Tank's Take April 25, 2003

Cup Crazy

For the fans of the NBA and NHL it is the best time of the year as both sports are now in the postseason with multiple playoff games every night. With more then half of the teams in each sport making the playoffs the regular season dose not taken on the urgency of the NFL's short 16-game schedule or the constant companion of daily games of Major League Baseball throughout the summer. In fact from October to April both seasons seem to drag with only a few must watch games during the season.

However, now that is the playoffs every game is a must watch, but with so many games which should we choose. The answer is simple choose the NHL. The NBA playoffs are nice but as all basketball games if a game is close n the final 5 minutes that is all you really need to watch. The NHL playoffs on the other hand can change at any point in their game, with drama that the NBA simply can not match even on its best nights.

In the NBA Playoffs the cream always rises to the top as the in team gets almost a free pass in the playoffs. In a league that revolves around superstars the star treatment in the playoffs is almost sickening. On Sportscenter a Kobe Bryant dunk can be exciting, but it would be nice if the referee would call a traveling once and a while. The only thing I would like to see in the NBA playoffs is the Lakers lose I am sick of seeing their ugly yellow jerseys I am sick of Shaq and I am sick of Kobe and crowd shots of Jack However, to beat the Lakers you have to win by 10 points or more because the refs will give them every single call again because they are the in team and the NBA wants them to win.

Such issues do not exist in the NHL where the playoffs depend on one player only and that has the goalie. The team who has the hot goalie can go far. A seventh seed who has not been in the playoffs for 4 years can beat a 2nd seed that is trying to defend their Stanley Cup Championship. The Detroit Red Wings who had finished the season in strong fashion looked to be one of the favorites to capture the Stanley Cup for the 2nd year in a row. With several future Hall of Famers the Wings clearly had more talent then the Mighty Ducks. On the ice it showed as in 4 games the Red Wings fired off 171 shots on goal. However, only 6 would get through as Ducks goalie Jean-Sebastian Giguere had one of the greatest individual performances in Stanley Cup Playoff history as the overmatched Ducks swept the Red Wings winning each game by 1 goal including a Game 1 overtime in which Giguere stopped 62 shots.

The Mighty Ducks were not the only team to pull off a surprising upset as the 3rd yea Minnesota Wild shocked the 2001 Stanley Cup Champion Colorado Avalanche in 7 games. Down 3 games to 1 the Wild looked like they were heading for a quick exit. However, a switch in goal and a few quirky bounces and all of a sudden the Wild came back showing resiliency time and again overcoming a blown 2-0 lead in Game 6 to win overtime and tow 1-goal deficits in Game 7 on the road to win overtime. Come backs like this never seem to happen in the NBA, while in the NHL it has happened twice in this years as the Vancouver Canucks also rallied for a 3-1 deficit against the St. Louis Blues.

While the NBA can have its exciting heart stopping moments like Phoenix Suns Stephon Marburry's bank shot 3-point buzzer beater stunned the top seed San Antonio Spurs in Game 1. However, when the Spurs go on to win the series in 5 or 6 games it will be just another moment not something that is timeless.

Moments like Marburry's shot happen not just once but several times during any NHL playoff overtime, as once bounce one piece of bad ice one odd deflection could be the difference between a first round exit in April or Skating with Stanley in June. A bad bounce could be the difference between being the hero or the goat as Toronto Maple Leafs Goalie Ed Belfour had an unbelievable 72-save performance in Game 4 ruined by 2 miss plays as the Leafs lost in triple overtime 3-2. Had the Leafs won they would have gone up 3 games to 1. Instead the series, which was eventually won by the Philadelphia Flyers in 7 games, was evened at 2 games apiece.

Moments like that are common in NHL playoff overtime games. In fact the NHL should consider putting advisories up for people with heart conditions to watch with caution as unbelievable saves and shots hitting the off the crossbar can cause more fright and more excitement then even the most thrilling roller coaster ride. Not even the best NBA game ever could come close to matching this.

The NBA playoffs do have their great moments but it just can't compare with the excitement of the Stanley Cup playoffs. It just a shame that the NHL does not get as much coverage as it deserves in the US at this time, because when it comes to excitement and thrills the NHL blows the NBA off the court. Oh well maybe some of you are lucky enough to have TiVo and you can watch it all, but if you need to decide one or the other go with the action on the ice you just can't lose.