Stanley Cup Playoffs Have Begun

Its that time of year. The second season has begun for the NHL, and like every year their are surprises already. Both the #1 seeds for the East and West have lost game 1 to the #8 seeds. The Washington Capitals lost in overtime last night to the Montreal Canadiens, and the San Jose Sharks lost to Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday night. Alexander Ovechkin didn't even get a shot off in the game, but don't expect that to happen again this series, he is only the best player in the NHL. I still expect the Capitals to win the 7 game series. The Sharks tend to underachieve every time they make the playoffs when they are a good seed. Back when they were #8 and #7 seeds they use to knock off the Redwings, but its like a curse. The Sharks do have bad karma, or a sports curse of some sorts, and I have felt it. When I started liking hockey, the San Jose Sharks came into the NHL and the marketing for them was genius. Sharks gear was everywhere, so I hopped on that train. During the early years of my Hockey fascination, I would attempt to have seasons with the Sharks on my Sega Genesis or Sony PlayStation, and for whatever reason I could never finish a season because something would happen and erase it. So I guess that maybe the Sharks are just cursed in the sports world. I was very impressed with the Phoenix Coyotes in Game 1 as they beat the Redwings, scoring all 3 goals on power plays against a team that is very good on penalty killing. Anytime a team beats Detroit they are a fan of mine. Plus it was cool to see all the folks wearing white T-shirts for a whiteout, keeping the tradition going that started when the Coyotes use to be the Winnipeg Jets. Coyotes play very physical, and fly across the ice. Its a very exciting style and it has worked for them as they are #4 seed when they were not very good just a year ago. I think the team to watch starts tonight, and that is the Chicago Blackhawks. They are absolutely loaded with talent, and the only issue they have is goaltending, but they were able to lock in the #2 seed, so we will see if the goaltending can be good enough throughout the playoffs. I think the Blackhawks will skate right through the Nashville Predators onto the second round.