As I watched past films of the NHL back in the 70s and 80s, the words a wise man closely tied to the NHL once told me suddenly rang in my ears.  Yes, the game as major-league sport was in its infancy, but the intensity and tenacity of these players once they hit the playoffs was incredible.

We’ve seen it this year in some of the teams, and we’ve seen it completely lacking in others.  We’ve seen it expressed in the wrong ways, which to me is probably the most disappointing.  Cheap shots to the head were almost unheard of back in the days of helmetless players.  Players had some level of respect.

But I digress.  What I really wanted to expound upon is the fact that there are teams out there that don’t know how to play in the playoffs.   Washington?  Look at the talent on that team!  They brought excitement to their fans every game this year.   We “ooohed” and “ahhhed” at Alexander Ovechkin’s exuberant tenacity, at Alexander Semin’s incredible hands and Mike Green’s brilliant slapshots.  What have they brought us in the playoffs thus far?  Nothing but frustration.

Beauty isn’t going to get you very far in the playoffs.  Neither is clean play.  And let’s face it, hooks and frustrated cross-checks aren’t going to get you anywhere but the box.  Look at teams that historically have had great success in the playoffs.  They have grit, brawn, and yes, some sneaky, chippy, and sometimes cheap play.

Ironically, it’s one of the players that is the most despised in the league that is playing an old style of nasty, grinding, playoff hockey.  Say what you will about Sean Avery, but no one can deny the impact he has had on the Capitals-Rangers series:  Getting under the skin of opponents, distracting them on the ice and giving the goalies a whack here and there to throw them off.

Washington?  Where is their Sean Avery?  Where is their forward camped out in front of Henrik Lundqvist, smacking his stick when the refs aren’t looking, giving him that extra little bump?  Give the goalie too much respect and you’re going to end up with a big goose egg in your goal column.

Don’t like the Sean Avery adulation?  How about Detroit, who has at least three — maybe even more — pests in their entourage, with Chris Draper and Tomas Holmstrom leading the pack.  Take a look at any team leading their series and you’ll find they have at least one or two guys who play that role and another one to two who will join their ranks in the playoffs.

And that, my friends, is what brings intensity and fans to playoff hockey. 

Because if you’re not cheating, you’re not trying.

Yesterday, Sean Avery scored 2 goals and received 1st star of the game.  He also had 5 hits, and a goalie interference penalty.  Clearly, the Rangers are as good for Avery as he is for them.  Has he “rehabbed?”  One can only hope not too much.  His personality is part of what makes him the player he is.  And in a sport that his struggling for US viewership, is his controversial personality really *that* bad of a thing?

But it doesn’t stop at Avery.  Last night’s Coaches Corner’s Don Cherry effused at the fact that Ovechkin has toned down his over-exuberant goal celebrations (all the while taking credit for being the one leading to it after his anti-Ovechkin-celebration Coaches Corner a couple of weeks back).   While many of us think there is an awful lot of Ovechkin Overload going on right now, to muzzle him and his celebrations is detrimental to the game.  HIs celebrations (of not just his goals, but of teammates as well) get the rest of the team excited, which in turn gets the crowd excited and creates new hockey fans that happen to see what kind of excitement hockey can bring.

Ilya Kovalchuk pointing at Sidney Crosby in the penalty box after scoring a power-play goal a couple years back was pricesless, as was Slava Kozlov chirping at Ulf Sammuelson after scoring a shootout goal against Phoenix, sending coach Wayne Gretzky into fits of rage.  Let’s face it.  American’s like drama.  We like scandal. The world would be a boring place if we just all got along and sent each other flowers after hockey games.

Now I know some hockey elitists are going to argue that such celebrations and taunting are the “gateway drug” to further misbehavior such as illegal gun-toting and off-ice violence (and yes, I have heard this argument many times) and that hockey will lose it’s appeal to the intellectuals who can look past the fighting and actually enjoy the game.  I argue that competitive sports bring out primitive instincts in people, and we really should be worrying more about ridding the game of head shots, cheap shots and abusive stick fouls rather than who said what about whose girlfriend and what the appropriate level of celebration of a goal is.

On a personal note, I played in my own high-level, intensity filled game.  A rivalry quickly developed between two former Division I NCAA players.  A bit of smack talking on the ice led to a penalty and one of my teammates scoring and immediately skating by the other teams bench, mocking them and the penalty.  The fans were soon in an uproar, and the opposing coach nearly blew a gasket.  The rest of the game was nasty, but never lost it’s intensity and we won by a single-goal margin.  Let me tell you, nothing compares to the energy that brings.  No harm, no foul.