Well, almost through the first round of the NHL playoffs, and it's getting exciting. I found this article the other day, as well as countless times this has been mentioned in columns I usually read. I thought it was a great read and easily agree. "The NHL Playoffs are the best in pro sports - Jay Hart No matter what anyone says about the NHL, if you're not watching the playoffs, you're missing out on the best thing going in sports. Saturday night in Buffalo, the Philadelphia Flyers and the hometown Sabres played a two-overtime affair that left everyone inside HSBC Arena, including the players, sitting on the edge of their seats, gripping, hoping, holding their breath for 1,651 straight seconds of sudden death, unable to relax for even a moment because the game-winner could come at any time. When Sami Kapanen's shot rattled two posts in the first overtime, the home crowd first went silent, then exhaled in a jub-ohhhhh-lation. At the other end, when Chris Drury barreled in all alone on Robert Esche, the Flyers bench was squirming like a bunch of little kids watching ''Nightmare on Elm Street'' as Esche made a sprawling, seat-of-his-pants save. "When there's a chance against you, you squeeze your stick or hold your breath,'' Flyers winger Mike Knuble admitted. ''And when you're out on the ice, it's thrilling.'' The non-stop, hang-in-the-balance suspense is what makes the NHL playoffs brilliant, and only hockey's got it. Joe Carter hit a walk-off home run to win the 1993 World Series, but there was time to breath between every Mitch Williams pitch. The Lakers' Derek Fisher hit that off-balance 3-pointer to beat the Spurs two years ago in the Western Conference finals, but everyone knew the shot was coming from whoever caught the ball first. Adam Vinatieri has nailed a pair of Super Bowl-winning field goals as time expired, but both were preceded by timeouts that provided extended commercial breaks. Hockey doesn't pause between pitches, doesn't allow time for coaches to draw up a last-second play, doesn't have a quarterback spiking the ball to stop the clock so the kicker can run onto the field. When Buffalo's Daniel Briere scored 7:31 into the second overtime to beat the Flyers, it came just seconds after Philadelphia had the puck in the Sabres' zone. And that's just it — hockey is a virtual tug-of-war, bouncing back and forth like a tennis rally. But unlike in tennis, hockey takes just one winner to end an overtime game, not four. ''In OT, it doesn't matter if you're taking a shot, blocking a shot, making a hit, everything you do on the ice is so important and can make the difference at the end,'' Flyers forward Simon Gagne said, pointing out the sense of urgency that clearly wasn't lost on anyone. The 27 minutes of overtime were full of desperation and brutality, with both teams protecting their own like a dog guarding a bone. Within seconds after laying out R.J. Umberger with a vicious but clean hit, Brian Campbell found himself surrounded by Flyers — all scowling, ready to throw down. That was but one of at least three multi-player skirmishes that broke out in the two overtimes, as neither team was about to let anything go, not at this late stage. Too much was at stake. And here's the best part: the action just kept on rolling. There were no managers calling to the bullpen to get a lefty-lefty match-up, no coaches calling a timeout every other second to draw up the perfect play, no huddles after every play. The outcome was left up to the players to decide — not on some wet board, but on the ice. As it happened, the Sabres' winning goal came on a beautiful pass that coach Lindy Ruff couldn't have been drawn up any better, providing the moment Sabres fans thought would never come. That's how it is when you are a fan — you fear the worst, and Saturday night it didn't matter which jersey you were wearing, you were sweating it the entire way. For some reason, this is what brings us to the games, and nothing makes you sweat quite like the NHL playoffs." Source: http://www.mcall.com/sports/all-hartapr24,0,3507688.column My picks for the first round: (Pre-Game 1 of every series, believe me or not, I'll make sure to do the post before round two, but this is my first blog.) Eastern Conference: Ottawa over Tampa in 5 games. Ottawa's offense is just too good Carolina over Montreal in 6 games. Despite Montreal coming in hot, I thought Carolina could take this with their speed New Jersey over New York Rangers in 5 games. New Jersey coming in with a big win streak, Marty being the best playoff goaltender in the league. NYR having injury troubles with their netminder and off a 5 game losing streak spells trouble. Buffalo over Philly in 7 games. This was a toss up really - Buffalo's speed will come through most likely and Forsburg has been battling injury all season Eastern Conference: Detroit over Edmonton in 6 games. Detroit has been a powerhouse all year long, and with Stevie Y back in tip top playoff form, I thought little of Edmonton competing. Dallas over Colorado in 7 games. Dallas' consistency against Theodore's inconsistency (or so I thought). Calgary over Anaheim in 6 games. Iginla won't let them go out first round. Relatively young Duck's team not experienced in the playoffs. San Jose over Nashville in 6 games. Thornton-Cheechoo-Marleau will tear apart Nashville's defense. And with the celebration of playoff hockey, my first video will be of one of the best sharpshooters in the game. This kid has got some serious skill.
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