She Really Tikkanened that one.

Long time Caps fans will remember Esa Tikkanen's brief stint in DC by one play. In Game 2 of the 1998 Stanley Cup Finals, with the Caps holding onto to a late lead Tikannen had the opportunity to put the icing on the cake and give the caps a commanding lead. Instead, he missed a wide open net and the explosive Red Wings rallied to win the game and sweep the series.


Although I was only in elementary school at the time, this image is forever seared into my memory. For those of you who are privileged enough to not remember this play, or never saw it I have posted its link. Due to some weird restrictions placed by the video's uploader it will not allow me to embed it on our website. I have copied and pasted the link here, feel free to look at it for your viewing pleasure, or in this case woes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkZVHY4QDdo

What could have been, had Tikkanen scored on that shot? Although the Caps would end up being swept at the hands of the merciless Red Wings, there is no doubt in my mind that a win in game 2 would have changed the series entirely. As a result, similar to Richard Nixon's stay in Washington Tikkanen's is forever marred by one incident. As the late president's final legacy will always be that anytime there is a political scandal it is almost always dubbed with the suffix -gate. Tikkanen's final legacy with Caps fans is that anytime an athlete fails so miserably to score an easy goal, they will be, and should be instantaneously compared to Esa.


I will generally spare the references to girls basketball, but my inspiration for this post came from watching the Sports Center highlights from the Stanford-Xavier girls elite 8 game. While Xavier's girls basketball nation is significantly smaller than that of "Rock the Red" nation, I still can not help to hurt for their team and their fans. Here is the video of the last minute of the game. Sorry, for the poor quality and try to ignore the annoying voice in the background. Long story short, Dee Dee Jernigan really Tikkanened that one.