  When I was young, my dad and I would watch Calgary Flames hockey. Not being a sport's buff or even very attentive in my early years, I wasn't too sure what was happened, but it didn't matter to me. Ed Whalen was calling the show and the man makes WWE's Jim Ross sound like Al Gore announcing golf. I would just watch two teams (one of them always the Flames) dashing back and forth on the ice, and when Ed called out " He-shoots-he- SCOOOOORES!!!
" My dad and I would got nuts. Only recently, perhaps the same ten years its taken Canada to get back to the Stanley Cup, but my interest has rekindled, to the point where I actually know what's happening and get tense watching as Calgary made its way to the Finals. I remember the Red Wings and the Flames going back and forth like a pair of master fencers, with victory haning on the overtime edge. I watched as anguished San Jose could do nothing to stop the puck from sliding into their open net at the end of the third period. Poor guys, that isn't a good way to go. And finally Calgary and Tampa Bay stand at the finals, trading victories back and forth that are hard-won by both teams, they're both hungry for the Cup. Watching the Saddledome games, and you see a sea of red jerseys in the crowd, and woe to the poor bastard who dressed otherwise. And in Tampa, it's a white field and a sold-out, record breaking crowd for Game 5. The latest game had me on the edge of my seat, going into overtime with a 2-2 tie, and both teams were back and forth, back and forth, with more close-calls than was probably good for me.
But it just seems that everyone is catching the excitement going on in the playoffs. I can't count the amount of Flames flags I see on people's cars each day, and even people who don't normally sell sport's memorabilia are gettin' in on the surefire cash crop. The games are close for the Flames and the Lightning. Calgary only needs to win one more game, but Tampa's proven that Calgary hasn't dominated the Finals, and its great to see them really going at it, to be really fighting for a win. I am cheering for Calgary, but I know that this is the closest Tampa has ever gotten to the Stanley Cup, and they deserve their shot in the spotlight just as much as the Flames.
So to both teams I just gotta say Good Luck! You've really ignited the excitement in Hockey again. I mean, c'mon, even I'm excited, and that's not something that happens with me and sports very often. 
