Roy's Sports Commentary
So Late, But Better Late Than Never
2001: A Sports Odyssey
Christmas Sports
What is a Bowl?
Turkey Day
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Fall is in the Air
The Wrath of Veterans Stadium
The Fall Classic

So Late, But Better Late Than Never

Musings on the 2002 NHL Playoffs


By ROY BELLAMY

That's right, I'm back, let the party officially ... end.

It's the National Hockey League ... Generation X style, or in this case, Generation Why? Not the usual suspects in the Eastern Conference. Toronto you could have considered as a Stanley Cup favorite, but the Carolina Hurricanes? How on Gordie Howe's blue ice float did this happen? Maybe it's Chris Berman, I don't know. Before this year, the franchise hadn't
gotten past the Conference Quarterfinals. The Hartford Whalers didn't do it, but the 2002 Carolina "Whaler"canes have. Now, Carolina has a 3-1 lead in the series. I have some thoughts on that, doesn't matter if you want to hear it cause it's being typed so you can't hear it. Maybe it was Pat Quinn's illness. If you didn't know, Coach Quinn went down. Part of the
reason is him smoking 12 cigars a day. Now if I smoked 12 cigars at 12 years old, I would have choked at the first puff ... then died after the 5th puff. He's 57 years old. Once he was sent to the hospital, Toronto played the flattest hockey of the playoffs. The Hurricanes just took advantage of the situation. Most of the games were in the final of 2-1, except last night when it was a 3-0 win to Carolina. So now, Carolina's favored to win in that series.

Oh by the way, there's another series going on. Detroit vs. Colorado. I've been looking forward to this matchup because it's like ... good or something? One of the fiercest rivalries in the NHL is culminating. Culminating like a bad hair day. These two teams don't like each other, they hate each other. No one, however, is focusing on that. They're focusing on hockey. Goaltending, future hall of famers. Dominik Hasek vs. Patrick Roy. Offense, future hall of famers, Steve Yzerman, Sergei Fedorov, Joe Sakic. Defense, future hall of famers, Chris Chelios, Rob Blake, Nikolas Lidstrom. Octopus vs Bigfoot. Mountains vs. SUVs. Dogs vs. Cats. Good vs. Less than good. Hogan vs. Andre the Giant. For the love of humanity. Detroit leads the series 2-1. The series can go either way.

My predictions ... like it matters anyway cause it's seems obvious ...

Detroit vs. Carolina
Detroit wins Cup 4-2

That's how it'll be. If I'm wrong, it will not be the first time. If I'm right, I'll be out celebrating.

Would you like to write a sports commentary for Sports Chat? If so, please e-mail Jared Byrd at jbyrd002@yahoo.com.

E-mail Roy Bellamy at bellamy_11@juno.com.

This article was written on May 24, 2002.

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