Congratulations to the Toronto Maple Leafs on tonight's win over Philly. Now that the Dallas Stars are out of the picture, I can unreservedly say that I hope and cheer for a Leafs' Cup victory (whether or not that long-overdue triumph is feasible is, of course, highly debatable).

On a similar note, Andrew Coyne celebrates playoff hockey with a post full of gems:

The one thing I don't look forward to is the moronic hockey commentary. Hockey commentary is always moronic, but it reaches a special intensity of moronitude at playoff time. You know what I'm talking about: the "this game is critical" analysis, sometimes phrased as a question ("Pat, how critical is it to win this game?"). Fellas, can I let you in on a secret? In a seven-game series, every game is critical. Lose that first game, and you're down 0-1: you're behind the eight-ball right off the top. Then there's the critical second game: win it, and the series is all tied up, the momentum is all yours; lose, and you're facing a 2-0 deficit, and as we know, only 35 teams in 962 series have come back from 2-0 to win (gosh: you mean teams that lose games usually lose series?).