Sure the flames played 5.5 bad periods of hockey between the middle of game 2 and game 4, but there's a chance they could have come back in seven. Now we'll never know. This is the kind of series, and ending to a series, that adds to the definition of what it means to be a sports fan of a particular city and not in a good way. Like game 6 in '04, or innumerable Stampeders' Grey Cup meltdowns... we're approaching Curse of the Bambino territory here. We've seen it so many times... not that anyone cares and not that it was a low-percentage call but after that goal was disallowed I just knew it was a matter of time before it was McJesus with the dagger. In any other facet of life I'd recognize that doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result is insanity, but the Flames always manage to suck me back in eventually with a promising regular season. Even losing to the Avalanche again in round 3 wouldn't have stung as much as this. I'm only middle-aged and my bar is now at one cup, just one more cup before I die.
|