Red Wings

[Newbomb Turk]

wishing I was at the PIT v ANA game tonight.

ANA up 3-1 going to the 3rd

yeah, but Pitt is tired from 2 straight Stanley Cup finals ......

[chemiclord]

yeah, but Pitt is tired from 2 straight Stanley Cup finals ......

Hey, it IS true that consistently deep playoff runs will wear on a body.

Playing 8 seasons in the span of 6, I can't imagine won't test you physically and/or mentally.

[Fraquar]

Bullshit.

Red Auerbach.

[chemiclord]

Bullshit.

Red Auerbach.

The Boston teams for Auerbach's run DID start racking up injuries during the end of their run, iirc. I also believe the postseason during Auerbach's days was a bit shorter. They just had so much talent that they could overcome it.

Not so easy to do in the era of salary caps.

[Fraquar]

16 titles over 30 seasons later. You do realize the Celtics played in 29 of 35 Conference Championships - right?

Yeah, teams don't have the luxury of keeping their talent like they used to - but even the Celtics had to adjust year in/year out.

[chemiclord]

16 titles over 30 seasons later. You do realize the Celtics played in 29 of 35 Conference Championships - right?

Yeah, teams don't have the luxury of keeping their talent like they used to - but even the Celtics had to adjust year in/year out.

It's harder to adjust in the salary cap era. The Celtics had a near constant funnel of talent that allowed to reload more than rebuild. You don't have that luxury nowadays.

Nor am I going as far as Gonz as suggesting that the Lakers lost solely because of fatigue... merely that it could be a factor over a long stretch of time with the same core of players. It's not an excuse, tired or not, the team that beat you beat you, and needs not apologize for it.

[Panoptes]

This should be in the NBA thread, no?

Different eras.

The pro NBA player wasn't playing Int'l games and Olympics all the time back in the day.

Many of the top NBA players are pretty much year rounding it these days. The top teams usually having 2 or more of their starters stretching themselves thin.

As for NHL.

Same thing, Worlds and Olympics these days are taking up the top players energy.

I know regarding the ANA DUCKS, a few years back, they were the 2nd or #1 team (DET was either #1 or #2) over a multiple year span that had played the most games during that span. They played like it at the end of that spike. ANA had the most Olympians on teams last year and when the NHL season started up again, the team was playing like shit (read: lead skates syndrome). Some of their players admitted that the start in London and then the Olympics on top of the multiple playoff games did take a toll on them.

Some can call it excuse making, I just accepted it as fact and want my teams pro players to stop playing in these old school amateur tourneys.

They are paid too much as pros to not give the paying fans their due, everygame.

[Fraquar]

excuses, excuses.....

Of all the major sports, the only one easier to recover from is Baseball, unless you are a pitcher.

[YT]

excuses, excuses.....

Of all the major sports, the only one easier to recover from is Baseball, unless you are a pitcher.

WRONG!

The easiest sport to recover from is soccer.

[CGVT]

WRONG!

The easiest sport to recover from is soccer.

WRONG!

Soccer is not a major sport.

[YT]

WRONG!

Soccer is not a major sport.

HA!

We both know it's not, but the so called experts say it is

[chemiclord]

WRONG!

Soccer is not a major sport.

CGVT makes a compelling point.

[foxhopper]

Wow, didn't see the game, just the box score...What the heck happened last night?

[gjdodger]

I think Gonz would say, "Fatigue."

[chemiclord]

Whether or not you believe in fatigue building up over the course of several seasons, I think we can all agree you're probably not your freshest after playing 3 games in 4 nights.