NHL playoffs begin, but when will it end?
Cats: Uncategorized|The NHL has entered playoff season.
The good news is that Pittsburgh put a pounding on Ottawa. Good. We like Pittsburgh in this town because of our homegrown boy Sydney Crosby.
The bad news is that these playoffs will go on and on and on. It’s not unusual for the Stanley Cup to be played in June. June! Hockey!
The NHL playoffs remind me of someone’s old Aunt Betty who likes to tell her stories. The stories are good but our Aunt Betty likes to take them on a very long walk. You get every detail and plenty of diversions along the way.
Half way through the story you’re suppressing the yawns, looking at your watch and wishing she’d just hurry up and get to the end. You get the feeling that Aunt Betty likes the sound of her own voice.
I’ve blogged on this before.
NHL should learn from soccer, arguably the biggest sport on the planet. More players, teams, more audience numbers – more by orders of magnitude over hockey. Yet soccer manages to condense its big playoff into one month every four years with the World Cup.
NHL hockey is exciting and thrilling too, but it wears a little thin as you head into your seventh or eighth week of playoffs.
So come on Aunt Betty. Come on NHL. Cut it down. Make it end after 4 weeks. Hockey’s a winter sport. It’s not meant to be watched two weeks before the beginning of summer.
Don’t beat it the death. End on a high note.
April 10th, 2008 at 10:08 am
I thought you liked Pittsburgh because of me??
April 10th, 2008 at 11:15 am
I stopped takig Hockey seriously when a team from Florida won the Stanley Cup over a team from Dallas (I think it was Dallas).
The last hockey game I watched had Kurt Russell as the coach or was it Emilio Estevez?
April 10th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
#7 on my list of things proving I’m not Canadian is my total ignorance of hockey. Still, most people think I’m Canadian.
April 10th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Yes, it all is a little ridiculous – playoffs starting now, at the time when they really should be ending. The regular season means almost nothing – well, the Leafs don’t make the playoffs, or at best are out after the first round. Maybe, if we could just agree that the Leafs and some of the other detritus in the basement of the NHL would miss the playoffs always (like they do…), we could lose two of those nasty months off the end of the season.
April 10th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
BeckEye, I like Australia because of you.
Chance, I know what you mean. In good old days there were only six teams. That’s when it was truly a passion sport.
Patrick, really? You’ve been to Nova Scotia?
Having read your post I can say that you know more about “not being Canadian” than most Canadians know about being Canadian.
Tagbagger, I’m with you. Keep it short and to the point. It seems like the playoffs are another regular season starting over again. I may have to pursue this further in a column.
April 10th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
I wonder if they mow their lawns well into January.
April 10th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
I think I may be one of the few people in New York (besides the players on the NY Rangers) who realize hockey is still going on! And I do think they could wrap it up in May.
April 11th, 2008 at 5:50 am
Dick, yes, like the teams from Florida.
Chelene, May? Please let it be so.
April 11th, 2008 at 7:14 am
I love your writing, and have had many laughs reading it… I know that something like a typo will likely bother you, that is why I am mentioning it
“NHL hockey is exciting and thrilling too, but it weara a little thin as you head into your seventh or eighth week of playoffs.”
but it wears
anyways, keep up the great work! love your typing!
When I first started reading your blog about a year ago, I thought that it would definitely be one my cousin would enjoy and I sent her the link. I am not sure if she ever did get around to reading it… but just for the hell of it, I’ll give you hers
http://t2net.com/blogtace/
Enjoy!
I know you will get a few chuckles out of her blog, shes very entertaining, and I usually read both yours and hers as frequently as possible, so I do not miss anything! 
Take care, and have a Fabulous Friday!!
April 11th, 2008 at 7:15 am
On another note, I agree 100% Hockey sucks up waaaaaaaaaaay too much time…
April 11th, 2008 at 7:23 am
Melaney, thank you. I will check out your cousin’s blog.
And thanks for correcting the typo. It’s fixed.
I guess that makes me the Gifted Typo-ist
April 11th, 2008 at 7:47 am
April 12th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Watch hockey or watch baseball — what to do, what to do!!
April 12th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Too bad Crosby only has Malkin as any real supporting cast or he could be the next Great One.
The NHL has no choice, there are too many teams that make the playoffs (just like the NBA) and if they reduced the times between the games, everybody would be too tried to play, much less hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup.
Plus, it’s the best way to win out the fickle U.S. TV audience, hoping that they are already bored the NBA playoffs and baseball.
April 13th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
FYI: I put a link to this post at http://halifax.infomonkey.net
April 14th, 2008 at 11:41 am
YAM, so what will you do? Hockey or basketball?
WP, if you are one of those fickle US TV audiences, then hockey needs more Write Procrastinators because your knowledge is impressive!
April 14th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
It’s a tough one for sure, but I’ll probably sit back with a beer, remote in hand and go back and forth between channels/commercials. Either one of them is far better than the stupid reality TV shows that are all over the networks!
April 15th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
Gifted,
Well, it seems like Calgary is going to eliminate The Sharks, so I am on the verge of becoming one of those fickle viewers. As much as I love watching Crosby, I will keep up only with the highlights, if San Jose tumbles.
April 15th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
YAM, as long as there’s beer involved, it should be OK
WP, I rest my case. You are a Canadian through and through!
April 16th, 2008 at 11:41 pm
“I dream of the day when a random person says that to me!”
I love the concept of poutine, the women are exceptional, but your country is just too (expletive) cold for my Californian blood.
April 16th, 2008 at 11:42 pm
“WP, I rest my case. You are a Canadian through and through!”
Is the quote that should’ve been up there! I was going to comment on something that Becky said on Chelene’s blog, but…
April 19th, 2008 at 10:26 am
WP, brilliant. Blog confusion. That is something I would do, fingers going faster than the brain and all.
Funny thing is that I saw that comment on Chelene’s blog.
April 20th, 2008 at 12:53 am
Yeah, Chelene said something about you don’t see the mistake until after you hit “comment.” I don’t see it with WordPress at all.
That was a cut & paste typo. I’ll clip something, not comment on it and forget it’s there, but I usually catch it.