Until a few years ago, I didn’t know about the magic of the montage produced by the CBC to close out the Stanley Cup Finals.  That’s how it goes when you’re stuck with Versus and NBC as your hockey providers.  You don’t get gems like this.

Stick with it to the very end for some beautiful shots of Vancouver.  Last summer, I stood on the platform next to that bridge, and got the same bay view you see there.  Simply gorgeous.  That’s how I see the city.  That’s my Vancouver.

That is how I want to remember the playoffs.  A series of slow-motion shots, showing the heart and soul of the game.  Not the angry festival of fans, the biting and punching, or the aftermath of Vancouver.  Not the articles from bloggers and MSM writers bashing the other team, the other fans.  I want to remember the battles that had to do with the puck.  The ones that had to do with speed, positioning, and skill.  And I think that is what I am going to take away from this season, that the best two teams went all the way to the last game possible to determine who would raise the Cup.  And there isn’t much more you could ask for.

The 2010-11 season was a weird one.  For Avs fans like myself, it was a hard ending to swallow, after the promise at the start. It showed that nothing is ever a guarantee, and nothing is ever over until the final buzzer.  But the playoffs, the second season, and in some ways the real season, with real hockey that transcends the regular season, well…. they were pretty damn good.