Commenter Rocket writes about hockey every week. Usually, we even post it in a timely manner! Rocket? ----------

They say that brevity is the soul of wit. If that is actually true then I am probably the dimmest guest poster on RandBall. In an effort to combat my natural tendency toward windbaggery, I am going to preview the playoffs in the spare, haunting form of haiku.

Eastern Conference (1) NY Rangers v. (8) Ottawa Erik Karlsson Had a magical season That ends in five games (2) Boston v. (7) Washington Despite Tim's protest Politics as usual D.C. wins in six (3) Florida v. (6) New Jersey The Panthers are back! It's been a long playoff drought And a short future (4) Pittsburgh v. (5) Philadelphia I don't know who'll win But there's one thing that's for sure Someone will get punched Western Conference (1) Vancouver v. (8) Los Angeles Luongo and Quick Keep scores low; Canucks win with Six goals in five games (2) St. Louis v. (7) San Jose Ugly uniforms Are not lacking in this one The Arch bites the Sharks (3) Phoenix v. (6) Chicago Like the Coyotes Stu should have been gone years ago Both survive this round (4) Nashville v. (5) Detroit Red Wings fans will cry Like RandBall when he thinks of Ricky Rubio