What Have I Done?

 

Decisions. Decisions.  What a role they play in the outcomes of our lives.  And what a forum Sports provides to second guess, debate, and contemplate those made by others.  Thus, on a night like tonight, it feels fitting to ask, "How's that decision working out for you Iggy?"  Just over 2 months after he made a mockery of social media, the NHL Trade system and the entire Boston Bruins Organization, Jarome Iginla, and hockey's version of the Miami Heat, were served due justice this evening at the steady hands of the team that he jilted.

A strong, gritty, veteran winger with a scorers touch,  looking for a last crack at an elusive first Cup.  Iginla to Boston appeared to be a match made in hockey heaven.  He was just what the Bruins needed and the deal appeared to be all but done.... until... he decided it wasn't.  And let me be clear, Iginla had every right to choose the team that he wanted to go to.  It was his decision to choose who he thought gave him the best chance to win, and the opportunity to play with Crosby and Malkin was too tempting. They are arguably the 2 most talented players in the world and who could really blame him?  But, when he left the Bruins looking like the cliche date at the prom who got left for the hot cheerleader at midnight, Iginla forgot to factor in one pretty important thing:  Playoff hockey is, and always will be, a team game.

Never was this more evident than in this series.  A lot was made of the Iginla decision heading in to this week and the media tried to stir up some semblance of controversy from the should-be-seeking-vengeance Bruins. After all they had every right to take the Iginla decision as a slap in the face and use it as motivation. However, The B's minded their business as they always do and kept their steely composure in every situation that unfolded.  Through most of the series Iginla and his new teammates showed a lack of team identity and were exposed and outclassed by the Bruins.   A roster sheet full of stars that did not understand how to put it together, the Penguins spent the series starting fights they could never win, whining to the refs, and wondering which goaltender could better withstand its team's defense-last approach. 

Pittsburgh's two hot cheerleader's were held in check for exactly zero (0) points in the brief series, while the steady and reliable Boston centermen, Bergeron and Krejci, racked up the points and game winners.  Iginla himself, virtually invisible, was also rarely mentioned during the play-by-play, while the Bruins trade deadline consolation prize Jaromir Jagr, was a puck control machine, and outwilled a much younger Evgeni Malkin for a puck along the boards in double overtime setting up the game winner in a pivotal game 3.

Maybe its an underdog thing.  Maybe its a disrespect thing.  Maybe its a Boston thing.  But watching a genuine and complete team take down these entitled, so-called dream teams, is about as satisfying as it gets. And that satisfaction peaked when Iginla had to look every Bruins player in the eye during the handshake line, like they were the girl that he never called back after a great first date.