This is pretty weird actually

I'm sort of wondering why this hasn't come up yet; the Detroit Red Wings aren't the only team left in the playoffs that choked on a 3-0 lead to lose a playoff series.

We all know that the Red Wings laid down so that God's team could win the Cup and make history in 1942. We also know that the Islanders and the Red Sox are the only other two teams to come back from 0-3 in a playoff series. The Red Sox did it against the Yankees (Derek Jeter drinks wine coolers), but not many people know who the Islanders did it against (unless you can read in which case my first line already gave it away).

Series H                      W  L   GF   GA
 New York Islanders           4  3   21   18
 Pittsburgh Penguins          3  4   18   21
 
 Apr 13    New York Islanders   4   5  at Pittsburgh Penguins
 Apr 15    New York Islanders   1   3  at Pittsburgh Penguins
 Apr 17   Pittsburgh Penguins   6   4  at New York Islanders
 Apr 20   Pittsburgh Penguins   1   3  at New York Islanders
 Apr 22    New York Islanders   4   2  at Pittsburgh Penguins
 Apr 24   Pittsburgh Penguins   1   4  at New York Islanders
 Apr 26    New York Islanders   1   0  at Pittsburgh Penguins

 New York Islanders win series 4 games to 3

The Pittsburgh Penguins. Weird.

Oh, that's what the playoffs are like

It's been a "short" while since the Leafs were last in the playoffs, and aside from desperately praying that neither Ottawa nor Carolina would hoist the cup in recent years (Editor's note: I'm batting .500!) I haven't really had any rooting interest in the playoffs since May 4th, 2004.

The playoffs are magical. Watching Marc-Andre Fleury kick his skate out, his five hole at least four feet wide, as he slid across the net to just catch a puck with his toe last night was breath taking. I was watching at home with my two buddies who are Red Wings fans, and they both refused my attempts to get a high five after that save, spoil sports.

After the second period we drove to the bar at our local hockey rink which seems like a bad place to go to on a night when you don't have a hockey game but the bar there has a projector, cheap beer, and awesome chicken wings. Most people in the bar which is located near NYC are neither Wings or Pens fans, most of them were just rooting for more hockey - afraid of the four months of boredom that occurs between the Cup finals and next season (Leafs in 08 09 baby!).

The atmosphere was great. Thirty or forty guys all crowded together at one end of the bar, not talking, just watching hockey and drinking, and collectively ooh-ing and aah-ing big plays. We were watching the final few minutes tick down as NBC cut to footage of the handlers polishing the cup for its eventual presentation to Detroit last night when the Darcy Tucker Moment happened again.

The what now? The Darcy Tucker Moment. It's what makes the playoffs great. You see, the Darcy Tucker Moment is when everything feels safe and secure for your team and then it all goes to shit. You know you shouldn't feel safe, you know you shouldn't think the game is won already but something happens and you just do. For all eight people who read this blog, you remember that Sami Kapanen being unable to find the bench was the turning point. Toronto was going to build on that momentum and win game six, and beat Philly in game seven and then the parade would go down Yonge and across Front and maybe down Bay bef- oh fuck Jeremy fucking Roenick.

Max Talbot did that last night. Detroit was playing good positional defense (hat tip to Puck Daddy) and Pittsburgh couldn't even gain the zone. The Cup was on its little Cupmobile ready to be wheeled out when Malkin and Talbot derailed the post game plans of the entire state of Michigan.

That's why I love the playoffs. That's why I love hockey. Here's hoping this goes to seven games, just so that we can all have a chance for more of last night's three OTs of anxious nail biting.