It didn't take long for us to get knee deep in the second round. I'm definitely starting to expect the unexpected in this wild post-season. Here are 10 things that I noticed watching the early second-round games over the weekend.
1. Changed Sharks team: The San Jose Sharks are starting to look a lot different this spring. In their first two games against the Detroit Red Wings, I see a team that's battling harder and less easily discouraged. I'll be curious to see how they look in Detroit on Tuesday night. And I also wonder just how long Joe Pavelski can keep scoring monster goals. "The Big Pavelski" leads all playoff snipers with nine goals in eight games. What a great nickname! The former Wisconsin star fired off a game-high 11 shots in the Game 2 win. Keep shooting, kid.
The Sharks element was free. For nine more observations -- including commercial ideas, the glory of the Bell Centre and the Blackhawks between the pipes -- ya gotta be an Insider.
E.J. Hradek
Senior Writer, ESPN The MagazineABOUT THIS BLOG
E.J. Hradek
E.J. Hradek is a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine, joining the staff prior to its launch in 1998. He began covering hockey as a writer/editor for Hockey Illustrated in 1989. The following year, he beat the Stars to Dallas (by three years), taking over as the editor of Beckett Hockey Monthly. When the Stars finally did arrive in Big D, he hosted a weekly hockey radio show and tried (unsuccessfully) to convert ESPN's Skip Bayless to the greatest game on ice.
In 1996, Hradek left Dallas, but not the Stars. Relocating back to the New York area, he became a part-time pro scout for the club, seeing more than 100 NHL/AHL games for each of the next two seasons. The scouting gig was a great learning experience, offering a different view of the game.
Hradek grew up in Tuckahoe, N.Y., about a 40-minute train ride from New York City. Despite the proximity to the Rangers, Hradek embraced the Islanders when the expansion franchise debuted in 1972. Eight years later, he was part of the sellout crowd at the Nassau Coliseum that witnessed the Islanders' first Stanley Cup championship.
