The Old Sporting Ghosts Are Dead

The Montreal Canadiens are bowing out of the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs as I write this. My wife screams, "He touched it! He touched!" Mike Richards has picked up the Prince of Wales Trophy, the reward for winning the Eastern Conference Finals, and superstitious hockey fables holds that teams whose captains touch the Prince of Wales Trophy (or the Clarence Campbell Trophy in the West), inevitably lose the Stanley Cup (although Pittsburgh Penguin captains Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby both lifted the trophy in their turn). But Crosby's victory in the finals last year, Montreal's failure to hold good to their once-a-decade winning ways, reinforces an idea I heard back when the Red Sox won the World Series, namely that the old sporting ghosts are dead.

A new century demands new ghosts, I guess. Most of the storied sports teams have all moved into new stadiums, and as players, audiences, and franchises transition into the online age, the old "pre-modern" (that is, from the age of paternalistic owners and non-scientific training regimens) stories, fables, and traditions will be replaced from those of the former industrial age. What will these ghosts look like? I don't know. Detroit's octopus tradition certainly counts. I'd like to think that maybe Eric Lindros has cursed Bobby Clarke and the Flyers will never win a Stanley Cup as long as he remains with the organization.

Anyone else got other suggestions?

NHL Playoff Predictions

Alright, I know we're into the second round of the playoffs, with some teams already through to the third round, so I realize that it doesn't take much to make a playoff prediction at this stage, but here goes anyways:

If you understand anything about the magic of the Montreal Canadiens and the improbableness of their post-season success so far, you know it's because they're going to win the whole thing. The Canadiens have won a Stanley Cup at least once in every decade since the league began and this year is their final kick at the cat for the current decade. So the cup is theirs, that's all there is too it. Sorry Crosby, my family loves you and everything, but go ask Wayne Gretzky what it feels like to run into one of Montreal's teams of destiny.