The most wonderful time of the year

Five days into the Stanley Cup playoffs and already there have been two suspensions, more fights than I can keep track of, some absolutely beautiful plays that I've been watching on a loop (yes, Pavel Datsyuk), and Gary Bettman proving once again that he is a complete bonehead (follow the link for my take on the $500 octopus-tossing fine).

It truly is the most wonderful time of the year for hockey fans - the time of the year when even the deepest teams up front will inexplicably fall to the Montreal Canadiens, and I will find myself actually look forward to a Predators game.

The playoffs are awesome because I love a good game, regardless of who's playing, and the NHL playoffs tend to be all great games (unless you're a Bruins fan). Even despite my - let's call it general loathing - of the Vancouver Canucks (you can read about that and the many outraged Vancouver commentors' reactions it elicited here), I can't deny that game three of the 'Hawks/Canucks series was a hell of a thing to watch.

But I also am acutely aware of how little investment I have in the actual games. Really, I just want to see enough of my predictions pan out so I don't look like a complete idiot.

Of course, it wasn't always this way. There was a time when NHL playoffs meant more than just good hockey; it meant a chance for the Leafs to win the Cup. Sure, I was young and maybe naive, but that's what making the playoffs means for every single team that pulls it off: they could win the Stanley Cup.

 

Those were the days...

Right now I have friends from Detroit, Chicago, Vancouver, Los Angeles, San Jose, Boston, Anaheim, and Pittsburgh, all of whom are a complete wreak every time I see them. We talk about the games - the crazy saves, the controversial hits, how exactly a professional hockey player manages to get dehydrated before the most crucial game of the season, whether or not Pavel Datsyuk is actually human or is in fact a god among men - and I enjoy those conversations immensely.

But I would give anything to be watching the games with the level of anxiety I know they've all been feeling this past week. I miss the heart-stopping shots and the mind-blowing saves. I miss the stress of a sudden death triple overtime and the incredible high when your team is the one that ends it. I miss the team showing more heart than you even knew they had when they're faced with what seems like insurmountable odds and the threat of season-ending injuries. I miss elimination. Actual elimination, not mathematical elimination. The kind that breaks your heart. The kind that takes a couple of days to get over despite repeated assertions from your mother that "come on, honey, it's just hockey."

But there is something about this year that makes it all a little easier to take - the Leafs were looking good. They ended the season strong (discounting the final three games) and made a completely improbable playoff surge after the All Star break. Hell, even mathematical elimination didn't happen until their third-last game of the season - a big step up from, you know, November.

So as I watch the playoffs this year, marveling at Pavel Datsyuk being freaking amazing and hoping that Carey Price totally shits the bed, it is with the knowledge that this will be the last time I will be able to do it while seated calmly on my couch.

Because next year there is not a chance in hell I will be able to sit down.