With March Madness done and gone we can set our sights to the NHL Playoffs which take off tonight. I won’t do a full breakdown, you can find some good ones here and here. Rather I just want to explain why if you aren’t a hockey fan yet, watch the playoffs and you will be.

Playoff hockey has intensity that is far above any other sport. Sure the NFL has some great games, but imagine doing that in back to back nights or 3 out of 6 days. Hockey, specifically playoff hockey, requires that ALL of your players survive what is in essence, a forty mile an hour car crash, shift after shift. All while still possessing the finesse to thread passes between sticks and legs with inches to spare. Each series is played a bit closer, a bit faster and a bit harder. The sheer speed of the playoffs is enough to make the game awe inspiring but you add the physicality of it all and you have to wonder how players survive such a grueling playoff schedule.

They play for Lord Stanley’s Cup, a trophy that is so hallowed that players dare not touch it unless they have won it. It inspires so much awe that the teams who win their conference won’t even touch the conference trophies just so they won’t jinx their chance to win The Cup. A trophy so revered that it has it’s own caretaker. Mike Bolt travels with it wearing white gloves so not to smudge or harm it. This is a great video of Mike explaining a little bit about the history of the Stanley Cup.

Playoff hockey gives you everything, speed, finesse, physicalness , history, and superstition. Give it a chance, trust me, you’ll be glad you did.