Stanley Cup Playoffs: The Coolest Sporting Event in the World

Ice Hockey – a sport that is unfamiliar to most Australians. The climate and the total lack of frozen lakes in this part of the world, is a clear barrier to the sport thriving. Despite this, ice hockey has been played here for over 100 years and recently has become popular enough to establish a semi Ice Hockey League (AIHL) in 2000.

For a country that embraces the physicality of three football codes Rugby Union, Rugby League and Australian Rules, ‘Hockey’ as its affectionately known is as easy to pick up as Paris Hilton. If you give it a chance, you will be suitably impressed with the talents and abilities of one of the fastest and most physical sports on the planet and is now another sport to follow in the crazy sports month of April.

Witnessing players the size of prop forwards and full-forwards rhythmically skate up and down the ice, absorb hit after hit and have the ability to stop and turn on a sixpence will make any footy tragic appreciate the sport.

If you think that a football goalkeeper’s job is hard, spare a thought for the poor goaltender in ‘Hockey.’ You could imagine with all that protective gear that it would be like trying to catch or deflect a puck with a pillow on one hand and a broom on the other and keep your balance on a slippery surface whilst looking through a cheese grater. Some players, for example, Boston Bruins defender Zdeno Chara (right) can slap shot a puck or in this case a rubber missile to the goal at just over 160 km/h. In a recent match, one of his shots actually broke a bone in New York Rangers star forward Ryan Callahan’s leg.

If you feel that traditions are the most important part of sports than this Ice Hockey is a must. Players will have numerous battles with the opposition whether it be facing off for possession, getting position on the boards and ice and if lucky enough to aggravate certain members of the opposition, then they will be challenged into a fight - probably the only team sport in which it is condoned. Even the goaltenders will go at it although they play nearly 100% of the match some 40 metres away from each other.

The games will not stop until a team is victorious. Sudden death overtime will be played to all hours until an eventual winner is determined. After a team wins the four required games in each series, and when it is all said and done, then the players will line up and shake the hands of the opposition as a sign of respect. However loyal hockey fans are some of the most respectful and passionate in the world, when one of their 'boys' scores a hat-trick, the fans will literally throw all their hats onto the ice as a mark of respect for the feat and will even stay in the arena for the trophy presentation if the away team wins the Stanley Cup in their house.

You will also notice that the highly superstitious players will grow what is called a ‘playoff beard’ until they get their name on the Stanley Cup. The Stanley Cup was donated in 1892 by the then Governor General of Canada, Lord Stanley of Preston to be given to Canada’s highest ranking amateur team. Today, it’s the holy grail of the sport and over the next month, sixteen teams will be embroiled in the quest to win 16 grueling matches for the right to hold up the Stanley Cup.

Canada’s hopes will rest on two teams: The Montreal Canadiens, the last Canadian team to hold up the Stanley Cup some 18 seasons ago when they beat beloved Canadian Wayne Gretzky’s Los Angeles Kings in the 1992/93 season and this year’s Stanley Cup favourites, the Vancouver Canucks who led the entire NHL winning 54 of a possible 82 games.

Fox Sports in Australia has exclusive coverage of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs starting this Thursday with Game 1 of the Western Conference Quarter-Finals between the Western Conference first seed, the Vancouver Canucks and last years Stanley Cup champions, the eighth placed Chicago Blackhawks who scraped in on the final day of the regular season to claim the eighth and final position in the Western Conference.