Early OT's Spare Us Weak Content

So far we've been treated to 16 OT games in the first round of the NHL playoffs.

To my mind, hockey offers the most entertaining and thrilling 1st round of any sport.

All of the 16 games ended in the 1st over time. There have been no marathon OT's so far.

That the games ended "early" only confirms my irritation I had with some New York writer last year (or a couple of seasons ago, I forget) who offered a pathetic argument to come up with a rule to end games earlier.

It was weak content at its best.

My counter was simple, you had no large sample size to make that argument. Look at the playoffs this year.

Chirp, chirp.

****

I noticed the other night the Bell Center was half empty by the time the Ottawa Senators pulled away with a 5-1 lead. The game ended 6-1 for a second time in the series.

Montreal fans remain fickle as ever. Can't even stick to the end supporting their team. They don't tolerate mediocrity and all that crap.

Whatever.

Apparently, according to some birdbrains, the "better team lost."

I really hate when people pull that shit out. Soccer sees that a lot. I get what they mean - I've been on the losing end of a lot of games I felt we shoulda won but guess what? We didn't and so we were not better. Not according to the score it did - but it's a cheap excuse.

Especially in this series. I don't know what they saw but they're being unobjective.

What I saw was a team bitch slap the Habs pounding them into the ice needing only five games to make poutine out of them. They were bigger, stronger and harder on the puck. They may not have been as fast, but they more than made up for it in other areas including special teams.

Boo-hoo. The Habs had injuries. It's a reality for sure but look, man, Ottawa were without three of the best players in the league for most of the season in Craig Anderson, Jason Spezza and Erik Karlsson.

All teams are beat up in the playoffs.

Now everyone is talking about how the Habs have to "toughen" up and get bigger. Jesus, it's only, what, 15-17 years we're saying this? It goes back to the days when they refused to insulate Saku Koivu leaving him to fend for himself game in and game out. What did he get for his troubles? A backlash from an ungrateful bunch of retarded reporters who decided to politicize the fact he couldn't (or wouldn't) speak French.

I hope one day Koivu tells them in his perfect French to fuck off.

Anyway. Like the Flyers can't seem to find a goalie, the Habs stay stuck in neutral when it comes to size and toughness. Something the Canadiens used to have in bunches. Brendan Gallagher reminds me of Doug Risebrough. Good. Now go get some muscle.

In any event, the better team didn't lose. The better team won. Period. 1. 2. 3. Buh-bye.

I watched Ottawa play at MSG against the Rangers (won by the Sens 3-2) and I thought to myself Lord help the team that has to face them in the first round.

They don't have a defense. They have a pack of mean monsters at the back end.