Fred Bowen's "The Score" column,
May 9, 2002, Washington Post

Playoffs: The Puck Starts Here

The battle for the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup is heating up. The first round of the NHL playoffs is over, and eight teams are still alive for hockey's biggest prize. You can watch the games on cable TV or, if you are like me, follow the games in the newspaper. .

The Stanley Cup is super cool. How cool? Let me count the ways.

Teams play a best-of-seven format in NHL playoff series. So here are seven things that are cool about the Stanley Cup.

1. Close games. Playoff hockey is always tight and tense. Games usually are decided by just a goal or two. You don't believe me? Check out this year's first round of games. More than three-quarters of the games were decided by just one or two goals. That's playoff hockey.

2. Overtime. Some playoff games are so close that they end up tied after the 60 minutes of regulation play. That means sudden-death overtime and who knows how many more minutes of edge-of-your-seat action. The first team that scores wins the game. Sometimes one 20-minute overtime period is not enough. Last Saturday, the Toronto Maple Leafs needed three overtimes (and more than 100 minutes of total play) to beat the Ottawa Senators, 3-2.

3. Upsets. With so many close and even overtime games, no team is safe. In this year's first round, the Montreal Canadiens knocked off the top-seeded Boston Bruins in a hard-fought, six-game series. Now the Detroit Red Wings might be the favorites for the Cup. Well, watch out, some team just might beat the Red Wings. Upsets are a way of life in the Stanley Cup.

4. Hot goaltenders. Sometimes a goalie who suddenly stops every shot in sight can carry a team for a series or two. Or even all the way to the Cup. This year, two little-known goalies -- Patrick Lalime of the Ottawa Senators and Brent Johnson of the St. Louis Blues -- got red-hot, and each posted a record three straight shutouts.

5. The schedule. Unlike the National Basketball Association playoffs, where teams sometimes sit around three or four days between games, the Stanley Cup playoffs games are played about every other day. That means the players are playing the games and not talking about them.

6. The traditions. Hockey is a tough game. Stanley Cup playoff hockey is even tougher. But no matter how rough a series gets (and lately they have been plenty rough), at the end of the series the players line up and shake hands. It is just a way to say no hard feelings and "good game."

7. The cup. In 1893, Lord Stanley of Preston, the English governor general of Canada, donated a gold-lined silver bowl to be given each year to the best amateur hockey team in Canada. What became known as the Stanley Cup was presented to pro teams starting in 1910, making it the oldest trophy for professional sports in North America. The Stanley Cup now is a replica of Stanley's original bowl, placed on top of a big trophy with the names of the players and coaches from the winning teams.

Pretty cool.

Fred Bowen writes KidsPost's Friday sports column and is the author of sports novels for kids. Write to him at KidsPost, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, DC 20071. Or e-mail (with "The Score" in the subject field): kidspost@washpost.com.

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