I have to admit, I’ve enjoyed a great deal of playoff hockey over the last week.
I made two trips to Barrie last week to see games 3 & 4 of the OHL Eastern Conference Semifinal between the Colts & Ottawa, which was more amusing than exciting.
In fairness, the excitement has been handled in spades by the first round of the National Hockey League Playoffs.
Flesherton’s Chris Neil got to play the hero Saturday night, scoring in overtime for Ottawa in a 3-2 win over the Rangers to tie that series
The two overtime games between Boston and Washington were terrific, in fact, it was nice of the Caps to wait until the Rangers-Senators were about to start before Backstrom slammed in the game winner
Ottawa isn’t the only # 8 seed off to a decent or exceptional start. Explain the low scoring LA Kings skating into Vancouver and grabbing the first two games in that series
Or, again back in the East, what went on in Pittsburgh with the Penguins blowing big leads and falling behind Philly.
Speaking of blowing, and I know this is old, but the linesman’s gaffe in the opener of the Flyers-Penguins series was crucial, and for me provided a marvellous argument why video review in the NHL should be extended beyond goals when the situation warrants it.
Refs and linesmen seldom make mistakes, but the goal is to be perfect and video review would have denied the Flyers on the offside in a perfect world.
There’s lots more to talk about but there’s more games to watch tonight as the Stanley Cup rolls on
I’m Fred Wallace