With a confused mind and a heavy heart, you get....
* How great for Enver Lisin to get a goal and an assist versus his former team? Good for him for gaining the trust of Torts and being, let's say, much better than in his first handful of games. Guy has a good personality and has gotten some insurance goals for NY. Happy for him to have that moment.
* Important win for the NYRs, any way you slice it. Could not have been good to lose 4 in a row - no matter how many NYR supporters had mixed emotions as their adoptive desert dogs rolled into the Garden tonight. (And yes, I am very much among them.) They needed to get back to what made them good, and I think they made strides in that effort tonight. Have a few games coming up that are very win-able. They need to keep the streak going.
* Another night where Prospal, Kotalik, and Gaborik continued to prove their worth. We knew the potential for Gaborik, but I am happy with the production of Kotalik and Prospal. Even better? They seem to be so happy when they score, when their teammates score. It's a good thing to have a team you feel good about.
* Del Zotto - two more assists. It's too early to even really legitimately contemplate, but the guy is getting serious league recognition for being the offensive-go-to-guy on defense. A brilliant thing, one I don't think we, as fans of the NYR, thought we'd be seeing again so soon. Great story. So proud of such a talented young kid.
* As much as we (me, me, me) wanted Prucha's return to the Garden to be an amazing, unforgettable one, it wasn't much to speak about. During warmups, he tossed some pucks to his fans. He got his very much and always fondly remembered "Pruuuuuus." And he hustled. There is not a game I remember where the little pepperpot did not go-go-go. I wish he scored a goal. Hell, I wish he scored 14 goals. It didn't happen. But it's important that my adoptive Coyote team, like my favorite NYR team, gets back to what got them there in the first place -good neutral zone play, with minimal turnovers. And rock solid goaltending. Here's hoping they do well against Columbus in 2 nights. As much as I looked forward to tonight and wanted the best, I am just as happy it is behind us and I can root for my favorite team, and my favorite team to root for again. It's too hard having them both interconnect.
Til Wednesday...
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6 comments:
Thanks for the info about Prucha during warmups. I seem to have mised Prucha on the ice for the entire game, though, because he seemed to have disappeared. My expectations for this game were way too high, lol.
Right up until the drop of the puck, I couldn't figure out who I was going to root for. Everyone was aiming for a Rangers win with an explosion of Prucha goals. But I knew that even if Prucha did score, it wouldn't be as sweet unless it contributed to a win for his team. Plus, he wouldn't be as happy. So I was completely conflicted, to say the least. Then, when the game actually began, I found myself subconsciously rooting for the Coyotes--for example, when Anisimov scored the first goal, it took me a split second longer than it should have to realize that I should be celebrating, not groaning. I feel like it's because it is my natural instinct to root for the underdogs...
Still, Prucha made me sad. Usually I would be ecstatic with a 5-2 win (or ANY win!) but last night just felt so bitter, for some reason. Good for Lisin for scoring against his former team, but I just wish Prucha could have done that, too.
Ugh. I agree, life is easier now that we can root for each team separately.
Allyson
Yeah, thanks for the info about the warmups, considering I missed them because of REALLY ANNOYING things that I'd rather just not discuss which just added to my overall disatisfaction of the night.
You always find little things to hold one to, and one of those "little things" for me was this game, knowing he'd be back and he'd get some "pruuus." For that reason, I'm so upset that it's over. I can't even think of another small, little tie to him anymore.
Then the opposite emotion: Thank GOD it's over. Between my horrified gasps when (I think it was) Vrbata missed the net, to jumping up and down when Gaborik scored, my heart was utterly confused. And utterly disappointed that Prucha didn't have the game I had hoped he would have.
Girls - I think yesterday, before and after, was the biggest sense of bittersweet I've had in a long time, probably since he was first traded.
It is the greatest thing to be able to follow him, root for he and his team to do well, and to be happy that he is succeeding and getting to play.
But yesterday presented that bittersweet sadness of what was and could have been.
For me it was hard seeing him in the same building again. In some sense it was a joy, but in many others it was much harder. It's wonderful for the moment that it's happening, but it just reminds you all over again - this is not a 41-game thing, every year. It's a once a year, once every other year type thing.
And the reality of that sucks.
The good part is how happy he is. Surely I know we all wanted him to at the very least score a goal. Unfortunately that didn't happen. Not this time at least. But he's happy. He's playing and he's happy.
As much as it is bittersweet, I think we all agreed back in March and certainly now - it's better he is playing ANYWHERE, than wearing a suit here. Even if part of us all selfishly misses him.
As for rest of warmups, I didn't get to see it all, but there were handful of people with Prucha jerseys on both sides, either wearing or holding them. And one little kid had a small sign: Welcome Back Prucha.
From the random blogs, it sounds like he is so happy. He has good memories of his time in NY but he's turned the page. He loves being in Phoenix and getting to play. He's getting his confidence back. (Which is great if only we don't have to be reminded of why he lost it in the first place!)
His only complaint - too hot. He loses his energy if he's outside, so he likes staying in his AC. =)
He may be far away, girls, but he's loved and he sounds like he's loving life.
You're right, you're right, you're totally right. He's happy in the desert, we all know that-- and we're all happy about that. It's just, like you said, this kind of game doesn't roll around every so often. It's not even a once a year type thing, it's more like a once in a lifetime type of thing. How many times will he have his first game back at the Garden? Just once. And that was it. Also, I know that HE wishes he could have performed better in this game. He must have felt the pressure in coming back to NYC, especially after seeing all those Prucha jerseys. And he was nervous all day, poor thing!
By the way, how much are we in 'Yotesgurl's debt for all this Prucha stuff?? I don't know what I'd do without her.
Allyson
Yotesgurl is a special girl, who probably has NO idea how much she is aiding the obsessed here! ;)
She really did record that and put that online... for us. That's just like, so incredibly sweet to do for people you don't know. I almost feel badly that we have no way to give back.
Although our support for the Yotes and their success in Arizona has to count for something. =)
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