It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

Some of you might remember a few years ago when ESPN produced commercials for college football Bowl Season, or "ESPN Capital One Bowl Week" as they call it, where the Worldwide Leader advertised its plethora of Bowl matchups to the strains of Andy Williams' "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year". These ads weren't all that annoying -- it's not a bad song -- but they were on all the time. If you so much as turned on your TV for four minutes of Sportscenter, you were bound to come across it, probably more than once.

There rub here comes in the fact that, well, Bowl Season isn't the most wonderful time on the year in the sports calendar. There are a number of sporting events that are far more exciting and intriguing, such as the NFL Playoffs, the MLB Playoffs, March Madness -- well, pretty much all of them really. Bowl season by comparison is utterly lame, and you can trace that to the fact that all but one of the 30-some games that are played are completely and utterly meaningless. And from the looks of it, that won't be changing any time soon, particularly with websites like these promoting a playoff.

No, the most wonderful time of the year on the sports calendar is actually in the spring time, and while I'm sure a number of you will tell me I'm being nepotistic or generally ridiculous, I really believe the most wonderful time of the year is the Stanley Cup Playoffs. For those of you who remember the excitement of watching the U.S. and Canada face off twice in the Winter Olympics earlier this year, that tournament was dramatic, exciting and gripping in all facets. Well, the Stanley Cup Playoffs are like that every night for two months. The change in tension and level of play from the regular season to the postseason is perhaps more dramatic than in any other North American sport with epic overtime moments dotting its historic landscape. Not to mention that the Stanley Cup Playoffs drive women crazy.

Oh yeah, and they start today.

That means a lot of you probably won't be seeing me until June -- hold back your tears -- but it's all for a worthy cause, and if the people of West Africa can find a reason to be excited about hockey, so can the rest of you.

Frankly, it shouldn't be too hard given the excitement of the season as it came down to the final day. In one of the wildest moments I've ever seen in hockey, the Rangers and Flyers played a win-and-you're-in showdown that came down to an unbelievably tense shootout. Meanwhile, Steven Stamkos, in only his second year, was locked up in a neck-and-neck race with golden boy Sidney Crosby, who had an absurd last few games, for the NHL's goal scoring title. Of course none of those goals came close to Daniel Sedin's wild between the legs tally on Miikka Kiprusoff Saturday night, which might have been the single greatest goal I've ever seen, if for no other reason than the amazing blind deflection pass made by his brother Henrik. Oh yeah, and it capped a hat trick.



That score had shades of Marek Malik, who some might recall ending the longest shootout in history with a similar between the legs shot back in 2005, and while moments on the last weekend ranged from the stunning, to the exciting, they also broached the sentimental, as Mike Modano played what is likely to be his last game, but did so in Minnesota, where his Dallas Stars used to toil as the Minnesota North Stars for the first few years of Modano's career. Not only did the Minnesota Wild fans show respect for Modano, who left the North Stars to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1991, but Modano paid it back by donning a North Stars jersey after the game when he was named first star.

Of course, there's little room for sentimentality in the playoffs. The NHL postseason is a grueling test of wills, grit and beard growing. It takes a tough team -- and maybe even some tough, and blunt fans -- to be the last one standing at the top, and as we get ready for this year's rendition to get underway, I have high hopes for my Devils and the Blackhawks as well, but, this tournament is an unpredictable one. And that's why these picks are going to be completely wrong.

East
(1) Washington over (8) Montreal in four
(2) New Jersey over (7) Philadelphia in six
(3) Buffalo over (6) Boston in five
(4) Pittsburgh over (5) Ottawa in four

West
(1) San Jose over (8) Colorado in five
(2) Chicago over (7) Nashville in six
(6) Los Angeles over (3) Vancouver in seven
(5) Detroit over (4) Phoenix in seven

I'll be the first one to admit that I'm going to be incorrect on at least one of those -- I change my thoughts on the Kings-Canucks series every few minutes -- but either way, it should be a particularly exciting playoffs, albeit more so in the West in the opening round. The top four in the East, however, all have ingredients for a deep run. Rather than make a foolish prediction for the finals that will ruin my entire credibility like some tournaments do, I'll simply say my preseason prediction of Caps-Sharks is looking fairly good and leave it at that.

Strap in. The next two months are going to be an awfully fun ride.

A Changing Of The Guard in U.S.A. Hockey

The first hockey trading card I ever owned, was a 3-D hologram of Mike Modano taking a slapshot. The year was 1995 and Modano, on his way to becoming the most prolific American-born scorer of all time, was in his sixth season in the NHL at the time with the Dallas Stars (nee Minnesota North Stars). Modano, who has topped 500 goals and 1,300 points during a Hall of Fame career, is the rare breed of star who was prolific, the No. 1 pick in the NHL Draft, a champion (Modano won the Stanley Cup with Dallas in 1999) and who spent his entire career with one franchise.

His wife isn't bad looking either.

I am not wanting for new reasons to feel old these days, but I got a new one this week when Modano and one night later Keith Tkachuk, both played their presumptive last games in front of their home crowds. Tkachuk, another one of the greatest American scorers of all time with both 500 goals and 1,000 points to his credit,wasn't fortunate enough to lift Stanley at any point in his 18 year career, but he was still one of the more dangerous and talented American players of his era.

In fact, Modano and Tkachuk were two of the pillars of the vanguard of American hockey. There was no 1980 Miracle on Ice moment for either of them, but the U.S. experienced some of its greatest success on the ice with Modano and Tkachuk in tow. Both were crucial parts of the 1996 World Cup of Hockey team which shocked Canada in the Championship round with two comeback wins in Montreal, as well as the Silver Medal squad from the 2002 Winter Olympics.

While many of the great players of those teams (Mike Richter, Jeremy Roenick, Brian Leetch) have already retired, something seems fitting about Modano, who appropriately will be playing his last game back in Minnesota where his career started, and Tkachuk taking curtain calls on back to back nights and potentially being enshrined in Toronto together. That last part may be a pipe dream -- Modano is a stronger lock to make the Hall than Tkachuk -- but for two players who were so successful over roughly the same period it only seems appropriate for them to walk out together.

Tkachuk didn't spend his entire career where it ended in St. Louis. Tkachuk actually had the remarkable status as one of the four former Winnipeg Jets remaining in the League (along with Teemu Selanne, who may also retire, Nikolai Khabibulin and Shane Doan, the only one still with the Jets/Coyotes franchise). But over nine seasons in the Gateway City, Tkachuk, or as he was affectionately known there, Walt, has become a fan favorite who stated last night that he has no intentions of moving away from his adopted home, and that he plans on still being a part of the Blues organization when it wins its first Stanley Cup.

Modano, too, became a fixture in Dallas, where he was visibly brought to tears during the closing moments of his last game in Texas and again afterwards when he was treated to yet another standing ovation from the home crowd. Of course, Modano seemed to get his emotions in check fairly quickly, and picked a hell of a way to go out to his home fans. The Anaheim Ducks quickly spoiled the party after his tribute by taking the lead, but it was none other than Modano himself who would tie the game with under two minutes left. Mo wasn't done yet, either. After nearly ending the game on a breakaway in overtime, Modano scored the shootout winner as his final act on the ice in Dallas.



Not a bad way for only the second American ever drafted No. 1 to go out, huh? Tkachuk didn't have quite the same sparkling moment, but he was a pivotal part of a 6-3 win for St. Louis, ironically, also against the Ducks. The gutsy winger assisted on two goals in the third period to cap a comeback for the Blues, another appropriate sendoff.

But as we turn the page on two of the more accomplished players in American hockey history, who gets to step into their places on the forefront of USA Hockey? I'm no expert, but put one vote here for Zach Parise and Patrick Kane, and no, not because they happen to play for my two favorite teams. Aside from already showing themselves to be among the most gifted forwards in the League today, Kane is a similarly dynamic player to Modano, while Parise has the same nose for the net that Tkachuk has had throughout his career, with arguably more scoring ability. The pair has already proven themselves more than capable in the NHL Arena, and acquitted themselves extremely well at the Vancouver Olympics.

It became clear this year when the U.S. Olympic hockey roster was announced that there was going to be a clean break from the group that made such hay in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and nearly turned the trick again at Salt Lake City in 2002. Modano, Tkachuk and other luminaries like Bill Guerin were noticeably absent from the roster in favor of younger players like Parise, Kane and gritty forwards like David Backes and Dustin Brown. Parise and Kane both played major roles in the tournament, with Parise memorably scoring with 24.4 seconds left in the gold medal game to force overtime.

If the next generation of USA Hockey is to meet or exceed the standards of what came before it, Parise and Kane's shoulders may very well be where the pressure rests. If they can come close to the legacies of Modano and Tkachuk both in the NHL and in International play, they'll have done themselves and their country proud.

It would be hard to find two better reputations to live up to.