Why the NHL Playoffs are Better Than the NBA Playoffs
I've decided to write this up as a blog because I cannot fathom how anyone would be more interested in the NBA Playoffs than the NHL Playoffs at this time of year. It's even more puzzling now that I live in southern California where no one even seemed to notice that the Ducks went to a seventh game in the second round of the hockey playoffs, or that the first round contained a great North/South rivalry between San Jose and the Ducks. Nope, everyone is just decked out in purple and gold (two colors that should never, EVER have been put together in the first place) and cheering on one of the LEAST likeable superstars in all of sports. (Kobe "No, I didn't sexually assault anyone, I just cheated on my wife!" Bryant "And yes I have to whine about every single play during the game that doesn't go exactly as I would like it!")
Hockey is a better sport. The NHL is far more exciting than the NBA. And these are the reasons why:
Reason #1: The NHL has non-stop action.
On more than one occassion during most hockey games, the puck will drop and then there will not be a whistle, time-out, or other stoppage of play for 8-10 minutes of actual game-clock time. Can you even imagine this in the NBA? Can you imagine that there wouldn't be a single whistle, time-out, out-of-bounds play or commercial until there were 2 minutes left in the first quarter? Play is continuous in the NHL, especially now that it's a much bigger deal for a team that ices the puck. (If you don't know what icing the puck is, watch some NHL games and you'll figure it out.) Teams go end to end with big hits and near-miss scoring chances and battles along the boards for the puck, all the while subbing in new players as play continues! You can't get more exciting than that.
Reason #1A: There are fewer timeouts!
One of the reasons you get non-stop action int he NHL is that each team has ONE TIME-OUT. That's it. One. For the ENTIRE GAME. If you use it and then the game goes to OT, too bad. You used it. It's gone. And this means that the last four minutes of a hockey game are a non-stop mad scramble for the team that is behind to tie it, and it means that an NHL OT is a no-stop mad scramble to get the game-winning sudden death goal. The last two minutes of an NBA game drag on for about an hour and there is no back-and-forth, full court action that make basketball exciting at other times during the game. Heck, in the NBA with each team having three-hundred timeouts per half, you almost never even see a team bring the ball up the court from two minutes to go on. And I understand the TV people probably think this makes the NBA better, because they can ram fifteen more commercial breaks down your throat during the "dramatic conclusion". It's like watching a movie on AMC where they figure you've watched this much of the movie so you'll sit through 25 minutes of commercials in the last half-hour to see the final five minutes.
Reason #2: OT is far superior in the NHL Playoffs
This is related to the point above. I wanted to pull my hair out trying to watch the end of the Boston-Chicago games that went into OT in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. Five minutes of OT? My ass! Two "five-minute" OTs lasted longer than the first HALF of the late game that was being pre-empted to show it. Why? Because someone thinks its a good idea to give a team ten more timeouts per OT. And then of course you have the fouls. Foul after foul after foul. In hockey, that would only stop the clock if you could get possession of the puck by doing it, and then you'd be down two players. Let the teams play basketball up and down the court for five minutes the way it's meant to be played. Meanwhile, NHL OT is SUDDEN DEATH and can be over in thirty seconds or go on for two hours! Each second that passes leaves you on the edge of your seat because the next rush up ice could mean the end of the game, the end of a series, the end of a team's season! And by rule there can be no TV time-outs during OT of an NHL Playoff game. How freaking awesome is that! Oh, and speaking of fouls...
Reason #3: It's a more physical game with less whining and no "technical" fouls
Is it just me or is everything a foul in the NBA? And if it's not a foul, the look on Kobe Bryant's face says that he thinks it should have been a foul after every single play. And the whining gets so bad that they start calling technicals every time someone complains. Or celebrates. Or plays defense. Or does anything. In hockey, hitting is part of the game. The number of hits you dish out is kept as a statistic. You can get in a fight and not be kicked out of the game. You just go to the penalty box for a couple minutes and get a standing ovation. And this all goes on pretty much self-policed and rarely gets "out of control" because it's part of the culture of the game. The players are free to play with emotion and grit and passion that it seems to me the refs are trying to take out of the NBA as much as possible. Oh, and no one whines in hockey if they are bumped while driving to the net. Or decked, for that matter.
Reason #4: Scores Matter
Oh yay. Another two-point basket. One of about a hundred that will be scored over the course of the game. Yawn. In hockey, a goal triggers a celebration of epic proportions. The horn blares, the music plays and the whole arena rocks for minutes afterward. And hockey is NOT that low-scoring anymore. The Pens-Caps series saw average scores around 5-4. In football that would be a 35-28 game, to give a comparison.
Reason #5: It's More Competitive Top to Bottom
When was the last time a #8 seed beat a #1 seed in the NBA first round? It's happened in at least one conference in the NHL each of the last four years. Every series is competitive. Even when a series ends up in a sweep, it's usually the case that each individual game was competitive. (Take, for instance the Columbus Blue Jackets valiant effort in a heartbreaking 6-5 loss with seconds left in Game 4 against the Red Wings.) In the NBA, even a seven-game series can end up being boring as one team rushes out to a lead and the other team quits like the Hawks-Heat series from the first round. And in hockey, at least if there is a blowout you can have three or four good fights to watch down the stretch! In the second round of the NHL Playoffs, three series went seven games and one series went to six. Meanwhile, in the NBA, two series went to a game 7 while the other two weren't competitive at all.
Reason #6: It's More of a TEAM Game
NBA teams have 12-man rosters. At least that's what I'm told. I almost never see more than 8 people play in a game. Star players stay on the court almost the entire time. In the NHL, every single person who dresses will play significant minutes during the game. Why? Because you can't stay out on the ice for more than a minute or so without being extremely exhausted. You have to have at least three good forward lines and defense pairings to have a chance to succeed. Stars can't take over a game by themselves like they can in the NBA, which often seems to me to be a series of 5 1-on-1 games rather than a single 5-on-5 game.
Reason #7: Playoff Beards are way cooler than covering your arms in tattoos (and less permanent).
Reason #8: The Best Trophy in all of Sports
There is only one Stanley Cup. They don't make a new one each year. You don't get to keep it, even if you win it. You get to hold on to it for a very short time. You don't get to display it like you do trophies in other sports. There is one cup and if you're on the team that wins it your name goes on it forever. You get to literally drink champagne out of it to celebrate! No other sport can match that.
So, now I have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that playoff hockey is superior to playoff basketball in every way (unless you really like commercials!). So find the Vs. network on your channel list and check out a game or two (if your'e not already). You'll be hooked in no time.