
With so many series deciding games being played the last few nights I thought I would talk a little about what it is like to close out a series or fight off elimination.
Closing a series is one of the more difficult games to play. Although your team probably has some confidence in taking a series lead the challenge lies in facing a team with it’s back to the wall. You can expect them to come with everything they have. The game becomes a lot about weathering the storm and sticking to the game plan. The deciding game of the series often times will come down to making that game no more important than any other game… Just play a strong hockey game because you always want a series to be finished when you have a chance.
When your team is down in a series the task seems to be a mountain and you are stuck at the base looking up. I was lucky enough to be part of a team that came back from being down 1-3 in the American League my second year pro. We won 3 straight and made the conference finals before losing to the eventual champs. A series is a race to 4 wins… there is no order you have to win the games. Just win. When we were down in that series we were able to believe we could win one game and it led to three. It will be exciting to watch the Bruins/Canadiens series play out after the Bruins erased a 2 game deficit.
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