The NHL & NBA Playoffs - Worth Watching This Year
by The Stinger on May.15, 2009, under American, Basketball
The 2009 Playoff season in both the NBA and NHL have been full of exciting games and series. The last few years have been so full of one sided sweeps that someone must have a large collection of brooms somewhere. But it seems like this year is different and teams are actually fighting for their playoff lives.
Take the NHL Conference semi-finals for instance, three of the four series have gone to game 7. Even Chicago took 6 games to defeat Vancouver. The Pittsburgh - Washington series up until game 7 had been a battle of titanic proportions…and then Washington hit the iceberg the Penguins were on and sunk. The Penguins now march on to the Conference finals after a 6-2 shellacking of the hapless Capitals.
Maybe if Ovechkin spent more time getting back on defence rather than trying to cherry pick goals then they might have done better. The biggest humiliation for him was when he mucked around with the puck in his own end and then skated with it into the Penguins zone only to cough it up to Crosby who went the other way to beat Theodore to make it 6-1 while Ovy was on his knees down the other end.
It was great to see Sergei Gonchar back even though he only played the first period and a bit of the second. I might be biased but the better team won. Pittsburgh will play the winner of Boston and Carolina. The Canes have seen their commanding 3-1 series lead evaporate quicker than a puddle on a hot day.
The Bruins are essentially a better team as evidenced by their number one seeding but they started this series like a bunch of guys who had never met each other before. Now they have been reintroduced to one another and are playing like a team again. The other big series is between two groups of old war horses, Detroit and Anaheim.
Both these teams are full of cup winners and chock full of experience. Anaheim are led by Grizzly Adams look-a-like Rob Neidermayer and are not intimidated by Detroit one bit after taking care of Presidents Trophy winner San Jose in the first round. Detroit have an attitude that winning is their God given right and they go out expecting to win every series. It will be interesting to see whose will bends first.
In the NBA after the great Boston - Chicago series the Celtics are neck deep in a war with Orlando. But the Magic might be imploding from the inside with star Dwight Howard criticizing coach Stan van Gundy for his tactics during their latest loss. Cleveland is currently steam rolling their way through the playoffs but is anyone really that surprised.
Denver won their series 4-1 over Dallas but the bigger story involved the Mavericks moneybags owner Mark Cuban and his emotional remarks to Nuggets star Kenyon Martin’s mother. Depending on who you believe Cuban either told her that her son was a thug or a punk. Either way he was so far over the line, the line was a dot to him.
He might bring some passion and excitement to his home games where he likes to sit courtside instead of in a corporate box but if he is going to carry on like a pork chop then maybe the league might have to ask him to get a different seat.
The Lakers are currently leading Houston 3-2 in their series but it has not been without its share of drama. LA were criticized heavily for their loss in Game 4 but came back hard against a Rockets team now without their Great Wall of China in the middle, Yao Ming.
Hopefully the playoffs keep getting better.
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