1. Denial. That didn’t happen, it was the strangest game I’ve ever seen, and it must have been a dream.
2. Anger. I am so pissed off that the Devils blew two leads and lost in the last minute that I cannot speak.
3. Bargaining. John Madden, Colin White, and Niclas Havelid. Follows Anger and Denial closely, usually involves promises of renewed loyalty, wins, Stanley Cups, custom jerseys, nicknames and other mildly nonsensical things we promise ourselves to make sure we have something to look forward to — or at least some reason to throw the remote at the television starting October 5th.
4. Bandwagon-Jumping. If the Devils are out, we can cheer for Ovechkin. And the Bruins. And hate the Red Wings, and most of the Western Conference.
5. Renewal. Next year’s season tickets are due this month, as if that wasn’t insult on top of mental injury.
I watched the first two periods of the Canucks-Blackhawks game last night, in high-def, with the sound off and the lights down; not a romantic evening but a slow re-entry into the world of hockey. And I’m thinking of Chico Resch, who loves to sprinkle Hebrew and Yiddish lexicon over his telecasts. Here’s a new one for you, Chico: sitting shiva.
