Pressure hits Riga

[Greg_Di 1,028]

 

 

The playoffs are a pressure cooker. Every moment of every game is massive, every little thing is magnified, and any mistake can cost a team their season. Some teams have already been eliminated, some teams are still in it. Playoffs always bring around great stories, spectacular upsets and lots of talking points. What most people don’t notice is the pressure the playoffs puts on the team, the players and the fans.

 

In fact it’s tempting to say that playoff pressure is a constant, something faced in equal measure by all playoff teams. But that’s not entirely true. Not all circumstances are created equal, and some teams are absolutely under more pressure than others. Some teams are just happy to squeak into the playoffs while others are in the cup or bust mindset

 

This season, there were actually no teams who had the mindset or regular season stats where qualifying for the playoffs was just enough to make the season a success, and any noise they can make in the playoffs would have been a bonus for them. Every team that made the playoffs this season deserved to be there but not all had the cup or bust mind set.

When we move to the the other end of the spectrum  the teams for whom the playoffs truly feel like a defining moment, the start of a do-or-die adventure that will either end in ultimate success or total, disappointing failure. These teams walk together in history forever, or they all walk together to the first bus out of town and onto the golf course.

This season those teams were the 2 teams Eagles has been a part of. The Wolves who even after 2 huge trades and the beginnings of a quick rebuild next season, were one of the cup or bust teams this season. A team that played hard and wanted to bring back the cup glory days but it ended in failure as they were for the 4^th time in a row defeated by the Seattle Bears. The team that has had their number every playoffs since the Wolves last won the cup.

The other team was Riga. Riga was at one point out of the playoff picture but they decided to go all in after acquiring Eagles, Acyd and Phil.

 

The Riga Reign are well-built, well-coached, fun to watch on both ends of the rink and have had a pretty good season. And if they lose to the Menace once again, the whole thing will feel like another huge disappointment….which may lead to some more changes in the off-season.

 

We’ve been able to read that writing on the wall all season, dating back to the those trades. You knew that this season for the Reign was going to be do-or-die at that point, that cup or bust mentality and also the last window of opportunity for the older pieces of the team’s core.

 

If you’re the Reign, you knew the road to a championship went through Moscow. The series so far has been exciting, both teams have been playing well but the Reign find themselves down 3-2. The pressure on the players is now at max capacity and how they handle this pressure will determine how the rest of the series plays out.

 

Will the Reign be able to face the pressure of Game 6 and potentially Game 7....or will it be another disappointing year of golf?

Edited May 7, 2020 by Greg_Di