The NHL regular season wraps up on Sunday, which means that it is time for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The hockey playoffs bring about more drama than any other sport. I don’t want to hear about how intense any of the other major sports are when it comes to the second season drive to the title.
The flopping of the NBA, the blisters on the non-throwing hands in baseball, and the endless celebration-killing replays of the NFL can’t compare to the heart-stopping action of playoff hockey.
Don’t get me wrong.
As a lover of all things sport, I can appreciate the nuances and strategies of baseball, the grace and ridiculous athleticism of the NBA and the speed, power and precision of the NFL. I will also be the first to condemn the NHL as the world’s worst marketed sport, and happily clown the league when it plants franchises in absurd locations to “grow the sport”.
Exhibit A: The NHL has a franchise in Miami that no one cares about. The NHL has only six teams from Canada. How about we move the Panthers to Quebec and forget about that experiment? Roberto Luongo has had enough time away from the Canadian media.
At any rate, the NHL playoffs are the best, end of discussion. Think I’m wrong? Here are ten reasons why I’m right
1. Every game matters-Each series is a best of seven, but each game builds momentum, and hate, and frustration, and intensity. A playoff series serves sports like hockey well because it takes a sport that oozes with intensity and throws it into a deep fryer filled with lava. Each game matters, and no series lead is safe.
2. New playoff format-This is a new addition to my list, but I absolutely love what the NHL has decided to do. Take note of this because I don’t often commend the board of governors on their decision-making. The new playoff system takes teams within the division and plays them against one another until a winner emerges. The two division winners then play for the conference title and the right to play for the Stanley Cup.
3. The Stanley Cup-There isn’t a better trophy in sports and to dispute that is ridiculous. This is not open for debate.
4. Playoff beards-It seems silly, but it’s turned into a tradition that has extended from the locker room on to the bandwagons of supporters. Players and fans alike will put their Gillette’s on the shelf until the final horn has sounded on their beloved’s season. Until then, spouses and lady friends across the land are subjected to some glorious and not-so-majestic incarnations of the “playoff beard”.
5. The post-series handshake-The Masters is a tradition like no other according to Jim Nance, but no other sport boasts such a sincere and honest appreciation for the opposition than the post-series handshake. Before the series celebration can truly begin, the teams line up and shake hands to officially conclude the series. It may seem trivial to some, but the respect and appreciation shown to an opponent that you have spent seven games trying to destroy is truly admirable. It’s a reminder to everyone that hockey is just a game after all.
6. Next goal wins-Once the NFL decided to go the route of the overtime gimmick “field-goal-isn’t-good-enough-to-win” route, the NHL and soccer became the only sports with the truly golden goal. A baseball walk-off in extra innings could be comparable but are considerably more rare than the overtime game winner.The marathon games that are decided by a sudden death goal are a regularity of the Stanley Cup playoff grind.
7. Throw out the records-Parity is celebrated and encouraged in all sports. After all, sports are more interesting when the underdog has a real chance, right? In the NHL playoffs the top seed rarely wins the Stanley Cup. In fact, since the inception of the President’s Trophy (1985-86), awarded to the team with the top overall record, more top seeds have been eliminated in the first round than have won the Stanley Cup. That is real parity folks.
8. The John Druce Effect-This is the condition that occurs to a player that no one has ever heard (ok, maybe you have heard of them, but you didn’t expect them to score like that!) of where the player’s stick has been touched by the gods. Out of thin air, said player will turn into the best sniper in the league. See Bryan Bickell (2013), Travis Zajac (2012), Sean Bergenheim (2011), Mike Cammaleri (2010) and almost every year since Druce became a Washington Capitals' legend during the 1989-90 playoff run.
9. Traditions-All right, well maybe I have one particular tradition in mind that just never gets old. In Detroit they throw an octopus on the ice during the playoffs. It’s gross, they stink almost everyone outside of Detroit hates it, but it still brings a smile to my face. There are dozens of others, but the ones that are worth mentioning revolve around the Stanley Cup. Number one, if you are a player, GM, coach or staff member of an NHL team, you do NOT, under any circumstances touch the Stanley Cup until you have won it. There are NO EXCEPTIONS. The second, cool tradition is that once you have officially won the trophy, you get a full day to do as you please with the fabled chalice.
10. Rivalries-Not to be confused with the early playoff rounds that play right into the rivalries within the division. There are rivalries all over the NHL between teams that just don’t like each other. Certain teams have a history with one another, whether there is simmering bad blood, or a player that everyone hates. When you have to win four games out of seven against a team that you can’t stand, every game becomes a war on the ice