Simpsons Saturday: Lisa On Ice
Bart's rising star on the ice is threatened when Lisa emerges as a standout goalie, leading to an intense sibling rivalry between the Simpson children.
The Stanley Cup Finals are afoot as of this writing. However, to quote Radioactive Man, “But…for how long?”
The Florida Panthers extended their lead to 3-0, taking the first game in Edmonton despite a furious, third-period rally from the Oilers. It appears all but inevitable now that the state of Florida will claim its third Stanley Cup in five seasons, and with the Panthers joining the Lightning, will have two franchises hoist the hardware before the entire nation of Canada ends its Cup drought.
That country in which the sport is woven into its identity is on its third decade without one of its native organizations winning hockey’s top prize is a phenomenon I can’t explain.
Likewise, the fate of the Stanley Cup so often hinging on a goaltender playing lights out seems supernatural. It happens so frequently, and yet often feels mystical.
That’s no slight on the Panthers, an all-around outstanding team that reached the Stanley Cup Finals in 2023 and came back even stronger in 2024; this is no Cinderella No. 8 seed catching fire at the right time. Similarly, it’s not to dismiss veteran goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who had an outstanding season.
Bobrovsky’s stellar play in this postseason, and especially against an Edmonton offense that had been a juggernaut through the previous three rounds of the Playoffs, however, is the stuff of legend made all the more remarkable considering Bobrovsky was pulled in last year’s Stanley Cup Finals against Vegas.
The goaltending phenomenon is powerful enough to upend even a seemingly perfect, storybook finale for one of the sport’s greats. Bobrovsky’s lockdown effort between the pipes is one game away from denying Connor McDavid the Stanley Cup.
McDavid’s ongoing stretch without winning the Cup is reminiscent of Michael Jordan’s first seven years in the NBA, with both being clearly the best player in the sport. However, Bobrovsky’s performance seems roughly analogous to if A.C. Green — a great defender and integral part of the 1991 Lakers, but not a superstar — played the series of his life in a Los Angeles win.
Because we live in a culture that rewards trolls who shout the hackiest opinions the loudest — another phenomenon in sports I can’t explain — I’m sure the Oilers falling short in a Playoffs during which McDavid was otherwise transcendent will prompt more garbage like this:
And yet, like so much else in society, Homer Simpson serves as an accurate mirror.
“Lisa on Ice” is the eighth episode of The Simpsons Season 6 — a season that, for my money, is among the very best of the series. The comedic voice and storytelling style introduced in Season 2 and reflected in “Dancin’ Homer” was fully fleshed out by Season 6, resulting in some of the most memorable and endlessly quotable entries in Simpsons canon.
And while 21st Century Simpsons became much more built primarily on slapstick humor, Season 6 still showed the heart from the series’ early days. “Lisa on Ice” is a great example of how the writers blended signature silliness and laughs with a relatable message, as well as prescient commentary on culture.
The episode begins with Principal Skinner revealing a Simpson at Springfield Elementary is failing a class — and much to both of their shock, it’s Lisa and not Bart.
The academic achiever Lisa’s perfect report card is in jeopardy due to PE, but she’s given the option of turning her grade around by joining a team. She is unsure where to turn after a few failed attempts, at which point the Simpson family ventures to the local ice rink to watch Bart’s juniors hockey game.
Bart, the perennial underachiever, has discovered his aggressive nature is well-suited to the game and he’s a budding star on the ice. As star of the Chief Wiggum-coached Mighty Pigs1, the eldest Simpson child’s hockey prowess has made him the apple of his usually apathetic father’s eye.
Homer’s role in “Lisa on Ice” lampoons overbearing sports parents, as he makes his love and encouragement contingent on Bart and Lisa winning. He eggs the two on in an increasingly intense feud after Lisa finds the sport to save her straight-A grades — hockey — by accident.
Bart’s confidence is rattled when his excellence on the ice runs up against Lisa’s presence in the goal, leaving the two at each other’s throats leading up to the episode’s climax.
Her Sergei Bobrovsky to Bart’s Connor McDavid fuels a sibling rivalry that turns ugly.
With prisoners from Springfield Penitentiary in attendance for the league championship, Bart and Lisa throw down their gloves — but not to fight. They hug, refusing to play out a game-deciding penalty shot.
The Simpson kids skating off the ice arm-in-arm as a riot breaks out in the arena is among my favorite visual gags from the series. It underscores the absurdity of fans rioting over sports in general, particularly when one considers the college and professional games we watch are played primarily by athletes not that much older than Bart and Lisa.
Connor McDavid, for example, is 27 — born more than a year after “Lisa on Ice” first aired. That he’s been excellent for so long, including becoming the fourth-fastest player to 100 career playoff points in NHL history, belies how much hockey he still has ahead of him.
Although I’d be much more likely to consume empty-calorie, shouting-pundit content if it featured Homer Simpson — Disney, you own ESPN and the 21st Century catalog. Consider it! — it’s amusing to watch “Lisa on Ice” imagining Homer as representative of ridiculous sports commentary.
The general rule of thumb is not to emulate Homer, the show’s avatar for bad choices.
Of course, that’s my own spin on “Lisa on Ice.” The true intent of the episode is on the bond of siblings. Lisa and Bart mending their relationship in the finale is among the series’ most touching moments, and indicative of the show at its best in the Golden Age with its combination of absurdist humor and genuine emotion.
A montage of memories of the two showing their affection for each other was especially heart-warming upon rewatch with my own children being close in age to Bart and Lisa.
The Anaheim Ducks debuted the season prior — the same year as the Florida Panthers — named “The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim” in recognition of the movie produced by the franchise owner, Disney. Disney now streams The Simpsons on its platform as part of the company’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox, but the Mighty Pigs and Mighty Ducks never existed under the same umbrella.
Disney sold the Ducks in 2005, two years after Anaheim rode a red-hot goalie — Jean-Sébastien Giguere — to a Stanley Cup Finals. The Ducks won the Stanley Cup in 2007 with Giguere between the pipes.