Playoff hockey is stupid; but the right team won that Capitals-Maple Leafs game – Chicago Tribune

Playoff hockey is often stupid.

I write that with great affection. Playoff hockey is a rush and a thrill and a jolt of adrenaline and a three-hour sugar high. But it’s also often stupid.

The games are tight. The margins are tiny. Luck lurks everywhere. Happenstance tugs at every collar. And too often, the team that gets the better of the play still loses the game.

That’s why I kind of think writing about playoff hockey — especially on deadline, especially in overtime — often feels stupid. You’re almost forced to make grand pronouncements and reach sweeping conclusions based on who scores the final goal, which doesn’t always reflect the way the game was actually played. That was my biggest problem writing about last year’s Capitals–Penguins second-round series, where — at least twice in six games — the team that got the better of the play still lost. And you can’t really fill 35 inches with a giant shrug emoticon. At least, that’s what our page designers tell me.