Center stage
Crosby, Subban highlight epic battle for the Cup
About a month ago, people in the NHL offices were worried — rightfully so — about the broad appeal and marketability of the upcoming Stanley Cup Final.
Once the Rangers lost to the bone-dry Senators in the second round, hope in the Eastern Conference rested solely on Sidney Crosby and the Penguins. Once Connor McDavid and the Oilers lost to the aging Ducks in the second round, the Western Conference became an utter unknown.
With the NBA Finals seemingly set a year ago for an epic rematch between the huge superstars of the Warriors and Cavaliers, the NHL was on the verge of complete irrelevance.
But now, there can’t be anything but smiles on the faces in the offices high above Sixth Avenue.
The Penguins and Predators delivered with highpaced, end-to-end action and a competitive series. Nashville has been revealed to the rest of the country as the terrific hockey town it has been since the expansion team entered the league in 1998. And at the center of it all are the two biggest names: Crosby and P.K. Subban, the Predators’ defenseman who is one of the true characters of the game and who has been in Crosby’s face — and seemingly getting under his skin — at every turn.
First, there was the whole Listerine incident in Game 3. Subban said on national television he was in Crosby’s face so much the Penguins captain was complaining about his bad breath. (Subban then notso-subtly showed up for Game 4 with a bag full of Listerine.) That was while the Predators dug out of a 2-0 hole by winning both games at Bridgestone Arena. They now are 9-1 at home during this postseason with the odd new “tradition” of catfish raining down on the ice.
Then, during Game 5 in Pittsburgh on Thursday night, Crosby and the Penguins reminded everyone why they are defending champions, jumping on the Predators out of the gate and cruising to a 6-0 win to take a 3-2 lead in the best-ofseven series. Not only that, Crosby and Subban continued their personal rivalry, highlighted by Crosby repeatedly burying Subban’s head into the ice behind the play.
Crosby told reporters after the game that Subban “lost his stick and he was doing some UFC move on my foot there. I don’t know what he was trying to do.”
When Subban was asked if it was getting personal, he just said, “It’s hockey, man.” He wouldn’t bite on the idea the referees, who were right there for what happened and inexplicably called coinciding “holding” penalties, were letting Crosby get away with anything.
“I’m not an official, so I’m not going to judge what’s over the line and what’s not,” Subban said. “At the end of the day, I just got to play the game. If those opportunities come when someone does something that warrants a penalty, then it’s up to the officials to call it. If they don’t, then we just got to move forward.”
The series is moving forward, back to Tennessee for Game 6 on Sunday night. It’s not certain which local celebrity is going to sing the national anthem (our hope is Carrie Underwood), but with the Predators’ season on the line, the environment is going to be beyond raucous. The game once again will center around Crosby and Subban — and the NHL couldn’t have asked for this to work out any better.