In the middle of the maelstrom, it was hard to discern how much the
Nashville Predators were affected by the suspensions to forwards Alex
Radulov and Andrei Kostitsyn, their top two playoff scorers at the time,
following Game 2 of the team's Western Conference Semifinal series with
Phoenix.
Nashville returned home down 2-0 in the series and
responded by winning Game 3 – the game for which the players were
suspended – by a 2-0 score. Left out of the lineup again for Game 4, the
Preds lost 1-0 and were eliminated with a 2-1 loss in Game 5, with both
players making their return, cutting short a postseason that began with
lofty expectations.
In the aftermath and with the benefit of
hindsight, it seems the incident – coach Barry Trotz later revealed that
the players broke curfew – was a key factor in the Preds losing the
series. After the decisive Game 5, Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said, "I
think we got really fortunate on Nashville having a major distraction."
He said his team was thinking about how to win while the suspensions
took up a lot of the Preds' time and thoughts.
The comments came
on both sides. As he addressed reporters at the Nashville airport the
day after the series ended, Preds general manager David Poile
essentially gave a concurring opinion. "It's a piece of it," Poile said
of the role the suspensions played in the series loss. "When you add up
all things, you can probably come to some ending that this is why we are
where we are."
Last week, Preds captain Shea Weber told a
Vancouver radio station that he thought the suspensions represented a
distraction and that he felt "a little betrayed" by helping to convince
management to bring Radulov back from Russia in March after the wing
played four seasons in the KHL. In addition, Preds left wing Sergei
Kostitsyn, brother of Andrei, told a reporter from his native Belarus at
the IIHF World Championships that he thought the team was "too tough"
on his brother and Radulov, suggesting a fine instead of a suspension.
In
the end, it's fair to say that a level of discord on the team existed
and that some of the blame for losing the series went to Radulov and
Andrei Kostitsyn for the violation of team rules – factors that were
self-inflicted.
Here is a list of four other teams in a variety
of sports that were undone in the postseason by self-inflicted causes –
losing their cool, their poise or just any idea of common sense — in
chronological order:
New York Knicks, May 14, 1997: In
the second round of the NBA playoffs, the Knicks took a 3-1 series lead
over the Miami Heat and had a chance to close out the series in Game 5.
In the final two minutes of the game, the Heat took a 17-point lead
with 1:53 left in regulation. Then, on a Tim Hardway free throw, Knicks
guard Charlie Ward and Heat forward P.J. Brown got tangled under the
basket and a fight broke out. So many players ended up getting suspended
— three key members of the Knicks for leaving the bench — that the NBA
had to spread them out over Games 6 and 7. For the Knicks, Allan
Houston, Patrick Ewing and Ward all were suspended for Game 6, as was
Brown for Miami. The Heat won that game in New York to force Game 7. In
the finale, Larry Johnson and John Starks all were suspended for New
York while Brown again sat out. The Heat advanced with a 101-90 win over
a Knicks team that was only three years removed from losing in Game 7
of the NBA finals.
Atlanta Falcons, Jan. 31, 1999: In
the only trip to the Super Bowl in team history, the Falcons were
underdogs against quarterback John Elway and his Denver Broncos, who
were looking to win their second straight title. In the hours before the
game, one of the Falcons' leaders – starting safety Eugene Robinson –
was charged with soliciting sex from an undercover police officer. The
Falcons lost the game 34-19, as Robinson later admitted to getting
little sleep that night. One of the enduring images of the loss was
Broncos wide receiver Rod Smith running away from Robinson for an
80-yard touchdown reception that gave Denver a 17-3 lead in the second
quarter.
French national soccer team, July 9, 2006: In
the 110th minute of a 1-1 match in the World Cup final, France's
Zinedine Zidane received a red card for head-butting Italy's Marco
Materazzi — a move later attributed to Zidane losing his cool as a
result of Materazzi's trash-talking. Zidane, who is considered one of
the best players of all time and was gunning for his second World Cup in
eight years with France, had scored his team's only goal in the seventh
minute. The match proceeded to the penalty kick phase, but minus one of
its top scorers, the French lost 5-3.
Phoenix Suns, May 14, 2007: The
Suns entered as the No. 2 seed in the NBA's Western Conference with 61
wins and some considered them a championship-caliber team. In the final
minute of their second-round series with San Antonio in Game 4, the
Spurs forward Robert Horry delivered a hard shoulder to the much smaller
Suns' point guard Steve Nash, sending the two-time MVP careening into
the scoring table and a fracas ensued. The Suns, who tied the series at
2-2 with a win in Game 4, were victimized by the same rule that cost the
Knicks 10 years earlier. Boris Diaw and Amar'e Stoudemire — two of the
three players the Suns used to defend Spurs star forward/center Tim
Duncan — were suspended for Game 5 for leaving the bench, even though
they did not get involved in the shoving match. Horry was suspended for
the next two, but the Spurs won them both.
