With so many series deciding games being played the last few nights I
thought I would talk a little about what it is like to close out a series
or fight off elimination.
Closing a series is one of the more difficult games to play. Although your
team probably has some confidence in taking a series lead the challenge
lies in facing a team with it’s back to the wall. You can expect them to
come with everything they have. The game becomes a lot about weathering the
storm and sticking to the game plan. The deciding game of the series often
times will come down to making that game no more important than any other
game… Just play a strong hockey game because you always want a series to be
finished when you have a chance.
When your team is down in a series the task seems to be a mountain and you
are stuck at the base looking up. I was lucky enough to be part of a team
that came back from being down 1-3 in the American League my second year
pro. We won 3 straight and made the conference finals before losing to the
eventual champs. A series is a race to 4 wins… there is no order you have
to win the games. Just win. When we were down in that series we were able
to believe we could win one game and it led to three. It will be exciting
to watch the Bruins/Canadiens series play out after the Bruins erased a 2
game deficit.