"Milan Lucic and the worst tradition in hockey"
OK, so it's just some idiot at Yahoo! but the stupid burns...
... it's forced sincerity. Its artifice for the sake of tradition. It's visiting a relative you hate or attending the wedding of a former flame, years after they split up with you. Its a phony, perfunctory end to the most authentic portion of the season.
Worse yet, its abject trolling.
Is there anything more humiliating than having to shake the hand of the man who just ended your dream and literally took money out of your pocket? Than accepting some platitude from a guy you know doesnt mean it, and who knows you dont mean it?
Its like taking a punch to the nuts and then having to thank someone for it.
So what, getting eliminated would somehow suck less if you didn't get "forced" to acknowledge your foe as a human being (or fail to do so, in the case of a few). It's just something that goes along with losing, everyone knows it, expects it and has experienced it, and it us hardly the worst part of getting eliminated!
And "trolling?" Under what kind of definition of "trolling" could this possibly fall?
When a player like Lucic (further) reveals his lack of class through his inability to offer a simple handshake, if nothing else it gives fans something to talk about. And anyway, if anyone deserves an experience like "taking a punch to the nuts and then having to thank someone for it," it's the guy whose highlight reel this year includes an open-ice cup check!