Friday, May 23, 2008

Stanley Cup finals ... it's cool on ice

"The 2008 Stackley Cup Playoffs, a set of odd-number-of-games series that will determine the champion of the National Huckie League, are well underway, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman confirmed Monday." -- the Onion.

America may have been a bit too captivated by the three-month spectacle that is the NBA playoffs to notice that the NHL's Stanley Cup finals open play Saturday when the Detroit Red Wings host the Pittsburgh Penguins for Game 1.

This is Sidney Crosby ... hockey fans will let you know that he is good at what he does Tipoff/kickoff/first puck slap is set for 5 p.m. PT.

What follows is more for personal use (since it's so gosh darn hard to keep track of when these games will be played in the busy sports calendar), but if the loyal readers of "Greatest Pro Bowls of all time, and other stuff" find this useful, then "Greatest Pro Bowls of all time, and other stuff" will feel a minor sense of accomplishment.

Game 1: Penguins at Red Wings, Saturday, May 24, 5 p.m. PT on Versus in HD (yes, the Comcast-owned channel is, or soon will be, available in HD on cable television. So, when hockey season ends, you can get your fill of bull fighting, hunting, fishing, cycling, and people fighting in HD, on Versus. However, the NFL Network -- which features programming for a sport people actually care about -- is nowhere to be found on your TV in HD or good old fashioned regular D, but can be found on the Internet here, or here!)

A goalie fight would make these Stanley Cup finals more interesting to casual fansGame 2: Penguins at Red Wings, Monday, May 26, 5 p.m. PT on Versus in HD (in lue of the aforementioned rant, hockey in HD is pretty sweet)

Game 3: Red Wings at Penguins, Wednesday, May 28, 5 p.m. PT on NBC (yes, THAT NBC)

Game 4: Red Wings at Penguins, Saturday, May 31, 5 p.m. PT on NBC (it should also be noted that NHL Stanley Cup final games on NBC are also in HD)

Game 5: Penguins at Red Wings, Monday, June 2, 5 p.m. PT on NBC (if necessary, and let's hope that is the case!)

Game 6: Red Wings at Penguins, Wednesday, June 4, 5 p.m. PT on NBC (if necessary, and let's hope that is the case!)

Game 7: Penguins at Red Wings, Saturday, June 7, 5 p.m. PT on NBC (if necessary, and let's hope that is the case, because there's nothing better in sports than a winner-take-all, loser-goes-home-in-shame, Game 7)

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