By David Stanczak
There’s a modern day, cynical proverb that says: If at first you don’t succeed…the heck with it. The hollowness of that advice was demonstrated this last week on the hockey ice by the Chicago Blackhawks. (Full disclosure, here; I’m a Blackhawks fan).
For those not following NHL hockey, the Blackhawks trail the Anaheim Ducks 3 games to 2 in a best of 7 series. The winner of the series will become the Western Conference champion and play the Eastern Conference champion for the Stanley Cup, a trophy which is to hockey players what the Holy Grail is to Indiana Jones. They may not literally kill for it, but they commit mayhem for it, regularly.
One other bit of background: the Anaheim Ducks are bigger, and nastier, than just about any other team in the NHL. They use their size and weight to intimidate the other team, particularly the defensemen, who are the players getting in the way of their scoring goals. This has been particularly true in the series against the Hawks, who are lighter, faster, and more importantly, really thin on defense without Michal Roszival, who broke his ankle in the last series against the Minnesota Wild.
A few nights ago, in Chicago, while the Hawks were ahead 3-1, the Ducks scored 3 goals in less than a minute, to take the lead. The psychological effect of that spurt was akin to watching an armed intruder trash your home. Very disheartening. But the Hawks fought back and tied it near the end of regulation play. They won with a goal in the 3rd overtime. The other night in Anaheim, the Ducks took a very early 3-0 lead, and were clearly dominating the game, but the Hawks fought back to tie it with less than a minute left in the game. But they lost in the overtime.
There was a lesson to be learned from watching these games: don’t give in to despair, just because the situation seems hopeless. You may not win, but the prize and your self-respect are worth the effort. Maybe all this is a rationalization for my hockey addiction, but I don’t think so. Even if it is, the lesson is still a good one.
David Stanczak, a Forum commentator since 1995, came to Bloomington in 1971. He served as the City of Bloomington’s first full-time legal counsel for over 18 years, before entering private practice. He is currently employed by the Snyder Companies and continues to reside in Bloomington with his family.
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