Why I Love Hockey

I am a puck head and not ashamed to admit it. However the regular season is a little too long and there are at least 8 too many teams. So the playoffs are where I go to get my NHL fix, and since my beloved Columbus Blue Jackets made their first ever playoff appearance this season, and were promptly swept by the Red Wings (Game 4 was robbery by the officials and you cannot convince me otherwise!) it allows for me to watch countless hours of playoff games with no real rooting interest. This means i can just sit back and appreciate all that is great about playoff hockey.

Playoff hockey is amazing because of the intensity and nothing beats the intensity of a Game 7 in sports but for some reason a hockey Game 7 stands out even more. The feeling that one dumb penalty, one bad pass, or one spectacular play can completely wipe out 6 previous games. So naturally I was practically giddy at the upcoming schedule of 3 game 7s in 2 days. Of coarse much to my dismay the Pens-Capitals game was over before the 2nd period started.

So naturally after the letdown from that game I downgrade my excitement to carefully optimistic. Yet despite my feelings the NHL delivered all I could want and more.

First the Red Wings and Ducks deliver a 3 period battle that had me on the edge of my seat. As the clocked wound down in 3-3 tie, you got the feeling that it was heading for a great ending. Sure enough Bill Cleary scored and Joe Louis Arena crowd nearly blew the roof off the place. The Next 4 minutes were a blur of bodies and shots as the crowd grew louder trying to will the Wings to hold off the Duck's final surges. There is almost nothing as exciting as the last 2 minutes of a 1 goal game except...

Overtime in a Game 7 and that is exactly what the Bruins and Canes delivered. This is the ultimate in drama. Every shot makes your heart skip a beat and even better the officials put their whistles in their pockets and let the teams go at it. This combination is what makes playoff hockey so great. I cannot even remember most of the overtime as it was a nonstop rush of huge hits, great opportunities, even better saves, and players pushing themselves through fatigue I cannot even imagine. When the game finally ended I went to bed with a huge smile. The NHL had delivered two amazing game 7s and made me remember why I love watching the NHL playoffs.

As I got into bed, I had to grab my BlackBerry and get on ESPN.com. I was so wrapped up in the NHL playoffs I had forgotten that their were two pretty significant NBA games tonight.

So please people watch the NHL playoffs. I don't care if you have never watched a hockey game. If you see a Game 7, do yourself a favor and find someone with Versus because every so often the sports gods reward you with the two classics that were delivered tonight.

In my book the NHL playoffs are where amazing happens.