As Jim Mora said, "playoffs? We're talking about playoffs?"Damn right, Jim. The most exciting time of year, and the most important part of any hockey fan's year, no matter what age. The playoffs can make a 65 year-old retired man act the same as a 13 year-old child. The playoffs can do anything.
Everyone knows anything can happen in the playoffs. They can bring tears to every person, each for different reasons. It may be happiness for some, sadness for others, or anger that your team was so close and simply couldn't get it done. The playoffs bring out emotions in men that women did not think we were capable of having.
Everyone has their favorite moments of the playoffs, and the things they are most excited for. Here are mine:
10. The best hockey all year
Everyone knows that the best hockey occurs during the NHL playoffs. Remember that triple overtime game in the Stanley Cup finals last season? It was easily the best hockey game I have ever seen in my decade and a half of being a hockey fan. We get those kinds of games all the time though. Ask any hockey fan and they will tell you how amazing overtime is in the playoffs.
Best overtime of any sport, no questions asked.
9. Chicago Charade
The Chicago Blackhawks have finally made it back to the playoffs, and are an extremely talented team.
It isn't luck this year; this team is good. With Pat Kane, Captain JonathanToews, and the rest of the gang, this team has the potential to do a bit of damage in the playoffs.
8. Battle of Pennsylvania
Last year, the Battle of Pennsylvania was more of a massacre, with the Flyers losing their top twodefensemento injury and not having one of their top players in Simon Gagne.
With a healthy squad this postseason, will the battle be even more exciting than ever?
7. Crazy Fans
This is the time of year when the fans become crazy. And the crazy fans become insane. And the insane fans...well, you get the point. Just stand outside any NHL arena before a playoff game (you know, in cities that actually care about hockey), and you will see this in no time. Faces painted, hair colored, people screaming; everything is beautiful.
6. Replica Stanley Cups
Many of you will not know what I'm talking about unless you personally go to a game.
This time of year, the miniature Stanley Cups come out to the stadiums, and boy are they creative. Tin foil, silver, pewter, any other kind of metal that looks silvery, people are extremely creative when it comes to re-creating the best trophy in the world.
I must confess, when I was young, I made a Stanley Cup out of paper. Needless to say, it did not work, because the Cup was kind of top heavy, and paper does not weigh much.
5. Upsets
I love upsets, with all my heart. You know, unless my team is the favorite.
Seriously, upsets are what make sports great. You don't see movies about the undefeated team beating the weak little squad. You seemulti-million dollar motion pictures about the team that no one thought would do anything, teams who defeated that monster of a team.
I'm looking at you, Anaheim and San Jose.
4. Commissioner Bettman
The only time of year that Bettman actually shows his face is after the Stanley Cup finals when he presents the Stanley Cup to the winning team.
This is on my favorites list, because it gives me another opportunity to make fun of our Commissioner before the best moment of the season arrives. Why does Bettman get to touch the Cup, he never won anything? It is that one sentence where everyone sits and thinks, "Gary Shut up."
3. Fights
No, not the fights that everyone is trying to outlaw. Not those wussy staged fights where the conversation goes like this:
Skater 1: Hey, want to fight?
Skater 2: I don't know, I just got my nails done.
Skater 1: Comeonnnnnn.
Skater 2: Eh, my coach may not be happy. And I'm not getting paid for these games.
Skater 1: You're a d****ebag, you know that?
Skater 2: WHAT??? YOU HORRIBLE SACK OF...
(And the fight ensues)
Those are boring. There is none of this fighting in the playoffs, just the rough battles in the corners and tussles in front of the nets that lead to all out brawls. I want 5-on-5 fights that occur from the emotion of the playoffs. That's why this time of year is so exciting.
2. Equipment flying, sticks chucked, hugs, hugs, and more hugs
I am that person who loves celebrations in any sport, whether it's soccer, hockey, basketball, rugby, or curling. I will watch until the end of the game just to see the players go crazy after they have won it all. But hockey is the best one, because in no sport is there enough looseequipmentto fly through the air.
Remember Jason Arnott's overtime goal for the New Jersey Devils when they won the Cup? Moments like those, where everyone piles on the ice, and gloves, helmets, sticks, etc., fly through the air. those are the moments that I look forward to all year.
1. The Cup Lift
I respect any winner, no matter what. I don't care if my team just lost, or if the team took 36 penalties in one game. In football, you can go on a hot streak and win three or four games to win the Super Bowl. In college basketball, you can go on a hot streak and win six games in a row to be the National Champions. But in hockey, and basketball, you cannot win 16 games in a row on a hot streak. Even the Canadiens never did that. You win the Cup, you're pretty damn good.
I have a great deal of respect for anyone who wins the Stanley Cup, because to work hard all your life and finally get to that moment, is a wonderful thing. When you look at the world we live in and can say, "We are the World Champions," it's a beautiful thing.
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