0.2 Seconds

For any hockey fans out there last night was exactly what you were hoping for. 5 games, very little intermission time, and hence a general lack of kelly hrudey or James duthey which was easily one of the best parts of the evening. Now to be fair I focused on two games, Vancouver vs. St. Louis (no comment) and the late game between San Jose and Anaheim. I also caught glimpses of the Detroit, Columbus game, 6 minutes of New Jersey, Carolina and the Pitt Philly first period. A couple of quick observations.

Detroit's Dominance
Detroit is so much better than Columbus its really not worth talking about. I picked this series to last seven cause i thought Steve Mason would just stand on his head. I clearly was not thinking. Take two minutes and go through those two line ups player for player, they're not comparable. Detroit is so much better at every position. To anyone willing to play the goalie card, Chris Osgood has three cups the only other goalie in the playoffs with that many is that Brodeur fellow. Now i'm not trying to compare the two, just make the point that our good friend Ozzie ain't too shabby. (As a sidebar go to youtube and watch R.J. Umberger get crunched in the second period of this game and then ask yourself how did that guy, who was so clearly concussed come back and score for his team. I mean seriously, he looks more lost than Andrea Bargnani in his sophomore season and he was the only one on his team who could score).

A rivalry in California
I didn't know they actually cared about hockey in Cali but I guess the cup run made a difference for the ducks. We're talking about a fired up crowd and two teams who just do not like each other. Rivalries by proximity are pretty common in the NHL (see toronto, Ottawa - Philly , Pitt, - Edmonton, Calgary and countless others) but i wasn't sure it translated down there. Apparently it does and after the sharks win yesterday it might just be a seven game series. I would be happy to watch these two teams kill each other for seven games. It would be a treat.

0.2 seconds
I only watched 6 minutes of this Carolina New Jersey but it was the best 6 minutes i watched last night. The last six minutes of this game were end to end neither team giving an inch and the series seemed destined for a third straight overtime. Then with 0.2 seconds left the puck slipped past marty on a jussi jokinen tip. I have no personal attachment to this series but even I jumped off the couch when this went in. I can't even type a five letter word in 0.2 seconds and carolina just won a stanley cup playoff game with that much time remaining. For those who were wondering it does go down as the latest goal scored in regulation time in playoff history (thank you ESPN) and no that was not a penalty on Martin Brodeur with three seconds left (thank you to the referee who didn't blow that call and ruin a great playoff moment).

And that my friends was last nights view from the couch.

- POB