[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

That's pretty much broadcaster's hype.

Sportscasters would have you believe that
(a) momentum is this enormous unstoppable force that can decide a game, AND
(b) momentum can turn on a dime and suddenly go the opposite way.

You can't have both. If it's an unstoppable force, then nobody should be able to stop it. If it can reverse directions as quickly as flipping a switch, it's not much of a force. But pretending that both these things are true is an easy way to construct a narrative out of a nothing game in the middle of a long season.

The trouble with that game was not so much that the Flames came out flat, but that they stayed flat. St. Louis took the initiative, and once they had a decent lead they did their best to dictate the pace for the rest of the game. The Flames' effort, when it came, was uncoordinated and unproductive. When you butt your head against a wall for 40 minutes, it doesn't really look like you're doing anything at all.

No one said momentum was an unstoppable force but you.