Coming to you from vacation. If you want to get my feelings on the playoffs on a nightly basis like some of you have been emailing me, follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/russostrib. If you follow me there, you would have seen my Masterton rant after Pierre-Marc Bouchard was ridiculously snubbed.
Best first-round ever? Who knows because frankly, I remember asking the same question during last year's first round, too.
I often feel the first round is the best round because the teams are so visibly jacked, the pace is so visibly higher, the hitting is so mammoth and the drama is so tremendous -- compared to the regular season. But it's hard to sustain that level for four full rounds, especially once injuries start to creep in and bodies start to hurt. So slowly the pace does slow a bit.
But this first round was pretty scintillating with the three- and four-goal comebacks and the nine straight nights of overtimes and the entire Vancouver-Chicago plot twist. The Blackhawks rally from 0-3 down, tying the game in Game 6 on a penalty shot where the backup goalie, Cory Schneider, who got the nod over the struggling No. 1, gets hurt. Then in comes that struggling No. 1, Roberto Luongo, in Chicago only to give up the overtime winner for a return date to Vancouver in Game 7? Who could have scripted that?
Then in Game 7, just like the 2010 Olympics, Luongo gets scored on late, goes to the locker room, wakes up a quiet locker room by asking, "Who's going to be the hero?" and the hero that emerges is Alex Burrows, who had as up-and-down game as you could possibly have.
My favorite series was Nashville-Anaheim. The games were fantastic, Bobby Ryan's goal was spectacular, Teemu Selanne's performance said everything you need to know about the ageless wonder and the sentimental guy in me loved seeing Nashville advance past the first round for the first time. Jordin Tootoo became one heck of a story for all the right reasons, and the conclusion was a reward for David Poile and Barry Trotz, who have been one great tagteam since the organization's inception.
Speaking of ageless wonders, Dwayne Roloson. Here's the feature I wrote on him April 1. Game 7 shutout to oust Pittsburgh at age 41? Amazing. Roloson had a couple puck-handling or goals allowed hiccups in the series, but the final product: 4-3, .949, 1.77. Pretty doggone good.
How about Wes Walz on Twitter AFTER Tampa fell down 3-1 in the series: @walz3737: "Gut feeling.....lightning in 7 games"