philou21 wrote:What an intense OT played by Montreal! They were all over the place the first 10-12 minutes. Lundqvist was amazing too on a couple of those shots.
Radulov with the winner! His celebration was "interesting" HaHa I think I'd call it "the Yakupov" (when a skater skates randomly, cutting in multiple directions for no effective reason, as if they're being chased by bees! HaHa).....I'm just trying to be funny; kudos to Radulov, OT goals "matter"
Yakupov's in the playoffs as he's on St. Louis, but AFAIK he hasn't played yet (he had 3 goals and 6 assists in 40 games this year for the Blues)
CBC (the taxpayer funded "national broadcaster") is showing free online Hockey Night in Canada games; I think that's cool, that I at least have the option (and don't have to pay anything for my "TV" - I don't watch much, and what I do is now mostly on "free CBC" online - hockey, Murdoch Mysteries, the new Anne of Green Gables, the occasional bit of news updates and news panels/discussions)
Back to the hockey!
I've watched, so far after three nights and 5 possible games...I've watched 10-15 minutes; and that's total!
- couple/ minutes of the Habs/Rangers on game 1, a minute of game 2 between Montreal and New York (and I made the effort to find the highlight/gif of the OT winner [good video/gifs of the winner, about an hour ago from current time in this twitter feed https://twitter.com/MarcPDumont
- a minute, maybe two of Toronto/Washington in game 1
- less than a minute of Calgary/Anaheim
- for Edmonton (where I live) I watched goals/highlights after the first game, but my only free access to live Oilers action is via radio...about a period and a half of game 1 was in the background, tonight I've had it on from the start so far (currently they're at the end of the 2nd, and the Oilers lead 1-0)
It's kinda cool to see all the Oilers flags (especially on vehicles...but businesses too, and billboards) - it's been 11 years since the Oilers were in the playoffs, and that time it was "special" in the city (a palpable positive excitement), and my daughters were 18 and 16 and living at home then...now they're 29/27 and it's their first opportunity to again experience something like what was "special" back in 2006; I remember the feeling/sense of importance of the multiple Cup wins in the 80s.....and the playoff upsets in the later 90s
IT'S ONLY THE FIRST ROUND! HaHa So clearly it's nowhere near what it was in 2006 (or what it was in the 80s when the Oilers won Cup after Cup), but
it's now the best part of hockey for me...the way it makes the city feel; the vibe, the good feelings
I feel a bit lucky to have lived in an actual NHL city where multiple Cups were won (long time ago though it was), and some playoff success/excitement too (I recall beating a strong Dallas team in the 1st Round in 1997, and very powerful Colorado team in the 1st round in 1998...and then the run to game 7 of the Final in 2006). I HATED the Oilers in the 80s, but by the 90s it was more "indifferent to" - but 2006 was special thing, and I felt lucky/appreciate to have experienced it
My son-in-law is from Ontario and is a Leafs fan, and as my daughters and their partners will be visiting tomorrow night, I suspect the Leafs will be part of the evening in some way
Columbus is already down two to Pittsburgh, Blues are up 2-0 on the Wild...Boston and Nashville have one a game
I do hope the Oilers win as much as they can, just for the "feeling in the city"
