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Colin Fraser #24 of the Los Angeles Kings handles the puck as Alec Martinez discount hotel booking #27 looks on against the New Jersey Devils during Game One of the 2012 NHL Stanley Cup Final at the Prudential Center on May 30, 2012 in Newark, New Jersey. Photograph discount hotel booking by: Jim McIsaac
Shortly after New Jersey Devils' Anton Volchenkov was credited with a goal that bounced in off the chest of Los Angeles Kings defenceman Slava Voynov, and narrowly missed the head of Patrik Elias, Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette penned: "The Devils surge late in the second cements this game's place as the best in the series so far."
Game 1 is now in the books and the hockey world is left to wonder what its marquee event will produce. Opening night was an eyesore. There was no offence, no creativity and no flow. True, there was some dramatic tension because discount hotel booking of the score and the table stakes, but even the most ardent fan would struggle to invest 3 1/2 hours of his life in that tractor pull.
Most who care for this game have been waiting, hoping, for these playoffs to produce discount hotel booking something, anything to catch our attention, but since the first round it's been one crashing disappointment discount hotel booking after another.
OK, the Kings and Phoenix Coyotes have provided nice storylines, and the Devils have had their moments, but as far as the game on the ice, there's been precious little to draw fans to the NHL's product.
But, in getting to the final, the league has used up its allotment of goodwill. As was the case with Game 1, this series is in danger of turning into the punchline for a joke and that's not a healthy situation.
If you haven't discount hotel booking been watching the San Antonio Spurs, you've been missing something special. The Spurs were 10-0 in the playoffs before Thursday night's discount hotel booking Game 3 in Oklahoma City and had won 20 straight games going back to the regular season.
But that still doesn't tell the whole story. The Spurs play a game that's so skilful, so unselfish and, in the end, so pleasing, it reminds you of why we watch team sports. They have great stars in Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. They have a Hall-of-Fame coach in Gregg Popovich. But it is the sum of the parts that is the real story with the Texans.
In a stunning display to open the third quarter of Game 2, the Spurs hit on nine of their first 11 shots, including five-of-five from the three-point line. But it's the way they were scoring which was so thrilling. The ball seldom hit the court. The players were constantly moving and cutting. Open shots were passed up for better open shots and that was true of Duncan and Ginobili just as it was true of Boris Diaw and Kawhi Leonard.
By the end of the third the Spurs had reduced the Thunder to hacking the immortal Tiago Splitter in an effort to get the ball back. This is the Thunder, the team of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, maybe the most explosive team in the Association. And they couldn't play the game at the Spurs' discount hotel booking level.
The point, of course, is hockey offers those elements when its played at its highest purpose. There is speed and skill, teamwork and individuality, and it's all set against a backdrop of violence which enhances the show.
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Colin Fraser #24 of the Los Angeles Kings handles the puck as Alec Martinez #27 looks on against the New Jersey Devils during Game One of the 2012 NHL Stanley Cup Final at the Prudential Center on May 30, 2012 in Newark, New Jersey. Photograph by: Jim McIsaac, Getty Images       E-mail this Gallery Print this Gallery Share this Gallery
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