The NHL Offers the Best Playoffs; Period

If you don't like the Stanley Cup playoffs, you're not really a sports fan.



There. I said it.





Seriously. I can't understand how anybody can go on about how much he loves sports but then have the nerve to tell me how boring and dull the NHL is. I suppose it doesn't help that you have to wait roughly 20 minutes to find out who won last night's playoff games during Sportscenter yet the show has no problem telling us about a meaningless baseball game in April during the first five minutes of the broadcast.



Quick aside. Sportscenter is terrible and there's a reason fewer of us are watching it these days.



Back to my original point. The Stanley Cup playoffs aren't just awesome. The tournament to determine which team gets to hoist La Coupe Stanley is without question the most exciting in all of professional sports. There really is no comparison. Don't believe me? Here are the reasons why I am right and you are probably a snobbish American sports fan that prefers to watch the NBA and all its lameness.



First reason why the Stanley Cup playoffs are the best in pro sports: Tradition



Thanks to that wonderful source of information, Wikipedia, I learned that the Stanley Cup was first donated in 1892. The NHL unofficially took possession of the cup in 1926 and did so officially in 1947. For those of you curious, the first ever World Series was 1903. Simply put, there is no trophy in North America with a lineage like that of Lord Stanley's cup.



Second reason why the Stanley Cup playoffs are the best in pro sports: Fans



NHL fans are the best sports fans found in the United States. I say this because you have to be a die-hard fan in order to watch hockey in the US. Thanks to God-awful live coverage as well as highlights of maybe three games if Sportscenter gets around to doing so, the common sports fan probably knows little about the NHL other than the fact that this young guy named Sidney plays in Pittsburgh.

 

The fans at an arena during a Stanley Cup playoff game are the most incredible that I have ever seen. The atmosphere is electric during every second of a 60 minute contest. Go to a playoff game and tell me I'm wrong.



 

 Meanwhile, half of the stadium is still out using the can or getting a beer during the second half kickoff of an NFL playoff game.



Third reason why the Stanley Cup playoffs are the best in pro sports: Play



The thing I don't get the most about those that don't like the Stanley Cup playoffs are the people telling me how boring hockey is. Let me see if I understand this: You're telling me that an NBA team taking 20 seconds to take a single shot or a pitcher throwing to first in order to stall so that a middle reliever can properly warm up is more exciting than hockey? Don't get me wrong. I love basketball and baseball but let's be serious, people.



The NHL is full of high-energy play and the action is amped up during the playoffs. Practically every games has a game seven atmosphere both on the ice and in the stands. This leads me to my next point.



Fourth reason why the Stanley Cup playoffs are the best in pro sports: Emotion



In the Stanley Cup playoffs, everything matters. Each player knows that one little mistake could lead to one goal which could equal one loss for his team which could mean a lost chance to hoist the Stanley Cup. The fans know it, too. Every person in the arena during a playoff game is on edge during every second of the game.



Just watch the players during a playoff game. Check out the looks on their faces. The intensity is immeasurable. Hockey players, arguably the toughest in all of sports, have broken down after being eliminated in the first round. It's because they know just how much of an honor it is to skate around for 30 seconds holding the most precious trophy in modern sports.



Fifth reason why the Stanley Cup playoffs are the best in pro sports: The Handshake



Yeah, so I'm ending it with a cliché. Still, you can't convince me that the handshake at center ice when a series concludes isn't just...I don't know. Cool. The

The time has come, dear readers, to realize just what it is you've been missing this whole time. Stop watching mediocrity and turn on the Stanley Cup playoffs. You'll thank me once you come down from the adrenaline rush.