The Best Thing in Sports
Cue the Jon Bois tweet
There are so many cool things about a wide variety of sports. I absolutely adore March Madness, the NBA Playoffs have been terrific, the Super Bowl is worthy of its spectacle, the World Cup is the largest sporting event in the world for good reason and playoff baseball seems cool but is just not for me.
But for my money, if I am choosing my absolute favorite sports thing, I am going to watch overtime in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Stanley Cup Playoffs, generally, are tremendous no matter how much attention you paid in the regular season, or whether or not you have a specific rooting interest. I don’t particularly care who wins it all this season, but I am along for the ride once again because of how frequently the games deliver.
There are some things I don’t love, specifically how much the officials swallow whistles in support of “letting them play,” but the intensity that comes through in playoff hockey is outstanding.
But every sport kicks it up a notch in the postseason, so there has to be something that makes playoff hockey different. That something is the overtimes.
Every sport has different rules for its postseason tiebreakers, some of which are fine (NBA, MLB), some of which aren’t great but it’s hard to argue against (soccer) and others are absolute shit (NFL). None of those, though, quite reach the heights of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which have a format that I’m begging is never messed with.
First goal wins
20 minute overtimes for as long as it takes
Slight break at first whistle after halfway point of OT period
It’s all so simple, and yet it all works to create the most chaotic, nerve-wracking, jaw-dropping spectacle in sports.
On Tuesday, the New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins played to a 3-3 tie through regulation. It came with some controversy, as a late Rangers goal was overturned due to a goalie interference call.
By the end of overtime, I had completely forgotten about it.
Over the next 45:58 of on-ice time, there was pandemonium. Incredible saves, tremendous defensive plays, great offensive setups, big hits, a goalie leaving in the middle of the second overtime, a backup going out there completely cold and not giving up a goal while Evgeni Malkin finished the job on a nasty tip in front of the net, Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin making 79 damn saves in a loss. I barely cared who won, and I was willing to stay up all night to keep watching.
This triple overtime banger reminded me of every reason why playoff hockey is so special. The NBA has been great so far this postseason, but basketball is set up to make the final seconds of close games drag on into eternity with timeouts and fouls. Football is similar with timeouts under two minutes. Among the fastest paced sports, hockey stands alone in giving adrenaline junkies exactly what they want at the exact time they want it most.
The NHL is also special because of how its overtime ends. One goal, whenever it happens, and it’s curtains. It often times comes when you least expect it thanks to the players and goalies showing more fatigue, and that means that you cannot look away for even a second. It’s a brilliant thing to watch.
So, in closing, if you hear that a Stanley Cup Playoffs game has gone to overtime, watch it. I don’t care how much or how little you watch hockey, it’s worth checking out.
This is where the Hoopla ends for those who don’t care about Overwatch League. But hey, here’s another chance to get into it!
Overwatch League Power Rankings
Here are my rankings heading into the season (which begins at 3 p.m. today on YouTube, by the way). This is a new game with a new feel that could make me more wrong than ever, so please don’t quote me on this:
Let’s start with the West Region:
I absolutely love this Gladiators lineup. Returning almost ever key piece from last year, while adding one of the best hitscan players (Ans) and Lucio players (FunnyAstro) in the world. This is the year of the Glads winning it all, I can feel it.
I think Dallas and Atlanta make up a semi-clear top three coming in. Both extremely well-rounded lineups without a major weakness.
Houston bias as a Houston fan, but the Outlaws have an extremely talented roster that lacks depth, but is good enough that I think top four should be the goal.
The next like six teams have razor-thin margins for me. I love what Toronto has been doing with its roster, I trust in San Francisco’s coaching and am a firm believer in Paris after last season, so they all accrued some brownie points from me.
New York is small, but also possesses some real stars (Yaki, Flora, Gangnamjin), I could see them as a major sleeper team in the right meta. Boston also has some great pieces and could be dangerous, they just fall because of how good so many other teams seem to be.
Washington has some star damage dealers (Happy, Assassin, Decay) and a great main tank (Mag), but I just don’t trust them. Last year should have been better, and I could see an underwhelming 2022 coming to fruition.
Florida is fun but I don’t think is all that good and, despite some interesting moves, I don’t see London or Vancouver getting out of the gutter.
To the East:
Shanghai reigns supreme here. The Dragons are basically running it back, and why wouldn’t they?
Again, I feel a top three over here, this time with Seoul and Philadelphia rounding it out. Adding Smurf is massive for the Dynasty, while the same could be said for getting Fury back with the Fusion.
I feel bad that I don’t have a lot left to say about the remaining four teams, but it’s a lot of wait and see from them. The Charge, Spark and Hunters have similar rosters to what we have known, but, specifically for Guangzhou and Hangzhou, those rosters are starting to feel a little stale, and a switch up might be necessary to gather momentum.
Chengdu is facing some behind-the-scenes issues that has me in constant fear that the roster might all vanish at some point. If not, the Hunters deserve to be in the top tier, but I am concerned.
Good news! The Valiant at least seem like they are trying now and may win a game here and there. That’s progress, but not enough to get out of last place.
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