The San Jose Sharks had a 3-0 series lead over the Detroit Red Wings, and now after three losses, they're evened up at 3-3. Emotions are running high, people are freaking out and nobody quite knows what is going to happen in game seven. Fans of teams other than Detroit and San Jose are simply saying "Hey, good hockey, what's better than a game seven?" Sharks fans are saying "A boring, cut-and-dry one-goal win in game four, that's what!" Emotions are running so high, that some folks are getting a little out of hand regarding a recent tweet from Sharks' rookie Logan Couture.
I've played hockey for 19 years to get a chance to play in a Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. #cherishthemoment. #stayloud San Jose
To answer the headline of this article straight away: no, it was not out of line even in the least. This tweet should be empowering to everyone associated with the Sharks, be it fans or fellow players. Unfortunately, this has been misinterpreted by some folks, including readers over at our Sharks blog, Fear The Fin. Some believe that Couture is implying that it's no big deal at all, but that's certainly not the case. One reader, Rhapsody In Teal, takes it a step further. Make the jump for some more.
Rather than quote the multitude of comments and single out this user specifically, I'll simply point out that it was implied that Couture doesn't understand the gravity of the situation. It was said that Couture doesn't get what's at stake and that he clearly can't grasp the fact that the team just lost a game, despite the fact that he spends 95% of his life obsessing over his craft, this little game we all know as hockey. They argued that Couture should be using Twitter to apologize to the fans, when, as Jason Plank noted, he already did something close enough to that in postgame interviews.
It's kind of an odd thing to insinuate that a player owes you an apology, and even curiouser to note that he should have to apologize in every public forum possible, including postgame interviews, pregame interviews, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and perhaps even a personalized, autographed note sent directly to one's house. Again, as Plank noted, Logan Couture cares about this more than any of us ever will. He devoted his life to it, we devote our rather devout rooting interest to it. There's nothing wrong with having high expectations of a player, but sometimes we need to keep our emotions in check and realize that Couture was doing his best to note that he's in a position that players are put in, one way or another, and that this is the reason we all watch hockey.
I'd give you all a gentle reminder that most thought this series was going to six or seven games. I'd also point to the fact that everybody has noted that if any team could recover from an 0-3 deficit, it's this Red Wings team. It's just the fact that it went from three wins to three losses that is jarring so many people, but this is why we watch, this is the playoffs, this is the game seven that a lot of us feared but secretly knew would come. Logan Couture is ready to step up and embrace the situation and do all he can to win it. Are you going to root for him?