Talkin about playoffs

I love the NHL playoffs. There's really nothing that comes close in terms of intensity, excitement, and playoff beards.

But I think what really sets it apart, especially this year, is a combination of parity and storylines. Pretty much every opening round series has a chance for an upset, or at least a legitimate chance to stretch the full seven games. Can you say that about the NBA where most observers are already looking ahead to 2nd round matchups, if not the conference finals?

The storylines are really the interesting part though as there are so many of them.

Take for example the 4v5 Western Conference series starring my beloved Anaheim Ducks and the Nashville Predators. I am older than both of these teams, so it would be reasonable to think that there wouldn't be that much to talk about in this matchup. But you would be wrong.

For starters, the Ducks charged to the 4th seed after the All-Star break, an impressive feat considering they were fighting for their playoff lives as recently as last week. Not to mention they've had a revolving door at goalie ever since All-Star Jonas Hiller came down with symptoms of vertigo, which led to the incredible comeback story of Ray Emery.

It's a high powered offense led by a 50 goal scoring Hart Trophy (MVP) candidate (Corey Perry), two 30 goal scorers (Bobby Ryan, Teemu Selanne) and the league's top point-getting defenseman (Lubomir Visnovsky) facing off against the best defensive tandem in the NHL (Ryan Suter & Shea Weber) backstopped by a Vezina trophy candidate (Pekka Rinne).

Speaking of Selanne, he's a 40 year old man performing near the peak of his abilities. How else do you explain an 80 point (31 g, 49 a) season skating nearly 18 minutes a game?

To top it all off, the Predators are dealing with not just the Ducks, but their own playoff history as well. The franchise has never won a round in the playoffs. Just last year, they were primed to go up 3-2 against the Chicago Blackhawks when they were up by 1 in game 5 with a power play and less than a minute to go. A costly turnover led to a Chicago goal, OT victory, and eventual Stanley Cup winning run while the Predators got sent home early.

All this from one series which, in all honesty, probably is not featuring a Cup contender.

On the other side you have the Boston Bruins vs Montreal Canadiens. Bad blood is an understatement. This rivalry between Original Six teams goes back to the origins of the league and the current incarnations hate each other as well, in no small part due to Zdeno Chara's brutal check on Max Pacioretty which led to Pacioretty being carried off the ice on a stretcher. There will be fireworks, good old-fashioned hockey, and two top 5 goalies (Tim Thomas, Carey Price) in net which should make for an interesting series.

That's why I love these playoffs. You can't go wrong with any of these series. It doesn't matter whether it's Eastern Conference or Western, new teams or old teams, there's going to be some great hockey to be played and great narratives to be discussed, closed, and created. To quote the famous DJ Pauly D, "I love it this time of year!"

EDIT:
Forgot to add this ESPN.com article, which pretty much encapsulates what I'm talking about.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs/2011/news/story?id=6344535