that takes place immediately after a team wins the Stanley Cup.
Although it was nice to see since retired players Mark Recchi and Shane Hnidy suited up in B's uniforms one last time with the Cup over their heads in front of the home crowd, I couldn't help but sit a bit uncomfortably as this procession took place. Yes, you ARE the Stanley Cup Champions. Yes, this IS the pre-game ceremony commemorating your victory. But this is also a NEW SEASON, not some summer block party on Portland Street. That was an accomplishment, a great one at that, made in 2010-11. Boston, as of yesterday night, you were officially in 2011-12.
It just seemed a bit taboo to carry around the Cup right before any game of any kind, and quite frankly I was a bit surprised it happened among a culture as superstitious as hockey culture (I mean, let's not forget Def Leppard's gaffe during their concert before Detroit's hope opener the season after winning in 2007-08, a mistake that some believe cursed the Wings and Marian "Judas" Hossa, but that's another story.) I do not know of any other team doing anything like this during a banner raising ceremony, but maybe there is a precendent for it. I remember in 2009-10, the Cup just sat silently, still, but ever-present at center ice in Pittsburgh after they had won the season before.
The rest of the ceremony in Boston was moving and went very well, but the team's celebration with The Cup sat in the back of my mind until the game began. Maybe I'm just a tradionalist, another fool who believes in all of the superstitions, curses, and magic held within the game of hockey, but it all just seemed... not good. I will not blame the Bruins' loss that night on their antics with the Cup, but i'm sure I will be thinking about it if they miss the playoffs, are eliminated from the playoffs, Tim Thomas has an off year, or really anything goes wrong.
Bottom line is, it just seemed a bit faux pas for a hockey team to do to me. Am I alone on this? What do you think?
The pre-game ceremony began with a moving highlight reel following the Bruins' playoff journey en route to becoming eventual Cup Champs. The video sent chills all over my body, reliving Boston's highs and lows of the 2010-11 playoff campaign. Falling down 2 games to 0 against heated rival Montréal in the first round, then forcing a Game 7 overtime victory, the sweep of the Philadelphia Flyers, a thrilling Eastern Conference Finals and one-goal Game 7 victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning, falling down 2 game to 0 against the Canucks, only to unload on Roberto Luongo at home, and then eventually win Lord Stanley's Cup in Game 7 of the Finals. Beautiful. After the video ended, a tarp hanging from the jumbotron fell to the ice and magically revealed the Boston's 2010-11 Stanley Cup Champions banner. Then... I'm not too sure about how I feel regarding what happened next.
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| Photo by Brian Babineau / Getty Images |
Although it was nice to see since retired players Mark Recchi and Shane Hnidy suited up in B's uniforms one last time with the Cup over their heads in front of the home crowd, I couldn't help but sit a bit uncomfortably as this procession took place. Yes, you ARE the Stanley Cup Champions. Yes, this IS the pre-game ceremony commemorating your victory. But this is also a NEW SEASON, not some summer block party on Portland Street. That was an accomplishment, a great one at that, made in 2010-11. Boston, as of yesterday night, you were officially in 2011-12.
It just seemed a bit taboo to carry around the Cup right before any game of any kind, and quite frankly I was a bit surprised it happened among a culture as superstitious as hockey culture (I mean, let's not forget Def Leppard's gaffe during their concert before Detroit's hope opener the season after winning in 2007-08, a mistake that some believe cursed the Wings and Marian "Judas" Hossa, but that's another story.) I do not know of any other team doing anything like this during a banner raising ceremony, but maybe there is a precendent for it. I remember in 2009-10, the Cup just sat silently, still, but ever-present at center ice in Pittsburgh after they had won the season before.
The rest of the ceremony in Boston was moving and went very well, but the team's celebration with The Cup sat in the back of my mind until the game began. Maybe I'm just a tradionalist, another fool who believes in all of the superstitions, curses, and magic held within the game of hockey, but it all just seemed... not good. I will not blame the Bruins' loss that night on their antics with the Cup, but i'm sure I will be thinking about it if they miss the playoffs, are eliminated from the playoffs, Tim Thomas has an off year, or really anything goes wrong.
Bottom line is, it just seemed a bit faux pas for a hockey team to do to me. Am I alone on this? What do you think?
