BY JASON CAPPELL – FAN FUEL BLOGGER
Blood, sweat, tears and glory. No I’m not talking about the latest Hollywood movie. I’m talking about the Stanley Cup playoffs. The playoffs are a long, grueling two-month road to one of the most recognizable championship trophies in all of sports. The intensity of the regular season resembles nothing even close to the playoffs.
Once the post-season begins, the pace quickens, attention to detail is greater, and the overall physicality rises. Practically every game has a game seven feel to it both in the stands and on the ice. In what other sport will you see thousands of fans pack the streets and watch their team play on a Jumbotron outside the ACC as Leaf fans do?
The NHL playoffs unite cities and hockey fans alike and even the players take notice of the games’ rabid fan base.
It seems as though almost every playoff series brings forth the birth of a new rivalry for the upcoming season. For instance, in the past Montreal and Ottawa had little playoff history, but after their series this year there’s no doubt there will be bad blood between the teams for years to come.
Letting up for even a shift can prove costly, which makes playoff hockey the greatest tournament in professional sports.
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One of the things that make the Stanley Cup playoffs so exciting is that every team stands a real chance. Seedings are nothing more than a method of determining home ice advantage. Given the parity in the NHL, especially in today’s salary cap era, any team can win any given series. In fact, a top team has fallen to an eight seed 11 times in the past 18 seasons.
Upsets are the reason why fans, coaches and players alike believe that their team can prevail, no matter the circumstances.
Last season the eighth seeded L.A. Kings went on a roll and won the Stanley Cup.
In the NBA an eighth seed has never won a championship, and since 1984 only four eighth seeded teams have ever advanced past the first round
In hockey sometimes all it takes is a hot goaltender to win the Cup, and the reigning Conn Smythe winner Jonathan Quick proved just that last year.
Hockey players are arguably the toughest athletes in all professional sports. Their toothless grins, bloodied faces, and black eyes only attest to their fearless demeanors.
In 2010, Duncan Keith took a Patrick Marleau slap shot directly in the mouth and sacrificed seven teeth for a chance at hockey’s silver grail. He courageously missed only a few shifts, only to return to the ice to help his team rally and win.
Hockey players take huge physical risks to get their name on the Stanley Cup. They know that while their pain will be temporary, the inscription of their name on the Cup lasts forever.
No matter how intensely the players hate one another, or how much bad blood is spilled, or even how bad it hurts to lose, every single playoff series ends with an act of good sportsmanship as players shake each other’s hands.
The Stanley Cup is hands down the best trophy in all of sports. When players hoist the Cup over their heads, they look like kids in a candy store; even if it is not their first championship. It’s pure euphoria as all their hard work and battered bodies paid off for the ultimate prize in professional sports.