By Brian W. Donnelly, M.D., I.B.C.L.C., Pediatric Alliance — North Hills Division
Requiem For The 2014-15 Penguins
I couldn’t watch the game.
One of my favorite people in the world had invited me to her graduation ceremony.
So my viewing of Game 5 was to be limited to the overtime session, should that happen.
But that was alright, I thought:
My spider sense had me wary about this one.
Mike Lange kept me up to date on the car ride home
And, YES, there was to be an overtime!
When I turned on the television, I saw the New York Ranger Carl Hagelin skate past a Penguin defender with the puck.
What a speedy, slippery player, I thought.
At that moment, he reminded me of an eel –
An eel of unusual size, to be sure.
Then, before I could ask Siri what the Norwegian word for “eel” was, Mr. Hagelin fired the puck toward the net.
And it slipped past Marc Andre Fleury for the game-winning goal. Thus ended the Penguins’ season: Not with a bang, but a wrister.
And what a strange season it was!
From pulmonary emboli to concussions to thyroid cancer to more concussions to shoulder surgery that didn’t take to various other injuries, both obvious and undisclosed, there was way too much medical drama.
The outbreak of mumps added some epidemiologic intrigue.
Some games saw the lads stricken with a strange malady where they felt the need to just give the puck to their opponent.
Then came the end of season scoring drought
Which carried through into the playoffs, and proved to be their ultimate undoing.
The Penguins have a few months to heal, and to make their peace with the hockey gods.
Some will have already played their last game for our team
(I know who I would keep, and who I wouldn’t – don’t you?)
Hockey fans will need to look to other teams for drama now:
Can the Rangers make it back to the finals?
Or is it the Canadiens’ turn?
Will the Flames shock the world and take the West?
Or are the Ducks too strong?
Vive La Coupe Stanley!