Are you bored, too?

I wouldn't necessarily say that I'm bored, but from what I've been reading it would appear that the Stanley Cup playoffs have been lacking substance, for some.

I'm watching these second round series, or should I say, "Conference Semi-finals" with a keen eye because I have a few players in my 'favourites' group (not unlike Don Cherry) that I would like to see hoist the trophy.

I can understand why there are fans that are feeling a little disenfranchised with this round, and not just because there are two teams on the brink of a sweep, and one that has just suffered that fate.

One of the most popular and well-known teams, the Washington Capitals were expected to run deep into the post-season, and probably would have had two of their star players not gone AWOL for the entire second series, and most of the first one. The Capitals are stacked with talent, that's without question. The main problem is that they just aren't playoff performers. Add to that, the loss of a star defenseman for whom the Capitals traded at the trade deadline, and suddenly you're looking pretty grim. Notice I haven't even touched the goaltending issue?

Another very popular and historically dominant team is the Philadelphia Flyers. They are on the brink of an exit too, and that's not good for a team that had designs on a return to the Cup Final and bettering their runner-up position.

In the East, two of the most popular and well-known teams are out/on the verge of being out. It isn't good for the NHL and it isn't good for ratings, when most people who tune in won't care if their team is out.

However, an original six franchise in the Boston Bruins making it deep will certainly help, and the Tampa Bay Lightning have garnered some notoriety after their Cup win in 2006, so that's got at least Florida excited.

In the West, we're looking at Vancouver (who happens to have a long Stanley Cup drought going on, looking at 41 years?) and San Jose Sharks -- both probably entrants into the Conference Final. Losing Detroit and Nashville will have some people crying, (especially Red Wings fans who happen to think that their team should be in the Final, every year and winning it every other in the very least).

Regardless, the quick nature of these series is going to make most people lose interest for the near future because it's just about academic at this point. So far, only one series is poised to go to 5 games (Vancouver/Nashville) and the remaining two series are both notched at 3-0 leads for the team with home ice advantage.

I am enjoying the hockey, and I am enjoying being around for these playoffs after missing the last two. I just wish the series could all go to seven games so that the tournament would last forever and I could watch hockey up until June 30th.

As it is, the quickness of these series will have an awkward week or so break, unless one of them turns around and begins a long and rare run to a 7th game.

Let's hope it isn't for the Boston Bruins.

I'm looking at some statistics on the NHL website, and I'd like to comment on a few players.

First, Ryan Kesler. He's a great player and becoming a bonafide NHL star. His performance last season, all the way and up until the gold medal game was something to behold, and if he continues to play well the United States is going to be seriously stacked for some time to come -- something I never thought I'd admit.

He's done some terrific two-way play for the Canucks and they're going to need him to continue checking and back-checking against some of the classiest players in the league -- should they meet the San Jose Sharks, he'll have his hands full, not to mention either of the Lightning or Bruins.

Roberto Luongo has sure turned it up a notch from the all-out seizure and disappearance of the first round. He has started to see the puck very well, which means that the San Jose Sharks are going to have to be very, very good to get more than 2 per night past him.

Martin St. Louis is going to have something to talk about when these playoffs are over, regarding how many errant sticks he has taken in the craw. He's had at least two bloody mouths and lost as many as 3 teeth during the course of these playoffs, and he's only played 11 games. He continually skates back to his bench with a look of incredulity on his face. Referees just aren't seeing the calls, and if they are, they aren't even making up for them later on with a phantom call.

Dwayne Roloson. Stand up, son. This guy is amazing, and when bloggers claim to have seen "that look in his eye" they aren't joking. He looks possessed and is seeing the puck as well or better than Luongo. He doesn't flop around and he doesn't have size, he's just determined. And old. This guy has no business playing like this, and you get the feeling that even if he doesn't win the Cup this year, he may never be back. So he's playing like this is his last shot. Good for him. Lots of Canadian players on the Lightning, including a Canadian captain and I happen to favour that when the business end of the playoffs arrives.

An additional note on Roloson, I remember an interview with him when he was traded to the Edmonton Oilers in 2006. He came from Minnesota and had been fairly well-traveled up to that point. He explained to his kids that he'd been traded, and his kids were hoping that it was to the Tampa Bay Lightning. "Nope" he said, and ended up playing them in that fateful Final.

Lastly, a gripe. That call against Shea Weber in the third game in Nashville when he was adjudged to have hooked Ryan Kesler was one of the worst calls I can remember. Not as bad as missing the Calgary Flames winning the Stanley Cup with a goal that crossed the line and didn't get counted, but somewhere in that region.

That penalty was the result of some tricky play and gamesmanship by Kesler -- which he will one day have to admit -- and a wrong--place, wrong-time situation for Weber. It shouldn't have been a call, shouldn't have been a PP and Vancouver may not have won the game. For those of you who want to dispute the importance of that goal, hear this: what are the optics on that series if overtime continues and the Predators win, making the series 2-1 for them, going into game 4 at home in Smashville?

Yeah. That's what I thought, too.