LeBron James held the ball in his hands and more – the game, the series, maybe even his sport. Time after time, spot after spot, shot after shot, the best basketball player in the world found the space to show his skills. He lived up to the hype on the biggest stage and led his team to a title for the second straight year.

What does this have to do with hockey?

Nothing.

That’s the point.

This is not a column about why hockey is better or worse than basketball, born of some superiority or inferiority complex. This is a column about why hockey is so hard to play in its own way and so damn hard to figure out even for hardened puckheads.

And this is a primer for people who might pay attention now that King James has been crowned and – hey, that’s weird – the Stanley Cup Final is still on. Two Original Six teams are tied, 2-2? Chicago Blackhawks? Boston Bruins? Best 2-out-of-3? Beer me.

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It goes in cycles. Hockey wanes in popularity in the American mainstream, and then the American mainstream waxes poetic about hockey for whatever reason. It’s wax on this year despite the lockout, maybe because of the lockout. See a cover story in Sports Illustrated: “THE BEST – WHY THE NHL POSTSEASON IS LIKE NO OTHER.” Read a piece by the esteemed Joe Posnanski: “HOCKEY – A WRINGER OF EMOTIONS LIKE NO OTHER.”

The Stanley Cup playoffs are like no other. Just look at the NBA playoffs to understand and appreciate why, and start with this: The Miami Heat of the NBA went to a third straight Finals and won back-to-back championships despite a worthy opponent in the San Antonio Spurs. The Miami Heat of the NHL got swept in the third round.

Bruins winger Milan Lucic compared the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Heat entering the Eastern Conference final because they had the best player in the world in Sidney Crosby and a collection of stars that came together partly by choice, making them the favorites.

But the Bruins shut down all those stars. The Pens scored only two goals in four games. Crosby and Evgeni Malkin – MVPs, scoring champions, league champions, just like LeBron – didn’t record a point. Neither did Jarome Iginla, James Neal or Kris Letang.



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Afterward, Bruins winger Jaromir Jagr – another MVP, scoring champion, league champion, just like LeBron – brought up the Heat.

“It’s like in basketball, when you have a good player, you double-team him, let other guys beat you,” Jagr said. “Same thing. If you’re going to play against LeBron James, you’re going to put two guys on him, let the other guys beat you. Let the Birdman beat you.”

Jagr locked his thumbs and flapped his fingers like wings.

“He’s pretty good,” he said with a laugh. “That’s the way it is.”

Except it isn’t the same thing. Why couldn’t the Spurs do to James what the Bruins did to Crosby? Why did James beat them while Chris Andersen – the “Birdman” – had only three points in Game 7? Why have the winning goals in the Stanley Cup Final come not from the stars but from Andrew Shaw, Daniel Paille, Daniel Paille again and Brent Seabrook?

There are some similarities. James rose to the challenge not just because of his talent, but because of a work ethic that made his outside shot a strength. The games can be tight, and a series can hinge on one dramatic moment, like Ray Allen’s three-pointer that saved the Heat at the end of regulation in Game 6. Luck can play a role, like when Mario Chalmers banked in a buzzer-beating trey at the end of the third quarter of Game 7. The supporting cast can make an impact. Shane Battier knocked down those shots.

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