If winning the Stanley Cup may be the finest perspective of world for any hockey player, then being the protecting champion and becoming removed within the first round is most likely the worst.
“The common denominator when you are getting removed like a former champion may be the feeling of disappointment because you understand the euphoric journey you have been on the prior year,” stated three-time Cup champion Aaron Ward. “To know you’ve given not just the fans and also the organization but yourself as well as your teammates that taste of what it's to become the Stanley Cup champion.
“It’s among the greatest lows. It’s from your control. It’s like you have been left because of your girlfriend. She’s moving forward and she’s likely to pick somebody new.”
Ward, now an analyst with TSN, was using the Detroit Red-colored Wings for his or her Cup victories in 1997 and 1998 with Carolina in 2006. And that he knows the switch side too, to be around the team that removed the Cup champions. Colorado had won the Cup in 1996, but was removed by Ward and also the Wings within the conference final in 1997.
“When you get rid of the Stanley Cup champion, it’s almost the greatest notch within the belt you will get,” stated Ward.
Because the Bruins are discovering his or her series using the Washington Capitals heads to Game 7 Wednesday evening in Boston, the protecting Cup champions walk around with targets on their own back.
“The protecting team is frequently the calculating stick,” stated Bruins center Tyler Seguin. “That’s how it operates.”
When the Bruins should lose to Washington, they’d enroll in a lengthy listing of protecting champions who couldn’t complete the job 2 yrs consecutively. Actually, five from the previous eight champions were removed within the first across the year following their title.
In ways, states Milan Lucic, getting drunk in the Cup once may be the motivation to get it done again.
“You wish to accomplish anything you can to accomplish this feeling and experience again your ultimate goal again,” stated Lucic. “Everyone’s got exactly the same goal in your mind and that’s winning.
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