Winning is important, but is it everything?

How important is winning?

If you’re DJ Khaled, it’s all you do, so I presume it’s everything.

According to Vince Lombardi however, “winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing,” so I may definitely be wrong in my presumption.

The people in charge of who wins the award for most valuable player of the NHL’s coveted Stanley Cup didn’t allow winning to sway their decision. They gave the award to the losing team’s best player, Connor McDavid.

He was infamously called “McOverated” by Miami Herald columnist Greg Cote before the series, but Connor McDavid was considered by most who know about these things, the best player of the tournament going into game seven of the finals. I don’t blame the writers for not allowing the outcome to change their mind.

As great as they say that man is, and he seems dangerous with the puck, he didn’t score a single point in the last two games of a championship series when his team needed him the most. He also seemed like a defensive liability sometimes.

He may very well have been the most valuable player of the entire tournament and also be the best player in hockey like experts say he is. Greg Cote may also be right and McDavid might be overrated.

Two things to interject real quick. First, the finals MVP award in hockey is actually called the Conn Smythe and it’s for the most valuable player of the entire tournament, not just the finals. That is important for context and if anyone reading this cares about hockey, that I hadn’t mentioned that had really been bothering them.

Second, the trophies they give out on the ice immediately after a champion is decided, both are named after Canadians. Lord Stanley is actually Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby and a former Governor General of Canada. That all sounds like it means a lot to somebody. Conn Smythe was the owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

All of this is to say that Canada really cares about titles and hockey. They care a lot more about hockey than we do and when it comes to that sport in particular, they sure care about winning.

Despite all of their caring, one of Canada’s teams hasn’t hoisted a Stanley Cup without a handle and a straw in over three decades. Many Canadian players on teams here in the United States have had the pleasure of winning NHL Championships in that time, but they never get to sing “O Canada” after.

I’m patriotic so rooting for the U.S.A. against anyone is obvious, but Canada has historically been a chill country and I have historically been a chill guy so you might not think I would take pleasure in their suffering. As it regards hockey however, I thoroughly enjoy their pain. It’s payback for what they did in Vancouver 14 years ago. I haven’t forgotten how they made me feel.

I was married to a hockey fan from Ohio who spoke Canadian and I love sports, so she eventually tricked me into watching and enjoying hockey on occasion. My care for who won and lost began in the 2010 Winter Olympics. The United States had a really good team that year and played against Canada for the Gold Medal.

The Canadians were coached by the coach of the Red Wings at the time and their best player was Sidney Crosby. I didn’t know much about hockey, but I quickly found it easy to root against those two guys. I still do, in large part, to that gold medal game.

Canada was up two to one with less than 25 seconds remaining in the third and final period when team USA scores to tie the game and eventually send it into overtime. It wasn’t long in overtime before “Sid the Kid” stunned everyone and, regardless of all the American jerseys around him, casually flicked his wrist and sent the puck through our keepers legs and into the net for the win and a gold medal.

It broke my heart and hockey had never done that before. I’m clearly not over it.