Little Patrick and His Pacifier...

Not a whole lot going on today. Even the pressers failed to hold a candle to those of the last few days.

This video made my brother's life. He has a big time man-crush on Franzen. No wonder he loves the guy. It's pretty hilarious. It was like taking a favorite toy away from a petulant child. I imagine it being accompanied by a quote something along the lines of, "Hey, sunshine, suck on this!" Although if it was me, I probably would've spit on it first. Also, one of my favorite parts is Dan Cleary standing there laughing afterward. The whole exchange pretty much sums up the game in my opinion.

The fallout from Game 4 seems to be pretty unanimous. Every article/blog, be it national, Wings, or Chicago seems pretty astonished at what happened. I'm not sure anybody foresaw a meltdown like that. I know I don't remember ever seeing a team self-destruct like that.

In addition, Quenville got fined $10,000 for his little rant during the post-game presser. What a jerk. Maybe it's just the way I was raised, but I've always been a big fan of accountability. If you want credit for your successes, you had better be willing to accept responsibility for your failures. There are about 100 reasons they lost that game, and at least 99 of them were in the Hawks dressing room. Instead of reeling in his young guys and trying to teach them discipline and composure, he shifted the blame to the referees. The point is, if you're never held responsible for your actions, how can you ever learn? This bothers me on many levels. It's kind of a philosophical debate, so I'll just hash that one out in my head instead of wasting space on a hockey blog.

A lot of people also are saying that it was the Wings' experience that carried them through the game and allowed them to avoid getting drawn into Chicago's antics. I'm not sure how much I agree with that. Obviously, Chicago's done pretty well up to this point without any measurable playoff experience, so it's obviously not the be-all end-all of the world, but you have to imagine it's at least a minor factor. Experience doesn't win games for you; it doesn't put points on the board or make defensive plays. What it does do is put you in a position to make those plays and win games. It gives you the frame of mind that allows you to persevere through adversity, not get rattled, and stay focused with your eyes on the prize. And that (except maybe by signing high-priced free agents) simply can't be bought.