Henrique score the series winner in OT
So as you all know at this point, the New York Rangers Stanley Cup run came to an end on Friday night at the hands of the New Jersey Devils in OT in Game 6 and I’m just beginning to shake it off today. I’ve been in some sort of post-defeat haze where I experienced the 7 stages of grief…TWICE! During that haze, a few things came to light…5 things to be exact.
5- You should never expect sympathy from a non-fan wife – They just don’t get it really. At first, they will throw some sympathy at you, but during the full-on mourning process, forget it. Most wives will have the “oh well, that sucks, it’s only a game” mentality. This may enrage you, or drive you to the brink of downing a fifth of JD, but just remember, you are traumatized, and that defense WILL hold up in a court of law.
4- You should never expect to be amped or even interested in the next round – I have to be honest, I will watch the Stanley Cup Finals for many reasons (it could be Marty Brodeur’s last games, the LA Story, I’m a maniacal hockey fan, etc.) but I won’t like it. It will be like being forced to watch “Tha Bachelor” because that’s what the wife wants to watch. You do it because you love your spouse, but my God you hate the show. Same thing here, I love hockey but the fact that I have to watch the Devils contend for another Cup while my team sits home is beyond frustrating.
3- You Should expect your Rivals to just be quiet - This points to a debate, scratch that, a WAR that took place on FB this past weekend between myself and a bunch of Islanders fans. I will not go into it here because it’s an involved story and I will post it later, but just know…my rivals revelled in this loss on Friday. It was rough. That is all.
2- You Should Never Expect a Game 7 to Happen Anyway - This happened. I actually woke up Sunday morning fully expecting a Game 7 to take place later that evening. My wife actually had to tell me to finally take the damn jersey off before it disintegrates off of me. I made some nachos and sat in front of my TV at 5pm PST fully expecting the puck to drop. You’ll be shocked to know that it never did 
1- You should never expect to feel better again - Expecting to ever get over this loss is a fruitless endeavour and only makes things worse. Look, as a fan, you’ll carry this loss around with you longer than the players. I, for one, will carry this particular loss around until they win another cup. To me, this was a devastating loss. The Rangers had a 6th seeded team to get through to have the opportunity to play an 8th seeded team for the Stanley Cup. Now I know the Kings are somewhat of a Buzzsaw at this point and they are playing better than anybody in the NHL right now, but if the Rangers would’ve made it through, you would have to imagine the 1 seed beating the 8 seed right? I mean the Kings are an 8 seed for a reason right? That has to rear its ugly head at some point.
So with me on the road to recovery (the long road), I will go on and watch the Stanley Cup Finals tomorrow night hoping the Kings win. Although I have to say I think there is a large amount of history the Kings are facing with Martin Brodeur making potentially his final run at a Cup. I have been saying it since the start of the playoffs that if the Devils win the cup year, Marty will retire and ride off into the sunset on the top of the heap.
