Kalman: Cup Title Awaits, As McQuaid Moves On From GWG Attention
BOSTON (CBS) - There's no need to worry about the hero having a big head as the Bruins head into the Stanley Cup Final against the Chicago Blackhawks starting Wednesday.
Ironically, in a game where the score was defensive as it gets, the Bruins' most defense-focused defenseman scored the lone goal. Adam McQuaid will live on in Boston sports lore as the man who offensively finished off the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals.
McQuaid admitted that since last Friday, he's gotten a ton more texts than he normally would have. His face and postgame interview were staples on NHL Network for at least 36 hours after the Bruins clinched a second Cup Final berth in three years.
And he's uncomfortable with all of it.
"Well, I just feel like it's one shot, obviously," he said after the Bruins practiced Monday. "There's so many big plays that guys make throughout the game. There's guys who don't score that often that make small plays all the time that don't get the credit they deserve. It's kind of ... one shot and everyone's wanting to talk to you as opposed to some guys that go about their business, and make the quiet simple plays that make a big difference as well."
Most of the time McQuaid is the one making those little plays that fly by the wayside. He scored just one goal in the regular season and has now doubled the production in the postseason for a defense corps that's accounted for an amazing 30 percent of the Bruins' goals through 16 games.
The more important numbers to McQuaid are the games he's played since he had to have surgery to fix some dangerous blood clots last winter. Another important number is his plus/minus (plus-46 the last three seasons). And then there are all the times he gets through a shift without a goal against, the times he intimidates an attacking puck carrier with his 6-foot-5, 209-pound frame, and the times he drops the gloves in defense of a teammate.
Nonetheless, McQuaid's made a little fame for himself by scoring a clutch goal with the entire hockey world watching. He's not going to bask in the glory of Game 4, though.
"It was obviously an exciting night," he said. "To score that goal, but also to get the win and get back to this point. But then again, it's for nothing if that's it, right? So we've got to make sure that we're ready to go."
