YOU FEEL SHAME…
By Michael Cangemi
“The echoes of
the footfalls, already in the past…”
-- Bruce Dickinson
Team toughness.
It’s a phrase that makes a lot of us cringe when we hear it. Usually, we
hear it and the first thing we think of is that the team in question doesn’t
have a dedicated enforcer, and more often than not the team is filled with guys
who are, at best, mediocre when it comes to taking care of business with their
fists. Some of us call those teams soft, and maybe there’s something to that.
Personally, I hate team toughness. Or anyway, I did.
Over the course of the last month or so, this team has made me rethink team toughness. On any given night, I see each and every guy in a Crunch uniform playing with a chip on his shoulder, and there is a legitimate chance for a brawl to break out on any given shift. It doesn’t, obviously, but that’s not the point. The fact that this team seems to play (almost) any given shift with attitude, grit and the red ass, that’s the point. It’s a pretty safe bet that this team will not be intimidated, out hit or outfought any time soon.
It seems obvious to say, but it all
starts at the top. Has there been a week that has gone by this season without
Zenon Konopka showing why he might be the best captain in the league? Really,
think about it – this team was rudderless and pretty much circling the bowl
when he was out early on. It’s no coincidence that the Great Awakening of
2007-08 began when he came back from his hand injury. It’s simply remarkable to
watch, isn’t it? The guy just oozes leadership and commands an instant respect
from the moment he walks in a room. He seems to have that extra something to
him, that It that separates the leaders from the rest of the pack. Equal parts
Mark Messier and Gary Roberts, Konopka just embodies everything you’d want in a
hockey player; skill, tenacity, grit, heart and he carries his balls in a
wheelbarrow. The guy would run through a brick wall to win a hockey game, and
more importantly, the other 19 guys on the bench would follow his lead. Who
wouldn’t want a guy like that wearing the C for their team?
I would love to think that the real
season began about a month ago. I’d love to think that because I really want to
believe that the team I’ve been seeing on the ice since then is the real
Syracuse Crunch, not what we saw in October, when wearing a plastic bag over my head
seemed a better choice than a paper one. Just once, I’d like to be secure in
the knowledge that my team is the team that no one wants to play. I want the
team that will be limping around with bruised knees and black eyes and bloody
mouths, but another two points at the end of the night. I want the old barn to
be what the old Spectrum was around 1975 – loud, brutal, unforgiving and a
place where the road team just does not want to visit. I want a team that’s
more Slayer or Nevermore than Nickelback or Dave Matthews. More than anything
else though, I want a team that will give me a shot at having a Calder Cup
parade on my birthday in late June.
Can it happen? Sure. Will it happen?
See, that’s the thing. In any other year, I would have automatically laughed
and said no. There’s always been something that trips up this organization. If
it wasn’t a run of injuries, it was indifferent goaltending by a highly touted
prospect (not that I’d name names…Pascal…) or poor attitudes from guys who
didn’t want to be here (hi, Linger!). There was also bad luck or the terminal
ineptitude of the Columbus brain trust to contend with on a yearly basis. It was enough to breed
and foster a culture of no expectations, both on the ice and in the stands.
Something about this year just seems different, though. Starting with Boo Radley MacLean getting the sack, there seems to be a new focus on actually winning something, both in Columbus and here on the farm. I used to say that the Columbus Plan went something like this:
I don’t think I can say that anymore. Howson seems like a sensible guy,
and the moves he’s made thus far have been mostly positive. Sure, there are a
couple of holes to patch up on this team, but I actually have confidence that
they’ll be addressed for once. In fact, I actually expect it to happen, and
that’s something that I was never able to say before.
Then you have the guys on the ice. Starting with Konopka and going down
the bench, has there ever been a group of guys here that was easier to get
behind? I mean, every single one of these guys is a guy you just can’t help but
cheer for. Regardless of the role any given guy plays on the ice, each one will
do anything it takes to get the job done. For once, the sum is greater than the
whole of its parts. Far more often than not, win or lose, this team makes life
unpleasant for whoever happens to be lined up on the other side of the ice.
Little by little, we are becoming an increasingly tougher draw and making other
teams miserable. If I were a fan of some other team, I’d hate us. Isn’t that a
pretty good gauge of what kind of team this is? I feel good about going to war
with this group of guys.
It’s only January, and there’s a long way to go, but this is the best I’ve felt about this organization in…well, ever. I’ve given in to the fact that this team has taken over a pretty solid chunk of my time, and I don’t care. I’m fully invested in this team, and I feel pretty good about getting a decent return on that investment for once.
Team Toughness. It fits, and it fits really well. I like it. And I’m
willing – and excited – to see how far it takes us.