The Western Conference Finals return to the City of Angels Friday night as the Los Angeles Kings look to eliminate the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks. It will be a favor returned from last season as the Hawks ended the title defense of the 2012 champs.
A double overtime thriller left everyone with their collective hearts in their collective throats before unlikely hero Michal Handzus potted the double-overtime winner just minutes into the second extra period. For those (myself included) who forgot that Handzus was not a healthy scratch, it was a reminder that attrition tends to level the playing surface in the postseason.
While we had our eyes on numbers 19, 88, 11, 81, 77, 8, 2 or any number in the 70’s (By the way can we please STOP the stupid “That 70’s Line” reference? It was stupid upon inception and is now grating the general populous), it was the 37-year old Czech center that kept the Blackhawks hopes of back-to-back titles alive for at least another day.
With the New York Rangers clinching the Eastern Conference title on Thursday night, normal marketing experts would be drooling at the possibilities that the three largest North American markets could offer the NHL with exposure. Instead the Keystone Kops that are at the stern of the NHL’s marketing dinghy will try to figure out how to incorporate Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin into the Stanley Cup coverage.
To their credit NBC has done a relatively spectacular job making the NHL the crown jewel of their NBC Sports Network. While we are smothered with back stories of players blowing sweet nothings into the ears of LeBron James ad-nauseam, the most heart-stopping NHL playoffs in recent memory have been taking place as the largest red-headed step child that ESPN could possibly ignore.
Meanwhile the Los Angeles and Chicago hockey franchises are looking to place a particularly large stamp on the league that has crowned each as champion over the last two seasons. With each roster boasting players that will be elite for the better part of the next decade we can get used to seeing each of these clubs deep into the playoffs for many years to come. While their hasn’t been any real bad blood between the two teams, yet, they will certainly get sick of seeing each other standing in the way of a championship.
The matter at hand Friday night is the opportunity to return to the Stanley Cup Final for the second time in two years or to send the series back to the Madhouse on Madison. While the Kings haven’t been shy about winning Game 7’s in enemy territory, they will certainly be all in to close things out at the Staples Center.
Facing a similar scenario to the Rangers, who avoided a third consecutive Game 7, the Kings will look to regroup after falling short in Game 5. After a brutal start, Los Angeles caught up to the Hawks, passed them, fell even to Chicago and then lost in the second overtime.
The first overtime was a breathtaking display of end-to-end brilliance that could be best characterized as organized mayhem. With both teams literally inches from ending the game, almost eight minutes passed in the first extra frame before play was stopped. The non-stop action of the first overtime all but guaranteed an abbreviated second extra period. After all, there is certainly a limit on how much awesome free hockey we should be allowed to see before our hearts explode.
Expect more of the same on Friday night, with both teams measuring each other like guarded heavyweight fighters. There is no haymaker that is capable of knocking either team down and out, but every puck will be contested, every check finished and every rebound followed. What you will see is the ultimate reality show at it’s very best, with everything at stake and the two best teams looking to write their own ending in the shadow of the legendary Hollywood sign.
However, if fast paced action, real-time drama, heart and soul effort, blood, sweat and tears aren’t your thing, ESPN will be showing a…yawn…rerun of last years NBA playoffs. Ear blowing to be determined.