Sports > April 17, 2008

By Matt Six | Staff writer

Sports fans across the country often dread these days. It is hard to top the excitement of watching NCAA Basketball Tournament games. The excitement comes from watching underdogs like Davidson and Stephen Curry rise from out of nowhere to national stardom.

The intriguing match-ups are unpredictable and keep us coming back to watch more.

This year’s intriguing match-ups came in the Final Four, as this was the first year four one-seeds advanced.

We as sports fans get wrapped up in March Madness, yet once it is over, our attention goes away from sports and onto other activities.

Sure, there’s baseball to watch, but we’re far from the October excitement provided by the playoffs. Excitement only comes from fans of the Orioles and Marlins, savoring the short-lived taste of division superiority in the spring.

Looking to fill the sports void left by March Madness?

Turn on the Versus Network (Channel 56 on campus) and check out the NHL hockey playoffs.

The hockey regular season is long and semi-interesting, but the playoffs are a whole new animal. In the playoffs, the intensity is turned up and the game is played a lot sharper on both ends of the ice.

Players deliver more hits and get into more scraps and fights in the playoffs. Hockey players are known for getting into fights (think Happy Gilmore), and this display of high intensity adds a new level of interest for fans. Hopefully fans will have the opportunity to witness an epic goalie fight this postseason.

In many sports, players must hold back their levels of intensity at the risk of receiving a technical foul or ejection. This is not the case in hockey. Of course, there are limitations, but you can get away with a lot more in hockey compared to most other sports.

Aside from the intensity, the NHL playoffs offers top-level hockey and top-level performers. This year’s playoffs feature stars like Alexander Ovechkin of the Capitals and Sidney Crosby of the Penguins.

Ovechkin had 65 goals in the regular season and he scored the game-winner in his playoff debut with an exciting three-goal comeback against the Flyers, 5-4.

Stars like Ovechkin and Crosby deservedly earn credit from the media, but goalies hold a large amount of team responsibility. A team must rely on solid goaltending in order to advance in the playoffs.

The play of San Jose Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov has been exceptional all season and some of his playoff saves have been worthy of making Sportscenter’s top 10 Plays.

The playoffs feature some of the top goalies in the world, including Brodeur (Devils), Hasek (Red Wings) and Lundqvist (Rangers), among others.

Great individual play from stars and goaltenders can only go so far without teamwork. In hockey there is more of an emphasis on team rather than individual. Players rotate in and out of shifts roughly every minute, so a star (other than a goalie) cannot remain on the ice the entire game. Thus other players on the second and third lines must step up and contribute in order to advance in the playoffs.

The set-up of the NHL Playoffs is unique yet extremely effective.

Often poorly designed playoff systems tarnish entertaining regular seasons; such is the case with NCAA Football. In the NHL, games ending regulation in a tie are determined in multiple overtime determined in multiple overtime periods until a winner is crowned. Shootouts exist in the regular season but not in the playoffs.

This differs from soccer where shootouts (penalty kicks) exist in the regular season and playoffs.

I feel hockey made the better decision because while shootouts and penalty kicks provide excitement, continuous overtimes provide the true winner.

I still feel bitter when I think about the Wake Forest soccer team losing to UC Santa Barbara on penalty kicks two years ago in the College Cup.

It did not feel like the better team won, and it did not feel like UCSB deserved to win. The method of continuous overtimes is more effective in determining a better team and a more deserving victor.

Also unique to the NHL playoff system is the seeding method. The seeding system is not rigid; rather, it fluctuates each round to match the lowest seed with the highest one.

For instance, assume there are no first-round upsets in a conference other than an eight seed upsetting a one seed.

In this scenario, the eight seed would play the two seed (rather than the four seed) because of the system of continuously pairing the lowest seed with the highest.

This system rewards teams who excelled in the regular season and hurts teams who squeaked into the playoffs.

The NHL feels that after an eight seed defeats a one seed, it should not be rewarded with playing a four seed but rather punished with playing a two seed. This punishment is fair, as it results from their substandard regular season play in comparison to other playoff teams.

By implementing unique continuous overtimes and seeding methods, it is clear the NHL wants to determine the most deserving winner. Sports fans should commend the NHL for adhering to this philosophy.

In short, tune into the NHL playoffs because of the intensity, the crisp play and because the effective playoff system crowns a deserving winner.

And keep your fingers crossed for a goalie fight.