Sure, the Avs were pretty beat up, but Dowbiggin treats the Wings’ run like business as usual instead of the historic run it’s shaping up to be.  To wit, Johan Franzen’s torrent scoring pace, breaking long-standing records left and right, the return of Chris Osgood to post-season success (glory will have to wait another month or so), the Euro Twins’ continued dazzling play, etc.  Dowbiggin seems determined to be bored this post-season, which is not really surprising, I guess, when you consider the only thing many Canadians find exciting in the NHL playoffs is an extended run by a Canadian team.  Understandable, sure, but not exactly an objective way to look at things.

And how bout out East?  A couple of seven-game masterpiece series, with at least one upset, however minor, tons of blood and gore, or at least dirty play and trash-talk, and a Philly-Pittsburgh conference final that I think many will be surprised to see go six or seven games itself.

Add to all this the fact that scoring’s up, and I’m left thinking the only thing Dowbiggin is capable of finding exciting is a series where Jerome Iginla single-handedly out scores the Ducks, Stars, and Wings en route to a seven game Cup victory over <insert nameless American team here.> 

That, or the Leafs making the playoffs.

This article is typical of the fan malaise that is wrecking the league these days, a malaise that strikes the better part of the Canadian Press and fans in Canadian cities whose teams missed out on the post-season, or got knocked out, and fans in many American cities that are generally ignorant of the fact they even have an NHL franchise, let alone the meaning of the word, “icing.”

The first and second rounds have been great this year, IMHO, and the respective conference finals are shaping up to be great, too.  Detroit’s series will be a classic, probably, whether they play the Stars or the Sharks, and in the East, if the Battle of Pennsylvania doesn’t materialize, we’ll have to suffer through a match-up featuring at least one, and maybe two, original Six clubs.

ho-hum.

Posted by mudshark from Divetown, Colorado on 05/03/08 at 09:36 AM ET

Well said mudshark!

Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 05/03/08 at 09:38 AM ET

these playoffs have been great. the article screams of a bitter MSM whose team exited too early for his liking.

Posted by Pharazon from England on 05/03/08 at 10:42 AM ET

It’s probably just an odd statistical quirk that so many series in this round have started 3-0.  I doubt it will happen again, this playoffs or in the future.

And what is the comment that MSM writers always make about bloggers not being edited?

I’ve never seen the alternate name for the conquerer Timur spelled “Tamarlaine,” but it has always been Tamerlane in books, articles, and papers.

Instead of “hare’s breath” he might have made more sense using the phrase “hair’s breadth” to denote a narrow escape a bit more logically.

Just a couple things that an editor might have picked up, assuming he was alert. 

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 05/03/08 at 10:57 AM ET

Hey Baroque,

Take some pity on the copy editor, we don’t know how much of this typical Dowbiggin dribble he had to clean up!

Posted by Bruha on 05/03/08 at 12:09 PM ET

in the spirit of good grammar and correct spelling, that should read “torrid.”  They don’t grade you on spelling or grammar in law school, you see…

Posted by mudshark from Divetown, Colorado on 05/03/08 at 12:36 PM ET

Sorry, mudshark.  Maybe he was just overwhelmed - but they were so obvious I had to say something! 

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 05/03/08 at 12:52 PM ET

He also doesn’t get his facts straight.  The Rangers were “deflated” by the loss of Avery?  They dominated the next game without him!  I agree with Pharazon…he sounds like a fan who’s bitter that his team’s no longer playing.

Posted by K24 from NYC on 05/03/08 at 01:40 PM ET

The Detroit Red Wings…have shredded their opponents in a fashion that suggests poker star Daniel Negreanu sitting with a full boat while everyone else is nursing pocket twos.

Oh, geez, I hope RWBill doesn’t read that. He’s going to go ballistic seeing someone else mention Negreanu and hockey in the same sentence.

Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 05/03/08 at 01:42 PM ET

Dowbiggin sounds like my one-year-old nephew when he’s in a tantrum.  Granted, Dowbiggin’s vocabulary is more advanced, but the tone is hardly different from a child crying for his favorite toy.

Add to all this the fact that scoring’s up, and I’m left thinking the only thing Dowbiggin is capable of finding exciting is a series where Jerome Iginla single-handedly out scores the Ducks, Stars, and Wings en route to a seven game cup victory over <insert nameless American team here.>

The only thing he’d probably find more exciting is an all-Canadian team SCF, say Flames versus Habs.

Posted by Aphaea from Pennsylvania on 05/03/08 at 09:50 PM ET