1. The stars come out. NBA playoff games are either won or lost by the best players on the team. Players that you know who, when the win is on the line, they are the go-to guys or goats. In the NHL the hero of the game is rarely the face of the team. Usually it’s just some guy who that night happened to score the big goal.

2. Games are over fast and if there is overtime, it’s short and sweet - and if it ends in a tie, there is just another short sweet overtime.

3. Playoff officiating allows the games to take on a new dimension of toughness. Seeing the chosen one, Lebron James, in full whine mode and completely taken out of his game after facing actual post-season body contact for the first time gives the second season of hoops a great added dimension.

4. Hubie Brown.

5. Back when the NHL had Gretzky, every playoff game with him was required viewing due to his mind-numbing creativity. He’s gone but the NBA’s got that now with another Canadian, the MVP Steve Nash.

6. The schedule is genius. The start times are staggered allowing you to see the starts and finishes of up to three games a night and four on the weekend.

7. With the games on so many networks, you only have to hear Bill Walton occasionally now.

8. Dance packs.

9. Star vs. Star. Each series has a built in head-to-head matchup between the best players. Forget the teams, in the first round we’re all watching Kobe vs. Nash and Arenas vs. James.

10. Charles Barkley.

1. Upsets. With parity, there are no “sure thing” series in hockey. Each one is up for grabs the second the puck drops. Detroit had the best record in the NHL, yet they are facing elimination in the first round against the Oilers who made it to the playoffs on the last regular season weekend.

2. In my humble opinion, there is only one play more exiting in all of sports than a NHL playoff series-winning goal in overtime. (I’ll let you know what tops the list the next time it happens.)

3. Hitting. The refs are letting the boys go, and unlike in the regular season, when guys get hit, they get up (if they can) and just keep on playing.

4. Fox isn’t covering it.

5. For the first time, the games are being broadcast in Hi Definition and for the first time watching hockey on the tube is almost as good as seeing it live. Almost.

6. Pierre McGwire. If you haven’t heard him explain hockey yet, tune in an NBC broadcast, because it’ll be worth it. He’s the voice of hockey for TSN in Canada and is now working the post-season for the American national audience.

7. NHL players are nice.

8. Fighting. Once upon a time, the NHL was plagued by this sideshow. However with the rule changes, the goons are gone and in the post-season, due to the penalties counting for so much more, fighting is very, very rare. So when one does break out, you know its for a good reason, and since it is so rare, it shouldn’t be missed.

9. The toughest championship grind in sports is the Stanley Cup playoffs. For a team to win, first they have to survive.

10. Don Cherry.

The 'green' has landed Williams in trouble again!

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