Playoff Time

I was thinking about what to write, since it’s been a little while, summer (break)’s finally here, and there’s so much going on… I thought of good books I’ve been reading, the new series we’re watching, even grousing about our immigration struggles. But then I remembered what time of year it is…

Hoping to see more of this in the next few weeks

That’s right, both the Red Wings and Pistons are still going strong in their respective playoffs. First, the hockey. The Wings gutted out a brutal set against Calgary in the first round, and took a surprisingly easy series with San Jose in the second. Now, they get Anaheim, who beat someone I forget in the first round, and Vancouver in the 2nd. I think travel is a totally under-reported aspect of the struggles the Wings have had in the past few seasons in the playoffs. They’ve had to fly cross country for both series so far, and the third’ll be the same way. The last few years they’ve gotten knocked off by Calgary and Edmonton in the early rounds. Would you want to fly repeatedly from Detroit to Calgary and Edmonton and back again? Didn’t think so.

And no, the other teams in the playoffs generally don’t have to go through this. The Ducks didn’t have to leave their time zone to oust Vancouver, and the Eastern Con. teams barely have to travel beyond city limits. It’s widely acknowledged that nobody logs more miles every year than the Red Wings. The league even took Toronto, the closest team from their old Norris Division, and stuck them in the Eastern Conference. What does that tell you?

Somehow they’ve got it going this year. They’ve lost Yzerman, Shanahan, even the old standby Darren McCarty, but Lidstrom and Chelios are bucking up a decimated defensive corps. and Hasek‘s been standing on his head. Which he’ll have to continue to do if they have any chance against the Ducks. Frankly, I don’t see it happening, but then again, nobody picked them to beat the Sharks. Guess we’ll see (or we won’t, actually, because none of the games will be on regular TV as far as I can tell).

The man in the mask strikes again

Then there’s the Pistons. I’m surprised how easy they’re making it look so far. Obviously it’s not going to stay that way, but they’ve rolled through the Magic and they’re up 2-0 on the Bulls, who look totally lost. After that, they likely get a rematch with their tough out from last spring, Lebron and the Cavs. It seems as if they really conserved their energy this year and are peaking at just the right time, as opposed to last year, when they busted their ass all season then looked exhausted in the playoffs.

It’s tempting to look at what’s happening in the west — well, again, I have no choice, because I live in Texas and these are the games we get — and start to anticipate a finals matchup. Hard not to pick the Spurs. They just have that look about them this year, especially now that the Mavs have crapped out early. It’ll be interesting to see how it all unfolds.