As Easy as it Looks?

I was really starting to get bored with hockey.

Until tonight.

Don't get me wrong, the playoffs have been full of great hockey games, but in all honesty these Finals were nothing short of a snooze-fest for me during the first two games.

I'm sick of the Red Wings.

I know that dominance like theirs comes along rarely, but it's really getting on my nerves. They make winning look easy, and this is a double-edged sword. It's nice to hear that you make things so difficult look so effortless. However, there is the chance that your ability to do this makes things boring. That's how the Wings often look when I watch them - like a well-oiled machine that just does its job to perfection (and what's exciting about that?).

They'll probably still win this series (I think in 7 games this time), but it's nice to see them deal with adversity in doing so.

That's what makes tonight's win by the Penguins so great - it really did make this a series. It proved that Pittsburgh can hang with Detroit (at least for a little while). Mainly, though, it made the Wings look human. It reminded me that winning isn't really all that easy - no matter what the Wings usually look like. Winning is hard - and exhilarating, and suspenseful, and full of desperation, and it's nice to see that with the hardest trophy in sports to win on the line.

I, for one, can't wait until Thursday.