Yes, spring is in the air, and a man’s mental wanderings turn to thoughts of…playoff hockey?? ‘Round these parts, that’s certainly the case. The cherry blossoms may be in bloom…but who really cares when the Stanley Cup Playoffs are in full, glorious bloom?
I’ve had a difficult time watching hockey this year. Frankly, OLN’s telecasts of NHL hockey SUCKS. On top of that, after the lost 2004-05 season, I haven’t been in any particular hurry to embrace the game. And when teams play 82 games in a season, how is one to be expected to get excited when individual games mean comparatively little? I’m still a fan, but my ardor has been slow in returning. WIth the playoffs here, though, I can feel my ambivalence beginning to fade away. Making things even more exciting is that I’ll be in Tampa, FL on a business trip beginning this afternoon, and the Lighting, the #8 seed in the East, have two homes games this week against #1 Ottawa. With any luck, I’ll be able to take in a game. I haven’t been to a playoff hockey game since 1981, when the Minnesota North Stars, who would make it to the Stanley Cup finals (only to be pounded by the New York Islanders), were playing Philadelphia.
Game on, eh??
