I have to admit I wasn’t totally thrilled about the NHL playoffs when they began. I was tuning into Jays games and NBA playoff games and flipping to the initial NHL games. I was half heartedly cheering for San Jose and Philadelphia, realizing that they were probably going to lose. Washington has decided to play New Jersey Devils style hockey and would Phoenix move to Winnipeg was more fascinating than The Amazing Datsyuk. I was frustrated at the apparent disregard that other players had for everyone heads and the lack of suspensions. The NHL’s “History Will Be Made” commercials paled to last year’s commercials and didn’t elicit the same feelings. And I couldn’t find a story line or an exciting style of play to latch on to. That all changed when I realized why the majority of people who followed hockey before basketball hate the end of the end of basketball games (there is nothing more frustrating than watching 4 timeouts called in the last minute of a game and watching very few baskets) and when I couldn’t sleep and decided to tune into Game 3 of the Sharks and Kings series.

I cheer for the Sharks because I loved Joe Thornton the season when he won the Hart Trophy. But my love for Joe Thornton probably intensified due to the fact that he such a dominating force whenever he played and yet because the Sharks would lose in the playoffs, people (usually who hadn’t bother to actually watch the game) would dismiss him as an underperformer but I knew he wasn’t because hockey (and maybe soccer) is currently the only game that you can only properly evaluate if you don’t watch the game. Advanced statistics can measure performance fairly accurately in baseball, football, and basketball relatively well but no statistics exist for hockey because play is continuous and mistakes vs. great plays are difficult to determine and only matter if a goal is scored. So if you want trash talk a player and a team in hockey make sure you actually bother to watch the game. Anyway, the Kings went up 4-0 fairly quickly in the game and it was not looking good for the Sharks. Then the Sharks realized that they were full of multiple offensive talents and decided to put them to use. They staged a comeback reminiscent of the Miracle on Manchester (incidentally that also took place in Los Angeles) when the LA Kings (in wicked yellow uniforms) came back from 5-0 deficit to defeat Gretzky’s Oilers in overtime (LA fans were obviously less happy this year). They scored 5 goals in the second period and then went on to win the game in overtime. I had forgotten how tense and amazing playoff overtime hockey was. It is the most exciting/desperate/unpredictable sports event. Nothing compares to it because it can end so suddenly. This desperation hockey that I saw has continued every day since then. Look at all of the great games we have had since then: Game 4 Capitals vs. Rangers (Caps come back from down three goals, win in 2OT), Game 4 Penguins vs. Lightning (Roloson lets in a soft goal after a tremendous game in 2OT), Game 4 Bruins vs. Canadiens (back and forth OT win), Game 5 Sabres vs. Flyers (Buffalo almost blows the game, wins in OT), Game 5 Canadiens vs. Bruins (great, great game, Horton scores in 2OT), Game 6 Flyers vs. Sabres (Flyers make a great comeback, despite pulling goalie again), Game 6 Canucks vs. Blackhawks (OT win, after Luongo doesn’t start), Game 6 Sharks vs. Kings (Sharks kill a 5 minute major and win in OT), Game 7 Blackhawks vs. Canucks (So similar to the Gold Medal game). I look at that list and there are games that I have left off but as a hockey fan cheering for my secondary teams and players there has been a fantastic game every night for the past week. It is certainly not conducive for studying. We can only hope that the Game 7s tonight are as good (I have Bruins and Lightning for the record) and that the Conference Semi-Finals bring us as many good games. That being said lets take a look at the four Western Conference teams lucky and skilled enough to advance to the next round. Continue reading →