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Don’t expect Peter DeBoer to channel Herb Brooks

Come on, Peter DeBoer, you could at least play along.

Inspirational speeches are one of those goofy things that make sports great, even when it’s Bill Pullman providing motivation in a rather non-sporting movie.

Apparently the San Jose Sharks will need to settle for “two wins away from the Stanley Cup vs. one loss away from it all being over” as their motivation heading into Game 6 against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

“These guys don’t need to be inspired to play,” DeBoer told USA Today. “They’re in the Stanley Cup Final. Some of them have waited 18 years. There’s no speech I’m going to give Patty Marleau to make him play harder.”

That’s a real bummer, especially when we have football players like Ross Ventrone of the Pittsburgh Steelers doing Herb Brooks impressions.

Pop culture-wise, it sounds like DeBoer’s taste lie less in getting people pumped up and more in being ... stately?

Oh well.

Let’s not dump on DeBoer too hard, though; he’s defied the odds by keeping his facial hair all season long. That’s pretty inspiring, even if it doesn’t carry the rhythm of “The legs feed the wolf.”

Anyway, for those Sharks and sleepy-eyed readers who do want some inspiration, here’s Kurt Russell’s awesome Brooks speech rendition from “Miracle.”

/runs through a brick wall