An Unmeasurable Loss

"We will all at some time in our lives, fall. Life is so very fragile, we are all vulnerable, and we will all at some point in our lives, fall. We will all fall.

We must carry this in our hearts, that what we have is special, that it can be taken from us, and that when it is taken from us, we will be tested. We will be tested to our very souls. We will all be tested.

It is these times, it is this pain, that allows us to look inside ourselves."


It's a cheesy line from a TV show, but that quote was all that was consuming my thoughts last night as our team gathered around our friend, our brother, and our teammate as he lay on the pitch after sustaining a terrible leg injury in our league soccer game.

As we stood there while he lay there in agony, there was one common feeling amongst us all.

Shock.

As an athlete, the last thing that you want to take onto the field with you is the thought of potentially getting injured. In the heat of the battle, your mental focus is as important (if not more important) as how you play. We take the field with confidence, feeling almost untouchable, super-human even, ignoring the idea of an injury occurring to one of us. Sometimes, that ignorance and attitude of having no fear can be a player's greatest asset. The ability to close your eyes to distractions and other things that might take you off your game mentally are so vital.

Last night, our eyes opened up to a harsh reality of sports.

Having gone through a serious injury in the past, I know what it feels like to lay there on the field in that shock of what has ultimately happened to you. It's almost like you're in a dream world. You are in absolute shock. Speaking from experience, pain is one of the last things on your mind when something like that happens.

Knowing what kind of person he is, and what kind of teammate he is, I know that even as he lay there with a broken tibia and fibula he felt that he was letting the team down. It speaks incredible volumes as to how unselfish and humbling he is as a person and teammate. It illustrated why he is so adored and respected amongst the players on our team. When I stood over him, as he lay there on the ground, he looked up to see me, and actually muttered in agony, "I'm sorry."

He was lying on the ground. I was able to stand on my own two feet. He said, "I'm sorry."

I got choked up and had to walk away.

I've played soccer with him for years now. We're always joking. We're always having a good time. Everyone is there to win, but we always have a great time when we play. There are those who have known him for much longer than I have. There are those who know him much better than I do, as I don't know much about him past what I've learned through being his teammate over the last few years.

But I know that last night, even though he might have been in complete shock and in more pain than one can imagine, you got a real glimpse into what kind of man he is. In that scenario, a man scared, hurting, vulnerable, was giving you the impression that despite being the victim in this situation, he was more concerned with the team. It speaks incredible volumes to his personality, and to why watching him lay there struck a large chord within each and every one of us, lucky enough to be able to call him 'friend', or 'teammate'.

I can almost get inside his head with what he must have been thinking. "I let the team down. My parents are going to kill me. What am I going to do about work? How long am I out? What's going to happen?"

In that situation, your mind is running at 100 miles per hour. Just like he plays the game.

I know he's going to read this. Maybe because I'm going to make him read it. Either way, he needs to understand that what is most important right now, is how he handles this situation.

Making sure that he heals the proper way is of utmost importance right now. As much as he will miss the team and miss playing, soccer and getting back on a soccer field needs to be the last thing on his mind (as hard as that is going to be).

Having been in his shoes before, I know that it will be hard for him to see it that way right now, and it's not what he thinks he needs to hear right now, but as the quote I used to begin this says, this is a test.

We are all going to be tested by this. As teammates, we will be tested to see if we can support our fallen teammate. We will be tested to see if we will be able to take him onto the field with us in our hearts. And we will be tested to see if we can succeed without him.

Contrary to what his personality might dictate, this is the time for him to be worrying about himself, not others. It's time for him to finally be selfish because it's what he needs right now.

I still play soccer because I get the chance to meet, get to know, and take the battle field with guys like him, and right now, on behalf of the entire team, I'm wishing him the best with the recovery and the test that lies ahead of him.

I think our eyes are wide open now.

One thing is for sure. It's an unmeasurable loss to our soccer team, not just on the field, but in the locker room, too.

He will be greatly missed.

-- Mr. Monday Night

Feathers to the Wall

So it's come down to this. Down 3 games to 1 against the defending Stanley Cup Champions.

Lovely.

As a Hawks fan, I start to wonder about what kind of effort the young, resilient team will put forth tonight, with Red Wings' forward Pavel Datsyuk and blueliner (and probably the best of this era) Nicklas Lidstrom once again not expected to play tonight.

It probably can't get much worse than the effort they put forth on Sunday.

I was reading a blog yesterday, that probably hit the nail perfectly on its head when analyzing what happened in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals in Chicago. To summarize: Young, inexperienced team, playing with a vendetta, lost complete control of the game.

It's that simple.

It all started when Detroit's Niklas Kronwall dealt out a hit (and a great, clean, hockey hit) on Martin Havlat in the first period of Game 3, sending him into the fourth dimension. Kronwall received a 5 minute major for the hit, which neither referee seemed to have called in the normal run of the play. With the Wings down already down 2-0, the Hawks had a chance to put them away, but failed to score on the powerplay.

Luckily for the Hawks, they found the third goal early in the second period, but then something happened.

For those of us that watched the game, we saw what ensued. The young Hawks played like scared young boys, while the verteran champion Red Wings came back from a three-goal defecit to tie the game before the end of the second frame.

Much to everyone's surprise (and to my fear), backup goalie Cristobal Huet entered the game for the Hawks to replace Nikolai Khabibulin due to a reported lower body injury. The third period was quite dry, with neither team doing much of anything, an the game was headed to overtime for the second consecutive game in the series.

Fortunately for the Hawks, on a play where Lidstrom broke his stick while checking Chicago forward Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp found the OT winning goal to claim Game 3, keeping the series well in reach, and sending the United Centre into a frenzy.

Post game comments were dominated by the Kronwall hit, and the status of Havlat and Khabibulin, and from the comments made by Chicago Head Coach Joel Quenneville, it wa apaprent that the Hawks had the wrong opinion on the hit.

The attitude was that the hit was dirty, that Kronwall was taking a 'run' at Havlat. The message was that every check on Kronwall in Game 4 would be finished, and that he would pay for what he did to Havlat.

Wrong.

The fact is that the hit was clean, and they should have viewed it as a 5 minute gift from the officials. Instead, the kids got scared, and were fortunate to have not blown that game as well.

It was more than apparent that the Hawks took the ice on Sunday in Game 4 looking for revenge, but it was not the time or the place to bring a vendetta with them onto the ice. That kind of thing should be reserved for next season, in a regular season game.

Not in the biggest game of the Western Conference Finals.

The rest is history.

I could start talking about how that $12 million the Hawks spent on Brian Campbell and Cristobal Huet was a mistake (and it showed in Game 4) and make excuses for a team that was so concerned about making excuses throughout the entire duration of that game (including the Coach, as evidenced by his post game comments which got him fined $10,000 by the league), but I wont. They don't need another person making excuses for them.

Now, they face an uphill battle, with no room for error, against a defending Stanley Cup champion that boasts a lineup full of stars.

As a fan, you can only cheer and hope for the best and believe that they have learned their lesson from the mistakes they made in Game 4, which boiled over from the minute Kronwall flattened Havlat in Game 3.

It's a formidable task, but not an impossible one.

I really hope that I don't have to dress for a funeral tomorrow.



Mr. Monday Night