Achievement of Omission

You probably didn't notice that the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Washington Capitals 2-1 in game 7 of their opening round (i.e., there are rounds to go before we can even start calling them names, like quarterfinals) series. 

You didn't notice because, let's face it, who can keep track of the hundreds of hockey playoff games?

You can also be forgiven for failing to notice that the Habs were the bottom seed in the tournament and the Caps were the top seed. You'd think that would be back page news, right?

Ha! Nearly one-third of the match-ups between the best team in the conference during the regular season and some below .500 also-ran goes to the mediocrity. Eight seeds are 9 of 32 in these series over the 16 years they've existed.

Of course, this makes you wonder the point of the regular season in the NHL. Thank you Major League Baseball for your omission in that regard.

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Worst Strategy Ever

Taking a quick diversion from baseball...I just watched the Pittsburgh Penguins win game seven of the Stanley Cup finals with the worst game plan I've ever seen. Based on the one hockey game I saw this year, the coach of the Penguins, the coach of the Stanley Cup champs, ought to be fired.

The Pens battled with Detroit for a period and a half, created two critical turnovers and converted them both for a 2-0 lead. The Penguin coach then decided that his team should try to run out the clock. For the next 30 minutes of hockey, the Penguins simply played defense. Anytime they got the puck, they whacked it the other way.

In the third period, Pittsburgh went seven-and-a-half minutes before they had possession of the puck in Detroit's zone. It involved one skater and lasted four seconds. It was nine-and-a-half minutes -- half the period -- before a Pittsburgh defenseman set foot on Red Wing ice. Otherwise, the Wings deluged Marc-Andre Fleury.

The Detroit goal, which came with six minutes left, was inevitable. Did the Pittsburgh coach not understand that the best defense is running a play inside the other team's blue line? That the clock ran out on the defending champs does nothing to diminish the culpability of the Penguin coach.

We can't test this proposition, but I make it anyway: Had the game lasted another period, the Red Wings would have won by at least two goals. A team can sit on a lead just so long.

In a way, this game was a microcosm of an NHL season. The game announcers mentioned that the two teams had begun this season eight months ago. Apparently they believe that is a testament to the teams' perseverance. It is instead an indictment of a league that has ruined its sport. A meaningless regular season that filters out only the most horrible teams and utterly fails to establish any hierarchy going into the playoffs is followed by an interminable playoff season that ends a week before the summer solstice.

Ridiculous. In every way.
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