A Day in the Life of Buttercupbunny...in the Playoffs (ooooooooh)

Playoffs roll around, and it's time for team rivalries. Come on everyone, collective YAY! Because it is fun to see two teams who were ambivalent to each other grow to hate each other in a short 2 week span. While the [mainstream] media (um...im gonna boost my ego and pretend like people actually read this so...im considering us "media") concentrates on how teams feel about each other or individual players ie Colorado v. Detroit, or Grant Marshall v. Bryan Marchment (bitchslap...bitchslap...bitchslap...sorry, i get carried away), no one pays enough attention to the fans during the playoffs beyond the occasional cute sign flashed before a commercial break. It's tough to be a fan of the NHL during the playoffs--I said the NHL, not of one team. There are matchups that force you to make unfair choices between teams or players, meeting teams you hate with players you love, and even just rediscovering how much you despise a team. In an attempt to show other fans out there (again, i assume people actually read this...) that theyre not alone in making tough, heart-tearing decisions, here are problems I have faced so far this playoff season.

Round 1

I actually could deal with all of the seires in this round. I hate Edmonton...especially Todd Marchant and Tommy Salo, so I didn't mind kicking their ass--ooh, did I just say that out loud? Sorry. I was worried about the Dougie Weight factor, but for some reason, he was not a nice Doug Weight in this series. I dont know, maybe he was sick of his season being ended by us--again. Hehehehe... St. Louis v. San Jose was a hard series, simply because I abhor both teams. But I chose the team I felt was the lesser of two evils--San Jose--based on the fact that St. Louis had unnecessary success in the regular season and I hate Jamal Mayers and Chris Pronger. But even with St. Louis (which you guys should know my distaste for...), I can't claim to hate all of the team. Marty Reasoner is precious...and though I don't like saying it, I kinda sorta like Hecht. Anyway, I grudgingly rooted for San Jose, and prayed that the series would go seven and someone would take out either Nolan or Marchment.

Round 2

First, we'll talk about the Dallas-San Jose series since this is a Stars site. My bias is justified. Obviously, I hate San Jose. I would think that much would go unsaid. And if you don't know how much I hate Owen Nolan, well, know this now. I HATE OWEN NOLAN WITH A FIERY, UNSOOTHABLE PASSION THAT WILL NEVER EVER FADE. Okay. So you'd think that watching the Stars beat the Sharks would be easy for me. Well, it would've been. But then, Steve Shields, Brad Stuart, and *sniff* Toddles (Todd Harvey) play for the Sharks. Stevie Shields is adorable, but I could deal with facing him. Brad Stuart is a young, rookie defensemen who's awesome both offensively and defensively...and you know how I go for those dependable defensemen...well, I do. As evidence will show shortly enough. I could've gotten over the Stuart factor, but then you get to Todd Harvey, and as any devoted Stars fan of the last 4-5 years, I was in love with Todd Harvey when he was here and heartbroken when he left. It has never been more difficult to watch an ex-Star play against us than watching Todd go after Darryl Sydor or Brenden Morrow (and Morrow having the, "um, hi...i didnt play with you" look on his face as he slammed him right back), and when he scored his first ever playoff goal against us, I was thisclose to crying. And even with my ecstacy at seeing the great hockey tradition of the handshake (and watching ferret-boy...ricci...on the losing end), when Todd was hugging Hatcher for an extra-long time and they were talking and smiling...*sniff*

In the other Western Conference series, I hated both goaltenders, I hated both coaches, I hated both teams. Essentially, I wouldn't have minded if either arena blew up with both teams in it.

In the East, we had Pittsburgh v. Philly, and NJ v. Toronto. Since I hate the Penguins and almost everything about them, I was pulling for Philly. But it was terrible to watch Ron Tugnutt interviews after the Pens lost. More on losing goaltenders later.

Jersey v. Toronto was a little tougher, but definitely moreso for other bunnies than for me, since they're the bigger Cujo fans. Part of me wanted the Leafs to win for Bryan Berard and for Canadian hockey, but then I saw Brian Rafalski, Scott Niedemayer, John Madden, the Sykora line, Scottie Gomez...and I realized how much I love the Devils.

Round 3

Let's get this straight. I HAVE NEVER HATED COLORADO MORE THAN I HATE THEM NOW. And I'm hard-pressed to find a time where I've hated any team as much as I hate Colorado right now, but then I remember how over-emotional I get with these things, and...yeah...I've hated a lot of teams this much. I can't stand Patrick Roy. No goaltender, even Chris Osgood, annoys me as much as Mr. I-Can-Make-A-Save-and-Statue-of-Liberty. And it's kinda sad that Patick's "patented" "sorry, i can't hear you i've got 3 stanley cup rings in my ears" statement wasn't even original; Mike Keane came up with it. Which only adds to Keaner's coolness. And Roy's patheticness. And I had forgotten just how dirty Colorado is. It's great that they complain about us, when they're arguably the dirtiest team that gets away with it in the league. Eric Messier sucks ass...he's oogy and he can't play. Milan Hejduk should die...I could go on, but despite everything I can't stand about that team, they do have Dave Reid, Alex Tanguay, Martin Skoula, Adam Deadmarsh, Chris Drury, and Marc Denis. That seems like an obscene amount of people for me to like on a team that I hate. But I deal with it this way: Marc Denis is a backup, he's not gonna play so I can still theoretically like him. Chris Drury is a bitch when he plays, no matter what team he plays against, so I don't ever like him when he's actually playing. Adam Deadmarsh is very hateable when he plays against you...despite the fact he's named Adam. (sorry, personal thing there). I don't like Alex Tanguay enough yet for it to matter, and I'm trying not to watch him so that it stays that way. And the same goes with Skoula...the more I see him the more I'm like...awwwww, defenseman! But I try really really hard to not like him. And as for Reider, I just pretend he doesn't play for the Avs. It's not Reid out there against us.

The Eastern Conference Finals is exactly the way I wanted it to be: Jersey v. Philly. And as I have stated, I'm all about the Devils. But it's very difficult for me to be all "Go Jersey!" because the Flyers have Brian Boucher in net, and I am literally in love with him. If he wasn't a goalie, it wouldnt' be so hard, but since he is and I don't want him to lose or be scored on...it's quite tough. This really does cause me crazy amounts of turmoil during games. This is what goes on in my head (i'm for real): Ooooh...Brian Rafalski...yay! Score, score, score...puck in net...yeah...no...wait...ahh! Don't score! No! Bad! It's Boucher...no! And so on, over and over and over inside my head. Yes, it is scary in there. So those are some of the inner battles that I had or have to deal with. It's tough. Don't belittle it. I have to put away my Brad Stuart or Marc Denis pictures/cards; hide my magazines with any of the aforementioned opposing players I like on the cover. And it is a little obsessive and creepy, and I do take this probably too seriously. But that's what being a fan is all about.

A few things...

1. Goalie Interference Calls.

I'm not bonniebunny, so I have no extra sympathy for goaltenders. I like my fair share of goalies (Denis, Boucher, Rhodes, Tugnutt, Tampa Bay goalies...), but I'm more about the defensemen and the aggressive forechecking forwards, and I write this for the forwards. I understand that referees have to protect the goaltender. It's in the rules, and I'm all for it. I don't think goalies should be made fair game...as long as they stay in and reasonably around their crease area. It's ridiculous to allow goaltenders to wander around anywhere and not say there's a consequence for doing it. As a forechecker, what are you supposed to do? Just watch a goaltender *ahem Patrick Roy ahem* go out and fetch a puck without challenging them? Doesn't that effectively kill any type of pressure that one hopes to build up in the offensive zone? Just a call for sanity.

2. Brenden Morrow.

BRENDEN MORROW YOU ARE THE BEST AND THE COOLEST AND I LOVE YOU SO MUCH AND EVERYONE LOVES YOU AND WE'RE SO SO SO SAD THAT YOU GOT INJURED. I just really needed to do that. But seriously, I've been a Morrow fan since he first came up here and obviously my love for him has grown. I appreciate all the things that he's done for the team, as most Stars fan do. I just wanted to take the time to make sure everyone knew that we recognized Morrow's awesomeness, and that it really does suckass that he cant play, because there's no one who deserves to play in the playoffs more than Brenden Morrow does. Brenden, we're looking forward to next season and having you here all season.

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