Musings about the NHL Playoffs

Thanks for the nice introduction, Mr. Misconduct. Let's jump into a little bit more on the NHL playoffs...

ESPN.com recently had a poll about which sport had the best Game 7’s. The NHL, MLB, or NBA? As you might expect, Major League Baseball was far and away the winner. And why not? With football out the question, America’s original pastime is far more popular than the NBA and the NHL. But hold on one second now…

As we already saw last night with the Caps-Flyers game, it’s hard to beat an NHL Game 7. Think about the waning minutes of a close game third period or even better an overtime game: the intensity, the desperation – it’s unmatched. In baseball, each team is guaranteed an opportunity to take one more crack at taking the lead and provided they don’t make any outs – they can keep scoring at their leisure to make that happen. There is never a moment of, “you need a home run right now or you lose.” In basketball, close games become foul shooting competitions, which can be exciting, but also can drag on to a point where the intensity can dissipate. Only in hockey, do you have the one minute of pure anarchy (reminiscent to the street fight in Anchorman) when the goalie is pulled and its 6-5. When the dust clears one team emerges triumphant and the other is in “dead place.” (Of course, leave it to Boston to tank Game 7 and ruin my point…they’re probably just still pissed about Aaron Boone).

Too bad for the Caps though, its clear Ovechkin is something special, and I guess part of me was hoping that he would face off with Crosby in the playoffs. Still, I am sure we are in for our fair share classic Caps-Pens games in the future.

In other news, what happened to the Ottawa Senators? At least the New York Mets had the courtesy to collapse in the last weeks of the season. Sens fans had to endure months of it (11-16-4 after the All-Star Break) Not to mention, they were “swept” out of their misery by their former star Marian Hossa whose addition to an offense that includes Crosby, Malkin, and Jordan Staal should probably have created some void in the universe somewhere. (Like pressing someone else’s Easy Button). Oh yea, and that guy Zdeno Chara…finalist for the Norris. Well at least the Ottawa Renegades start up soon.