2010 Playoff Nightcap: Goodnight Detroit!

Detroit: 1 - San Jose: 2 (Sharks Win Series 4-1)

Ding-dong, Detroit is done!

Red Wings fans always wonder how other NHL fans can disrespect their team without thinking twice about it.  To that I say:  Is it really that hard to figure out for you Red Wings fans?

Your team has made the playoffs every year since seemingly forever which would annoy us even if your team was the most gentlemanly team on earth and visited hospitals every single off day.  Also, despite the fact your team has been the class of the league for two decades, you Red Wing fans still ramble on about this insane conspiracy theory where your screw on your tinfoil hat tight and try to convince us and yourselves that the NHL is somehow out to get your boys and cause them to fail.  Add to that because your team wins every season, you've come to have this feeling of self-importance that you're somehow better than every other hockey fan by calling your home city "Hockeytown" when I clearly remember back in the early to mid 80's you were "Tigertown" and hockey before Steve Yzerman was of little interest to you people, not to mention I think places like Buffalo, Philly, Denver and any place in the state of Minnesota could give you a severe challenge on that title.

And in the very rare moments where we non-Wings fans might be willing to not so much support, but at the same time not be totally against a Wings win, you have someone like goalie Jimmy Howard who during a tie game and after forcing a shot wide... stopping... uhhh...  standing in net while watching Joe Pavelski inexplicably miss the net, boards and glass on a penalty shot do three fist pumps and then stare down Pavelski as if he was Pat Roy, Dom Hasek and Ken Dryden all rolled into one.

That one moment is now the NHL's equivalent of the Matt Haselbeck "We want the ball and we're gonna score" moment.  It is also now prime example number one as to why no one can really stand the Wings.  You're tied in a very tight game, you lose this one and you go home, you get lucky against the league's hottest clutch goal scorer of the moment... and you do fist pumps and stare down the guy?!

That is why we can't stand your team...  All of what I said before and THAT.

Truth be told no one - outside of their own fans - likes the Sharks either, and mere minutes after they locked up the series win people came out of the woodwork to tweet that a series between the Sharks and Chicago would end badly for San Jose, but at least their goalie has never pumped his fist after making a save on a penalty shot much less standing still and watching the puck whiz harmlessly by...

Good riddance Red Wings... And take your fist pumping, hasn't won anything of importance yet, was only in because he was a better option than Chris Osgood, probably fetches Steve Yzerman his coffee in the mornings, rookie goaltender with you!

Montreal: 1 - Pittsburgh: 2 (Penguins Lead Series 3-2)

When it comes to the Sidney Crosby / Alex Ovechkin rivalry, I will be the first to admit that I lean more towards Sid 9.5 times out of 10 and despite the fact he has gone goal-less in this series, I will maintain that's still the best player in the league and more clutch a player than Ovechkin.  I also have no problem with networks like NBC during the middle of say a Blackhawks - Red Wings game dropping Crosby's name a few times over because no matter if we want to admit it or not, the truth is NBC (and the NHL) is trying to appeal to casual sports fans and while those casual fans really don't care or have heard that much about say Dustin Byfuglien (although they should based on his awesome name alone) they do know Crosby and the more they hear about him, the more they'll stay tuned in.

So while I don't have an issue with over-Crosby-saturation, I do have my limits - as does Don Cherry as you may have seen if you were lucky enough to have the CBC broadcast.

Before the game there is CBC getting Sid's thoughts going into the game...  During an intermission CBC is there getting Sid's thoughts about the game so far... And after the game - a game that he only had one shot and only had two hits - who does CBC go to first for a Penguins point of view?  Number 87 of course.

And yet the NHL wonders why there could ever be backlash against Sid.  Gee... No idea Gary.

Sergei Gonchar had a goal and an assist, Marc Andre Fleury was less than a minute away from yet another shutout, Evgeni Malkin had a a ton of shots and was all over the place - yes english isn't the first language for any of those guys, but they do in fact speak it...  The NHL and their broadcasters would be wise to actually talk to them once in a while.