5 Reasons the Stanley Cup Playoffs Are the Most Exciting in All of Sports

The Stanley Cup.

The Holy Grail of hockey.

It is the prize that awaits the winner—no, winner is not a strong enough word.

It is the prize that is awarded to the survivor of the two month long tournament that takes place every year to crown the NHL champion.

It has been called by many the hardest trophy to win in all of sports.

There is much truth to that statement.

There is no question that winning a Super Bowl, or a World Cup, or a NBA championship or a World Series title is a grueling affair as well.

But there is something about the Stanley Cup playoffs that makes it different, that makes it extra special and that seem to create such memorable moments that they endure in the hearts and minds of their fans like no other playoffs in all of sports.

No other playoffs in all of sports can cause their fans such exhilaration, followed by crushing anguish as the NHL playoffs. From one game to the next, no one really knows what to expect and momentum can be as fickle as a bad deflection or crazy bounce off the boards.

There are many reasons why the Stanley Cup playoffs are the most exciting in all of sports—but here are the five I think are the most important.

1. The Unpredictability

One of the things that makes the Stanley Cup playoffs so exciting is that every team truly does stand a chance.

Seedings are nothing more than a means of determining home ice advantage.

In fact, since 1993, the No. 8 seed has beaten the No. 1 seed 10 times in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Compare that to the NBA playoffs where the same thing has only happened five times.

Add in to that the number of times a No. 7 seed has beaten a No. 2 seed, or a No. 6 seed has taken down a No. 3 seed and the absolute unpredictability of the Stanley Cup playoffs becomes apparent.

Still don't believe me? Read the article I wrote about a month ago recapping the greatest upsets in NHL playoff history and you will see what I mean.

Just recapping some of those shockers reveals how exciting the Stanley Cup playoffs can be. Star studded teams can be defeated by teams with no name role players—such as was the case in 2010 when the No. 8 seeded Canadiens stunned the No. 1 seeded Capitals, or in 2003 when the No. 6 seeded Wild shocked the No. 3 seeded Avalanche.

Anything can happen once the playoffs begin. A hot goalie can neutralize even the most potent of offenses.

Go back to 2010 when Jaroslav Halak stymied the Caps and led Montreal to a shocking victory. That Caps team was one of the most formidable offensive powerhouses in recent memory. But a hot goalie was more than enough to undo everything.

Home ice advantage is just a pipe dream. Without question, the home team enjoys a nice energy boost for the opening moments of the game. But once that is gone, the huge advantage that NFL and NBA teams seem to enjoy at home is largely non-existent in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

So from one game to the next, and from one series to the next, anything is truly possible. This creates an unparalleled level of excitement for fans because even a No. 8 seed has a real chance to win the Cup.

Take a look at the 2012 playoffs. You have the No. 8 seeded Los Angeles Kings going to the Stanley Cup finals having only lost twice along the way.

In the opening round, we saw the No. 8 seeded Senators push the No. 1 seeded Rangers to the very limit, the No. 7 seeded Capitals upset the No. 2 seeded Bruins and the No. 5 seeded Flyers trounce the No. 4 seeded Penguins.

And the great thing about the Stanley Cup playoffs?

Those types of upsets seem to happen almost every year.

Even when they don't, the possibility that they can happen creates a level of excitement and anticipation unmatched in any other sport.

The unpredictability of the Stanley Cup playoffs is one of the factors that make it the most exciting playoffs in all of sports.

2. The Unlikely Hero

Another factor that makes the Stanley Cup playoffs the most exciting playoffs in all of sports is the frequency with which we see an unlikely individual rise up and become the hero and lead his team to victory.

Without question, this happens in other sports too, but not as often.

For every David Tyree or David Freese that may come along every few years, in the Stanley Cup playoffs we get such a performance seemingly on a yearly basis.

In the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs, we have already seen this.

Joel Ward scoring in overtime of Game 7 to lead the Capitals to an upset of the defending champion Bruins is a prime example of this. Ward had scored all of six goals in the regular season and prior to that moment had scored none in the playoffs. In an instant, he became a hero—and would later become the goat as his double minor penalty in Game 5 against the Rangers turned that series completely around.

Dwight King of the Los Angeles Kings is another example of this. In the regular season, King scored only five goals; in the playoffs he has scored that exact same amount and he is a key reason the Kings will now play for the Stanley Cup.

Or how about the run John Druce went on for the Capitals in the 1990 playoffs? Druce was pretty much a minor league player before those playoffs began. All he did was score 14 goals in 15 playoff games as the Caps shocked the Rangers and Devils before being ousted by the Bruins.

If a series goes to a Game 7, it is an even money proposition that some unsung hero is going to become a household name.

In 2009, Maxime Talbot, who had never scored 20 goals in any season in which he had played, scored both of the Penguins goals as Pittsburgh edged Detroit to capture its first Cup in 17 years.

A similar result occurred in 2004 when Ruslan Fedetenko, never known as the most prolific of goal scorers, came through with all the offense the Tampa Bay Lightning would need in Game 7 to defeat the Calgary Flames to capture the Lightning's only Stanley Cup.

Or how about Michael Rupp in the 2003 Finals? Rupp had not even played in a game since March 28 of that year. Thanks to an injury to Joe Nieuwendyk, Rupp got his opportunity to play. All he did in Game 7 was score a goal and assist on two others as the Devils turned back the upstart Mighty Ducks to win the Cup.

And it is not just goal scorers who qualify as unlikely heroes. Look at all the goalies who have come out of nowhere to lead their teams on deep playoff runs.

Braden Holtby just this year is a great example. A 22-year-old rookie who helps his team beat the defending champions and very nearly defeats the No. 1 seed in the Conference? It is hard to script it better than that.

Or Jaroslav Halak in 2010 coming from nowhere to absolutely stonewall the Capitals and lead Montreal to a huge upset.

Or how about the 1986 Stanley Cup playoffs when a pair of rookie goalies, Mike Vernon of the Flames and Patrick Roy of the Canadiens, led their teams all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals? 

The list goes on and on as these are just a few examples of how the Stanley Cup playoffs, perhaps more so than any other sport, makes heroes out of nobodys.

The fact that not just can any team win the Cup, but that anyone can be the hero, is another reason why the Stanley Cup playoffs are the most exciting in all of sports.

3. The Home Crowd

While it is difficult to support the contention that there is actually a home ice advantage for the home team in the Stanley Cup playoffs, there is little dispute that the crowds cheering on their favorite teams make for some of the best spectator experiences in all of sports.

It is a safe bet that the crowd at a Stanley Cup playoff game will be loud, raucous, passionate and, quite often, very color coordinated.

Whether it is a white out at a Phoenix Coyotes home game, or whether the Verizon Center faithful are rocking the red at a Capitals game, the scene at a Stanley Cup playoff game is unlike anything at any other sport, with the possible exception of a soccer crowd.

But it is not just the colors being worn—it is sometimes the crowd itself. Some arenas are just notoriously wild.

The Shark Tank in San Jose comes to mind as being one of the more vocal arenas in recent Stanley Cup playoff history.

Ditto for the faithful at the Staples Center during the Los Angeles King's drive to the Cup this year.

And you can't really discuss rowdy fans without including the folks in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Boston and Vancouver on the list.

But it is not just any of these things. There is something intangible about the crowd at a Stanley Cup playoff game that is truly special to witness and an absolute thrill to be a part of.

This is especially true when one of the Original six franchises are involved. When the Bruins, Red Wings, Blackhawks, Canadiens, Maple Leafs or Rangers are involved, the crowd is so invested in their team that it is bordering on fanaticism.

Think about the fans at the old Boston Garden, who have lost none of their passion since the team moved to the TD Garden.

Or the Red Wings fans flinging octopus onto the ice and being so rabid that Detroit is known as Hockey Town.

Or Montreal fans who used to make the Forum one of the most feared places to play and continue to make the Bell Center an insanely intimidating location for visiting teams.

Or the Rangers and their faithful at Madison Square Garden, one of the most iconic arenas in all of sports.

Or Maple Leafs fans—well maybe they have not had much to cheer about lately but they will be back one day.

As for the fans in Chicago—those guys are in a special place as far as being loud, loyal and frenzied, which is why the United Center, as well as its predecessor, is known as the Madhouse on Madison.

The fans, the experience, the energy and the excitement of a home game in the Stanley Cup playoffs is just one more factor that makes the Stanley Cup playoffs the most exciting in all of sports.

4. Sudden Death Overtime

If there is one thing you can really point to and say, "This is what makes the Stanley Cup playoffs so great," it would have to be sudden death overtime.

The NFL calls its overtime sudden death, but it's not. In football, the American variety anyway, the game ending score usually builds up. You can see it coming and, more often than not, you can anticipate it as a team lines up for a game winning field goal.

In baseball, death can be a bit more sudden as a walk off home run can be as sudden and stunning as anything. But with baseball, this sudden ending is only available to the home team; there is no walk off home run option for the visitors.

In soccer, or football to the rest of the world, they have the golden goal concept, which is very much sudden death. But, for some inexplicable reason, FIFA abandoned this method of resolving ties, instead resorting to two extra periods of play and then resorting to penalty kicks to decide the issue.

For many soccer and World Cup fans, the concept of the World champion being decided by way of penalty kicks is a travesty.

In the Stanley Cup playoffs, however, sudden death overtime is just that—sudden death.

Death can come quickly and unexpectedly. Each teams rush into the offensive zone creates excitement for some and anguish for others. Any shot can be "the one." Any bad bounce can end a game or a season. Any slight mistake is magnified ten-fold as the stakes and the pressure mount.

Sometimes, however, death likes to take its time, hovering over an entire arena in a way that everyone can actually feel.

One overtime goes to two. Two goes to three, or four or even five.

Unlike soccer, in the Stanley Cup playoffs, there is no shootout. The teams play on until one team or another finally scores.

This is often when the Stanley Cup playoffs are at their best, when players are so tired they can barely skate and when the tension is so thick you could take a machete to it and hack away. You begin to wonder if the end will ever come—knowing all the while that it will.

And when the end finally comes, it can be a true defining moment for a franchise.

Some examples of these epic moments:

Bob Nystrom's goal in Game 6 of the 1980 Stanley Cup finals that won the Cup for the New York Islanders and started a dynasty.

Pat LaFontaine's goal in the fourth overtime of Game 7 to eliminate the Washington Capitals in the Easter Epic.

Stephane Matteau's double overtime winner to send the Rangers to the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals.

Steve Yzerman's goal in double overtime in 1996 to defeat Wayne Gretzky and the St. Louis Blues.

Keith Primeau's goal in the fifth overtime in 2000 to give the Flyers a huge win over the Penguins

Or even Dustin Penner's overtime winner tonight that has sent the Kings to the second Stanley Cup finals in franchise history.

Sudden death overtime in the Stanley Cup playoffs is unlike anything else in sports and it is a huge reason why the Stanley Cup playoffs are the most exciting in all of sports.

5. The Cup

The Stanley Cup is unlike any other trophy in any of the other major sports in the United States.

First off, it is huge. It weighs 35 pounds, far more hefty than the Lombardi Trophy (seven pounds), or the Larry O'Brien trophy (about 15 pounds) and slightly heavier than the Commissioner's Trophy (30 pounds) awarded to the World Series champion. 

Beyond the sheer size of the Cup, however, it is unique in that unlike the other three trophies, a new one is not made every year.

No, unlike the Lombardi, Larry O'Brien or Commissioner's Trophy, there is just one Stanley Cup, only one.

That alone makes it something extraordinary and why it is considered by many to be the most difficult trophy to win in all of sports.

Unlike the other sports, there are no trophy cases with replicas of the Stanley Cup in them.

The Cup is passed from one winner to the next, year in and year out.

But even though the winning team has no permanent version of the Cup to take up space in its trophy hall they have something better—their names engraved on the Cup.

The names of all of the winning players, coaches, management and club staff are engraved on the Cup itself, for all time, for all to see.

It is something unheard of with any other trophy in sports.

With all of that going for it, is it any wonder so many fight so hard for the opportunity to claim the Cup as their own?

And for those lucky few who capture the Stanley Cup comes a glorious moment, the moment that all NHL players dream of.

The opportunity to hoist the Cup and skate around the rink with it.

It is one of the most iconic moments in all of sports all revolving around the most iconic trophy in all of sports.

While the unpredictability of the Stanley Cup playoffs, and the frequent emergence of an unsung hero, make for delicious drama, in the end, it is the chase for the Cup itself that separates the Stanley Cup playoffs from all the other playoffs.

The opportunity to win this one of a kind trophy, to hold it high, skate it around the rink and to be immortalized on that trophy itself, and everything that fortunate team must battle through to reach that point...

Is it really any wonder why the Stanley Cup playoffs are the most exciting playoffs in all of sports?