Crashing to Earth in 6 Minutes or Less. . .

I'm actually going to keep it short and to the point.

For the first two periods, I was bored out of my mind. It was either penalty kill, or pathetic power play with no real chances (and the same absurd players on it), or 5-5 with no energy. Boring. I miss hockey with crisp passing and end to end rushes. With speed. The Rangers might have been winning for most of it, but it was a very lazy, very boring game.

And when it finally seemed in the 3rd the Rangers found a second or two of energy, they gave it all to Toronto. Credit the Leafs for sticking with it and taking advantage.

That being said, those five goals in six minutes was nothing short of an embarrassment. It shouldn't happen. And I'll be honest, I didn't want it to happen because I wanted the team to win (obviously) and because, especially, I wanted them to win for Steve Valiquette. I like when the backup goalie is able to go in a get a win. I do. And I like Vali a whole lot and he has played very well against Toronto.

But if this is what needed to happen to expose a team that has not, despite the amazing record and the constant winning, played either consistently or well - then I'm glad it did. Not glad that they lost and that they were embarrassed, but that this inconsistent, boring, half-awake/half-asleep hockey was exposed.

And I hope it spurs changes. I hope there is a new PP unit on Tuesday. I hope Petr Prucha or perhaps someone from Hartford is in the lineup, because some of these guys were just coasting.

But bottom line is I hope for more excitement. Games like this, and I don't just mean the collapse, are hard to watch. And it all just got old, really, really quickly.

I'm going back upstairs to watch HNIC. Maybe some other teams know what an end to end rush is or how to score on the power play. I've heard it's an advantage.

G'night all.