NHL Playoffs are the Best!

Bobby Orr - the 2nd best hockey defenseman of all time! Just behind Faldo.

Hope you are enjoying the hockey playoffs.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are better than any other playoff.

The Stanley Cup is the hardest Team Championship and trophy to win in all of sports.

You're sitting down to watch some TV, and you see that there are two games on: an NHL playoff game and an NBA playoff game. You have no rooting interest in either game.

Which should you watch? Here's a list of reasons why the NHL game is a better entertainment bet.

1. Speed - Hockey moves much faster than basketball. This is especially true if you have HDTV; watching a hockey game in HD is a tremendous experience. The pace of the game is also faster. Hockey games can go long stretches without whistles. Basketball games take a brief pause after every basket, denying the game a constant flow. The first 46 minutes of most basketball games feel like a prelude to the last two. Hockey is a faster and more exciting game.

2. Physical play - With speed comes big collisions. Hockey has the same violent appeal that football does. Fighting, which turns a lot of people off to hockey, is almost nonexistent in the playoffs. Hockey is a very emotional game, however, and often large scrums break out after whistles. These come out of passion instead of thuggery, though, and just prove how into the game the players are. NBA games cannot match that physical intensity, simply because of the rules of the game. And when NBA players do let their emotions get the best of them, they are usually ejected and given a technical foul. Hockey offers a physical dimension that the NBA just does not match.

3.Rivalries - This is related to the difference in physical play. Both leagues have great rivalries; the NBA has Lakers-Celtics, Magic-Heat, and Lakers-Spurs, while the NHL has Bruins-Canadiens, Red Wings-Blackhawks, and Flames-Oilers. Both leagues have many other rivalries. But the NHL's rivalries are more intense than the NBA's because of the difference in physicality. You don't really learn to hate an opposing player until he slams you into the glass.

4. Overtime - This year's NHL playoffs have seen an incredible nineteen games go into overtime at the time of this writing. So far, there has been just one overtime game in this year's NBA playoffs.

5. Intensity! - The Intensity and competition in the playoffs goes up tenfold! I'm not even sure that describes it accurately enough. If you took the entire 82 game regular season and packed it into one game, you might get the intensity of the playoffs. Maybe! Players are giving 110% every second they are on the ice. There's no time to rest or take it easy for a shift, even when your team is up by 4 goals!

6. Sudden-Death Overtime! - Nothing beats sudden death overtime! There's nothing like it in any other sport! "But the NFL has sudden death overtime!" Really? It's not even close to the same thing! Drop the puck and play hockey! Shoot the puck and shoot it often because anything can happen in overtime!

7. Unsung Heroes! With teams game-planning against their opponents best players, it makes it more difficult for the star players to play a big role in a given series. This allows the somewhat unknown role players to emerge!

8. Goaltending -  This might be the biggest and most important position in deciding who wins a series and ultimately, the Stanley Cup! A goaltender can get in a zone and lead a team all the way to the Cup! We see it every year and some goalies come out of nowhere to give their teams a chance to win every night!

9. Because Faldo says so! - nuff said.