A Look Back at This Years Playoffs

Yes, I watched the Stanley Cup Finals. In fact, I watched just about every Stanley Cup playoff game in 2009. Although this is true, today is really the first day I got a chance to sit down and think back to all the good and bad this year's playoffs brought, including my second favorite team hoisting the Cup.

First Round: My personal favorite moment was the sweeping of the rivaled Montreal Canadiens by the team I call my own, Boston Bruins. It's been a long time coming for something as bittersweet as this to happen, and after the Bruins almost pulled an upset in last year's playoffs, this was just about the best thing that could have happened. Also grabbing some headlines was the brilliant work of a hot-tempered coach. During game five versus the Washington Capitals, New York Rangers head coach John Tortorella acted as a hypocrite for his actions just after benching Sean Avery for the same reason. Washington fans sitting behind the bench insulted him and his team also pouring a beer on him, which caused him to snap. Tortorella, being an NHL coach and all, should definitely know better to keep his composure, but hey, it made for great TV. He then turned around to spray the fans with bottles of water, and throwing it into the crowd hitting a woman. Professional, right?

One last thing to remember of round one, is the Carolina Hurricanes versus the New Jersey Devils. Just this season goaltender Marty Brodeur broke the all-time record of wins and is known to be one of the best goalies ever. Well in a hard fought seven game series, he was outplayed by Carolina's net minder, Cam Ward. Twice Brodeur let up last second goals that decided the game, one being in a series deciding game seven. Carolina scored two goals in the remaining 1:20 of the game, to move onto round three. First goal came from Jussi Jokinen to tie it, and then with 31.7 seconds to go, Eric Staal put the game away.

Second Round: NHL fans know that when Sidney Crosby is in the picture, all media attention goes straight to him and his Penguins. Now add super star Alex Ovechkin to all that. It's a battle of the best. This second round series consisted of the league's top talent when the Caps faced off against the Pens. They sure didn't disappoint. In game two of the series, both Crosby and Ovechkin scored hat tricks, with Ovechkin's team winning that game. Other notables would be the Scott Walker-Aaron Ward situation. In game five, the Bruins had a 4-0 lead with only minutes remaining. Walker sucker punched Ward and he received a match penalty which means an automatic suspension. The suspension was waved off and this irked Bruins fans. Let's just say that if Walker got his two game suspension as he deserved, the Bruins probably would have made the third round...just saying.

Third Round: The Carolina-Pittsburgh series was fun to watch for me, being the Bruins and Penguins fan that I am. It was fun as a Bruins fan to simply see the Hurricanes get swept, and to see Gonchar lay out bad-guy Scott Walker. Even better than this though, was the back-handed goal scored by Evgeni Malkin. He was a one man team in this play. After the puck was dropped, Malkin got the puck through the legs of an opponent and to the corner where he was the first player to reach it. From there he skated around the net, and flipped the puck passed Cam Ward. (see goal here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLLHFRoVoKo) Malkin got a hat trick this game.

Finally, onto the Stanley Cup Finals. What a great series it was. Detroit fans must have thought it was all over once their team went up two games to none. That wasn't the case however, because on home ice, the Pens tied the series and secured themselves a game five and six. Pittsburgh was blown out in game five, losing 5-0 but went on to win 2-1 at home in game six. At this point in the series, the team at home hadn't lost in their building. This all changed in a thrilling game seven, where the Pittsburgh Penguins earned themselves their third Stanley Cup in their franchise. My favorite moment personally, was seeing Malkin win the Conn Smythe trophy, because it was well deserved. I also enjoyed seeing the youngest captain in history raise the cup. I am sad that the season is over, but it's one I will always remember.