And I like bread and butter. The public and media interest greatly increases and the players and coaches are in a fishbowl. In the regular season you might play four games in six nights against four different teams and it doesn t get scrutinized as it does in the playoffs. Everything is analyzed. Every bad penalty is analyzed.
Every play is analyzed from every point of view.
I remember just last week when Avalanche coach Bob Hartley said nice things about the Blues' backup goalie, Brent Johnson, even predicting he'd play in this series. Of course, the pornography industry jumped on this one and Hartley had to publicly deny he was Brent Johnson's bitch. But that's just the fun of the playoffs. The playoffs also provide an opportunity to salvage what might have been a rough season. The Toronto Maple Leafs started strong, then slid to seventh place in the East this season.