Denver. Tonight, Gabriel Landskog’s lifelong dream can come true.
If he and his fellow Colorado Avalanche members can control their fickle nerves, he, like the second Swedish captain in National Hockey League history, will be awarded the legendary Stanley Cup by Gary Pittman.
But she’s big about it.
With the Holy Grail of hockey at hand, even the best players often get soft cheese in the wrinkles
If Gabriel Landskog puts flowers under the pillow before midsummer, it sure isn’t a love he was trying to conjure up his dreams; He actually found it in his wife, Melissa.
It was a dent of the Stanley Cup – the trophy he’d fantasized about and craved since he was a little kid in Alfshaw southwest of Stockholm, and the one who scored hockey players for eternity.
He almost got his hands on it now and could surely guess the taste of champagne he would probably drink straight from the bowl. If the Colorado Avalanche wins their fifth final on Midsummer Night against the Tampa Bay Lightning at home on the ballpark, they will be champions and Gabriel will get the shiny silver bet from Commissioner Gary Bateman.
It won’t be easy
The only Swede in history to have participated in this was Niklas Liedstrom himself, fourteen years ago.
So it would be understandable if the 29-year-old wrestler chose flowers carefully – and then had a hard time falling asleep.
Because it will not be easy. On the contrary – it becomes more difficult than anything Gaby and his friends have encountered before.
They sometimes played absolutely great hockey in the final and for long periods they were much better than the bolts. But the current champions are now on the brink – a party that’s been in Tampa Bay for two years full of glee risks ending in a meltdown – and when they do, they become as dangerous as injured lions. In recent seasons, it has been almost impossible to beat them in this kind of situation.
Harder for an avalanche
But it will be even more difficult for Efes, who himself conceded “Gabi” after the sudden-death victory in Tampa on Wednesday, to deal with the rampant fever.
When young hockey players who have never been there suddenly stand on the doorstep of the Kingdom of Heaven – what they say they have tried all their lives – they easily transform into a character in Edward Munch’s “Scream.”
Time and time again over the years, I’ve seen superstars usually like the more cohesive Clint Eastwood movie characters suffer a complete short-circuit when they had the chance to play at home in the Stanley Cup Final.
Suddenly they get soft cheese in the creases of the arms and knees, they can hardly hold on to the batons and even less skate. Breathing becomes heavy and irregular, the ability to think rationally stops …
Could the current veterans of Peter Forsberg’s old club avoid this kind of collapse?
In that case, there’s a chance Gabriel Landeskog will experience his big Midsummer Night’s Dream now.