I hope the Sharks win the Stanley Cup for Joe Thornton. He deserves it.
Comments like this always bug me. Neither Thornton nor any other athlete "deserves" anything other than what he earns. If his team doesn't win the cup, then he didn't deserve it. It's as simple as that. Plus, Thornton has been nothing but a choke artist since he joined the Sharts. One of only four men in NHL history (and only five in North American sports history) to captain a team to a series loss after having a 3-0 lead.
I get where you're coming from, but there is a flip side, perhaps best shown by a guy like Shane Doan.
Great player who stayed loyal to a team in a non-traditional market, and despite never been given a lot to work with worked his ass off trying to get the Coyotes a cup. You can't say he personally didn't work to a level of a player who could certainly have won a cup, and if anything it was his dedication and loyalty to his team (a good trait) that ultimately cost him a chance.
I see where you're coming from with respect to Doan. I hated him as an opponent, but that's because he always played my team tough. The loyalty thing is commendable, and it's a personal choice. The same can be said for Tony Gwynn. Ultimately, though, and despite all the good things associated with them, neither was good enough to lead an otherwise unremarkable team to a championship. In fact, outside of 2012, the Coyotes have never even won a playoff series. Gwynn's Padres at least made it to the World Series twice (although they only made the playoffs one other time in Gwynn's career).
The other guy that I thought about was Ray Borque. Before winning in Colorado, did Borque "deserve" a Cup?
Comments like this always bug me. Neither Thornton nor any other athlete "deserves" anything other than what he earns. If his team doesn't win the cup, then he didn't deserve it. It's as simple as that. Plus, Thornton has been nothing but a choke artist since he joined the Sharts. One of only four men in NHL history (and only five in North American sports history) to captain a team to a series loss after having a 3-0 lead.
I know Jeter is the one outside of hockey, and Ovechkin is one of the guys from the NHL, but who were the other two?
In addition to Jeter:
1. Eddie Goodfellow, captain of the 1941-42 Detroit Red Wings (blew 3-0 lead over Toronto in Stanley Cup Final)
2. Ron Schock, captain of the 1974-75 Pittsburgh Penguins (blew 3-0 lead over NYI in quarter-finals)
3. Zdeno Chara, captain of the 2009-10 Boston Bruins (blew 3-0 lead over Philadelphia in conference semi-finals)
4. Joe Thornton, captain of the 2013-14 San Jose Sharks (blew 3-0 lead over LA in conference quarter-finals)
Ovechkin's Capitals blew 3-1 series leads in 2015 (against NYR) and in 2010 (against Montreal), but they never blew a 3-0 lead. In 2015, they were up 1-0, but the Rangers won game 2. In 2010, they dropped game 1 before winning the next 3 and then dropping the final 3.