My interest in the National Hockey League playoffs waned to barely a flicker over the weekend.
It could be extinguished completely by the time this hit print.
The Canadian teams in the playoffs, Calgary, Winnipeg and Toronto had me actually excited for the playoff run this year, but the results were not what any fan of the three teams would have wanted.
So it is not post-mortem time, a process which admittedly should not be done by the teams themselves until a couple of weeks have passed. There is always a prejudice of viewpoint when looking at something too soon after things went awry.
Starting with Calgary, few experts that I heard making predictions prior to the playoffs had the Flames going deep, based on the fact the team missed the playoffs a year ago, so their playoff experience was thin.
There is little doubt that as the wheels began to rattle on the Flames wagon the team didn’t respond well, which in part is an indication of lack of experience.
That said, winning game one and then dropping four straight to Colorado was a huge disappointment, the final loss 5-1 on home ice being a game where the Flames were frankly embarrassed in front of their home fans.
Still there is no real need for panic in Calgary. They have a young defence, and a solid core up front that should be made stronger by the bad experience against the Avs.
More was expected from Winnipeg after making the final four last season, and I for one was expecting better things.
But, in picking the Jets to win over St. Louis, there was a decided ‘fan-bias’ at work.
The teams tied in points, and were essentially even in goal differential and wins on the regular season, so on paper it was very much a dead heat.
In fact, the edge was likely in favour of the Blues based on play since early December. St. Louis was hot, the Jets stumbled down the stretch.
Moving forward, the question is how do you fine tune the Jets to be better? The obvious answer is to have better third periods. The team blew 11 third period leads, including twice versus the Blues, and that is momentum killing for any team.
Some are calling for Paul Maurice’s job as head coach, which may be legitimate based on the third period failings, but that is a move that needs some distance to determine. Quick choices while the wound of loss is too raw, is not the best idea.
Toronto was my only interest in the east, and winning game five to go up three-games-to-two heading home for game six gave me hope. But the pesky Bruins found a way to tie the series, leaving it a one-game affair, Tuesday after the deadline for this issue. My fingers are crossed.
Of course no series this year, or in recent years, has the label of failure written any bigger than Tampa losing four-straight to eighth seed Columbus. The Lightning were easily the best team in the league in the regular season while the Blue Jackets snuck in to the playoffs late, and had never won a playoff series in their history.
While the Lightning loss is massive, it does in-part, confirm the increasing parity which is the National Hockey League today. The difference between a first place team, and one in sixth, eight, or even 10th, or 12th, is less today than at any time in the history of the league, which ultimately is a good thing.
Dallas and Nashville battled with Dallas winning, the Carolina Hurricanes have taken the defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals to game seven (tonight). San Jose and Las Vegas went seven (again Tuesday). When series go the limit there is parity.
