the Fifth Line: Who Needs OT?

Remember all those tense, amazing overtime games in round one?

Yeah, me too. Whatever happened to those? Or to series that went more than four or five games? Instead, playoff teams seem rather keen to make sure that NBC Sports Network gets us to Men in Blazers (relatively) on time.

Thankfully, Calgary and Anaheim gave us only our second OT game of round two, but even that was hockey gods deciding that Calgary didn’t deserve to get jobbed on that controversial no-goal call:

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No goal!

Aside from Calgary, though, all the other series are already one win away from being over. If New York, Minnesota, and Montreal can’t course-correct quickly, the second round may be one of the briefest playoff rounds in recent history. [Read more…]

the Fifth Line: Round Two

Welcome to the second round of the NHL playoffs!

It was a brilliant first round, and I surprised myself by getting seven out of eight series correct. Naturally, the only series I whiffed on involved the Flames, because of reasons not fully understood but easily summed up with this GIF:

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Anyway, time to prognosticate round two of the playoffs: [Read more…]

the Fifth Line: Bracket Time!

Woo-hoo! The NHL playoffs have begun! Someone find my blood pressure medicine and hide my tequila!

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Scott Darling made how many saves in relief of Corey Crawford?!

I kid. My blood pressure issues are completely untreated, and even if you hid my tequila, I have plenty of whiskey. Whatever your drink of choice, you probably needed it last night if you were a fan of any of the Western teams that played.

Before we dive into the playoff brackets, though, a few words on a recently-fired tank commander. [Read more…]

NCAA Hoops: Bracket Breakdown

Literally Everyone Completes a Bracket. Photo Credit

Literally Everyone Completes a Bracket. Photo Credit

It’s here! It’s here! The selection committee unveiled the bracket on Sunday night. Play-in games began with a high-tempo thriller between BYU and Ole’ Miss on Tuesday, and in mere hours, the best weekend in sports tips off. Before sifting through the match-ups and potential outcomes, I want to thank BC, Matt, Tiffany, Andrew, -J., Bean, Travis, Meryl, Spenser, Ted, Brian for their stellar participation in our first live twitter chat. You should follow them all, and, of course, the Addison Recorder account.

[Read more…]