Entertainment For Lively Minds
The Toughest Trophy Competition In Sport
April comes around once more and that can only mean one thing - the annual quest for Lord Stanley's cup begins again. An 82 game regular season which began last October between 30 teams all jockeying for a coveted play-off spot has boiled down to the "Second Season": 16 teams, 4 rounds of best-of-seven series in arguably the most physically demanding of the four main professional sports in North America, and a magic number of 16 (the number of wins needed to lift the trophy).
Personally, I love it. The teams always seem to ramp it up several notches during the playoffs, the refs keep their whistles in their pockets more often than blow up for infringements, the checks are harder, the pace is faster, and the fans are louder.
For a fan of one of the teams in the playoffs, each game is a stomach churning, nail-biting, cursing-at-the-TV rollercoaster ride, but I wouldn't miss it for anything. And if you ever heard The Fratellis 'Chelsea Dagger' and thought "what a catchy chorus!" (DERP der der DERP der der DERP der der DER der der!), wait until you hear it blaring out at the United Center in Chicago as the stinking Blackhawks put one past your goalie.
So wear your playoff beard with pride (even if it does make you look like an unkempt Harry Ramp), and GO SHARKS!
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Sorry to reveal my ignorance,
but what game are we talking about here? Is it gin rummy?
Hockey
Never called ice hockey - just hockey. Go Wings!!!
You're Right
It's just Hockey!
Wings have a potentially tough match-up with the Coyotes this year, especially without Zetterberg, and as a Sharks fan I am naturally hoping the Winged Wheel comes off the road (see what I did there?) in the first round.
Wings vs Coyotes
Is Denny Laine still in goal for Wings or has Lawrence Juber moved back?
The World Series Of Ker-Plunk?
After football
it is the greatest game in the world..fast,exciting,heart in your mouth entertainment..unfortunately for me my team had not made the playoffs for seven seasons and has not sipped from Lord Stanley's Cup since 1967..gulp! Go Leafs Go! Maybe next year!
Until this post
I always thought The Stanley Cup sat the other way up.
Go Rangers, etc.
One Of The Traditions
of the Stanley Cup I like is that the players on the winning team get to 'keep' the trophy for a day. What usually happens is they take it back to their home town for a parade through the streets and let the locals get their picture taken with it. Because a lot of players in the NHL are Canadian, and mostly from small towns and cities, this is usually a big deal in a country where Lord Stanley's cup is considered equal to the Holy Grail.
And the day Sean Avery gets to lift the cup over his head is the day I pull the covers over my head, turn my face to the wall and await the great wave that is surely coming to engulf us all...
Punching on Ice
is a celebrity talent show I'd watch. Vanessa Feltz and Ferne Brittan slugging it out after a particularly fierce shoulder barge while other minor celebs pile in is my idea of proper Sunday night telly.
Playoff Beard
TMFTL
an Ex-Player
I was lucky to play at a reasonably high level,once played with Dale Hawerchuk and love the game to bits.
The fighting is nowhere as bad as it seems. It's bloody hard to throw anything but Haymakers when you are on skates. It's more Wrestling than Boxing.
As a Red Wings fan it'll be Tough to win this year but Zetterberg will be back for game 3 hopefully.
Canucks to win the Trophy. Their centers,Ryan Kesler and Henrik Sedin are class.Like the look of Mason Raymond too. Sharks have a shout but apart from the Bruins and Capitals,The Eastern Conference has been poor this Year.
The Sedins
They may be world-class players, and the way they play together is almost psychic at times, but my God they are fucking creepy:
Not wrong
But give me creepy when they contribute 198 points between them (Goals and assists).
Go Ducks!
Er... well, I live near Anaheim. I have been to a game. Once.
But it's the FA Cup semis this weekend. That's where the action is.
If you are into hockey
you may be interested in a book a friend of mine is writing about The 1936 Winter Olympics competition, which GB won.
Go to www.pineapplebooks.co.uk and ignore the books about Forest (lost again, tee hee).
Sorry about the plug.
I did once see Nottingham Panthers win 32-0, but it was hardly Stanley Cup level hockey. Great fun, though.
i went to a fight once
a hockey game broke out.
Go Red Wings!
Here's hoping the Penguins make another go of it.
The Steelers and the Penguins have been flying a mighty flag of late for the noble sporting traditons of Pittsburgh. There are few sportsmen held in higher regard than is the mighty Mario Lemieux in Iron City.
Unfortunately, the Pirates have been less than successful on their side of things.
Less than successful meaning, in this case, completely and utterly shite.
Dear Ovey Dude. This year.
Dear Ovey
Dude. This year. Please.
Washington sports teams are tough to love.