I’ve been waiting to watch some actual great playoff hockey and I’ve finally found it. After viewing as much of game one between Buffalo and Ottawa while cranking out baseball pages for the paper, I realized that this is what hockey should be like. Plenty of scoring chances, a good, quick game combined with just the right amount of hitting to get your adrenaline going; but stopping short of the underhanded rough stuff.
This matchup is particularly exciting since we get to watch division rivals take on each other in a playoff format as well as they’re two of the most skilled in teams in the NHL right now. Their goalies, while among the elite, may not be able to hold up to the offensive pressure from these two red lamp lighting squads. This is the hockey I’ve been waiting for. This is the hockey that might get me to tune in to when I’m bored. This hockey may be the catalyst to moving the NHL to a place where goonery doesn’t exist. But who am I kidding, I forgot that the NHL’s circling the toilet faster than Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon can circle an oval. Hockey’s almost dead.